I have included in this post a link to an article produced by The Sutton Trust. It is the result of a detailed evaluation of what strategies have the greatest impact on pupil progress.
Some aspects make difficult reading raising key questions about class size, the role of support staff, ability grouping and of course, homework.
The article itself is not that long as it is just a summation of the research but is worth reading.
The Sutton Trust - Boosting School Performance
Alongside this is the evidence showing the restricted lives many of our children lead. This article may also make interesting reading for some.
Our children are among the unhappiest in the world.
Thursday, 3 March 2016
Thursday, 25 February 2016
Homework - Again
The contentious subject of homework still causes some rumblings. Those who follow this blog will now have a sneak preview of the latest update.
It has been posted on the school website with a link on my consultation blog.
Follow this link to my consultation blog and see what you think.
Consultation Blog
It has been posted on the school website with a link on my consultation blog.
Follow this link to my consultation blog and see what you think.
Consultation Blog
Sunday, 31 January 2016
Internet Safety and On-Line Habits
It is amazing to find through my own children how much of their lives are now on-line. The are both well into their teens and use a variety of social media, streaming services and other on-line facilities.
My eldest has been at the receiving end of unreasonable on-line comments but neither has been the victim of cyber bullying as far as I am aware. As a headteacher I have had to deal with cyber bullying involving pupils/students of both schools. This has almost always happened out of school hours but it is impossible to draw a line when we do not get involved.
Both my sons spend many hours on-line and often have to be told to turn off gadgets and sleep however I cannot be sure that they do not then go back on-line and I have currently not resorted to time limited router activity. I do have Family filters in place for our home internet service and the school has filters in place for access via the campus. I cannot be guaranteed what the security is with service providers they use elsewhere.
In both schools we can see the fatigue evident in pupils and students who are staying up to late and then are less able to function in school properly.
A recent Brodetsky 'Pupil Voice' activity highlighted that our pupils are regularly going on-line when their parents are either asleep or downstairs and believe their children are asleep. The pupils recognise that this makes them tired at school, less able to concentrate and more likely to be told off.
For this reason we are now exploring ways to raise parental awareness of the potential activity their children are involved in, what the risks are (both educationally and socially) and what steps they can take together to improve the quantity and quality of this online access.
To get the ball rolling both schools and The Zone are hosting two workshops offered by the NSPCC and sponsored by O2. The attached fliers give some of the details and we are hoping that all our families access these.
Both are on 11th February. The first is at 4pm and the second starts at 5.30pm. Details are in the 'Events' section of both apps and will be posted on the websites.
My eldest has been at the receiving end of unreasonable on-line comments but neither has been the victim of cyber bullying as far as I am aware. As a headteacher I have had to deal with cyber bullying involving pupils/students of both schools. This has almost always happened out of school hours but it is impossible to draw a line when we do not get involved.
Both my sons spend many hours on-line and often have to be told to turn off gadgets and sleep however I cannot be sure that they do not then go back on-line and I have currently not resorted to time limited router activity. I do have Family filters in place for our home internet service and the school has filters in place for access via the campus. I cannot be guaranteed what the security is with service providers they use elsewhere.
In both schools we can see the fatigue evident in pupils and students who are staying up to late and then are less able to function in school properly.
A recent Brodetsky 'Pupil Voice' activity highlighted that our pupils are regularly going on-line when their parents are either asleep or downstairs and believe their children are asleep. The pupils recognise that this makes them tired at school, less able to concentrate and more likely to be told off.
For this reason we are now exploring ways to raise parental awareness of the potential activity their children are involved in, what the risks are (both educationally and socially) and what steps they can take together to improve the quantity and quality of this online access.
To get the ball rolling both schools and The Zone are hosting two workshops offered by the NSPCC and sponsored by O2. The attached fliers give some of the details and we are hoping that all our families access these.
Both are on 11th February. The first is at 4pm and the second starts at 5.30pm. Details are in the 'Events' section of both apps and will be posted on the websites.
