The Government's long-anticipated Special Needs review is now complete. There is great merit in streamlining the process for parents and children with severe special needs - parents shouldn't have to feel that it's a constant battle to get the support their child needs, and yet it often feels like that, I know.It's encouraging that the focus is on improving things for children with SEN(D) - we'd all echo that desire. However, there is clearly a further implication: schools' SEN budgets are going to be cut. With fewer children on our books labelled as SEN(D), we won't need as much money: simples!Even before the General Election of 2010, questions were being asked why this country appears to have such a high proportion of children with SEN - over 20% - compared with other developed countries where the proportion is in single figures. Presumably, either this country is much more sophisticated at identifying special needs, whilst kids in other countries just get missed - or we have slipped into labelling too many kids SEN when they're not. I suspect that the truth lies somewhere in the middle.What irks me (as usual!) is that the poor teachers seem to be getting the blame for the growth in our SEN Registers - we're accused of "poor teaching", and "bumping up the numbers to improve our League Table position" and "inflating the proportion to gain extra funding". All of which is absolute rubbish at TPS.I've always maintained an open mind about some conditions children are labelled with. The most recent one I have encountered is Oppositional Defiance Disorder, which I gather essentially means saying No to everything! My old Mum would have a simpler name for that: 'bolshy'! She frequently accused me of that - still does. It's not the teachers who dish out the labels (or the medication...). When my staff are presented with new children with incredibly demanding needs, they are fantastic at looking how they can best help them learn.We have a superb SEN department who do great work with our most vulnerable students. I just hope that these new proposals don't undermine that excellent work. I fear that they might because it will, as it always does, come down to money in the end.
Oh dear! They're at it again! State school bashing by our Secretary of State and new Chief Inspector. They've been at a conference on the South Coast today and had a right go!Mr Gove praised independent schools and implied that all state schools should strive to be as good as them. I agree with him. I'm glad he's come round to my way of thinking at last!At my interview In 2001, the Governors asked me what I intended to do about the local private schools. I told them then that my intention was that we should offer our kids an education that was at least as good as they could get in a private school. That's been our mantra ever since. And we succeed here at TPS - day in day out.I have a very simple national solution for Mr Gove and Sir Michael: give us a level 'tool box' so that we have the same 'tools' as the private schools, which include:
- The ability to select kids by Test, Interview, Wealth or Stealth...
- and the ability to quietly 'let them go' when they don't 'fit in' later on
- Class sizes considerably smaller than we have
- Fabulous buildings and resources as standard, preferably in acres of gorgeous grounds that I don't have to sell off chunk by chunk to compensate for not having those facilities in the first place
- A much higher level of per-pupil funding
- A political elite that uses the same schools as the rest of us
- An inspection that I can book in and then steer in the direction I wish
- An end to an overweening set of dubious accountability measures
- Children who all have a reading age at least commensurate with their actual age
It's the Year 11 Photograph this morning. In this damnable weather we are dodging torrential downpours to get it done. The students are immaculately dressed and impeccably behaved. There is a family looking around the school, as we take the photo, who cannot help but be impressed that over 250 hulking gurt 16 yr olds from a comprehensive school can act in such a delightful manner. I have always maintained that our kids are the school's best advert - and so they prove, yet again.The examination season is now upon us and the students are under real pressure - I can sense their underlying tension. Thank goodness I managed to get myself 'centred' by a healing trip to Glastonbury this weekend - what an interesting and wacky place. Unfortunately, being an old square with a 'proper job', driving past the entrance to Worthy Farm is the closest I'm ever going to get to doing the actual festival! It's better on the telly anyway - less mud.
I am between shifts at the moment on this, our Y7 Parents Consultation Day. It's lovely to see these bright young, shining faces around the school this evening and it's nice that they brought their kids along too!I reckon in 31 years of teaching I've attended approximately 160+ of these events and seen over 5,150 children and their parents, and I've yet to see it go perfectly! The basic problem is that we try to squeeze so much into so little because time is always our enemy. I have to say, TPS Parents Evenings are way better than many I've attended as a Dad myself - although I was always under strict instructions to 'keep your mouth shut and do NOT let on to ANYONE what you do for a living'! Funnily enough that never stopped me from making every possible attempt to embarrass my children - and usually succeeding...I digress. I know that many parents come away from these evenings with a warm glow about their kids, whilst seething at what they've just experienced. Like me, you must think that there has to be a better way. Well, I'm working on it and, hopefully, next year there'll be a sigificant improvement.As with so many things in life, the world moves on and, although we bemoan the passing of the traditional end of year, hand-crafted, inky school report - they were actually a bit bland and pretty useless. Likewise, I reckon the traditional 'annual cram it into two hours bearpit' has had its day, too. Technology and 24/7 access to information means we need to look again at school reports, parental consultation etc - and harness it.Watch this space and, in the meantime, sharpen those elbows to get your slot in the queue...
