Issue 4- And Still We Wait!
As I work with schools at this busy time of the year, the buzz , the joy and the anticipation of the festive season is beginning to swell, as it always does once rehearsals begin in earnest and the carols creep into every assembly. This year in schools, I sense another kind of waiting, a kind of breath holding that has nothing to do with Christmas. The fact is, that almost a third of the way through the academic year we still have no clear idea of what the new (?) government has in mind for Primary Education in the UK.
We are still waiting. Waiting for news of the curriculum, the money and the support we might , or might not, get from local and/ or central government. There is a sense that everything is on hold in the hope that the all important Spending Review, or the White Paper, due out next week , will make everything clear, and THEN we can get on with planning our future actions in response. I suppose it is inevitable, but I find it frustrating as the minutes and the hours slip away, and opportunity is lost for pupils to enjoy the high quality learning experiences that they would have done, had the planned 21st century curriculum reform been already underway.
I was looking forward to an exciting year in which schools looked critically at learning and how to present it for maximum impact. A year of lively debate and active INSET days, dedicated to moulding curriculum content to truly meet the unique needs of school communities; planning days that would result in excited pupils, inspired by re- invigorated teachers, learning together in classrooms bursting with ideas and creativity, that proclaim "deep, meaningful learning" from every wall and window. Instead we wait. we are ten years into the 21st Century, and a third of the way through the current academic year. Can we really afford to wait?
Wait for someone centrally to define the National Curriculum and tell us what to teach and how? Why? If what we already know about what they plan is to be believed, there will be a narrow definition of what HAS to be done statutorily, and all the rest will be up to you. The freedom will be there to tailor YOUR curriculum to the needs of YOUR pupils so they are best placed to meet the challenges they will face. It is for YOU to determine the detail of what goes on, when and how, as it always has been. So don't wait any longer. In the word of Ken Robinson May 2010 (Ted Lecture) "Bring on the Learning Revolution!".
Plan that INSET day now and don't waste any more of those precious "million minutes". If you need help to shape it call me. If in doubt about whether the investment is worth it, call one of the heads at schools that have not waited, where the revolution is well under way and where staff and pupils are reaping the rewards, (Peasedown St John Primary, Paulton Junior School, St Mary's Timsbury,Oldfield Park Junior School, Clutton Primary School ) and ask them about impact.
A million minutes?
If you want to know what that is all about, you need to book your place (because it is on the agenda) at the first meeting of "Heads Together on the CASE". This will be a regular termly meeting for senior leaders in schools that are interested in keeping up to date with developments in curriculum reform, assessment and self evaluation. I aim to provide a forum in which good practice and common sense can be shared and aired in active and stimulating ways. An arena in which the influence of that which is already good or outstanding can be spread, and that which is in embryonic stage can grow and flourish into real benefits for school communities.
(e mail me for a booking form and information if you have not already received one either through Contact on this site or at jennyshort@inspir-ed.net )
What else is available to help?
Well, Raise on Line came out earlier than usual (October 11th) for KS1 and eventually KS2 was out on 11th November. Those of you whose Subject Leaders use my English and maths leaders' handbooks as an aid to analysis of ROL data may wish to e mail me for the most up to date versions of same that I revised in November of this year. They have been updated and simplified in terms of the analysis of progress section and now form part of a useful set of four handbooks that together provide users with a very good aid to school self evaluation. In the absence of the requirement to complete the SEF as we know it, and the continuing focus of the upcoming Revised OFSTED Framework on Leadership and accurate knowledge about Standards of Provision and Outcomes, I anticipate that these four documents, as a set, will grow in popularity. The other two provide useful tools to develop
a) effective leaders of learning in the context of of any aspect of the school and
b) simple but managable and effective ways to ensure that links between staff and governors are productive and yield information that is useful, informs robust and rigorous monitoring, and fully informs improvement planning.
Schools wishing to avail themselves of the benefits of the full set should contact me and arrange for them to be introduced to users as soon as possible, as they are designed to be used systematically during the course of the academic year.
"SEF Aid" is still available for those of you anticipating a visit from OFSTED this year. Many schools who benefited from the service last year have asked me back to "tweak and amend". The process evolves and improves every time I work with a school. I also gather useful ideas from clients on how they have taken the work forward themselves and involved staff and governors in very effective review once the basic document is in place as a baseline and these I am happy to share at no extra cost!!
