My 2007

What a year. So much has happened...

My own personal highlights of 2007 are:

1. Proposing to Lisa in Paris
2. Getting Gizmo, our cat
3. Moving house
4. Getting the Deputy Head Teacher's job
5. Being asked to be Best man at my friend's wedding in 2008
6. Trip to London
7. Holiday in Palma Nova
8. Stag Do in Gloucester
9. My birthday
10. Getting my new car

This blog has been viewed over 700 times in 2007 and there have been nearly 340 posts.

The best tunes of the year are:

1. Take That - Shine
2. Mark Ronson & Amy Winehouse - Valerie
3. Mika - Grace Kelly
4. Sugababes - About You Now
5. OneRepublic Feat. Timbaland - Apologize
6. Sonny J - Can't Stop Movin'
7. Pink - Leave Me Alone (I'm Lonely)
8. The Fray - How To Save A Life
9. Newton Faulkner - Dream Catch Me
10. Jack Penate - Torn On The Platform
11. Leona Lewis - Bleeding Love
12. Freemasons - Rain Down Love (Walken Remix)
13. Calvin Harris - Acceptable in the 80s
14. Beyonce & Shakira - Beautiful Liar (Freemasons Remix)
15. Mutya Muena - Real Girl
16. Timbaland - The Way I Are
17. Mika - Big Girl (You Are Beautiful)
18. Kanye West - Stronger
19. Peter Bjorn & John - Young Folks
20. Freemasons & Bailey Tzuke - Uninvited
    

Top Films of the Year:

1. Transformers
2. Die Hard 4.0
3. The Simpsons Movie
4. Spiderman 3
5. Knocked Up

Other useless facts:

I've kept a record of the nights out I've enjoyed in 2007. It turns out that I had 90 nights out! Blimey. Just think - if I spent £20 on each night out that's £1800 on alcohol. But I most probably spent more than £20 quite often. That is a really depressing statistic...

I have watched 100 films or DVD box sets this year!

Resourceshop.co.uk

Resourceshop.co.uk is an impressive site with lots of free resources in all subjects. I think the Year 6 Levelling Sheet to be really useful.

This is their interpretation of what a generic mark sheet would look like for SATs papers. It has been worded as simply as possible, so that children can use it to level their own work.

This will be really helpful in the next few months...

Getting hitched!

Lisa and I have just returned from Paris where we got engaged at the Louvre!

We had a wonderful time. We visited the Arc De Triomphe, Champs Elysee, the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame and the Sacre Coeur. We stayed in a lovely hotel called the Waldorf Trocadero.

Now we need to make arrangements for the wedding which we plan to be in 2009!

Sport makes a come back

According to a report in Junior Education Plus, sport in schools seems to be making a comeback. A lot of the credit for this is due to the financial investment and an expansion in the options children have to choose from.

The School Sports Survery 2006/2007 has found that 86% of children in the 21700 maintained schools surveyed (primary and secondary) take part in at least two hours of PE a week, beating the Governments 85% target for 2008 a year ahead of schedule.

Activemark awards have been made to several schools.

There is now an average of 16 sport options available at primary schools. Football (98%), dance (96%) and athletics (93%) are still the most popular. But sports, such as archery (22%) and cycling (42%) are growing in popularity.

Happy Christmas!

I'd just like to wish everybody a happy Christmas! Hope you have a brilliant time!

Lost Season 4 Trailer

I simply cannot wait until the February - Lost returns with Season 4. Here is a trailer of the new series - it looks amazing!!

Spuds You'll Like

Primary schools are being encouraged to pant their own potatoes next term, as part of a national project. To mark the international year of the potato in 2008, the British Potato Council is asking pupils to chip in and grow their own. All schools that register before February 8th will be given free seed potatos and a £5 voucher towards compost. The council has compiled a range of online education resources.The school that grows the most potatoes will be given a digital camera.

£340 extra to help teach foreign languages

I'm sure we're all grateful... But come on!!

Primary schools will receive just £340 each extra to help them teach foreign languages next year. Ministers have pledged £35million, £5million more than this year, as schools prepare for 2010 when languages will become compulsory from the age of seven.

But Mick Brookes, of the National Association of Head Teachers, said the capacity of schools to develop languages was "dependent on funding". He added: "There may well not be enough."

Do you reckon?

DCSF targets are a load of 'Balls'

According to the Daily Mail, more than half of Whitehall's education targets will be missed. The official report shows 23 out of 53 goals have already been missed, while there is "slippage" in progress towards another seven and a further three are recorded as "cannot be assessed" or "yet to be assessed'. Failures include drives to raise standards in the three Rs and curb truancy.

The autumn report for the Department for Children, Schools and Families records progress against all targets set since 1998, which cover everything from maths and English standards to teenage pregnancy, obesity and joblessness among young people.
The failures cast serious doubt on Government claims to be investing in schools in return for reform - Labour has nearly doubled education spending from £29billion in 1997 to £63.7billion this year.

Opponents also said the Government had fallen foul of its own target-setting culture. For example, a target set in 2002 to reduce truancy by a third has been spectacularly missed with unauthorised absences running at their highest recorded level.

The Government has now dropped national targets for curbing truancy.
Progress in other areas, including a drive to reduce the teenage pregnancy rate by 50 per cent by 2010, has already slipped, the report reveals.

The Under-10s know what's important

The Daily Mail reports on a survey of children's thoughts carried out to mark National Kid's Day. Spokesman Patricia Murchie said: "The idea is to give preteens a national voice for their views in a very simple format. "This age group has some very clear ideas on how the world could be changed for the better but is very rarely given the opportunity to express them."

This is how the youngsters expressed their views:
What is the very best thing in the world: 1 Being happy. 2 Being famous. 3 Being healthy. 4 Being rich. 5 Families. 6 Good looks. 7 Nice food. 8 Friends. 9 Computer games. 10 Holidays.

What are the very worst: 1 Terrorists. 2 Drunks. 3 Being fat. 4 Bullies. 5 Illness. 6 Dying. 7 Divorce. 8 School. 9 Telling lies. 10 Wars.

Who is the most famous person in the world: 1 The Queen. 2 Harry Potter. 3 God. 4 Father Christmas. 5 Simon Cowell. 6 Jesus. 7 Jonny Wilkinson. 8 Spider-Man. 9 Prince William. 10 David Cameron.