I had a great 24 hours at the end of last term: on the Friday night I watched the Rock Challenge 2011 team gain the award from Life In Petersfield Magazine for 'Arts Event of the Year'. That was a terrific and well deserved accolade. We also performed beautifully (that's a rather loose 'we' since I would not have shown the requisite terpsichorean grace had I actually taken to the stage myself - just picture Eric Pickles dancing - you'll get the idea..)On the Saturday afternoon I joined members of the Rock Challenge 2012 team in bag packing at Petersfield Waitrose, to help raise funds for their performance at this year's competition. We had a fabulous time. The volunteer students were such a credit to the school and I met so many people including some real 'blasts from the past'! Apparently we raised upwards of £1600 on the day - marvellous.Tonight we showcase our new Rock Challenge piece, "El Sistema", at Portsmouth Guildhall. Because we're the reigning champions, we don't have to fight our way out of the heats this year, so tonight is our first tilt before the Grand Final later this season. I'm going to sneak into the Guildhall later this evening to have a look at our performance. I had a sneak preview at yesterday's dress rehearsal and then gave my customary pep talk which I know makes all the difference to their performance...I have to say that I think this year's piece is another absolute cracker - watch this space.And for the unititiated amongst you who wonder just what is all this fuss about - our students take this incredibly seriously - for many of them it is the highlight of their year and you can tell that, for the year 11s taking part, it's definitely their swansong and it means everything to them - and boy - are they superb!So come on TPS - let's do it again!
Not sure how much longer I can drag these avian-themed blog titles on for....These are the times I love school: it's 5.30 on a Friday afternoon and there's no kids here! Last blog of the term (although my duties are not yet at an end - Life in Petersfield Awards tonight, Waitrose bag packing tomorrow).We've copped a little flak this week from a few parents over our approach to lost property. I tell you, dear readers- you would have wept to see the amount of stuff we laid out for students to reclaim - including a coat and handbag which I'm told go for a hundred quid in the shops! Most of it was more manky - including a collectors' item Rock Challenge T Shirt from 2005 - that's how long we've held onto it in the forlorn hope someone might reclaim it. Needless to say, the remainder has now gone off to clothes banks. Frankly I'm appalled at the sheer wastefulness of our kids. I blame our throwaway culture and the easy availability of cheap clothes from certain well-known retailers - and lazy kids, of course...Speaking of clothes: I've had enough! We're already seeing ridiculously short skirts from so many girls in the hot weather. When asked why they do it, one girl apparently told her Form Teacher: 'school's the only place where we can get away with it'! Well no longer. I have tasked my senior female staff to source a TPS school skirt. (Hopefully at least ankle length with accompanying bustle). The TPS skirt will be all that September's Y7 will be allowed to wear. Girls in other years who persist in wearing too short skirts will then also be 'encouraged' to buy the new school skirt. That's it - no deviation from this. Enough is enough.Eddie update: still no seagulls but apparently a sparrowhawk and at least four buzzards seem to have taken a liking to him ...
Eddie Update:Eddie the Eagle (who is actually a hawk) is now soaring majestically above the school and we have been seagull-free for the past 4 days - so it works. I consider that 140 quid well spent!Another busy week last week, including important meetings with local headteachers, the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme Evening and rounded off by the ASCL conference in Birmingham over the weekend.TPS hosted the East Hants Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme Presentation Evening last Wednesday night. All medal winners from the region were invited to pick up their certificates and so we had invitees from 20 different organisations including state and private schools, as well as local scout groups. It was great to see so many current and ex-TPS (over 40) students step up to collect their awards . My thanks to Mr Bourton and Mrs Dibble for their excellent organisation. Congratulations to all the Award winners and well done to all the current TPS students who managed the evening, particularly Lucy and Andew who hosted the event with great skill.I rounded the week off by attending the ASCL conference in Birmingham on the Saturday - even the Bullring looked attractive in that sunshine! I was able to listen to the Secretary of State make his impassioned speech for further reform, as well as the ASCL General Secretary's impassioned response to the welter of unwarranted media criticism of schools - often by people who should know better. Let's hope Mr Gove does take note and reins in his team, who occasionally tar all schools with the same brush.Don't forget to follow us on Twitter on @TPSPetersfield
I enjoyed judging the final of the Inter-House Arts Competition. There were some terrific individual entries which reflected genuine talent - particularly in painting & drawing. There were also the more quirky entries which captured all the judges' imaginations, resulting in our first-ever tie for top spot. So congratulations to Joseph for their terrific Smurf Song and to Redgrave for their dramatic reconstruction of the battle between Harry Potter and Voldemort using only spoons as actors - I'm sure your House 'sponsors', Vanessa Redgrave and Julian Joseph would have been truly moved by these amazing performances!We are currently giggling (unfairly) at our own forlorn attempt to scare away the increasingly fearless seagulls which descend upon us , often leaving little thank you messages on our clothes, after every break and lunchtime. He is Eddie, our very own TPS eagle. Apparently it's a very successful method used at Gunwharf Quays, for example. Eddie was established about ten minutes ago and already he's got trapped in a tree. I fear he's not very scary at all...I love this job!
