Barry Smith - Learning about Learning

Today I’ve been meeting with parents and potential ALPs students.  So far we have had agreement from 6 of the 8 we had selected.  The feedback we received about the content was very positive and both students and parents are looking forward to the programme starting.  We’ve invited parents along to the induction day to meet with the staff who are delivering each individual element.  We had only one parent who was unable to make it and that was through work commitments.

As we were talking with the first parents, we were chatting about the blogging and self awareness aspects of the programme.  One of the parents commented on how he was a bit wary of using the computer and thought that he might not access the ALPs site as a result. That reminded me of the discussion we had had one Friday morning about involving parents more with the programme.  The upshot is that we now have 4 parents who would like to come and take part in a session to help them navigate the ALPs site and to learn about blogging.  While I accept that we are not adult education providers I do think that this can only be a positive thing in bringing these parents closer to the ALPs programme and their child’s educational experience.  We also asked for feedback from parents about the layout of the site, we’re looking for some parental representation on our ALPs development group once the programme has begun.

I’m both excited and nervous now as we move towards the induction date and start of the programme.  Have we covered everything we need to?  Is the system robust enough to deal with unexpected events?  Have we missed anything glaringly obvious?!  Will all of the youngsters ’keep it together’ in school until then?  I really hope so.

I also have my Unit 3 SQH submission next Friday.  It’s going to be squeeze to get it in! I’m finishing all my data gathering tomorrow and should have the write up done over the weekend all being well…..

Final note, if you fancy a bit of world music this Saturday,  there is a one world peace concert at the Queen’s Hall at which we(Waa Sylla) are performing some African drum and dance.  By Monday I think I’ll be ready for a sleep.

We had a full staff meeting on Friday afternoon.  The agenda was filled with what looked like some of the usual issues, litter, graffiti, the behaviour of certain groups of students etc. However, far from turning into the possible greetin’ meetin’ it could have been, it became a very positive discussion of classroom practice and the strategies that we can use to work with some of our most needy youngsters.  There were significant differences of opinion aired, but all were done so within a framework of professionalism and respect. I came away feeling really encouraged, it was a lesson in not assuming that you know the way things are going to pan out just because it may have happened in the past.   

Earlier in the day we’d had our early morning ALPs planning meeting to discuss the students who were being selected for the programme and to discuss the induction and the programme itself.  I was again amazed by the turnout.  We had representation from the local police, the integration team, POPs, Mobex, Active Steps andschool staff!  All at 7.30am on a Friday morning.  It brought home very clearly to me the strength of feeling and commitment there is to support young people in the community who need guidance in a positive direction.

Looking back at my previous post vision and values, I’m pleased I did post it because I’ve had not only a response from others formally through the blog comments but also informally from colleagues who read it.  It was definitely a worthwhile exercise and one I will no doubt repeat in the future.  Declaring and discussing values as professionals I’m coming to believe is a way to shape ‘where we go’ with A Curriculum for Excellence on a local, regional and national level, but I find that there are less opportunities to do so than you would imagine for such an important matter.  Such things take not insignificant consideration and reflection.  It is seems clear to me that blogging/learning logging, whatever you want to call it, is filling an important role in that sense for many people.

I’ve spent another fruitful and hectic day working towards the SQH comparative study today.  Firstly I interviewed a number of staff at John Muir House about their impressions of the ‘climate for creativity’ within their working environment.  I was delighted that as we chatted a number of themes appeared to be emerging, in relation to the perceived culture of the working environment.  People were using similar language to describe processes and feelings about their working environment. I won’t pre-empt the report by going into any detail here, but I’ll be interested to back through the interviews and pull out these themes. 

I then went up to Moray House for a SQH Unit 3 seminar.  Our tutors were checking that things were going OK and no-one was falling to pieces under the strain!  I thought I’d had a fairly hard time managing to secure a suitable host organisation after being turned down by a couple of companies, but by all accounts I got off lightly.  There were a couple of horror stories of people being let down by businesses at the 11th hour after all the preparation work had been done.  They have had to go back to the drawing board, so I’m now counting my blessings about how relatively smoothly things have gone for me. 

It’s back to school tomorrow to catch up as best as is possible after being out two days in the last three, that’s the pay back for having access to such great experiences elsewhere I suppose.

I’ve a busy week of planning for our ALPs meeting on Friday.  I’d like to present everyone with a finalised programme and selected students as well as having an idea of what we’d like to achieve at our induction day on 16th February.  Having started to read ‘The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook’ by Peter Senge, it has further developed my thinking already in relation to why, what and how we are going to achieve our goals for ALPs. I think I’ll be blogging much more about this book in the future. 