500 writers declare war on illiteracy

The Daily Mail reports that more than 500 authors yesterday called on Gordon Brown to tackle illiteracy among children. Nick Hornby, Ian Rankin, Andrew Motion and Jackie Collins were among best-selling writers to sign a letter expressing "deep concern" over pupils' reading standards. They highlighted figures showing that one in five children fails to achieve basic reading standards at primary school.

The letter handed in to Number Ten yesterday calls for children to be taught to read at school for an hour a day until they have mastered the skill. The coalition of 545 authors also includes No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency author Alexander McCall Smith, Anthony Horowitz, creator of the Alex Rider teenage spy novels, Tracy Chevalier, who wrote Girl With A Pearl Earring, and Sophie Dahl, Roald Dahl's granddaughter, whose first novel is Playing With The Grown-Ups.
The letter was presented to Downing Street by Kate Mosse, the biggest-selling author of 2006, Sophie Kinsella, writer of the Shopaholic series, Tony Parsons, author of Man And Boy, and so-called queen of the Aga Saga, Joanna Trollope. They were joined by Amanda Ross, the executive producer of The Richard And Judy Show, who is credited with introducing the couple's successful book club.

The authors said they were "deeply concerned" about levels of literacy and called for a push to tackle the problem. It follows a damning world league table which exposed falling literacy standards among England's ten-year-olds. In five years, English schools fell from third to 19th in an international table of reading achievement.

The back-to-basics synthetic phonics method of teaching reading was only made law in English schools last year but there are reports of some teachers still clinging to discredited methods. The authors' plea follows a documentary filmed at Monteagle Primary School in Dagenham, East London, and screened on Channel 4 earlier this year. An intensive synthetics programme managed to double the number of children who were reaching reading standards expected of their age. Miss Ross said: "Total literacy in our schools is achievable. Monteagle went a long way to proving that. "There are towns in India that have achieved 100 per cent literacy - we shouldn't settle for less."

A Department for Children, Schools and Families spokesman said: "The literacy hour has ensured that more than 100,000 children are now making the grade than was the case in 1997."

SEN pupils 'given poor education'

Laura Clark in the Daily Mail writes about a report that states that sending children with severe special needs to ordinary schools condemns many to a poor education and disrupts lessons. Schools too often lack expertise and resources to cater for pupils with behavioural or learning problems, it claims.

The report reveals how growing numbers of pupils are being classed as having special educational needs, with schools seeking extra cash to help cope with them. One in five primary children is classed as having a behavioural problem, disability or learning difficulty requiring extra staff support. "Teachers are finding it increasingly difficult to support children with special educational needs in mainstream primary schools," says the report. The warning comes in a submission to a major independent review of primary education based at Cambridge University.
It questions the effectiveness of a Government drive to integrate pupils with special needs in mainstream schools in the name of 'inclusion'. Guidelines in 2004 stated 'the proportion of children educated in special schools should fall over time'. Ministers have since insisted there is no agenda to close special schools. The report claims the 'uncertain progress towards fully inclusive primary schools' is clear from the rising number of schools requesting help to cater for children with problems.

Government figures show in 2007, 19.2 per cent of primary pupils were classed as having a special educational need - up from 17.5 per cent in 2003. These range from needs requiring a formal statement to milder conditions. Problems with speech and language are among the fastest growing, although diagnoses have risen across the board, including behavioural difficulties. Some experts have criticised a "growth industry" of special needs as the definition of the term has widened to include conditions such as dyslexia and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. Critics have said assessment criteria are too vague and disruption in the class and poor teaching is increasingly attributed to special needs.

Today's report by Bath University academics suggests a Government emphasis on "whole class" teaching may be fuelling the increase in special needs by inflaming behavioural problems.
It also says exam league tables could be hampering efforts to integrate those with learning difficulties.

Surprise!

Schools face "snap" visits from Ofsted in a toughening-up of the inspection regime, the Daily Mail writes. Under the proposals, heads will no longer get two days' notice of an inspection - preventing staff sprucing up classrooms and rehearsing lessons. Parents will also be able to trigger inspections outside the usual threeyear cycle under plans to make the service more responsive to local concerns.

The Chief Inspector of Schools Christine Gilbert told MPs that the spot checks could be introduced as early as 2009. She warned that too many schools are still offering inadequate teaching. The crackdown follows warnings from the Commons Education Select Committee that Ofsted's regime has become "too light".

In a report earlier this year, MPs warned that pupils could be left to fail in poor-performing schools because the watchdog now spends as little as a day on inspections every three years.
Giving evidence to the committee, now called the Schools Select Committee, Mrs Gilbert said: "We are considering representations from parents and pupils that inspections should take place without any prior notice. At the heart of any new arrangements will be the observation of teaching and learning by skilled and knowledgeable inspectors."

Currently, "lightning" inspections with no notice take place only when there are serious concerns for the health or the wellbeing of pupils.

Dr John Dunford, of the Association of School and College Leaders, warned the changes would make little difference. He said: "Ofsted should consider the bigger question of whether to do away with mandatory inspection altogether." Shadow children's spokesman Michael Gove said: "I'm delighted Ofsted is seriously considering our suggestion that they should do surprise inspections, not give notice."

I think that this is a good idea. It will give a much more realistic picture of a school and all the different things that take place. It will reduce all the stress beforehand. It must be understood by the inspectors that sometimes Maths and English aren't taught in school every day, and that people will get nervous.

Children's Plan

Details of the Children's Plan have been published today. It sounds fantastic, and I like the fact that it is a 10-year plan. It gives time to build the foundations for real improvements rather than rushing everything.

SATs could be scrapped!

According to today's Daily Mail, primary school teaching is to be given a major overhaul, with greater emphasis on reading and maths. Learning a second language will become mandatory. It also suggests that the SATs are to be given a massive change.

Ed Balls, Schools Secretary, is to propose that pupils will take two shorter tests in summer or winter - when teachers think the individual pupil is ready! "It is time for a change. Our Children's Plan will pave the way for a change away from the rigidity of the national testing we have at the moment towards testing which is more in line with the needs of the child. This will involve children taking the tests when they're ready at the level which makes sense for them. i think this will be more popular with parents and teachers but still gives us the comparative information school by school," he said on the Andrew Marr Programme.

