Angus MacRury’s Weblog

Week 10 October

The week began in the usual fashion. A busy Monday with a pile of mail to get through and three forward plans to look over and write comments on. The day was busy and I felt I was getting a great deal achieved. I finalised a draft of our Enterprise Policy and Framework and sent it off to Julia prior to our meeting on Thursday. If you want a copy give me a call.

Tuesday.

In class with P5/6/7 I am really enjoying this class. They are very keen and are always ready to be challenged. I enjoy Tuesday. I try to stay clear of my office which is looking like a bombsite.

Wednesday.

I meet with Joyce Marlow regarding the standard of school meals in Innerwick. The e-mail I sent Joyce expressed my concerns with the Food at Innerwick and the new menus.

I feel that there is still not enough range of foods in the menu cycle. I also feel that nutritional value and the methods employed cooking these foods lead to deterioration of the final meal when it is presented to the pupil.

I will give some examples from the menus.

Week 1

Monday: Breaded haddock and Chips, Bought in frozen, (Deep Fried) Cooked in each school.

Tuesday: Cheese and Tomato Pizza. Hopefully school made. (Transports very badly), Wedges (are these not just a fancy chip) Deep fried?

Potential to be high in salt and fat content.

Wednesday: Fish Cakes (Bought in?) Fish theme repeated in 2 days. Steak Pie. Beef)

Thursday: Beef Bolognese/ pasta. Beef was offered the previous day.

Friday: Poor quality, nasty pre-packed sandwiches. Bought in. (Processed)

The meeting was very fruitful and I did my best to express my opinion, as did Joyce.

The food that arrived at Innerwick that day was of the usual standard. Joyce agreed that some things would have to improve.

Thursday.

Today the Environmental Health Officers appear to look at the Nursery and School Kitchen. After sampling of cold foods in the Kitchen, a lot of food heads to the bin and Joyce is contacted. The result is that at service time we are running out of food. I had relayed my concerns regarding the transportation of food to Joyce and this still is a very high concern. The Nursery Kitchen is also inspected and a number of recommendations made. A fridge thermometer, A food probe. Logging sheets for probed foods and so on. Do all nurseries have these? Should we?

The rest of the afternoon was spent with Julia discussing Enterprise and how to spend our DTS budget. We also discussed the school policy and framework for Enterprise our business engagement and the Showcase on 22 November. This was a very positive meeting.

Friday.

A lot of prep work for the Monday in-service day related to Reading. Then home to prepare for the trip to Sunny Barra for the week.

Monday 24th.

Back at work. Staff meeting, Focus on Reading and discussing with the staff the way forward for the school. A very productive morning. In the Afternoon we are at Dunbar Grammar for Racial Equality Training. There is super stuff on equality from Edinburgh on
www.egfl.net we are currently using this to audit Innerwick Primary School.

Thursday. I am back at work today after a couple of days ill. I meet with Kate Triscott regarding a couple of students with Health Care Plans. I decide to clear my office and get my in tray emptied. I manage this. I clear my e-mail (all of it). I polish my desk. I reply to 2 parents regarding unauthorised absences during term time. (Stern letter time!) I send Julia the showcase proposal for the school. I meet with our SFL teacher about some students. I go through the budget statement with my Secretary. I get a surprise Inspection of the fire systems in place in the school. This is a valuable exercise and something that I find very interesting. A report will be forthcoming. So far this year I have had Care Commission, Environmental Health (twice) and now Fire Inspection, All I need for the full set is HMIE. I agree to sit on a working party on reduction of class contact, after a phone call from Patricia at Campie. I email the cluster about IT departments response time for loading software. Does it really take 3 weeks? Should we just get rid of computers in school?

I then spend the next 45 minutes writing this… Tomorrow we have all the children and staff coming in dressed up as we have a Halloween party.

I found myself in the Country and Western section in HMV last weekend and couldn’t resist The Ultimate Country Collection. On the way to school I have been lamenting along with Glen Campbell and Don Williams. The Islands of Scotland, Barra in particular are a hotbed of Country and Western fans. As I child I remember hearing this stuff more than Gaelic or Celtic songs. Strange but true. Monday started with a visit to West Barns Primary to wave our four P7 students off to camp at Dounans. The Cluster camp is a great way for the children from all the feeder primary schools to get to know each other in preparation for first year at Dunbar Grammar. After the bus had left I spent some time with Kay Chapman discussing our joint trip to York in the summer. I then had a long chat with David about his Assessment Tracking Database that is simple and effective.

In the afternoon I catch up on lots of paper work and e-mails.

On Tuesday I am stuck behind a cement lorry on the A1 listening to CW McCall, Convoy. 10:4 buddy… Today I am in class with P5/6/7. I realty enjoy my Tuesdays as the pupils are so hardworking and eager. We cover Literacy Comprehension, Maths problem Solving and I read them the Gruffalo. It surprises me how well they respond to the story (poem). The focus for reading this was to allow them to listen to the fluency rhythm and rhyme in the book. I finalise the newsletter at lunchtime and check on the responses for parents’ consultations.

In the afternoon I attended the newly formed assessment working group. This was an honest and frank meeting which produced a positive outcome. The group came up with the following expectations to formative assessment.