Wearing two hats, I had a terrific evening at the Opening of the My 2012 Art Exhibition at Treloars College the other evening. Schools in the East Hampshire Education Improvement Partnership were invited to display artwork commissioned for the Cultural Olympiad of the EIP. Many of our local schools, including TPS, rose to the challenge by creating some fantastic work including wall hangings, drawings, sculpture, T Shirts etc.At the exhibition you can also see the original Olympic Torch from the previous London Games, which is usually displayed at Winchester College. Quite moving to have a hold (as I managed) of it, even for a dreadful couch potato like me.I also got to meet some of Treloars' wonderful students and staff including a GB Paralympics coach and a student who hopes to be selected for the London games. The College, which also now houses Treloars School, is a truly inspiring place doing great work. They put on great food, too!My thanks to Mr Leeson who helped set the exhibition up and to Mr Woods for masterminding it. who needs Danny Boyle anyway!
We're on Twitter now! Follow us and get updates via our Twitter feed @TPSPetersfield...On Monday evening we held our first Revision Session for Grown Ups, when we invited parents of current Y11s in to pick up some easily applicable revision techniques to support their children. It was done in a light-hearted, informal way and seems to have been very well received. We had great feedback such as "Fantastic evening " & "I want to bump my kid off the exam and take it myself now!." I had the demanding task of ringing the bell. My thanks to all our terrific staff who turned out - and to the 52 parents who put themselves through this ordeal. I hope that even more parents will take up the challenge the next time that we offer something like this.I spent yesterday chairing a conference for the East Hampshire Education Improvement Partnership in Alton. TPS made an excellent contribution with great presentations by Mr Woods who is leading our excting Olympics project and Mr Lodge, who reported back on our excellent work with the Kings Arms. Mr Lodge had two 'secret weapons': Alex and Rachel - students who had written speeches and presented them to a large audience of adults - well done to them, especially.And well done to Glynn V, Elliott V and Michael H who have just delivered an ASDAN presentation to me. I was very impressed. (ASDAN, by the way, is not the Lion from the Narnia stories, but an excellent lifeskills course run by the ALC...)OK, off to an evening Exhibition of Art at Treloars College as part of the Cultural Olypmpics and thence to press my skinny jeans and get my quilted jacket (what is that all about!) ready for tomorrow's Non-Uniform Day....I am just such a dude.
I was so busy last week that I failed to blog. On Monday, Tuesday and Friday I was heavily involved in interviewing new staff. We held interviews for Science, Special Needs and Geography. Spring and early summer terms are usually particularly pressured in schools because this is when we tend to recruit our new teachers.Teacher recruitment is quite different from most walks of life - after 31 years I still haven't worked out if it's a work of genius or a very strange way of doing things! Whichever, we seem to be stuck with it. We see all the candidates, do all the interviews and make an offer on the day, in person. It gets it done but it is rather frenetic. We are also, of course, hamstrung by what we're allowed to ask: for example we're not allowed to ask people's age on application forms, yet they're expected to put their O-Levels/GCSEs on the form with the date they took them. Doesn't take a genius to work out they were probably 16 in that year. Not that age matters, of course.Interesting too, that the Pupil Panels we often employ as part of the process (and whose views we take seriously) usually select the same candidates as the formal interview panels - albeit that their opinions can occasionally be swayed by a candidate's deceptive good looks - a cross I've had to bear personally throughout my own career.Anyway, suffice it to say that we did well last week and managed to appoint talented, highly-qualified people who will make a terrific impact when they take up their posts - and I even managed to throw in a Mathematician for good measure, which was a nice bonus, because they are incredibly hard to find.
Having seen the mighty Whites get absolutely mugged by those cash-rich southern softies the previous evening, I was in need of a fillip on the Sunday. Speaking of football (which only one side was playing at Elland Rd) - congratulations to our Y8s who won an important cup-tie on Friday afternoon 4-3 in a penalty shoot-out.I got my own morale boost when I drove over to TPS on the Sunday morning, through the driving rain, to see if the Young Farmers had actually turned out in such horrendous conditions to work on the allotment. They had - and in great numbers. I was staggered and humbled to find intrepid, drenched children and adults digging, hammering, wheeling, raking, tree planting and sowing in the dreadful weather (in the midst of our Hampshire drought, mark you!)I cannot express highly enough my admiration for all those who came and gave their time up on Sunday morning - absolute troupers one and all, ably led by Dr Archibald, who had arranged the session. Thank you to all of you!
Have you ever been to Neasden? There's three important landmarks: Ikea, Wembley and the amazing Hindu Temple. I was lucky to be invited on the RE department's trip there yesterday (the Temple - not Ikea). Two coachloads of Y9 & Y10 TPS students attended as a supplement to their study of Hinduism.They were superbly led by Miss Freeborn, whom I thank for organising it and trusting me to be their token male on the coach. It almost goes without saying these days, but our students were an absolute delight: immaculately behaved, polite, patient and good company.What an amazing place the Temple is. It's so incongruous to find this exotic piece of India in the middle of a slightly grotty part of North London. We attended a presentation and a prayer ceremony; alongside other school groups and visiting Hindu worshippers. The staff at the Temple are a delightful group of people who were incredibly helpful.It was equally fascinating to watch our kids' reactions- from the ones really gripped, to those wondering what they had let themselves in for! And I sat on the floor, shoeless, unlike some of my younger colleagues - I did struggle to get back up, however...This sort of, albeit brief, exposure to another culture and faith is particularly important in a small town like Petersfield. For some of our kids, they may never encounter anything like this again, but they now have a better understanding of another way of living and worshipping. That can only be a good thing.Once I had pointed out Wembley stadium to the Pompey fans on the bus and encouraged them to look forward to the Johnstons Paint Trophy & FA Vase in future, it was back on the bus and time for my Principal's 'power nap' . It's a tough job some days....