Children's fiction

Today's Times lists the top children's books from over the last twelve months.

The top sellers are Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, High School Musical, The Girls' Book, Princess Megan and the Magical Tiara and Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

The paper recommends the new edition of Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, release to accompany the new film version of The Golden Compass.

Other books described which sound suitable for Year Six include: Sally Gardner's The Red Necklace, Mary Hoffman's The Falconer's Knot and Anthony Horowitz's Snakehead.

Pupils learn nothing in Maths in first three years at high school

I found this report in the Daily Mail very interesting. Whenever past pupils come back into school to visit, one question I often ask is, "How do you find the Maths lessons?" The response is usually, "Easy." Just why is it that so many pupils leave primary school with a Level 5 and then go up to high school and study work below that level?

According to the report, pupils make virtually no progress in maths during their first three years at comprehensive school, a devastating study revealed yesterday. Several hours of lessons every week have barely any impact on the maths skills of 11 to 14-year-olds. Hundreds of 14-year-olds given independent tests were only slightly better at maths than students three years younger.

The researchers, from Manchester University, said the findings were so serious that ministers should conduct their own investigation 'as a matter of urgency'. They said their conclusions cast doubt on the validity of results in Government tests for 14-year-olds, which appear to show faster progress. They suggested pupils were being "artificially pumped up" to pass national tests instead of gaining a proper understanding of maths. The academics who worked on the study believe lessons at secondary school may be too easy, so pupils become bored.

In contrast to the three-year standstill, pupils made consistent progress during their years at primary school, although gains in the run-up to national tests at 11 were lost during the first year at secondary school.

Poetry is weakest area of English teaching

According to today's Daily Mail, classic poems are in danger of disappearing from English lessons because teachers with little knowledge of literature are resorting to "lightweight" verse, school inspectors have warned. Only very few primary schools are tackling works such as Wordworth's Daffodils or Coleridge's the Rime of the Ancient Mariner. Too many primary teachers do not know enough about poetry to cover the subject properly and concentrate instead on a narrow range of easier works, often by modern writers.

Ofsted inspectors also warned that a culture of coaching pupils for tests in the three Rs was squeezing the time available for the study of poetry. Across primary and secondary schools, too much poetry teaching was "dull" and unchallenging, they said. Inspectors who checked poetry teaching at 86 primary and secondary schools concluded it was the worst-taught aspect of English. One in three schools were merely "satisfactory" while only seven were rated "outstanding". At primary level, many teachers had not been trained well enough to cover poetry with their classes.

Rather than giving detailed feedback on pupils' own attempts at poetry, they tended to make comments such as "super" or "lovely poem". In a report published today, inspectors also urged teachers to allow children to study a wider range of poems both from classic authors and other cultures. "Many teachers, especially in the primary schools, did not know enough about poetry," the inspectors said. "This sometimes led to poor quality marking and a uniformity in practice, where the same few poems were studied across most schools. "Although these poems were mostly worth studying, many of them were relatively lightweight and pupils had only limited experience of classic poems and poems from other cultures and traditions."

Children's experience of poetry also suffered through the "emphasis over recent years on raising standards of basic literacy" and national tests, the report said. Teachers who set boring class work - such as asking pupils to count the lines or list the rhymes in a poem - make poetry "a chore rather than a pleasure".

Personally, I really struggle teaching poetry. I find it really difficult to be inspired by writing poems and would really appreciate any extra training on this subject!!

SATs results annulled

The Daily Mail reports that, rising numbers of high-performing primary schools are having their national test results annulled because they cheated. Some have been found to have doctored pupils' scripts prior to marking. Other breaches include giving candidates more than the allotted time for tests, allowing them unsupervised breaks, and verbal coaching.

In this year's tests, four primaries had all their results cancelled out across the three subjects tested – English, maths and science. A fifth had its results cancelled in one subject. Figures from the exams watchdog, the National Assessment Agency, show it is the highest number of schools to be punished across all subjects since 2001.

Heads said the trend for bending the rules displayed the "extreme pressure" schools were under to meet performance targets. However ministers insisted it was "unacceptable and unnecessary" for any teacher to cheat. Education experts compared the practice to the problem of drug-taking among top class athletes.

A spokesman for Hackney Learning Trust said an internal disciplinary investigation was being conducted on behalf of the governors Mick Brookes, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: "It is deeply sad to see some schools fall into the trap of malpractice. This demonstrates the extreme pressure that some schools and some teachers feel to perform to targets which may not reflect the ability of the children in their midst. We need an assessment system that promotes professional integrity and this one does not."

I thought one of the comments on the Mail's website summed up how I feel about this:

Brilliant! The government spends millions setting up the tests, millions checking the tests and then millions finding that the results don't mean a thing anyway. Let us try getting the setters, checkers and all the others involved TEACHING the children then perhaps standards might go up. I just wish "prudent" Brown and his pathetic ministers would get out so that "proper" people can get on with the job of running the country and teaching and not box-ticking our young.- David, Romford Essex

Whilst I disapprove of cheating, I find it understandable. Schools are under such pressure to show high standards that it's no wonder that some schools bend the rules a little. Like the comment said, SATs seem to be an endless drain on financial resources - money to set the tests, money to check the tests and money to check that the results are right or wrong.

Sing up!

Sing Up is the Music Manifesto's National Programme. The site has tons of information and resources for children, parents and teachers including free lesson plans and advice on how to get started with music in your classroom.

The site's ambition is to make singing central to young children’s lives – in primary schools, the home and the wider community.

Ssssh!

This is an unbelievable story! Just imagine if this happened to your school choir!

First the shopping centre security guard stepped in. Then it was the turn of a police officer.
But it wasn't drunken youths or shoplifters who required their attention. It was a group of enthusiastic carol singers from a local primary school. The children, aged between six and 11, were told they were singing too loudly. Parents and many of the shoppers who had enjoyed the carols were astonished by the intervention.

"They were a small group singing to raise money and they were singing beautifully," said their headmaster Ian Jones yesterday. "After a bit a security guard came over and said we had only meant to be singing for one hour and could we please stop. I just said 'No', because I knew we were allowed to sing between 11am and 3pm. He said he had complaints from tenants that we were too loud. " just asked how he proposed to stop children singing. In the end he said we would have to stop or he would call the police."