Thursday, 7 January 2016
When events try and overtake you.
As we start a new year, rich with promise and excitement, I should not have been surprised to find that quickly that life would try and push us off course.
Even before we started back changes to Year 6 SATs (2017) were announced (Times Tables and ipads) even before we have finally seen what the this years SATs would finally look like.
The word homework has proved to be an unexpected can of worms and where to put a Scout Hut continues to prove to be contentious.
The months of rain have started to make their mark with leaks appearing in places we could not have expected including down the inside of electrical cable trunking. (don't worry a speedy call to a great electrician quickly solved that problem).
Addressing the flooding in the BJPS Early Years play area, whilst successful so far, resulted in our bins not being collected. You might ask 'How the two are connected?'. The answer is that when drains contractors, trying to avoid the effort of taking away the debris from drain clearance, choose to put it into the large red wheelie bins we hit waste management rules. The bin in question was for recycling waste not for soil and sludge and with the wrong refuse in it collection could not happen. If one bin is not emptied no bins will be emptied.
However underlying all this is the fact that our superb pupils, students and staff have clearly come back raring to go and everyone has had a great first week. Time to keep it going now.
Even before we started back changes to Year 6 SATs (2017) were announced (Times Tables and ipads) even before we have finally seen what the this years SATs would finally look like.
The word homework has proved to be an unexpected can of worms and where to put a Scout Hut continues to prove to be contentious.
The months of rain have started to make their mark with leaks appearing in places we could not have expected including down the inside of electrical cable trunking. (don't worry a speedy call to a great electrician quickly solved that problem).
Addressing the flooding in the BJPS Early Years play area, whilst successful so far, resulted in our bins not being collected. You might ask 'How the two are connected?'. The answer is that when drains contractors, trying to avoid the effort of taking away the debris from drain clearance, choose to put it into the large red wheelie bins we hit waste management rules. The bin in question was for recycling waste not for soil and sludge and with the wrong refuse in it collection could not happen. If one bin is not emptied no bins will be emptied.
However underlying all this is the fact that our superb pupils, students and staff have clearly come back raring to go and everyone has had a great first week. Time to keep it going now.
Wednesday, 23 December 2015
New Signage For The Campus
As promised in my last post the new signs are now in place. Those who view this blog will now have a sneak preview of some of the new signs.
Sunday, 20 December 2015
End of Term - Phew!!
It seems like it has been a very long term, but a highly successful one.
BJPS finished the year with a poetry themed writing week. With the support of The Link (PTA) we brought in a poet to offer workshops to every class culminating in a final assembly with every class performing either a poem they had learned or a poem they had written.
You will also have now received a copy of the new BJPS Homework Policy. We are taking a leap of faith moving homework from compulsory to optional. We are also changing the nature of the homework so that it focuses on core skills and less on research. We know that not all will like this approach as we also know that homework will continue to divide the parents as a whole.
On the BJPS website you will see a copy of the latest school newsletter. It would be great if everyone took the chance to read this and share the many things that we can celebrate.
Going into 2016 schools will start to feel the financial pinch. Cash value school funding has been guaranteed but staffing costs continue to rise as pension contributions increase and our support staff are now to be offered the Living Wage as a minimum. Schools across the country are also being encouraged to consider moving to Academy status as this is soon to be expected to be the norm.
Balanced against this are the ever increasing numbers for both schools. LJFS now has 53 pupils, double its July 2015 roll. Admission applications for 2016 suggest that it will have its first full intake in 2016. BJPS now sees cohorts of 40+ becoming the norm and this will have to be reflected further in our structure as we move towards a natural 1.5 form of entry.
LJFS is consulting on its revised admissions policy for 2017 and will be sharing this in a meeting with the Year 5 parents. The only significant change is that we will no longer prioritise all the cluster schools. Instead Brodetsky, Alwoodley and Allerton C of E schools will have priority over other schools. The full draft policy is available on the LJFS website and feedback on it is sought.