Today I spent the day at John Muir House shadowing Don Ledingham as part of my SQH comparative study.  I’m comparing the climate for innovation and creativity between ELC Education Department and Preston Lodge HS.  It was fascinating to see at first hand how the different/competing interests and demands of so many stakeholders are balanced and how they connect with one another.  Getting such a strategic view of things really helped me gain a much clearer appreciation of the nature and notion of Integrated Children’s Services.   

Not having had the opportunity to take time out from the daily business in school to experience the work that goes on within the Education Department previously, I think I had a less than complete picture of what goes on day-to-day.  From that point of view I regard myself extremely lucky to have had such open access.  I can see how the barriers are being broken down through the blogging phenomenon and by the way innovative practice is becoming policy, helping things develop at the classroom level and at a more strategic level. 

Not only did I achieve my goal as regards my study, but I also had a fantastic CPD session.  Without going into detail that may not make the most stimulating post, I was able to sit in on and contribute (a very small amount) to several meetings ranging from a regular LNCT meeting to one involving a discussion with the Scottish Executive regarding P.E. provision in East Lothian schools.  I’m going to look into the ‘Getting Things Done‘ approach to managing workload after having spoken to Rob Lewis, an information officer at John Muir House.

I finished off with a real boost, meeting with David Gilmour late in the day to discuss the ALPs site. He has put together a fantastic model for us to start and tinker with before the start of the programme in mid February.

All that and we managed to discuss the meaning of life over lunch.  I didn’t pay but I’m told it might mean a pound of flesh in the future!

Having hit the ground running as always I thought it was time to get back in the blogging saddle for a new year.  Had a fantastic festive period, lots of ‘firsts’.  My son’s first Christmas, his first birthday and first unaided steps, on his first birthday, talk about good timing!  I also read what can only be called a ’self help’ book for the first time.  It’s called ‘How to be brilliant!‘ - a nice understated title, but it did catch my eye in the library.  It is unbelievably positive which I have to say I loved, although it may be a bit over the top for some.  Has some great stuff in amongst the hype, both in terms of personal development and goal setting. Worth a read if you need a lift at the start of a new year and very easy going.  I’m not sure I’m brilliant just yet, but maybe if I repeat it enough times and take “massive action”(you’ll need to read the book) it’ll happen!

The ALPs programme is also moving forward, we are at the selection stage at the moment and plan to start on the week of 12th February all being well.  One outstanding difficulty/opportunity that we have is the selection of mentors.  I spoke with Catherine Field of CSV (Community service volunteers) today and unfortunately it doesn’t look they are going to be able to work with us at the moment, so back to the drawing board.  Any ideas on how people have gone about selecting and using mentors would be most welcome.  There is more information on the wiki about how we intend to use the mentoring approach.  I’m confident we will get a solution to this important area of the programme.

Finally I’m going to publicise my New Year’s resolutions, they say it may help you stick to them if they are public.

1. I am swimming 2.5km in the Marie Curie Swimathon on 25th March and hopefully the Great North Run on September 30th(I’ll run, not swim that one).

2. I am learning the piano

3. I am teetotal for 2007(the hardest one - chosen for the challenge!)

Met with David Gilmour today to discuss puting together a website for all things relating to the Active Learning Partnerships programme.  I think we came up with some good ideas to involve students and parents, facilitators and those interested in getting involved.  Watch this space for more information.  I’m hoping we can have a mock up available for comments and suggestions sometime soon.  David really is doing fantastic work in supporting and developing Exc-el and its users.

I’m discussing the programme with our senior management team on Monday, hopefully we’ll get the green light and the backing we’re hoping for to make this thing work.

The text below was a blog in it’s own right, but I think it is more of an exercise in personal reflection and therefore have decided that it is not worthy of being the main focus.  It’s really a bit of navel gazing by me but I think its important to include it.  I wrote it last night after coming home completely enveloped by end of term exhaustion!

I have been thinking today about my own personal ambitions and goals, I have to say as a result of some interesting conversations I’ve had recently with colleagues.  Taking on SQH is a very clear ‘marker’ about career intentions, you are stating very that you have an ambition to take your career in a particular direction.  My experience has been that people react in a whole range of different ways to making such a statement of intent.  My thoughts today have been about what this actually means in the ‘whole scheme of things’. 

Essentially what I think am getting at is whether or not it matters what the perceptions of others are (+ve or -ve) to the decision to ‘lay your cards on the table’ and commit to becoming a senior manager.  Relationships are vital, are perceptions?  This may not be an issue for someone already in a senior management position as the intention, and the position, is there already.  However, as a PT I feel I’m may be in a slightly different position, but can’t exactly put my finger on why.In recent blogs I’ve talked about the pressures of SQH and the extra time, both in and out of school that this has meant.  I also feel that inevitably my energies are being directed in a more strategic way, in essence a change of focus for me.  But strangely I have been feeling compelled to justify my motivations for doing so.  This may be because the results of my efforts are not immediately tangible to others, or it may be because there is a realisation on my part that my energies are being spread more thinly across the board because there is much more to deal with, or it could be just that change is unsettling. 