The 29 pupils from Ysgol San Sior school, aged between six and 11, had permission to sing at the Victoria Centre in Llandudno, North Wales, last Saturday to raise funds for the school. "I couldn't believe what they were saying," added Mr Jones. "Some of the parents were incredulous. A member of the public came over and said she thought the singing was fantastic."
Then a Police Community Support Officer arrived and shortly afterwards Mr Jones decided he and his pupils should pack up.

Organiser Debbie Ankers, whose nine-year-old daughter was singing, said: "To begin with, I thought it was a joke - it was just ridiculous. They were asking us to leave but we couldn't just leave when we had children there with parents coming later to pick them up."

Sue Nash, manager of the Victoria Centre, admitted last night that security staff should not have intervened. "It was quite loud apparently, and we have had problems with acoustics in the centre whenever we have had live music here," she said. "It was a misunderstanding but it has all been sorted now. Mistakes do happen."

The pupils will be allowed to return to perform their carols at the centre this weekend - and will not be required to sing quietly.

Takeover Day

Today is Takeover Day. This is a scheme run by 11 Million when, for a single day, pupils are invited to take over adults' jobs, either at school or elsewhere.

At Broadwas Primary School in Worcestershire, all 21 staff positions were filled by KS2 pupils. Teachers have prepared easy to deliver lessons which the pupils will conduct. One pupils shadowed the headteacher as she attended meetings and observed a reception class. Pupils also took over support and administrative roles.

Headteacher, Mrs Sandra Logan, said, "It will give pupils an insight into what we do."

Conservatives want every teacher to be scrutinised

In a report in the TES, if the Conservatives came to power they would want every teacher to face a visit from Ofsted in 'lightning inspections' with no prior warning.

Their other education proposals include:

• Replacement of KS1 English assessments with a national reading test for 6-year-olds
• Ofsted will ensure that all schools teach synthetic phonics
• All academic subjects will be taught be ability (presumably this refers to High Schools?)
• 'Credit' and 'debit' rewards schemes used to promote discipline
• Local authorities to divide large failing schools into small schools on the same site.

Fox Howl, Delamere

Today I returned from a Year Three residential visit to Fox Howl Outdoor Education Centre, Delamere. Fox Howl is the perfect place to take the Year Threes - it's not too far from school and it allows the children to try lots of activities that they don't normally try in school.

On Thursday they went on a nature walk, looking for signs of wildlife in the forest. We then tried some orienteering challenges, firstly within the centre, and then one on a larger scale in a safe part of the forest. In the evening we took the children on a night walk and when we returned toasted marshmallows on the bonfire!

On Friday we built dens and then took part in a trekking and trailling activity in the forest.

A brilliant time was had by all!

Christmas Play

Started work on the Christmas play today! This year, our grand production is "The Wizard of Oz".

Using images to stimulate writing

I attended a course today all about using images to stimulate writing. I must admit that I was a little reluctant to go on to the course. I felt at I wouldn't learn anything new.

In the end, though I had some good ideas. As a teacher of Set 2 in Year Six I think that perhaps using images would be a great way to keep the children interested. It is something that I have done before, but after going on the course I wonder whether moving images might be something that could work.

We looked at the film The Monk and the Fish and then a video about how it could be used in the classroom. This could be something that could be used in the Fiction Unit 4, Stories with Flashbacks.

The Times Top 500 State Primary Schools

I have been taking a look at the Times' Top Schools in the country. Not that I am exactly in favour of league tables, it does make us feel proud. There are some impressive results for Cheshire.

4th in the country in the small state primary schools is Duddon St. Peter's C of E Primary School in Tarporley and 6th in the same league is Little Leigh Primary School in Northwich. The highest Cheshire school with over 100 pupils is Prestbury C of E Primary School, Macclesfield.

I am really pleased that at position 253 is Wistaston Junior School. Of course this school no longer exists as we have amalgamated to become Wistaston Church Lane Primary School. But I am very pleased with the result. The top Cheshire state primary schools are:

4 - Duddon St Peter's C of E Primary School, Tarporley

6 - Little Leigh Primary School, Northwich

24 - Smallwood C of E Primary School, Sandbach

64 - Prestbury C of E Primary School, Macclesfield

82 - Black Firs Primary School, Congleton

85 - Davenham C of E Primary School, Northwich

118 - St Luke's RC Primary School, Frodsham Frodsham

138 - Ashdene Primary School, Wilmslow

247 - St Gabriel's RC Primary School, Stoke-on-Trent

253 - Wistaston Junior School, Crewe

335 - Lower Park Primary School, Poynton

337 - Egerton Primary School, Knutsford

343 - Comberbach Primary School, Northwich

422 - St Alban's RC Primary School, Macclesfield

429 - Leighton Primary School, Crewe

476 - Bunbury Aldersey C of E Primary School, Tarporley

508 - Christleton Primary School, Chester

Ice Cream Van Factory Visit

Today we took the children to visit Whitby Morrison Specialist Vehicles in Crewe - aka The Ice Cream Van Factory. Whitby Specialist Vehicles was founded in 1962 by Bryan Whitby as a manufacturer of soft ice cream machinery and one-off custom vehicle bodywork. Today it produces, the manage estimates, 95% of the world's ice cream vans. Every vehicle is custom made to the buyer's requirements and some are shipped as far away as Spain, Italy and Australia!! Just this month the company was voted Business of the Year 2007 by the South Cheshire Chamber of Commerce.

The company are currently trying hard to promote links with schools. This led to our headteacher arranging a visit to the factory.

Now I understand that people might be put off by the risk assessment, but the visit was superb. We saw every stage of the construction process, the way that the graphics are added, and looked at ice cream vans through the ages.

The day ended with an ice cream which the children were allowed to pour themselves from the ice cream van! What a day!

Evacuee Day

Today we arranged an Evacuee Day for our Year Sixes. This was the end to our focus on World War Two.

This has been such a fantastic topic. The children have been so interested in every aspect and it has provided us with a great focus for our English work on journalistic writing and stories with flashbacks.

All the children dressed up as war-time evacuees. The creativity and imagination shown by the children (and parents!) in creating their costumes was astounding and we were so proud of their efforts.

