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August Bank Holiday and the end of summer

Wed, 27 Aug 2008 15:50:41 +0100

The August Bank Holiday has always been a funny time of year. Rather than being an ‘extra day’, it seems to have a different significance…signposting the end of the summer holidays!

I don’t think you ever get used to going back at the start of September. The end of the holidays is always a difficult time.

With only a few days to go, it will mainly be taken up with paperwork I have to catch up on and writing training for the INSET days. The holiday appears to be over in all but name.

Having two games of cricket over the Bank Holiday, both of which we won, eased the pain!

SENCo simplicity

Fri, 22 Aug 2008 09:35:30 +0100

I have always been a keen postcard sender, I make a point of taking pre-printed labels with addresses on wherever I go. Really quite organised for me, but it is a method which I routinely stick to.

In return I often receive cards from colleagues and friends from all over the world. One from Emma, the young, inspirational member of my staff, another from a close friend who teaches geography, both from Australia. Another from Croatia, two from France, I could go on.

Paris from an unusual perspective

Wed, 20 Aug 2008 15:08:44 +0100

I have just got back from visiting my friend in Paris. I had kept in touch with Gemma since first meeting her at a conference three years ago; I was presenting some of my research and she was an undergraduate showing delegates round and answering questions. Gemma was extremely helpful at the conference and took a surprising interest in my work. She even lent me her umbrella, as I recall, when it poured down on the last day!

Gemma’s degree involved marketing and languages, spending a year in Germany and then teaching English in France. When she invited me to Paris I welcomed the opportunity to visit the city, which I had only been to once before – very briefly, over 10 years ago. I was keen to explore it again as it had always struck me as a pretty amazing place.

A day with the animals…

Thu, 14 Aug 2008 09:34:05 +0100

I had a lovely day today with some close friends and their two children. The came over to visit me in the lovely Welsh countryside for once (I do seem to impose on them far more than I host) for a look at my completed building work, a very nice pub lunch and – la pièce de résistance – a visit to a working farm nearby!

Katie and David, aged five and three years old, really enjoyed touching the donkeys, chinchillas, lamas, etc. And, I have to admit, so did I!

The afternoon included a really good ‘tractor train-ride’; through several fields with horses, sheep, pigs and some pretty hefty-looking Aberdeen Angus cows!

Bettelheim – all bad?

Tue, 12 Aug 2008 11:20:54 +0100

As the holidays unfold I have found some time to read, which is something I often have to squeeze into the hectic SENCo schedule during term time.

After my fascination with the controversial term ‘refrigerator mothers’. I thought it would be interesting to find out more about the infamous Dr B, by reading Richard Pollak’s biography of Bettelheim*. He really does sum up the brilliance and controversy of his subject’s life and legacy.

SENCo: planning for September

Fri, 8 Aug 2008 10:50:00 +0100

With the summer holidays well underway I have an opportunity for a good mix of work-related activities and enjoyment. Today involved both – a lunch meeting with our Educational Psychologist who is returning after maternity leave.

It was good to catch up and explain all the changes that will be happening from September and, of course, to catch up with some individual cases and specific developments coming up over the last year.

So many changes:

personalisation of the curriculum
development of a ‘nurture group’
school systems changing
not to mention the ever increasing number of students with specific needs.

It was a really productive lunch and a welcome discussion away from the rapid-paced school environment that never seems to give us the time required to truly reflect.

SENCo in France

Wed, 6 Aug 2008 09:35:31 +0100

Many teachers go to foreign places during the summer holidays. I know several colleagues, past and present, who regularly visit France or even have homes there.

My recent French excursion was slightly different; visiting a colleague’s home town of Nantes. I was amazed by the architecture and history associated with the fifth largest city in France (something I have to admit I was ashamed to be unaware of prior to my visit!).

This colleague has been a close friend of mine for the six years I have been a SENCo. I took advantage of her offer for me to visit her home town for a couple of days, between cricket matches and a continuing home-improvement schedule .

Continuing reflections….

Mon, 4 Aug 2008 09:40:11 +0100

As I truly embrace the reflective opportunity the first week of the holiday allows, I consider the great influences on my life.

My first Head of Department, Dawn, who was truly inspirational. A considerate yet powerful colleague, now all but retired, she remains a close confidant. A person of great strength.

She became my colleague when I first started teaching at the age of 21, at a ‘tough’ comprehensive.

‘If it wasn’t bolted down it spent some time in the air,’ I always used to say. Not quite true, but you get the gist!

Reflective learning

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 15:21:24 +0100

Finally, I have some time to reflect. A very busy SENCo year, and a hectic start to the alleged ‘holiday’, but now I have the opportunity to sit back for a while and think.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that being a ‘reflective learner’ is one of the skills comprised in the new Personal Learning and Thinking Skills framework – being able to reflect upon things is a difficult skill. I find it hard myself, so I do think it’s important that we nurture this skill in the young people we are educating.

Holidays…what holidays?

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 09:51:22 +0100

Well then, technically the first week of the holidays; I say technically, as I’ve still been busy!

As I was collecting my paper from the local shop this morning, the lady said: "A bit later for the paper today!" She lives opposite me and knows that I usually leave the house at 06:30 and go straight to the shop for a paper. She seems happy for me that at 08:30 I’ve had a lie in. So am I!

I replied: "The holidays still involve a lot of work for me, its just that I have more say in what I do and when!" She found this amusing…and thinking about it, so did I!