Teachers should:-
1.Share their intensions with learners.
2.Provide quality feedback to children
3.Summarise the lesson at the end of the teaching period
4.Use appropriate questioning techniques to further childrens’ learning
5.Expect that every child will contribute
6.Provide and reinforce the context for learning.
7.Provide advise about what children can do next to improve
8.Provide regular opportunities for children to give feedback about their learning experiences
9.Be prepared to modify their practice in response to children’s feedback.

Wednesday. I am listening to Steve Earle, Copperhead Road. As I drive past the cement works and the rubbish dump and as Torness comes into view I think to myself that Copperhead Road sounds quite appealing. I start today in Nursery as the Nursery Teacher is with the P7 students at camp. The nursery is a great place to work. It reminds me that children are enthusiastic, keen and open learners and we have a commitment to maintain this throughout their primary school education. I introduce the feast of Ramadan to them and show them a Prayer Mat. We look at the patterns and colours and we read story. Later in the morning we have a puppet show and make Humpty Dumpty pictures. At 11:20am I discover that a member of staff is unwell and I will require to go into the class. I spend the rest of the morning with the class. At 2pm I meet with Gavin Clark and Lesley Gilles at DGS to discuss Friday’s Moderation Panel meeting. I then make my way to Longniddry to meet with Colleague who have staff about to start on the Learning Team initiative. This is a great opportunity for staff to work with Lesley Clark. A The aims of the Project are:

To form a learning team of teachers as action researchers, with an expectation that they will experiment with formative assessment in-between the project days and feedback their findings

To update teachers on recent, significant research findings which underpin effective formative assessment

To enable schools and teachers to move from an “activity culture” to a “learning culture”

To support teachers in reviewing and modifying existing systems

To share and celebrate achievement

If we can do all this we will be doing really well.

Thursday. I am in class all day due to staff absence. This gives me the chance to do some Maths Assessments to check progress and as a treat I read the class “Room on the Broom” by Julia Donaldson which is really well received. I welcome staff from KEYCOMM to Innerwick. They are here to assess the requirements of a student and by the end of the morning have given some excellent advice. At 1:30pm there is a review meeting that I manage to catch the tail end of when my own class go off to PE.

At 3:30pm I make my way to the Musselburgh Racecourse for a seminar on target setting. I still am a bit confused about box graphs, but I will have a look at the website to aid me more, when it comes around to looking at it. (2020, maybe) Only joking. Ruth Munro informed us of the Authority plan to send out a prediction spreadsheet for Maths and Language. I got a row from Ruth for whispering to Ronnie Grieve. It had been a long week.

On Friday I am at John Muir House for the Moderation Panel meeting. The moderation panel discuss and agree exceptional status for students with needs that are not predictable. Schools who require support or additional staffing can make a bid to the panel for funding to support this student. In order for a student to be exceptional a best fit criteria chart is used. There is always lively debate at these meetings and this one was no exception. I manage to get back to school for 11:15 and spend the rest of the morning following up emails and arranging a “hosting” of a family from England for 4-5 weeks. I am heading to Manchester tomorrow for a Christening, back Sunday so the weekend will not bring much respite. I think I need to dump that Country and Western CD, as I appear to be living the life of the songs. Roy Orbison, Crying. On the way home.

What does your name come out as on a spell checker? Try mine. I sound like a superhero who sorts out piles. Go on try it.

In the afternoon I attended a Cluster Heads meeting. This was a very productive meeting with a full agenda. Paul went through his bid for study support with us which we all fully support as part of ahe transition programme. We are looking at putting together an expressive arts day for the P7 pupils and we also hope to have something similar for Science. I will send you the info Paul. Valerie spoke about the ALTA system pilot. and I have agreed for Innerwick to take part . We also discussed Maths CATs and Enterprise I feel the implications of initiatives such as Enterprise impact on our other priorities. I spoke at length about the Hungry for Success programme which in my opinion is not delivering at Innerwick. I could site many things but I think that in a food producing county such as East Lothian we could be sourcing locally and we should be dumping ALL convenience type foods. Sadly this is not yet the case. Funding for the next 3 years has just been announced, so here's hoping. Home listening to Johnny Cash, Hurt. What a sad song..

It is strange. You dont really think you use the internet at times, then it goes off and suddenly you really need to be online. The past few days have really brought it home to me how much we really need to get the web system in schools up to scratch. I am not talking ELC but across the whole of Scotland. I have worked in 3 local Authorities in the past 5 years and all are struggling with the huge cost of schools online and the fact that by the time hardware gets into the school there is something better faster and cheaper available that would have been better.

Anyway it is on today so I better type fast.

Thursday last week saw me meeting with our new active schools co-ordinator. I think that we need to get down to basics here. Do we want our students to have 2 hours PE per week? Yes, of course. the problem is, how?

Some schools have no gym space some only have a PE specialist (essential) for a short block, some gyms are so poorly designed that they cannot be used for a number of activities and so on… Then we have the Festivals. Do they work? Are they worth the investment in time and money? Are they successful in increasing participation after the focus has gone? Then there is the cost of transportation. As a school we paid out £790 last year in transport costs to festivals and other events. This amount could have been tripled if we had said yes to everything.