The first activity of the day was to enter the billeting office where we had arranged for TAs to 'pick' the children they wanted to stay with them. This was really good fun! Next, they planned their evacuation suitcases - one for 1940 and once for 2007. Although, of course, the items packed would be completely different, there were similarities, for example, the inclusion of games. We arranged for a war-time evacuee to come in to speak to the children about his experiences and to answer their questions. At lunchtime we had a war-time themed lunch available for the children, with such delicacies as 'Churchill's Corned Beef Hash' and 'Evacuees Macaroni Cheese'. After lunch the children sent a postcard home to their parents and we ended the day by dancing the Jitterbur.

I would highly recommend the idea of an evacuee day to anyone. The children loved it and gained so much from it.

Learn With Dogs

The Learn With Dogs website is a very child-friendly website with lots of advice for caring for dogs and also ideas for fundraising for the Dogs Trust.

Energy Experience

The E.On Experience is a lively, interactive online resource designed to help teach children aged 5-16 about energy. KS2 children can visit Energy Town where they will learn about the different types of energy we use, as well as their advantages and disadvantages, and effects on the world. There is also a free classroom pack which can be ordered free of charge from the site.

Senior Leadership Conference Day Two

Day Two of the Conference has been even better. There has been lots of theory-based ideas, but today's courses were much more practical and I know I will be able to put lots of these into operation in school.

There was a speech from a very inspirational head teacher in the morning.

In the afternoon, I attended a course on New World Leadership which I think we really help me to approach problems and finding solutions more effectively.

Overall the experience was very worthwhile!

Senior Leadership Conference Day One

Today I was at the Cheshire Senior Leadership Conference at Shrigley Hall, near Macclesfield. This is the first time I have been on one of these conferences, but they have been running for about three years.

We began with a speech on motivation from Eilidh Milnes. This was really interesting. I also attended a course on school self-evaluation and action planning which I think will prove to be very helpful. Some good ideas.

Shrigley Hall is an amazing place!

Parents' Evening

It's been a busy few days as we have had our Parents' Evenings. Late nights on Monday and Tuesday and then appointments until 6 tonight have made me very tired!!

I really enjoy parents' evenings as it's good to properly meet the parents of the children. I always find that behaviour and attitudes improve afterwards as well.

Tomorrow I'm off to Shrigley Hall for the Cheshire Senior Leadership Conference!

Teachers find free stuff

More than half of schools are now downloading significant amounts of lesson materials for free from the internet. The trend is noted in a wide-ranging survey of school computer use by the British Educational Suppliers Association.

The poll, which included 798 primary teachers indicates a major change in teachers' use of the web over the past five years.

Nearly all schools have downloaded some free resources since 2002, but the annual survey shows that the proportion of schools downloading a 'significant' amount of free curriculum materials and software now exceeds 50% of primaries.

The report suggest the figures may even under-estimate teachers' reliance on free web materials. The report says that, "It is likely that the subjective definition of 'significant' has changed over time. What was a significant amount of material in 2002 may well be considered to be less significant today."

Primary Review

According to the TES, here are the main findings of the Primary Review:

• No conclusive evidence that testing raises standards. Well dur... Anyone could have told you that!
• No real change in pupils' reading abilities since 1952, despite the £500million National Literacy Strategy. This really makes me angry. That was £500million of our money really well spent then. All the hard work to improve the standards of education has been wasted then, apparently. Did they even have evidence from the 1950s anyway?
• Current assessment regime criticised as 'inadequate', leaving out crucial curriculum areas and offering unreliable information. So once again, the government have ploughed cash into Maths and English and neglected the standards of the foundation subjects.
• Pupils' learning experiences being narrowed by testing. But overall they get a 'good deal' from schools and get on well with their classmates. Dear God, how much money did they spend on this Primary Review? I would happily have pointed this out to them for much less...
• International evidence says primaries have improved over the past 12 years in science and maths, but evidence in English is more patchy.

I just find this Review frustrating. Why can't a review ever pat schools on the back and say 'well done'? I guess this just wouldn't be interesting.

Don't force children to read classics

Parents run the risk of putting children off reading by forcing them to read literary classics.

Anthony Horowitz, author of the Alex Rider books, said, "Reading is not an issue we should keep banging children over the head with. As children, my generation were given the books that our parents read. Now children can discover their own writers. There have never been so many good living young writers."

He was speaking at the launch of the Starbucks Bookdrive, a campaign run in partnershop with the National Literacy Trust to promote reading by encouraging donations to school libraries.

He also suggested that the best way that parents could encourage a child to read was to set aside 15 minutes a day to read to them. "We are all so busy as adults that we tend to forget the inestimable value of spending 15 minutes a day reading with our child. There is no better way to get to know your child than to share their books with them."

A year 6 teacher with the X-Factor?

Not that I really watch this programme (or pantomime, from what I understand) but I thought it was quite interesting that there is a Year Six teacher taking part in the X-Factor.

Beverley Trotman is a Y6 teacher in Icknield Primary in Luton. Linda Crick, headteacher says, "Bev's wonderful and on Saturday we saw the real Bev shine through - the personality and depth and feeling she has. We're missing her terribly, but we're keeping our fingers crossed. All the kids and staff are voting for her. Obviously, it has its problems, especially with Y6 going into SATs, but this is a once in a lifetime chance."

Do it for Year Six, Bev!

Rolls-Royce Science Prize

Applications for the Rolls-Royce Science Prize are currently being accepted. Prizes of up to £5000 are available for schools with the best applications.

There are a range of science activities at the website.

Mentos + Diet Coke = Fountain!!

The "Mentos fountain" is created by dropping soft mints into bottles of Diet Coke. Steve Spangler turned this really cool trick into an internet sensation on Youtube. There is a website where you can find out how to use this in the classroom. Although the resources are aimed at Y7 & 8 I don't plan to let an amazing trick like this slip by without trying it with my class! Also check out Steve Spangler's website.

Concentrate

Another brilliant Dragon's Den and another teaching resource business - only this week's was good! What original designs for products Concentrate had available. I think the bottlecoolerpenholder could really catch on and I'm going to recommend that our school supplies these - I believe that school logos can be printed onto the holders. A practical way to get the children to drink water, concentrate and to remember their pens!!

