All posts by Mr Varty

Health and wellbeing, Responsibility of All, Self-Reflection, Skills, Vision and Leadership

Diabetes Workshop

December 13, 2012 Mr Varty Leave a comment

Helen Powley, P.E. Department

This was a very informative CPD experience. We have many pupils in the school who have diabetes and we must be aware of their needs. The CPD went through the two differnt types of diabetes and how these can be controlled. Examples of the different pieces of equipment were there for staff to look at and try! The main message I took form the session was that it is important for staff, parents and medical staff to work together to ensure the wellbeing of the pupil. NHS staff were keen to point out that staff and parents must contact them if they need support. There are a huge number of pupils in the lothian who have diabetes and few nurses, so if support is required we must ask.

If pupils are going away on a school trip I recommend that a meeting set up with parents, and if required NHS staff to ensure that the correct plan and resources are in place for the duration of a trip. For example, medication may need to be changed for a sports activity trip. Continue reading Diabetes Workshop →

Health and wellbeing, Teaching Pedagogy, Vision and Leadership

Primary and Secondary PE Provision

December 12, 2012 Mr Varty Leave a comment

Paul Stark

November witnessed the first meeting of the PE working group at St Margaret’s Academy. The group is made up of primary and secondary PE specialists, school staff members and senior management and has been tasked with reflecting on the second and third level PE provision across the St Margaret’s cluster. The inaugural meeting was attended by 19 members of primary and secondary staff who discussed the PE provision currently on offer to P6 and P7 pupils across the associated primaries and S1 and S2 pupils within St Margaret’s.

Continue reading Primary and Secondary PE Provision →

Responsibility of All

Managing severe allergies in schools

December 1, 2012 Mr Varty Leave a comment

Nighean Hannah from the NHS recently delivered a CPD event on managing severe allergies in schools. Her PowerPoint which can be viewed here provided lots of useful information on:

What anaphylaxis is
Symptoms
Types of reactions
Causes and treatments
Devices
Management in schools
What to do in an emergency

I found this a very useful learning experience and would recommend all staff to have a look at this.

The following websites provide more information Allergies and Intolerances and Anaphylaxis Campaign

Uncategorized, Vision and Leadership

Consultation on the Revision of the Professional Standards

October 20, 2012 Mr Varty Leave a comment

The General Teaching Council for Scotland are currently consulting with all stakeholders with an interest in Scottish education regarding their Revision of the Draft Framework of the Professional Standards. As such they are inviting your views and suggestions with respect to the attached draft Professional Standards. To participate in the consultation process which closes on October 31st please click here.

Responsibility of All, Skills

S3 Profiling and the Profile – Progress Update

October 8, 2012 Mr Varty Leave a comment

During the INSET day that took place on the 18th of September the Profile team and representatives from most curricular areas engaged in discussions where the next steps towards the creation of the S3 profile were agreed. The next steps included:

Plans for completion of S3 profile using an amended version of the NAR pilot with a deadline of early December in time for the S3 Consultation meeting
More information would be shared with parents through the newsletter
S3 focus week on skills to gather information for pupils to understand their learning in terms of skill development Continue reading S3 Profiling and the Profile – Progress Update →

Self-Reflection, Teaching Pedagogy, Vision and Leadership

Working Together for Better Science Learning – a Cluster Approach to CPD

September 26, 2012 Mr Varty 8 Comments

St Margaret’s Academy Science department has been approached by SSERC to develop the transition process in science. The rationale and outline of this programme: “Working Together for Better Science Learning – a Cluster Approach to CPD programme” can be downloaded here. Myself and colleague Keith Varty along with one of our primary colleagues Jennifer Currie were invited along to the first workshop of the Armadale cluster to see how this works and if it is something that we would be interested in leading across our cluster. Each cluster primary school had sent at least two representatives to this event and Armadale Academy also had members of the science department there to help support their primary colleagues in the science tasks carried out during the workshop.