Hello again. Normal blog service is renewed following half-term break.We have all returned to be confronted by hoardings on the school field, signalling Tesco's long-overdue expansion of their store - which was a part of the original plan when we gained permission to build the artificial pitch. I'm told they will be finished in time for Christmas shopping...In the meantime we have to live with the inconvenience. There is still a 'Tesco Path & Gate' and will still be once they've fully finished. Students should still exit school that way because it is infinitely safer than walking down Cranford Road. We'll then have to assess the full implications for what sports we can play on the lower field in future. We can't really complain - we knew it was inevitable. I'd just privately hoped that the powers that be at Tesco Towers might have forgotten about us!Being a hopless old romantic, I went to see a brilliant production of 'Romeo and Juliet' on Valentine's Day. It's at the Yvonne Arnaud Theatre in Guildford this week - well worth a visit even for those of you not normally grabbed by the Bard.
To The STUDIO last night to support the Y10 GCSE Drama students, who were showcasing their work thus far. They were performing "Two" - a challenging play set in a back-street Yorkshire pub. This really is the Drama department's equivalent to opening up a student's exercise book - not a full-blown school show - so the performers reflect all the students who opted for Drama. It was great to see so many different children working together on stage - from the seasoned 'pros' who moonlight in local amateur and professional theatres - to those for whom doing even this is a major achievement. Everyone did really well but I particuarly enjoyed the performances of Lucy, Ross, Layla, Edward and Tallulah. My thanks to the Drama Department for their work.I'm often asked by parents: but why do they always do such depressing stuff? I know what they mean: my own son did "Equus" for his GCSE performance which features nudity, naughties and horse blinding! I was greatly amused to go through his lines with him - to see all the crossings out his conscientious teacher had made - once she'd cut out all those shenanigans, it didn't leave poor Tom with much to say or do, frankly!Drama teachers do take these responsibilities very seriously and there is a place for exploring the darker sides of life - in a secure, caring context. Teenagers are often very serious, intense young people, but they're also able to separate the play from 'real life'. However it does tend to make for evenings of relentless, unremitting doom and gloom when you watch your kids do GCSE Drama, I'm afraid! Trust me - I've had years of it as a teacher and a parent!On a lighter note, it's great to see our Junior Leadership Group dishing out plenty of Valentine's Roses today (& dodging the odd snowball!) as part of our charity fundraising. Mystifyingly, I seem to have been missed out, yet again...Have a good half-term.
A busy day yesterday for Y11. It was 'Mock Interview' day, when we offer our students the opportunity to experience a simulation of going for a job interview, complete with compiling a CV beforehand and wearing interview clothes for the day. It's always interesting to see what the current generation considers 'workplace dress"!I have to say, many of them looked terrifically smart and clearly made a good impression. A range of employers offer their services, take over our offices and then give each youngster a thorough going over . It's an invaluable life lesson. I hear one young chap was stunned to be turned away from his interview because he meandered over 10 minutes late - good - a lesson learned, one hopes!I'm very grateful to our friends for coming in and taking the exercise very seriously. I was mightily impressed to 'earwig' on two interviewers working on their feedback for one young TPS 'victim' - it was really constructive, high-order material and a world away from the patronising, trite stuff many of my generation got at school. (My Careers Master suggested that I join the Diplomatic Service! As the kids say: "yeah right..")Prizes and awards are subsequently made to the 'best' candidates and it is always rewarding to see that these plaudits are not the preserve of the super-confident, uber-swotty high flyers. (You can see why I was never going to be right for the Diplomatic Service...)My thanks to all the contributors to the day and especially to Mrs Asbridge, our brilliant Careers and Vocational Education Co-ordinator, who organised it. In recent Parents' Surveys, Careers Education was one of the few aspects of our work that parents wished to see improve: because of Mrs Asbridge's excellent work, it certainly has.
An interesting week. The national media focused on the culling of many vocational courses. We pride ourselves on the brilliant curriculum we offer to our students. It caters for every interest and strikes an excellent balance between the traditonal academic subjects and more practical courses available here and though our terrific 14-19 Consortium. Mr McDougall is a curriculum genius in the way he offers so much choice to our lucky students.A lot of media interest featured a dig at the horse care, fisheries and nail technology courses in a very sneery manner, I thought. We have offered students courses in Equine Care, Animal Husbandry and Hair & Beauty for several years. They are popular and definitely fill a need - especially in a semi-rural area like ours. Girls who have taken the Hair & Beauty course frequently get jobs or long-lasting links with local salons as a consequence. Many of the students on the 'country' courses go on to Agricultural Colleges and thence to meaningful work.The mistake made was never the schools' fault - it was the Exam Boards who created them and made grandiose claims for their relative 'weight' i.e. how many GCSEs they equalled - and went completely overboard. We were recently offering a terrifc course here which the supervising exam board at one point said was worth 7 GCSEs!! Seven! That was clearly ridiculous, but the course itself is not - it motivates, captures interest and teaches relevant skills.This is what is so galling about the Government and media focus. At TPS we offer these courses as a genuine part of a balanced currlculum - not to gain dubious benefit in the league tables - we've never needed these results to bolster our position.Some of these courses, thank goodness, are not to be lost altogether, just rebalanced in terms of being only worth one GCSE, which makes sense. However, there's a real snobbery in the air when Latin and Biblical Hebrew is promoted as part of an English Baccalaureate, whilst downgrading courses that might actually lead to real jobs for real young people....Hmmm...