Books are beneficial

The beneficial effects of bombarding young children with books has been demonstrated at Woodberry Down Community Primary in Finsbury Park, in one of the poorest areas of London. The school was in serious weaknesses in 2003. By 2005 it was on Ofsted's list of outstanding schools.

Last year 4 out of 5 pupils reached level 4 in English, despite the fact that half the pupils do not speak English at home. Greg Wallace, the headteacher, puts the children's success in English down to synthetic phonics and instilling a love of reading. "There are some experiences in life we can only ever get from books. Books help by opening up all these different worlds to children, giving them inspiration and allowing them to meet people who they would never meet in real life."

The school's book budget is £20000 a year and every classroom has its own library.

London

We have just returned from a brilliant few days in London! We went to the capital for a few days this time last year and enjoyed it so much that we thought we'd go again! Apart from a mix up with hotels (very complicated) we had a fantastic time.

We visited: Buckingham Palace, Tragalgar Square (saw the London Games Festival, which was partly presented by Reggie from the Radio 1 Chart Show), Leicester Square (saw Halle Berry), the London Eye (saw Martin Clunes in the queue!), had an excellent cruise on the River Thames, the Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Houses of Parliament, Oxford Street, Museum of Natural History and the Science Museum and much more. I loved the cruise on the River Thames as there was a tour guide who explained so many interesting facts about the buildings and the river. I couldn't convince Lisa to go to the Star Wars Exhibition at the County Hall.

We did so much walking and travelling on the Underground - but I loved it all.

Highlight of the stay was going to see the musical 'Wicked'. Billed as the 'untold story of the witches of Oz' I had absolutely no idea what to expect. But believe me it is brilliant! The music is great and the acting fantastic! It cast a new light on the events of the Wizard of Oz, which, by coincidence is the show our Year 4, 5 and 6 are planning to perform for Christmas this year!

I can't wait til our next visit to London!

Sweet Counter

I have just watched the brilliant Dragon's Den. What a great show! The betting comparison site looked quite interesting at the end. I wasn't too sure about Chris Mayo's Sweet Counter business. Her chances of investment failed for two reasons - she wouldn't stop talking, and because she valued her company at £1million. I'm sure all the people who sell similar teaching resources on Ebay do very well out of it - but I'm not sure about £1million. If I'm wrong then I need to have a rethink about how I spend my spare time and will make a few resources to sell instead!! Here is a discussion on Sweet Counter at TES.

I saw this video and thought it was worth including!

Is your classroom too noisy?

After reading a report in this week's TES, I think that mine might be...

The din of modern classrooms is making primary school children miss as many as one in six words spoken by their teachers.

Chattering children (hopefully not), heating and air conditioning systems (I'm lucky enough to have one of these), humming lights (I have got a light that needs fixing), fish tanks (got two in my classroom!) and computers (I've got a few of these as well) created a 60 decibel background. Oops!

Normal speech is around 50 decibels. Researchers in Canada found that to make 95% or more of their speech intelligible to children, teachers needed to speak at least 15 decibels louder than the background noise.

Some schools are introducing surround sound systems in classrooms to make sure the teachers are heard.

The report includes a link to a website with tips for having a quiet classroom.

High School Transition

Jim Knight, the Schools Minister, has said that schools must focus on managing the transition between primary and secondary level and provide parents with opportunities to learn about their children's education. He said the measures were necessary to prepare current Year 6 pupils for the 14-19 reforms. They will be the first cohort to benefit from the full package of vocational diplomas in 2013.

The paper also features an interview with Andrew Russell, the headteacher of Wyvern Community College in Weston-super-Mare, Somerset. He reorganised his Year 7 curriculum after his staff spent a day in a local primary school.

"I gained a lot from my own day in a Year 6 class. Most of that was similar to what others noted, including the strength and depth of the relationship between the teacher and the class and how that was used as a mini-timeout when the class became restless after an hour of numeracy. I was also amazed at how they managed to stay focused for long periods on different activities. Finally, the amount of independence and 'freedom' to go off to various parts of the school to get on with work was revealing, especially when compared with the relatively little we used to give Year 7s.

"We restructured our school day to reduce the number of teachers seen by pupils in a day and to remove one lesson changeover. We restructuied the curriculum in Year 7 to reduce the number of teachers and lessons. Instead of having separate history, geography, RE and PSHE teachers, we now have just one humanities teacher to cover those four subjects for each class. We also combined English and drama.

"We set up a 'competency'-based curriculum focusing on common skills used across the curriculum and we have planned curriculum enrichment weeks throughout the year.

"In addition, to help make Year 7 feel like a 'school within a school' we gave them their own toilets, locker space and social area for break and lunchtimes. The impact seems to be a smoother transition, with the students feeling very settled far more quickly than we have found in previous years."

Online police station

An online police station is being set up as part of a new drive to protect primary children from increasing apporaches by predatory adults on the internet.

The Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre is urging primary teachers to give more advice to their pupils about internet dangers. The centre believes that online predators are increasingly turning their attentin to primary pupils. Parents are reporting around 10 such incidents every month to its website. A cybercafe is being launched next week to provide advice to children aged 8 to 11. It encourages younger children to first talk to an adult they trust, such as a teacher, and the site's 'virtual police station' can put them in touch with a real police officer.

Once again, the QCA schemes of work need to take some of the blame for this. The schemes don't teach much about the internet at all never mind internet safety. I've said it before and I'll say it again, the ICT schemes of work need to be updated quickly and catch up with the 2007 society and its computer-literate children.

Ofsted's Annual Report

Wouldn't it be great if they said, "Thank you for all your hard work," just once.

Delivering her annual report on the state of education, the head of Ofsted said the worst-performing schools were 'blighting the life chances' of students. Christine Gilbert, however, said it was the poorest children who were most likely to get a raw deal from the education system. The learning gap between rich and poor children showed little sign of closing because too many schools used pupil deprivation as an an 'excuse' for under-achievement, she declared. She also warned that weak mastery-of the three Rs was holding back too many pupils despite almost a decade of Labour initiatives. "It cannot be right that 20 per cent leave primary school without a solid foundation in literacy and numeracy" she said.

