The Perfect Maths Lesson - A review

This is my first experience of the 'Perfect Lesson' series from Jackie Beere and friends and to me the title has a lot to live up to!  I needn't have worried.  Straight from the start Ian gives compelling and motivating reasons for learning, not just learning maths, but any learning and, particularly importantly, how to deal with the ultimate question 'why are we learning this?'.  He frames the learning and remaining content of the book within the context of the modern, 'flat' world, which every conscientious teacher is desperately trying to give their learners an advantage in.  Now I'm hooked.

I have to admit that I read the rest of the book with enthusiasm even though it is about maths!  Ian delivers an excellent balance of theory and context with hundreds (well, it seemed like hundreds.  I haven't actually counted them) of practical examples that any teacher can take into a classroom tomorrow.  From engaging and challenging learners, including some great ideas for using apparatus, through to chilli heat rated activities to increase independence, the wealth of thought provoking activities makes this book a must have in any staff room.  There is a hugely important chapter on emotional connections with learners and the end of chapter checklists act as quick reminders and useful pointers.

So will this book mean you deliver the perfect maths lesson?  Personally I don't think any book, no matter how good, but this one will provide you with a whole toolbox of strategies and ideas that cannot fail to improve the learning in your lessons.  And here's the important bit; any learning could be improved by using this book.  The underlying principles, with a bit of un-maths tweaking, will have a direct on your teaching and, although the book has a secondary 'flavour', these can be as equally applied to the primary phase.

In sum-mary (I tried really hard to resist a number of maths puns!), if you're looking for easily accessible ideas and strategies to refresh your teaching, whether in maths or other curriculum areas, this book will be an excellent addition to your collection.  It's a quick and easy read that you can dive into any point and pull out a gem...and who knows, maybe that will be the one that secures the 'outstanding' judgement - or better still, gives your learners the advantage in the real world!

Now I'm off to look at the rest of the perfect lesson series...!

Dealing with the wreckage left by Northern Rocks

Saturday.  Heavy rain.  Leeds.  At least 2 out of 3 of these are reasons to stay in bed.  I'm glad I didn't.

Like around 300 others, I attended the inaugural Northern Rocks event.  (The title of this post is from an Independent article about the collapsed bank of a similar name but adequately reflects my brain after Saturday's event).  Below are some thoughts, not in any particular order.

There's been a large number of great blogs appearing after Saturday so I won't try and detail everything that was said and I'd ask that you don't judge me against them as I'm just splurging (that's my excuse)!

1. Debra and Emma.  Wow.  It takes some cahoonas to organise an event like this and they nailed it.  Most impressive though was the genuine warmth, passion and respect towards everyone; there was always time for a quick chat to complete strangers and nothing was too much trouble.  No doubt there was some frantic leg paddling going on under the surface but the smiles never left their faces and they both deserve knighthoods (or is it damehoods?), for pulling this together, although this is unlikely as they are both probably on some secret service watch list for being enemies of promise.  It is saddening to hear that Debra is all but leaving direct teaching - I would have loved her to teach my own children.  (My post on why I'm leaving the UK system is here).  Bravo ladies, I'm tempted to fly back from Brunei for next year!

2. Lunch.  Roast beef and Yorkshire pudding the size of a plate.  Enough said.

3. The People. It was like my Twitterverse came to life, so many names that I've connected with previously!  I suppose it could be taken for granted that there would be a large number of like-minded people there, what with it being a Saturday (and raining and in Leeds) but the passion and positivity was palpable.  There was a subtle air of pride about being part of something exciting and different and, whilst there was justified criticism and exasperation expressed, becoming 'militant' and outright 'anti' everything was avoided and positive alternatives explored - in particular, Debra handled the panel meeting expertly, there must surely be a career opportunity there?!  As always, Hywel Roberts and Mick Waters got right to the heart of matters and motivated the thronged masses (although I think the rally song may need a bit of work!).  These guys are awesome and, like everyone else on the day, have no pretentious air about them, happy to chat with anyone.  Not an easy thing given the celebrity status bestowed upon them by us mere mortals!  I haven't met many DfE staff but I suspect that would be a different experience.