Firstly: a big thank you to Hugh Bonneville for giving us such a lovely plug in this month's Reader's Digest, where there's a great picture of Hugh with Joel and Abi Knee. We can now rest easy knowing that dental patients across the land will read of our exploits for many years to come!It's League Table time - an annual media-fest when everyone from politicians to journalists becomes an expert and comments on the dreaded school league tables. I pored over them myself yesterday - with the expert help of Mr McDougall - he loves nothing more than a juicy chart to analyse & convert into pretty colours on an Excel spreadsheet.Frankly, the Tables are interesting to we 'insiders' but goodness knows how any parent makes sense of the welter of stuff the Government churns out. In fact, they're a five minute wonder to schools like TPS. We look at how we're doing; we can't help sneaking a peek at how our neighbours are doing, then we go back to the real job in hand - actually educating our kids well.Since we have League Tables, I have likened TPS to a mythical football club - since 2001 we have been promoted to the Premiership, the crowds have gone up significantly; we consolidated our place in the top division and are now regular Europa League standard - and nibbling away at those Champions League places. We also have made ourselves known for our excellent Rock Challenge cup runs, including winning it a few times. We even have scouts come from Hampshire's Champions League schools to watch us in training to see how we're doing it. In fact, the more I think about it, Mr McDougall and I are the Peter Taylor & Brian Clough of school management! (Without the loud suits, drinking and cigars, obviously...)
Can you hear me ok? I've lost my voice and I blame Dr Archibald and her Y7 Science class. They were 'doing Sound' and wanted to know how loud I could shout, so I went to the Science Labs and gave it a good go. By my third and final attempt I'd reached 117 decibels - of which I was quite proud. This could catch on and become our own version of Top Gear's "Star in a Car" feature. However, the kids quickly pointed out that I'd be down the leaderboard already - Dr A had managed a staggering 128dbs - although, as the kids said, she did "scream like a girl!"It's ironic that we were actually trying to make noise - TPS seems so quiet these days. I met a prospective parent on Monday whose child is in a very small, select school at the moment - the lady was completely amazed at how quiet we seemed , given that our school is over five times larger... I'm very proud of our calm, orderly atmosphere - it's testament to the excellent behaviour of the students and the fact that they're all absorbed fully in their work by our terrific teachers!It's been a day for praise. I've just said Well Done to a succession of very nervous-looking Y7 students who came to my office to get their 50 Merit Certificates. They have done brilliantly and so congratulations to: Mia, Beth, Allanah, Ben, Polly, Sophie, Zoe, Elizabeth, Kit, Phoebe, Rosella and Chloe. So polite, too... Keep it up!Also Well Done to: Kingsley and Mirren House for their joint charity fundraising for Help for Heroes: £500,and to Bourne House for raising £540 for the Wessex Children's Hospice. That's an awful lot of cakes sold!Right, I'm off to find some kids to shout at - I obviously need to practice...
TPS is in the enviable positon of not waiting for the dreaded call from Ofsted to say they are coming - as an Oustanding School/Academy we will be subject to what is known as a 'desk audit', whereby an Inspector will gauge our current situation from looking at a range of data such as our exam results, attendance records, any adverse comments on the parents' website etc. This doesn't mean that we will never see an Inspector again - we will still expect them to visit individual subject departments, for example.I only mention this because the big changes in Inspection and elsewhere are now beginning to 'kick in' : from today we can give any child a detention after school without giving parents 24 hours notice. At the moment we often give way more notice than 24 hrs (and still many children claim they know nothing about the detention - strange that! ), and I have advised teachers to stick to that policy. However, everyone knows that a punishment linked as closely to the crime as possible is more effective and, in very occasional circumstances we might say " right: you need to stay behind today". If we do this, we will make every effort to contact parents to let them know.The new 'Big Cheese' also started at Ofsted last week - a man who has run one of the most successful schools in inner London, and who has the highest standards and expectations - which can only be good for us all. One of his first pronouncements was that inspectors should comment on teachers' dress as well as their teaching...I have already warned the staff to abandon their Primani for Armani or we shall no longer deserve our Outstanding status!