Four in ten primaries are judged to be either failing or coasting. Miss Gilbert's report also highlighted these warnings aout primary education:
• boring lessons are fuelling indiscipline;
• too many schools are failing to teach pupils about British values, history and heritage;
• gaps in teachers' subject knowledge is leading to 'mundane' lessons;
• teachers are not putting a strong enough focus on spelling and grammar;

She hailed a rise in the quality of schools since 2005/06 and said behaviour and attendance had also improved. The proportion of schools judged 'outstanding' had risen to 14 per cent, up from 11 per cent last year, she said.

However, Miss Gilbert added there were still too many 'buts'. After inspections at 6,848 state schools she said she remained concerned at the number providing an 'inadequate' education. One in 10 secondaries and one in 20 primaries had been judged to be failing or at risk of failing, the report showed. Though lower than last year, these levels were still 'far too high', said Miss Gilbert. She added: "Even if you have got one failing school, there are children having to go to that school. The blight to their life chances is something that can't be recouped in 10 years' time." The report showed that a further 39 per cent of secondary schools and 34 per cent of primaries were merely 'satisfactory'.

Swearing helps

According to research by the University of East Anglia's Norwich Business School swearing benefits workers. It lets them express feelings such as frustration and it encourages relationships to develop. Professor Yehuda Baruch said, "Our study suggested that, in many cases, taboo language serves the needs of people for developing and maintaining solidarity and as a mechanism to cope with stress. Banning it could backfire. Employees use swearing on a continuous basis but not necessarily in a negative, abusive manner. Swearing is a social phenomenon to reflect solidarity and enhance group cohesiveness or as a psychological phenomenon to release stress."

Basically I think she tried to say, in an over-complicated way, is that swearing really helps us to release stress and get all our frustrations out to allow us to work more effectively.

This got me thinking about how teachers could try to avoid swearing in front of the children. Using bad language is obviously a no no, but what do people say instead. "Shine a light" is a phrase I have uttered when dropping a pile of photocopies, which is really good for avoiding saying a certain four-letter word beginning with S. Does anyone else do this?

They Didn't Teach Me That

Here is a link to a series of Teachers TV programmes which I recommended to a trainee teacher I have working with me at the moment. Titled 'They Didn't Teach Me That', the programmes are all about classroom management, observation, health, form tutor, communicating, voice, classroom environment, time management, induction and marking. Some of them are perhaps not suitable for primary teachers but they all have good advice.

Show.me.uk

Show Me is a new website for KS1 and KS2. It is full of educational games, interactive activies, teaching ideas and resources created by museums and galleries. It will be very useful when planning for History, Science and Art topics in particular.

Tax on school budgets

Schools that are prudent with their finances or saving for big projects would be penalised by the government's plans to impose a 5% levy on schools that hold any surpluses at the end of each financial year, whether or not the money had already been earmarked for specific projects.

Although the levy will not be imposed until 2008-09 it will be backdated to balances at the end of March 2007, raising the prospect that establishments will be asked to pay back money they have already spent.

Eden Camp War Museum

Today we enjoyed a brilliant day out at Eden Camp War Museum, Malton, Yorkshire. If you have never been before it makes a really good day out. The children adore the visit as they are so passionate about our history topic of World War Two. The Museum is full of exciting displays and information boards about life during WW2.

The declaration of war, rationing, evacuation, the Home Guard, ARP Wardens, Air Raids, the Blackout and lots more are really interesting topics covered in the museum. There is a puppet show featuring singers from the period. There are incredible vehicles which the children can explore.

The gift shop is very reasonable and the children love the adventure playground.

It takes us 3 1/2 hours to get there and about the same to get back, so I question the children, staff and volunteers about whether it's worth the journey. The answer is always a resounding "yes".

If you study WW2 then I would recommend Eden Camp for a visit.

Backlash against SATs. Nothing new there then...

Opposition to the KS2 national tests was almost universal amond those interviewed for the interim Primary Review, with only the children having anything good to say about them.

One child said, "Children should be tested to show that they have done well and have been listening."

A report in the TES says that the tests have a dual role. They measure pupils' progress but are also part of an 'accountability framework', giving information to parents and taxpayers about how schools compare. Heads highlighted this accountability aspect (league tables) as the real difficulty.

In our newly amalgamated school, target setting and scrutinising progress is becoming quite a priority. Can anyone tell me why is it that every year the children are given a sub-level (3B, 3A, 4C etc) and then in the SATs they just get a level 3, 4 or 5 and no sub-level. I think this is odd.

The evolution of the English language has beginned...

An interesting report in the Daily Mail describes how the English language is likely to evolve over the next few years. And it will really pain us teachers to see what they think will happen!

Researchers believe many of the irregular verbs that make English such a rich and varied experience are heading for extinction. In future, 'stank' will evolve into 'stinked', 'drove' will become 'drived' and 'slew' will turn into 'slayed', a team of linguists and mathematicians say. And if the simplification becomes really serious, 'begun' could change to 'beginned', 'brought' to 'bringed' and 'fell' to 'falled'.

The prediction comes from the first study of its kind into how irregular verbs have evolved in literature over the last 1,200 years. Around 97 per cent of verbs in English are regular. That means in the past tense they simply take an '-ed' ending – so 'talk' becomes 'talked', and 'jump' becomes 'jumped'.

Irregular verbs, however, do their own thing. Some like 'wed' stay the same in the past tense while others like 'begin' take a different ending to become 'begun'. The study, carried out at Harvard University, found that irregular verbs are under intense pressure to change into regular verbs as language develops.

The team identified 177 irregular verbs used in Old English and tracked their use over the centuries from the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf to the latest Harry Potter novel.
By the 14th century, only 145 were still irregular and by modern times, just 98 remained.
The less commonly used they are, the more they are likely to change, the team reports today in the journal Nature. The scientists predict that 15 of the 98 irregular verbs in the study will have evolved into regular verbs within the next 500 years.

Verbs that they say are very likely to change are: bade to bidded; shed – shedded; slew – slayed; slit – slitted; stung – stinged; wed – wedded.
Verbs that are less likely to change are: broke – breaked; bought – buyed; chose – choosed; drew – drawed; drunk – drinked; ate – eated.

Virtual Learning Platform 2

Today I attended the second part of the Uniservity training. Another useful bit of training delivered by Ben from Uniservity (he heard about my blog post last time so thought I'd give a compliment in case he hears again!)