4. So what?  Yes, it was a nice day out (have I mentioned lunch?) but it has to make a difference.  On a personal level I got loads out of the SOLO and Flipped Learning workshops and I can see how they could link brilliantly together.  So, given the time of year, my role and the fact that I'm leaving my current school in 6 weeks, I'm limited.  I'm going to get some children to create some 'how to...' videos for key concepts that the staff have noticed too many children struggling with.  This will tick the flipped learning box and could be used to discuss various stages in SOLO - "are you pre or unistructural?  Watch the video." type thing.  I'm then intending to introduce SOLO and Flipped learning in my new school once I get settled.
What about a difference on a wider systematic scale?
I believe and hope that events like these, combined with Twitter and TeachMeets are the best way to empower teachers to make a difference.  I feel the challenge is to get headteachers to buy in.  I am often surprised and disappointed by fellow heads who haven't been to/heard of TeachMeets.  In my experience it isn't that heads don't want to do relevant, different learning, I think it's a combination of having time and overcoming the fear of doing something alternative to what they perceive will keep outsiders happy.  This isn't a criticism, I fully understand the pressures.  I was fortunate to get into Twitter years ago and so have accessed years worth of exciting resources and thinking whereas some heads are just coming to this way of thinking; ironically the new curriculum has stimulated some to truly consider what their school offers.  Perhaps there's a need for a headteacher only event where they can see the types of learning their teachers could/want to offer and be helped to implement it.
One final outcome for me is the hope that, with an increasing critical mass of educators like those at Northern Rocks, maybe, just maybe, our wonderful profession will be given the respect it deserves and those in charge will consider the children rather than the voters.

Later this week I'm off to Birmingham for the Inspiring Leadership conference.  I suspect I won't get as much out of it!

Hmm...A Review of 365 Things to Make you Go Hmmm

Whatever you do don't buy this book!  At least, not if you want to be remotely productive, focussed or are required to feed a small child regularly.  365 Things entertains, inspires, frustrates, befuddles, baffles and amuses in equal measure and, although the concept is to use one 'Thing' per day, it is impossible to not read on, wrestle with a 'thing', read on, wrestle with another 'thing'...You know this book has you completely hooked when you can hear your own brain arguing with itself!

From the challenging, and in some points uncomfortable, introduction 365 Things sparks your thinking into life by making you reflect on the values and messages that you give learners.  For example, how many times have we said (even though we hate the thought of it) "only 105 days until SATs"?  Most of us have done it, not through some sadistic pleasure of piling stress onto young learners but as a reflection of the externally induced pressures we're put under.  Maybe this book will go some way to alleviating this.  By embedding the messages, values and prompts contained in 365 Things we'd get deeper thinking, self-valuing confident learners ready to take on the world, secure in the knowledge that they're all good at what really counts and see SATs (and other tests) as an opportunity to show those in power just how great they are.

The 365 Things themselves cover a wide range of topics and concepts and are in some ways similar to the 'Thunks' from Ian Gilbert but the Sparky Teaching flavour is unmistakable; lots of value based content, with practical tips and tricks to extend and augment the learning all done in a positive, light-hearted way.  A particular strength of this book is how 'real life' has been used to develop some of the Things e.g. news stories, web content, increasing relevance for your learners and many Things are cleverly illustrated, with the presentation adding an extra 'must-read' dimension.

365 Things, despite seemingly limiting itself to only one year's use, will undoubtedly impact on you and your learners for years to come.  Aside from the value instilling content, the 'Things' will stimulate enough additional questions and thinking that you could end up writing your own book!  (This probably isn't the result the publishers wanted though, so don't tell them I told you!).

With this book in your collection you'll have a ready-made source of stimulating content that can be used from whole-school assemblies through to class debates and corridor displays.  And if you do work out if street dancing is a sport, let me know!

Learning through a lens - a review

Learning through a Lens by Jane Hewitt

A Review

As an amateur photography enthusiast I’ve fallen into the trap many times of thinking that by buying yet another book about photography it will instantly transform to the level of a professional.  As someone who has been in education for 20 years I regularly read books in the hope that they will continually challenge me professionally and improve my competence in education.  So, what could possibly be better, a book combining two of the great passions in my life?  I have to admit though to being slightly cynical that this would be yet another functional instruction book “use f5.6 at 70mm…” that would leave me frustrated.  And what could I really learn about using photography in education after 20 years of teaching?

First impressions raised my hopes.  An introduction by Mick Waters, someone who I have a lot of time for, immediately sets the tone that this isn’t just ‘another’ photography book and Jane’s own introduction highlights the simplicity of using photography – no need for full-frame highly expensive SLRs and her passion and enthusiasm shines out, showing that this isn’t just some geek trying to earn a few easy bob.