A slightly different blog today: I learnt rather belatedly of the death of Miss Margaret Chandler before Christmas. She was a founding teacher at TPS, having started here when the Secondary School opened on this site in 1958. I think she taught what would have been known then as Domestic Science.By coincidence our paths crossed for a few years when we went to the same church. She must have been in her 80s then. She lived alone but remained an intrepid traveller and managed to rope my entire family into helping at Romsey's Blind Club, where she ran things highly efficiently. She'd had a varied life in teaching and then in the Prison service here and abroad. She was clearly a hugely talented person who belied her appearance in later life as just another little old lady in church!I was delighted to bring her over to the TPS Golden Jubilee in 2008 when we got together the class of 1958 for the day with the surviving teachers we could track down - it was a lovely day and the tree we planted still survives despite its proximity to the football trainers' car park!In an era when the concept of working in the public services seems to be routinely 'dissed' , we should think of the people like Margaret, who dedicated their entire lives to helping others for far less reward than us, and be thankful for their service - however scary she might have been as a teacher here in 1958!
Happy New Year and especially to my South Korean reader! I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas and is looking forward to an exciting 2012. I certainly am: it's going to be a cracker.There are so many exciting events and projects planned for this year that I have no doubt it will be a highly successful one for everyone associated with TPS. Not least is the impact of Olympic 'fever'. TPS has been leading the way in deriving much curricular and extra-curricular benefit from the Olympics and our programme of events is very exciting - as is the progression of the Olympic Torch through Petersfield.We've already had some (unwelcome) excitement this week with the arrival of the Air Ambulance Helicopter. A student had a severe allergic reaction because someone had unwittingly set her off by unwrapping an innoccous Snickers bar nearby. Thanks to the excellent work of our wonderful school nurse, Beki Dunn, the affected student was quickly stabilised and then air-lifted to hospital for a little extra help. She's fine now, but it does throw into sharp relief the issue of allergies. We currently have 12 students in school who are prone to severe allergic reactions and we need to be very mindful of what can prompt them. We do remind kids to be careful - nuts and aerosols are the worst for sending children into anaphylactic shock and we need to remain constantly vigilant.Incidentally, our last non-uniform half-day - at the end of last term, raised over £500 and I thought it appropriate at the time to allocate the proceeeds to a local Bereavement Counselling Charity which can specifically offer tailored help to young people and a Mental Health charity for Teens...
I've been preoccupied with issues surrounding technology since I got myself an Ipad and began Tweeting! Indulge me:Yesterday I saw the most peculiar and disturbing sight whilst at my local hostelry availing myself of its excellent Sunday lunch. A very well dressed family of Ma & Pa plus 3 children were sat nearby. During the course of an hour, nary a word was spoke amongst them whilst all children played on individual Nintendos and adults read newspapers in silence. This can't be right. It certainly doesn't stimulate conversation and foster relationships. As usual my abiding thought was: "and some poor teacher's got to teach those 3 tomorrow..."Meantime we teachers spend wasted hours attempting to decipher the lurid and oftentimes appalling things that kids say about each other on Facebook. This is such a minefield, because a lot of this is done from the comforts of bedrooms late at night and really should be parents' concern - not ours - although increasingly kids are insulting each other by daytime messaging on smartphones.It's a difficult one and is only going to get more complex after Christmas, no doubt, when Santa brings more tablets and smartphones.We are wrestling with this, like every other school, but we don't have an answer yet.I do know I don't want a future where kids are glued to screens not talking or being talked to, nor do I think it a teacher's job to police Facebook...Happy days!
We had a great night last Wednesday with our Annual Prizegiving Evening. We took the radical step of moving the ceremony down to the Festival Hall and it seemed to work really well: it was more spacious, the sightlines were better and the parking easier. We'll do it again next year.Our Guest of Honour was actor Hugh Bonneville, currently starring in the immensely popular "Downton Abbey". He was a terrific guest with an entertaining speech and very generous with his time before and after the ceremony. He also then Tweeted some very nice things about us and even took the time to go online and watch our World Champion Rock Challenge presentation. I cannot thank him enough - he's obviously much in demand and it was really decent of him to keep this date free for us.It was an absolute delight to see so many of our returning students. They were such a lovely, courteous bunch - something which Hugh B commented upon. There were stories of great achievement and great courage amongst the students who returned - everyone one of them a 'world champ' in their own right.My thanks to everyone who made the event 'work', especially my indefatigable PA, Mrs Harvey.My perennial problem is always to secure the next Guest of Honour ...if any of my many readers has any connection however tenuous to someone who would make a good guest, please let me know if you are prepared to shamelessly exploit that connection for the sake of our current Y11s!
I promised them a mention: last Thursday I had the great pleasure to fulfill one of my many duties - as President of The TPS Young Farmers Club. This is a very serious affair as the protocols have to be followed to the letter. Thus we had reports on the YFC at Open Morning and on their visit to the New Forest Show, then elections of new Officers and votes of thanks to the person who really makes it all happen: Dr Archibald.Considering my minimal contribution to the YFC this year, I was fortunate to be re-elected unopposed as President for another year. I promise to do better and put those wellies you painted for me to better use. I did take them to the Cornbury Rock Festival last summer but the sun shone non-stop so they stayed forlornly in the boot of my car.The YFC is a great club for our students who've had some brilliant experiences out of it including sausage making, turkey plucking and more...Thank you to Dr A for all her efforts and well doen to all the members of TPS YFC
This is the most tremendous news: TPS has been awarded the Raw World Rock Challenge Prize! (Raw means without a stage set)This means that little old TPS in 'sleepy' Petersfield has seen off every other school across the world from Adelaide to Belfast to Portsmouth, Sydney and Yokohama to become the actual global winners of the Global Rock Challenge. What an amazing achievement. Well done to everyone involved , especially Miss Baker and Miss Hunnam - the masterminds behind it all. We won the International Choreography Award, too.In case you didn't see it - you can catch "Through The Eyes of a Child" via our school website. It is a most moving dance/drama interpretation of "The Boy in The Striped Pyjamas". I have a DVD copy which I show proudly to everyone who visits my home - no matter how sceptical they may be about me showing off home movies of my school, they end up in stunned silence - so powerful is this performance. I still can't watch it without crying!Our new School Aim is "to become a World Class Academy" - well we've certainly gone global in this respect.I am so proud of all those involved in this enterprise. Just looking forward to going to collect the award in person in Australia ( the home of Rock Challenge) in the near future...