Brodetsky also has its admissions policy open for consultation. This should happen every 7 years as a minimum. There are no significant changes to the policy.
2016 also brings changes to how Year 6 and Year 2 are assessed as they move over to assessment without levels. This was already in place for all other year groups. We do not yet know what the SATs will be like but will ensure that all our pupils are well prepared for it.
Finally we have, at last, commissioned new signage for the campus that reflects the very complex usage. These signs should be in place for the start of the next term. I suspect that the chosen colour will be contentious as it reflects none of the colours used by LJFS, BJPS and The Zone. This was a deliberate choice so that no-one of the organisations is seen to dominate the identity of the campus. I will wait for the feedback to see how contentious the colour is.
The most important thing now is for everyone to have a relaxing holiday and then to return in January for another frenetic term of high activity. I look forward to seeing all the pupils and students back in school ready to work hard.
BJPS finished the year with a poetry themed writing week. With the support of The Link (PTA) we brought in a poet to offer workshops to every class culminating in a final assembly with every class performing either a poem they had learned or a poem they had written.
You will also have now received a copy of the new BJPS Homework Policy. We are taking a leap of faith moving homework from compulsory to optional. We are also changing the nature of the homework so that it focuses on core skills and less on research. We know that not all will like this approach as we also know that homework will continue to divide the parents as a whole.
On the BJPS website you will see a copy of the latest school newsletter. It would be great if everyone took the chance to read this and share the many things that we can celebrate.
Going into 2016 schools will start to feel the financial pinch. Cash value school funding has been guaranteed but staffing costs continue to rise as pension contributions increase and our support staff are now to be offered the Living Wage as a minimum. Schools across the country are also being encouraged to consider moving to Academy status as this is soon to be expected to be the norm.
Balanced against this are the ever increasing numbers for both schools. LJFS now has 53 pupils, double its July 2015 roll. Admission applications for 2016 suggest that it will have its first full intake in 2016. BJPS now sees cohorts of 40+ becoming the norm and this will have to be reflected further in our structure as we move towards a natural 1.5 form of entry.
LJFS is consulting on its revised admissions policy for 2017 and will be sharing this in a meeting with the Year 5 parents. The only significant change is that we will no longer prioritise all the cluster schools. Instead Brodetsky, Alwoodley and Allerton C of E schools will have priority over other schools. The full draft policy is available on the LJFS website and feedback on it is sought.
Brodetsky also has its admissions policy open for consultation. This should happen every 7 years as a minimum. There are no significant changes to the policy.
2016 also brings changes to how Year 6 and Year 2 are assessed as they move over to assessment without levels. This was already in place for all other year groups. We do not yet know what the SATs will be like but will ensure that all our pupils are well prepared for it.
Finally we have, at last, commissioned new signage for the campus that reflects the very complex usage. These signs should be in place for the start of the next term. I suspect that the chosen colour will be contentious as it reflects none of the colours used by LJFS, BJPS and The Zone. This was a deliberate choice so that no-one of the organisations is seen to dominate the identity of the campus. I will wait for the feedback to see how contentious the colour is.
The most important thing now is for everyone to have a relaxing holiday and then to return in January for another frenetic term of high activity. I look forward to seeing all the pupils and students back in school ready to work hard.
Tuesday, 8 December 2015
Channukah at 10 Downing Street
Sometimes the job brings along the unexpected. In this case it was a small envelope with 10 Downing Street printed on the reverse in simple text.
I was off site when the invitation arrived and was notified by email by the school office. I assumed that this was a practical joke being played on me (there is a history of this and a number of staff have threatened revenge).
However it soon became clear that the invitation was genuine.
As a result I travelled up to London (one of the strange rules of grammar is that you travel up to a capital city, even if it is south of you - and having stated this I am sure someone may challenge this view) on Monday morning.