Continue reading Working Together for Better Science Learning – a Cluster Approach to CPD →

Responsibility of All, Self-Reflection, Vision and Leadership

Assessment and Moderation – Key Messages

September 20, 2012 Mr Varty 1 Comment

IS Day presentation by Catherine Kerr (PTC Science)

To be honest I’m not really an expert on the subject. As a starting point I walked about the school asking staff what their understanding of Assessment and Moderation was. The responses were really interesting as the teachers that I put on the spot (mainly un-promoted staff) all had very similar understandings, concerns, and misconceptions. My Assessment and Moderation presentation therefore focussed on the teachers at St. Margaret’s point of view and my hope was that it would build on what was already known as well as clarify some of the key messages from educational policy and best practice.

The information provided came from several sources including the Education Scotland website which provides lots of current information on Assessment and Moderation. In addition I accessed the National Assessment Resource (NAR). As a database I think the NAR is a bit of a let down but the search facility is useful. I searched for ‘sharing the standards’, which brought up different authorities examples of moderation some of which were excellent and used throughout my presentation. All of the information I thought staff might find useful has been placed in a ring binder for each curricular area.

Further useful links include:

Responsibility of All, Teaching Pedagogy, Vision and Leadership

Using CAT data effectively – Presentation

September 6, 2012 Mr Varty Leave a comment

John Slavin Faculty Leader Raising Attainment

This was a brief introduction to how the CAT data that the school has for each pupil could be used to aid teaching and learning.

Initially, I explained that there are three batteries of tests: Verbal examples, Non-Verbal examples and Quantitative examples and briefly described examples of each. Pupil profiles are generated from this data and strengths / development needs can be identified.

Data for whole classes can be graphically represented in a Scatter graph to give a powerful visual interpretation of the results. The results can be analyzed with the help of the scatter diagram.

I have produced such scattergraphs for each class in S3/4 and will do likewise for S2 in time. If anyone is interested in looking at CAT data and how it can be used to highlight achievement / underachievement, Dr. Ben Doody and myself (John Slavin) are running a workshop on 07 September 2012. This will provide teachers with an opportunity to gain further experience of using this data and can hopefully aid the identification of the pupils’ needs.

Responsibility of All, Uncategorized

S3 Profiling and the Profile – Presentation

September 6, 2012 Mr Varty Leave a comment

Frances Laing (Senior Head of House)

The S3 Profiling and the Profile Presentation aimed to engage staff in the profiling process. It aspired to share the key messages contained in building the curriculum 5 a framework for assessment about the profile and the process involved in producing it. There is a requirement for pupils at key transition times to create a profile and our present S3 cohort will be our first year group to experience Broad General Education and move into the Senior Phase of the new curriculum.

We in our classes should be aware that for our young people to create this profile they have to experience opportunities in their day to day learning that allows them to reflect and realise their achievements. This is part of learning and teaching and should be ongoing through S1 to S3. Below is an example of what this profile may look like. Further information from Education Scotland can be located here.

Responsibility of All, Teaching Pedagogy, Uncategorized, Vision and Leadership

Pets in the classroom

May 22, 2012 Mr Varty 1 Comment

Andy Wilson (TLC Dept), Maddy Quinn (TLC Dept) and Keith Varty (Biology/Science Department)

After watching a Horizon programme which focused on the theory that dogs evolved the way that they did in order to appeal to man and also studies linking the release of oxytocin in humans with working with dogs, Miss Wilson and Miss Quinn chose to do some professional reading of research describing the benefits of using pets in the classroom. Some of this research claimed that school pets have been found to:

motivate pupils to think and to learn, as children have a high level of natural interest, enthusiasm and enjoyment of animals
encourage a respect and reverence for life in pupils and thereby improve their relationships with other pupils, parents and teachers
foster a sense of responsibility in children
teach children to nurture and respect life
improve academic achievement

Further research showing that teachers have also found therapeutic benefits for children with special needs and how pets in schools also have social benefits for the school community can be accessed here and here.

This professional reading led to Mrs Wilson and Mrs Quinn organising a day where Mr Varty would bring his well trained, placid dog Laika to the TLC to deliver a lesson focusing on the responsibilities of having a dog. This lesson provided pupils with the opportunity to ask questions observe and participate in obedience training whilst continually interacting with Laika.