I apologise to my loyal reader for the recent blog silence - I've been off on my travels during the past week. I have been to so many meetings & conferences that they are beginning to blur into one.Amongst the highlights have been:A meeting of the splendid 'PISH' (Petersfield Independent/State School Headteachers). Between us, TPS, Bedales, Churchers & Ditcham probably educate close to 3000 young people in this area - a powerful number. We initially came together a few years ago over a joint concern that not enough action was being taken to combat drug issues in the town - and as a combined group we had some success. So we now talk about items of mutual interest to our youngsters and attempt to plan joint ventures. It's really a sign of how far we've come that we meet on equal terms in an atmosphere of mutual respect. Long may it continue. ( And yes, I did invent the name - couldn't resist it!)I then took our TPS senior staff out on an important planning day - leaving a slightly nervous Mr Clewley in charge of the school. We needed the day to work on our new Academy Development Plan which we shall publish in January. It's looking really exciting, with some very demanding targets and should help every single child to excel over the next few years. I was also pleased to come in the next day to find that Mr Clewley hadn't broken the school while I was away....Yesterday I was at a national conference of the Association of School & College Leaders, getting vital updates on the latest Government initiatives, the pensions negotiations and the new Ofsted Inspection process. I liked the new nickname for all the latest Government education statistics: "Gove Compare". Lots (too many) of new Government plans - not all of which suggest themselves as surefire winners up and down the land, I suspect. Never mind.So it's a delight to be back in school seeing our students and staff working so brilliantly together. However, these events do often keep me away from 'Poole Towers' in the evening and, in the words of the immortal Cliff, these Miss You Nights are the longest...
I had one of those 'surprise' evenings last night. I attended the Y10 Creative & Media Diploma students' exhibition in The STUDIO. The students had designed and made chairs which symbolised something or told their own story. We had cupcake chairs, a TOWIE chair, a time machine, a festival chair and many more. The students had to present to the visitors and they were superb: passionate, articulate and confident.Ironically it's this sort of course which has come under severe scrutiny by the 'powers that be' and yet this was clearly evidence of young people learning transferable 21st century work skills and being hugely motivated by it. A lesson to be learned, Minister... Fortunately, as an Academy, we can protect our outstanding curriculum, which provides a sensible balance between 'traditional' and 'modern' subjects & courses.There are random children wandering around in silver moustaches today - the great thing about TPS is that none of us bat an eyelid! Apparently it's Movember and we chaps are exhorted to grow a 'tache. The last time I grew one was in Leeds in 1977 and it looked like a ginger Chris Kamara job, so I don't think I will inflict one on everybody this time round...It's actually very difficult to meet all the requests for 'Days' or months - if we did, we'd probably never get any work done, so we have to be very selective. This year, for example, we're not going overboard on Children in Need day. However, I have a helpful calendar which tells me all the significant dates and I may find it hard to resist the upcoming 'day' on Nov 19th, which is "World Toilet Day"...I'll certainly be looking into that!NC Poole
Interesting half-term. I visited a world-renowned financial institution in the City on the Tuesday - weaving my way through the (empty?!) protesters' tents to gain access. For a man who thinks he's lucky to get a free sarnie on Parents Evenings it was quite an eye-opener looking at their set up - including the capacious free non-stop buffet available for employees - needless to say I filled my pockets with biccies (old habits die hard..). There is a point to this ramble...In the week before half-term I had the pleasure to observe three of TPS's most recently qualified teachers - all in only their second year of teaching. They were amazing! The skill, knowledge and preparation they put into those lessons was terrific and I know that they do this not just when I descend on them - but every day. Our TPS students are very lucky to have such talented young people teaching them.Coincidentally ( and perhaps rather sadly, I know) I watched the National Teaching Awards on TV last Sunday (inexplicably missed out on an award again!) and was inspired by the terrific and very amusing young guy teaching History.It's clear that there are some brilliant young teachers entering our still noble profession, which is so enxouraging - particularly when I met some of their peers in the City who were the same age and could expect not only non-stop free coffee and biscuits, but starting salaries that our young teachers can only attain after 12 years teaching and only then if they get promoted to a Head of Department.Welcome, by the way, to Mr Mike Lovell - our new Head of Music, who started on November 1st. I know students will really respond well to him.It's a funny old world. Still, mustn't grumble...Nigel Poole
Where did the last few days go? It's been non-stop here this week.I'm typing this whilst listening to Y7s rehearsing "We Will Rock You" for the umpteenth time in the Dining Room - must be Premier Performance coming up next week! They do sound brilliant actually. Hope all you Y7 parents have got your tickets...?Meetings galore - with parents, colleagues, other schools, governors - you name it - I've met it this week!We had some great news from a meeting with Bedales which means that we have entered into a partnership with Bedales to enable one outstanding Y11 student from TPS to join Bedales 6th Form on a full scholarship basis each year.This is a unique and exciting opportunity for someone at TPS and I am very pleased and proud that we have entered into this agreement - I see nothing wrong in working with the private education sector to provide something of benefit to TPS kids. There will be more details on how to apply coming soon.I went to an exciting (no, really!) meeting of innovative schools near Brighton yesterday where I saw some great stuff including students using netbooks and IPads in school throughout - all in a brand new purpose built school. Although I was immensely envious, I reflected that buildings and equipment don't make a school - the people do - adults and kids and we have fantastic specimens of both and so, although we will continue to innovate here and try to update the buildings, I wouldn't swop TPS for any other shiny new toy!Enjoy your weekend. Come on Wales!NCP
Dear All
Our new website went live for the first time this week: I hope you approve of the changes we’ve made. We aim to make it more user-friendly and less full of outdated information! I would appreciate your views and suggestions as you try it out...we intend to tweak it as we learn how to use it better.