Once you get in to the book, the organisation and useful features included mean that, for a busy teacher, it is highly accessible.  The first section deals with the technical functions of the camera but, and most importantly, Jane speaks human!  No patronising, geeky, superior rhetoric; just down to earth, easy to understand advice to get the most out of your camera.

Chapter 2 is where the fun begins to build.  There are a number of activity ideas that are all easily attainable either at home or in school and that produce results that both children and adults would be instantly pleased with.  What’s more, once again, Jane has considered the needs of busy teachers by using a ‘recipe’ format and clearly accessible information boxes meaning this activity could be up and running in a classroom within minutes.  Pin hole cameras are covered, as are phones and apps with some great examples of low cost apps and their usage.

Now that Jane has got you hooked, there’s an important chapter on the use of ethics in photography (perhaps some ‘pros’ should read this!).  And the rest of the first section carries on exciting and informing and slowly but surely hooking you in…

Boom!  Like an old style flash gun going off, section 2 arrives with a feast of inspiring projects, activities, links and some all-round exciting things to do for yourself and/or your learners.  From ‘little people’ to street art via a highly informative and practical section on visual literacy I was left chomping at the bit to get my camera out, borrow some children (as a Headteacher I don’t see children very often!) and crack on.

Okay, so by now you’ve probably figured out that I really like this book.  It’s informative not patronising and easily and quickly accessible by anyone, but ultimately schools aren’t measured on the quality of their photographs, so what’s the point?  Is it just another distraction from the core purpose of schools as measured by outside agencies i.e. English and Maths results?

I guess that depends.  Do you want learners who can infer, reason, explain, justify, collaborate, create, solve problems, research, empathise and communicate?  What about widening the world to our pupils, challenging them to view and think about things differently?  In my school we’re constantly trying to motivate learners, to improve their ability to talk at length and depth with deep thinking to support their arguments and opinions, to collaborate and empathise and broaden their minds and ultimately to enjoy learning and succeed at it.  This book will go a long way to helping us deliver this.  Through projects and activities in this book, learning becomes relevant, stimulating and can be driven by the learners themselves whilst providing practical opportunities to apply English and Maths concepts.  And they have fun doing it.

Or you could give them a worksheet.

I can guarantee you won't be disappointed with this book and it might just be the book that unlocks a whole new world and way of working that gets your sparky learners fired up, committing that learning to memory like...well...have a guess!

Why Brunei?

I promised a few people I'd write this post quite a few months ago and now, spurred on by @NuttyA10's post about her new adventure, here it is.  Apologies if it isn't worth waiting for.

I want to clarify one thing first, I love my job.  And neither is my move linked to where I am currently working.  Let me explain...

Last summer my wife and I sat on a ferry talking to another British couple who had slightly rained on our parade.  We'd proudly just returned to Calais after 4 weeks in the South of France to find that they'd spent 3 and a half months travelling around the whole of France.  He was a retired member of the British Army and his wife a retired teacher.  They were both 55.  55 and retired?  They'd clearly got out before Gove and pals got hold of our profession.  We spent the journey discussing education and one thing they said lodged in the minds of both my wife and I, "have a look at teaching in the Middle East, earn some money, have a better lifestyle and retire earlier."

We left the ferry and went our separate ways and, apart from the traffic issues and the rain, the conversation in the front of our car didn't cover much else other than the possibility of leaving the UK.  In fact the traffic and rain helped fuel the discussion!

In the coming weeks we kept an eye on the International jobs section of the TES and looked into one or two in the UAE area.  Web research showed some concerns about this area including the rights of women, high staff turnover and some schools with dodgy reputations so we didn't rush in.  Then the job at JIS in Brunei came up.  I was immediately drawn to the advert as the ethos was one of developing the whole child, as well as academic excellence, with a strong focus on the arts and sport.  The facilities looked amazing as well as the curriculum opportunities for our own children.  To be honest, like lots of people we've discussed it with since, we had no idea where Brunei was.  It turns out it's not another country around the Dubai area but another 8 hours further east.

Long story short, a number of interviews later, including the final one at the school in October half term and I was successful.  This was my first and only international and private sector application and I was amazed I got it.  Little old me with a Nottingham Poly degree (although it did become a university whilst I was there) working in a highly challenging school on a large council estate in Nottingham City was selected from a world wide bunch!  I couldn't be further from their reality.