I think I now understand each of the aspects to the platform. I now plan to spend a bit of time forming the basic structure of the site before I begin to roll it out to staff. Each child has been given an e-portfolio - a bit like a MySpace page, except that we can regulate it in school more easily. I plan to launch this with the children before Christmas - just with Year 6 at first to trial it.

Take a look at the work in progress at our website.

A new primary in every town

The Chancellor has announced some interesting new initiatives in his pre-budget speech.

Every local authority will be given the cash to rebuild or completely renovate one primary school - but will face a whole raft of new targets. Education spending will rise 2.8% above inflation each year taking the budget to £75billion by 2010/11.

He added an extra £450million to the settlement for schools he outlined earlier this year, with an additional £200million to rebuild primaries and £250million to fund personalised learning.

As many predicted would happen under Gordon Brown, targets will be given for exam results, bullying, drug use, drinking and school meals. There are also targets covering toddlers at nursery. By 2011, ministers want 78% of 11-year-olds to achieve the expected standards in English and Maths.

Footee

I remember using the Footee website in my first year of teaching. It really entertained the lads during break times who were determined to build up a good team. I was gutted when it went offline not long after.

Now it's back! You will find the site here. It combines educational games and movies with football. Children collect balls which can be used to buy players for their Footee team. It's definitely worth a go!

1/3 of children leaving primary school are overweight

A third of children leaving primary school in some areas of the country are overweight, the Daily Mail reports. The latest figures are part of a nationwide survey of children's weight commissioned by the Departnent of Health.

Ten primary care trusts have released their results under the Freedom of Information Act. These show that on average a quarter of children are already obese or overweight when they start school at the age of five. In some areas the figure rises to a third by the tiume pupils enter secondary school at 11.

Worryingly, although both figures are up on previous years, experts have warned they could still be underestimating the problem as the parents of heavier children are less likely to agree to have them weighed.

Mapzone

Mapzone is a lively and fun website that helps children learn about the different aspects of map work using interactive games and quizzes. Useful for helping the children to use maps.

Are you smarter than a 10 year old?

I can imagine my Year Sixes loving this brand new TV programme on Sky One. Starting tonight at 6pm, this quiz show shows 10 year old children challenging adults to win a prize of £250000. Presented by Noel Edmonds, it looks like it could be a laugh.

Successful SATs marking appeal

The BBC today reported on a story that both really amused me and terribly annoyed me. A primary school is celebrating after successfully appealing against its Sats results - and getting them reduced.

Teachers at Ash Green Primary in Mixenden, West Yorkshire, knew it was unlikely 98% of the Year 6 pupils would have reaching the expected standard. Even worse, 70% were said to have reached the next level up. Checking the scripts, they saw the problem lay with the marking of writing.

An appeal resulted the scores going down to 83% and 20%. A total of 33 of the 53 pupils had their levels reduced. Acting head teacher Mungo Sheppard said the exam board, Edexcel, had sent the school a £100 re-marking invoice for the 20 results it had not amended. The bill will go unpaid.

"We were really quite angry because the original results made a mockery of our teacher assessment," he said. "We had children who had been given 50 out of 50 for writing. I have never known that in 10 years here." The school had confidence in its internal monitoring system - praised by Ofsted inspectors, who called the school "outstanding". The governors sanctioned an appeal.

Children were told they had done very well and the school was proud of them, but they and their parents were warned about what was happening. The school also alerted the secondary schools to which the 11-year-olds were moving this term, so they did not have unreasonably high expectations of them. And it was mindful that, in the target-setting culture that governs England's schools, it would be in trouble if its results next year and the year after fell back from such a high level.

"You have year-on-year targets and to have had those results, that would be completely unsustainable, would be a nightmare," Mr Sheppard said. "We hope the children will achieve as highly as they can. But to get results you cannot possibly sustain because they are wrong is doing us no favours."

But the case also raises wider concerns for Mr Sheppard, given that it seems likely the examiner concerned would have dealt with scripts from a number of schools - and used the same approach. "It's not certain that other schools have questioned this. You might think that this may be representative of other markers - or maybe there's somebody so off beam the other way and schools are getting results that are rather harsh. You have to question a little bit the quality assurance side of this."

I applaud Mr Sheppard for having the courage to campaign against this. How on earth can schools have faith in the SATs results if they can't be marked properly. I would hate to be an English SATs marker - but surely it cannot be so difficult to do it. 50/50 in the writing test. I think all teachers agree that they would struggle to get that!!

Secondary school run with primary methods

Loreto High in Chorlton, Manchester, is pioneering a systen that blurs the boundaries between primary and secondary. The school has a primary school head and the pupils keep the same class teacher for all their lessons. They have recently employed several primary school teachers.

Pupils in Years 7 and 8 are allocated a personal learning tutor who stays with them at all times. Other teachers visit their form room to 'team teach' specialist lessons. The system ensure that there are two fully trained teachers present in lessons for more than half of the time. In many lessons, the pupil-teacher ratio is about seven to one. In English, maths, science and humanities, pupils two or three lessons a week for each subject taught by both teachers at once, followed by a 'reinforcement' session with only their tutor.

Headteacher, Luke Dillon, said he was excited by the project. "It was a case of 'do something radical or close'. This model convinced the local authority the school had a chance."

Children's TV in a state of decline

I've been saying this for a while - children's TV is nowhere near as good as it was when I was a child. Think back to all the brilliant programmes you watched when you were younger - He-man, Thundercats, MASK, Cities of Gold, Willy Fog & 80 Days Around The World, Count Duckula, Trapdoor, Transformers, Teenage Mutant Hero Turtles, Inspector Gadget, The Real Ghostbusters, Dogtanian & the Three Muskerhounds and Defenders of the Earth to name just a few. I can remember all of these so vividly. Well apparently, Ofcom don't feel that today's children's programmes are very good in comparison.

The Daily Mail reports that youngsters are being fed a diet of imported cartoons and repeats. Shows made in the UK and premiered on a domestic channel account for 1% of the output. Cartoons make up 60% of programming and 83% are made abroad.

Ed Richards, Ofcom's chief executive called for a national debate on tackling the fall in quality. "This comprehensive study highlights the decline in homegrown commercial children's TV production and the revolution in young people's media consumption. Parents are understandably concerned and we now need a national debate on what measure, if any, can or should be taken."