This week I have been embroiled in reviews with our Heads of Department, where we look in detail at their summer exam results. This is the session where we look behind the headlines and really drill down into individual children’s results and how the various classes performed. It enables me to listen to the HoDs (as they are known) as they evaluate what went well and how they intend to improve results further next year.
With overall results as good as ours, this is usually a very positive process, but we can always do better – in every subject and for every child. Over the past two days I have met Miss Morgan to discuss Media Studies, Mr Newnham for Design Technology and Mr Timmons for Art/Photography. There have been some great results in these subjects – it was Mr Timmons’ first set of results – with a tough act to follow Miss Martin, but the Visual Arts Department smashed the previous record by getting 93% in Art (best ever) and 100% in Photography, which are amazing scores!
People sometimes presume that this fixation on statistics is all about the dreaded League Tables and nothing else, but can forget that, actually, behind every statistic there lies a TPS student and his/her individual result – and this remains at the heart of what every teacher is about here....
N C Poole
As our new website goes live, I hope to update you on aspects of Academy life and what I've been up to. Hopefully it will inform and entertain in equal measure.
I feel I ought to start with a disclaimer in case I upset someone!
This is a busy week at the Academy: as we move into October, the students really begin to settle into routines, they know their timetables, home learning should be in full swing and extra-curricular activities have all started.
We had an amazing treat last Tuesday evening when The Pearl of Africa Children's Choir visited. 14 children, all orphaned, from Uganda came and performing with their headteachers. It was a genuinely humbling experience and one from which we should all learn - primary school average class sizes of 70 anyone?!
You can catch up with them on YouTube - just search "Pearl of Africa".
More next week!
N C Poole
Whoopee! Half-term! Hope everyone has a good one. I have one more official duty to perform and that is to participate in this evening's Appeal Trust Quiz. Normally my team, the SLG (senior staff) wins this - or at least is the highest place staff team - it's a matter of honour. However, this evening we lack our not-so-secret weapon, Mr McDougall. So: fill your boots other teams, we're out of contention!I spent Tuesday evening at the Y7 Premier Performance, whilst my senior colleagues attended the Monday & Wednesday shows. This year's PPs were, by common consent, the best ever. It was an absolute delight to watch the Y7s perform. At this stage it's not about finish and gloss but confidence and teamwork. I spoke to a couple of likely lads at lunchtime today - they both said they were nervous beforehand but enjoyed the experience immensely - and this is what it's all about.It was great to be able to hand over two bicycle tokens worth over £100 each to Y7s who'd 'won' the Cycle to Success competition - their faces were an absolute picture as it dawned on them that they had actually won a bike each! I even got a lovely thank you letter - which was so thoughtful and reflects how lovely this year's Y7s are in general - we are all really taken with them here.Many staff, ably led by Miss Baker, spent all three nights working on the Premier Performance and are back tonight assisting at the Quiz - as are some of our brilliant Prefects. I am immensely grateful to all of them.It may be half term but work at school will be ongoing: we're having some complicated ICT upgrading which means that our computer systems will be out of action until we return on Monday 31st October - how will we all survive?Ok - better swot up on my flags of the world & countries in South America - they always come up!By the way, Pearl of Africa received just under £1500 from their day at TPS, which is highly encouraging, whilst today's Think Pink has raised about £500 for Breast Cancer Awareness so: thank you and well done.Enjoy your week.Nigel Poole
 | Student: We like the Year 9
practice year in Media as we get to learn all the things we need to; before
actually doing the important coursework in Year 10.
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| Parent: I do like the homework – great subjects, scope to do more if in the mood, and great way to start introducing the idea of time planning. I’m a big fan. | |
| Staff: In Dance we encourage and develop students individualism and develop their ability to demonstrate this physically with confidence | |
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