I had assumed those invited would enter through a side door but we were all ushered (after extensive security checks) through the famed door and up the staircase lined with the portraits of every prime minister that has served and left office. Gordon Brown currently stands at the top of the staircase.
All those invited then gathered in two rooms, waiting for the candle lighting to start. This gave a chance for you to mingle which is very difficult when most of the guests were from London and seemed to have come in groups. There were current servicemen/service women as well as veterans. Rabbis, councillors and civic leaders in the group (and one headteacher of course).
I did finally meet up with the only other invitee from Leeds, Simon Jackson, who sits on the JLC and the Leeds Rep Council. He has been the sole Leeds representative in recent years. I was also able to meet the son of one of our Governors, who lives in London. Ivan Green did comment that his son has gained his good looks from his father, I will leave others to judge this statement of fact.
I can heartily recommend London's Kosher Canapés and, despite the fact they come from the other side of the Pennines, The King David Primary School Choir. I am hopeful that the Brodetsky choir might get an invite in the future.
The Prime Minister was unable to join us as he was in Cumbria following the devastating floods. The Home Secretary, Teresa May stood in for him and, with the Chief Rabbi, led the candle lighting. The Chief Rabbi spoke clearly about the need to appreciate what we have and the country we live in. He asked us all to give our thoughts to our servicemen/women who are currently in action in the skies over Syria and Iraq.
I was asked by one of the PM's press officers why there were only three candles. I was able to answer clearly but did tell him he had managed to find probably the only gentile guest in the audience to ask. This did draw a bemused smile.
Finally, as I left the event to get my train back to Leeds, I was able to pause and have my photograph taken in front of that famous door.
Clearly the gentleman taking a selfie had the same idea as me but without someone else to take the photograph.
Let's hope that other representatives of the Leeds Jewish community are invited next year.
I was off site when the invitation arrived and was notified by email by the school office. I assumed that this was a practical joke being played on me (there is a history of this and a number of staff have threatened revenge).
However it soon became clear that the invitation was genuine.
As a result I travelled up to London (one of the strange rules of grammar is that you travel up to a capital city, even if it is south of you - and having stated this I am sure someone may challenge this view) on Monday morning.
I had assumed those invited would enter through a side door but we were all ushered (after extensive security checks) through the famed door and up the staircase lined with the portraits of every prime minister that has served and left office. Gordon Brown currently stands at the top of the staircase.
All those invited then gathered in two rooms, waiting for the candle lighting to start. This gave a chance for you to mingle which is very difficult when most of the guests were from London and seemed to have come in groups. There were current servicemen/service women as well as veterans. Rabbis, councillors and civic leaders in the group (and one headteacher of course).
I did finally meet up with the only other invitee from Leeds, Simon Jackson, who sits on the JLC and the Leeds Rep Council. He has been the sole Leeds representative in recent years. I was also able to meet the son of one of our Governors, who lives in London. Ivan Green did comment that his son has gained his good looks from his father, I will leave others to judge this statement of fact.
I can heartily recommend London's Kosher Canapés and, despite the fact they come from the other side of the Pennines, The King David Primary School Choir. I am hopeful that the Brodetsky choir might get an invite in the future.
The Prime Minister was unable to join us as he was in Cumbria following the devastating floods. The Home Secretary, Teresa May stood in for him and, with the Chief Rabbi, led the candle lighting. The Chief Rabbi spoke clearly about the need to appreciate what we have and the country we live in. He asked us all to give our thoughts to our servicemen/women who are currently in action in the skies over Syria and Iraq.
I was asked by one of the PM's press officers why there were only three candles. I was able to answer clearly but did tell him he had managed to find probably the only gentile guest in the audience to ask. This did draw a bemused smile.
Finally, as I left the event to get my train back to Leeds, I was able to pause and have my photograph taken in front of that famous door.
Clearly the gentleman taking a selfie had the same idea as me but without someone else to take the photograph.
Let's hope that other representatives of the Leeds Jewish community are invited next year.
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