So why move?  Why uproot my wife and two children?  Why leave the children's grandparents, friends and other family?

I'll try and give you a small glimpse into some of the thinking behind this decision:

1. I don't want to leave my current school.  I know,  This sounds like a massive contradiction but it's true.  Actually I owe a lot to my school in getting me this new job.  My school has issues and had many more when I joined it only 18 months ago but it has been the intense effort to resolve as many as possible that has made me a better head than I was in my previous 5 years.  Being able to sit in an interview situation and not be desperate to get it because I have to get out, whilst being able to just talk from the heart and from extensive experience, can't have failed to help me be successful.
2. Meddling outside forces in our education system.  I promise not to rant.  Or at least I promise to try.  As a head I've never been interested in ticking boxes and keeping outsiders happy; my passion is for the children we have in our school and their individual contexts, talents and needs.  I firmly believe that if provision is right for each individual child then everything that is valued by those from the outside looks after itself.  Sadly, this relatively simplistic view has become increasingly more difficult to sustain with the increasing hoop jumping that is demanded by the egotistical loose canons that believe themselves to be in charge.  Gove is Gove and I won't get into my feelings about him now but then Sir M Wilshaw seems to be battling for the higher ego ground and introducing policies through the backdoor of ever changing inspection frameworks.  The injustice of the frameworks for those of us in the 'challenging' schools...Then there's the lack of opposition policy, the constant manipulation of a flawed assessment system...  I'll stop now as I'm sure you get the picture.
3. Opportunities.  Now that I know where Brunei is, the travel, cultural and lifestyle opportunities for my own family are significantly greater than I could provide here in the UK.  For example, my son's year 6 residential trip will be to Australia rather than Grantham; I'm sure Grantham is great but... Also, the year-round warmth (apparently it rains.  A lot.  All at once.) means we can do more outdoors including jungle trips, kayaking and sailing in the sea.  The location of Brunei itself makes travelling to exotic and interesting places much easier (and cheaper) than from the UK.  I'm going to cheat here and refer you to Ian Gilbert's latest book 'Independent Thinking' where there is a list of benefits beginning on page 83.  On a more serious note, the chance to take my children to a society where youngsters don't hang around in gangs carrying knives and drugs is clearly a positive.  Levels of crime in Brunei are relatively low; the school's principle took me out for a pizza on the first night and didn't lock his car as there isn't a need to.
4. Avoiding stress induced death.  Alright, this sounds a bit dramatic, but it has a place in my thinking.  There are many anecdotes of teachers, particularly headteachers, who struggle to reach retirement age then collapse and die or, if they survive, have life changing issues.  I can well believe this, as the stress I experienced last year definitely impacted on my health, so this new job is a chance to earn a bit more money and possibly retire earlier, rather than work to 70 for a pension that is worth less (how does a 70 year old teacher relate to 11 year council estate boys?!).  Hopefully the stress will be less with no OfSTED or SATs, although I still expect, and want to be, busy and working hard.
5. Society.  Just a short word on this.  Until something is done about arresting the spiralling decline on estates like the one on which I work (and the widening gap between rich and poor), schools like mine will find themselves with ever-increasing difficulty in getting these children to 'national' averages.  This brings a whole host of other multiplying difficulties such as recruitment, staff health, morale.  Don't get me wrong, the kids are great but they are increasingly starting from lower and lower points through no fault of their own and the gaps are widening with their more affluent peers.
6. Why not?  I've learnt from personal experience that life is too short.  Oddly, we don't smoke or drink particularly or even do the lottery and yet we're gambling on moving to the other side of the world but sometimes these opportunities just come along at the right time and you have to take them.  What's the worse that can happen?  Well, apart from being eaten by a salt water crocodile or bitten by a cobra or attacked by a sun bear... 

So there's just a short summary of some of the thinking.  This is my own opinion and I hope it doesn't depress anyone too much.  I guess I will be one of the statistics of teachers leaving the profession which seems to be rapidly increasing.  I can't blame them despite it being the best job.

At the time of writing there are 106 days before we leave.  We're busy throwing out, selling off and boxing up our stuff (it's frightening how much is accumulated - anybody need a cross trainer and an oil filled radiator?) and painting all the rooms in the house.  We intend to rent the house out and knowing there is an option to return helps the transition.  Being honest, I hope we settle and do a decent number of years but we'll see how it goes.

