If anyone out there is a whizz with blogs you may be able to help.
I posted a long a detailed piece today an sometime after 6pm, whilst out of the house and way from the computer, it disappeared and cannot find a way of getting it back.
Any ideas?
Wednesday, 23 March 2016
Sunday, 20 March 2016
A day in Poland
Tomorrow I am joining the Chief Rabbi and almost 300 members of the Leeds Jewish community in a visit to Auschwitz.
It is hard to say what I expect to feel as I have no reference point.
I know that this will be different for each member of the party which will include a holocaust survivor, family members of victims and those connected just by their Jewish heritage.
My closest connection is knowing that my grandfather was one of the first British soldiers into Belsen. The experience was so traumatic he would not talk about it. Whilst thinking of the millions of victims I will also think of his generation who worked hard to ensure it could never happen again.
I will share my thoughts during the day to tomorrow, signal and tariffs allowing.
Friday, 18 March 2016
Sport Relief
The Brodetsky pupils will be raising funds for Sport Relief today. In the busy run up to Pesach and SATs we looked for a way that we could do this in a manageable way.
This became 'Come to School in Trainers Day'. The pupils were, as we do every Friday, invited to bring in Tzedokah for the privilege with all the proceeds this week going to Sport Relief.
To get the day started a 'vigorous' assembly was planned. Staff led the pupils in a 'Wake Up - Shake Up' assembly.
What should not be forgotten amongst the fund raising is that daily energetic exercise aids concentration and learning.
Some schools are introducing a daily mile run in their grounds as part of their daily routine. We are not at that point yet but we should explore how we could build such exercise into our school day.
This became 'Come to School in Trainers Day'. The pupils were, as we do every Friday, invited to bring in Tzedokah for the privilege with all the proceeds this week going to Sport Relief.
To get the day started a 'vigorous' assembly was planned. Staff led the pupils in a 'Wake Up - Shake Up' assembly.
What should not be forgotten amongst the fund raising is that daily energetic exercise aids concentration and learning.
Some schools are introducing a daily mile run in their grounds as part of their daily routine. We are not at that point yet but we should explore how we could build such exercise into our school day.
Thursday, 3 March 2016
Boosting School Performance and the lives of our childen.
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.
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, 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.
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