It's natural to miss friends and family and I intend to keep in regular contact with my Twitter friends and hopefully some people I know from the UK will want to keep in touch with me!  I've met some brilliant and inspiring people working in and with schools in the UK so maybe, come the revolution, when your day comes, I'll return with enthusiasm to work in an education system that values it's pupils for the individuals they are, where they've come from and the teachers going above and beyond for them.  Until then I'll be playing in the back garden with the monkeys.  And my children.

Is a good curriculum innovative?

With the incoming new Primary curriculum there is a lot of discussion in and out of schools about innovating curriculums and it being time to redesign provision in schools.  As a headteacher I am passionate about 'what' and 'how' we teach and have driven curriculum reform in both schools that I have been in charge of.  Unfortunately I now feel I got it wrong.  Or at least went about it in the wrong way so I'd like to share some pointers that I wish I'd considered more thoroughly before embarking on curriculum change.

What's the point?
'Start with the end in mind' is often, particularly in education, easier said than done but I wish now that I'd taken longer to thoroughly nail what we wanted our learners to be like at the end of their time in my school. Most schools have a vision (normally with words like 'potential' and 'values' polished to high degrees of fluffiness) but what does this actually mean?  What will it really look like? Do the vision and the end product bear any resemblance? And, more importantly, who is driving the definition of 'end product' in your school? Is it OfSTED?  The DfE (or whatever agency is now currently in charge)?

Recently I saw a couple of great questions on a blog by @htbruce here that he developed after interviewing teacher trainees and I've 'borrowed' them below:

Question 5 – What if all children had was primary school?

Question 6 And finally, a question to chew over for a lifetime.  

Imagine that we have no National Curriculum, no OFSTED, no strategies, nor
government breathing down our necks – just a mandate that childrenmust leave us at 11 having had a wonderful primary education.  If youhad a completely empty room and a large budget, what exactly would youdo with a class of 30 children if you could do anything at all thatyou wanted?

I'm sure you've considered these types of questions as part of your starting point for curriculum design. I've always resisted falling into the data trap and have maintained a mantra of 'forget doing it to achieve x number of levels or to keep a certain group happy'. If you get this right the data will look after itself, and external people love good data...

So, whilst I started with some thought of the end product, I wish I'd spent more time developing a clearer, more absolute, image of what the children will look like and from that some kind of pathway to success.  This isn't a subject specific outcome (although the same thinking could be applied to individual subjects) but one of the whole child, including the word 'values', but also skills, concepts, knowledge, attitudes.  When these are clearly defined then 'subjects' can be crafted to contribute to this outcome.

Just a thought about the term 'secondary ready'.  When I first heard this being banded about I assumed that as usual primary education was being dumbed down and the only education that counted was secondary.  But the more I think about it, maybe it isn't such a bad thing.  Maybe we should be sending children to secondary school able to learn independently; able to manage themselves effectively as individuals and as members of a team; able to find and solve problems, communicate effectively and treat others with respect and value.  I'm sure this is what Mr Gove meant and not just to do with academic outcomes.  I mean, no-one would focus on such a small part of being a learner and certainly not rank them against each other.  Would they?!

Who is it for?
This has always been one of my major beefs with the current system.  The one-size-fits-all system of assessment, policy diktat, curriculum, inspection etc. takes little account of the huge differences in the challenges that schools face.  Mick Waters in Thinking Allowed uses a brilliant analogy of children's starting points in education as a race track but without the staggered start.  Children like those in my school are already at a disadvantage (in the outer lanes) compared to those in more affluent areas (inner lanes) before they even start and yet are expected to perform the same.
With this in mind I wish I'd have got to know the groups within my school better before changing the curriculum.  I don't mean the statistically identified ones from RAISE online but the hidden groups within the school community; those on certain roads on the estate, those with similar home issues, those of multiple generations as examples.  Why?  Because our curriculum should reflect their needs.  Not the needs imagined by a sycophantic trusted advisor in an office in Whitehall nor the needs of the next group of faceless visitors in grey suits with clipboards or those of the latest company funding the education office.  If we are truly going to improve the life chances of these children and their community then we have to fully understand them and shape a curriculum to fit.

Going SOLO: An introduction

Going SOLO: An introduction to the taxonomy everyone’s talking about - Innovate My School