Whatever the reason, it has made me question why I want to become a senior manager.  Am I doing this for the right reasons? What are the right reasons, and are they the same for every person?  What does it mean to be ambitious?  Is it a positive attribute?  Is having the ambition to be an excellent classroom practitioner more laudible than that of becoming an excellent senior manager or headteacher?  What does leadership mean and what is the ‘best’ style?  These are all questions without straightforward answers.  I think I am ambitious in everything that I do, when I was younger it was in a competitive sense but it is now in the sense of ’personal growth’ and because I want to ‘make a difference’ in my one chance at life.  Someone, can’t remember who(!), recently blogged about being “addicted to learning” - I think I understand that feeling.

I think I’m just questioning my own position and motivations, which I see as a positive thing, but has probably not made for the most exciting blog in the world.  Navel gazing never does.  However, it was important for me to include these thoughts in my own learning diary.  They may or may not resonate with others in a similar position.  

 The Alternative Curriculum programme took a huge ’step towards the summit’(!) on Friday, we established our ‘real’ name.  The name Alternative Curriculum had sat uneasily with us since the idea was mooted and it was important that we gave the programme an identity of its own that encapsulated what we are trying to do.

On Friday morning the coffee and croissants came up trumps again.  We decided upon Active Learning Partnerships or ALPs. 

I think the name  illustrates exactly what we are about; Active Learning for our youngsters, to re-engage them with learning and their personal development, Active Learning for staff to find new ways of working, developing a model to build on for the future. 

Partnerships between youngsters and staff, again to impact upon the learning experience for all; Partnerships between organisations, we already have Active Steps, the Pennypit, the Integration Team and Telford College working together with the school to help deliver the programme. 

The acronym ALPs, I think, conjures the idea of embarking together on a journey, which has both a clear direction and a positive outcome.  We have taken a great leap forward in establishing our identity.  Names, in my opinion, are definitely significant in communicating intentions.

We talked at length about funding. We are aiming to bid for funding over a 3 year period, to build sustainability into the programme, probably through the Big Lottery fund.  We will however need to cover our costs between January and June.  An excellent point made by Angie Davie of the Pennypit was that the staffing resources that she and the Integration team are committing, free of charge to the school, equate to somewhere in the region of £1000 per term which was something I hadn’t even considered.  This idea of pulling in funding from different areas to fund a programme is pretty new to me and I’m speaking to as many people as I can to establish the best way to do it. It is a big learning curve, but thankfully the team are all working hard, doing the same, so I’m confident without being complacent, that we will succeed.  I think the fact that the programme dovetails so well with the principles of ‘A Curriculum for Excellence’ will help us take things forward.

Feels like an eternity since I’ve posted, a clear indication to me, not that I needed one, of the way things have been recently.  The ability to reflect has been hijacked by all ‘hands’ and resources directed at the firefight for control of my attention which has been underway in my brain over the past two weeks. 

SQH Unit 2 has been submitted, thankfully, although my 5 nights for editing were chopped to only half a day last Friday after the winter vomiting bug wound its merry way through the Smith household.  The result is that I have handed in the SQH Unit 2 assignment equivalent of an overfed, and probably overcooked turkey.  The meat is good, it’ll make a lovely meal and was ready in time, but is just crying out for a bit of trimming.  Well, I’ll await my comments, it’s out of my control now.

I’ve been out of school a lot recently what with ’vomit patrol’, courses and meetings and can sense that I’ve taken my eye off the ball while focussing on all the other distractions.  I’m out again this week for three days on SHARE training, the timing couldn’t have been worse but we couldn’t have known in June when we were planning ahead.  I have some major work to do to get back on top of things and get my head back around organising the next stage of the development of the Alternative Curriculum, or Developing Excellence, or Futures programme or whatever we decide to call it.  Really need to find a good name.

I’m just delighted that I have the drive back to start posting here again, it’s a great feeling to have come out the other side of what was one of the most difficult periods of my professional life so far.  I know it will be worth it because I have learned a tremendous amount throughout my short time on SQH, both about leading and managing and about myself as a person and my limits. 

I had an interesting conversation with Paul Raffaelli, headteacher at Dunbar Grammar, last week.  I was asking him how one of the Deputes, Gavin Clark, was getting on preparing his Unit 2 assignment and the feedback was that he was probably in about the same position as I was - snowed under.  Paul, who has also been through SQH, commented that perhaps the ‘overload’ is all part of the SQH experience, to help prepare you for being in the position of headteacher or senior manager and just having to ‘get on’ with things to get the job done.  I’m not sure anyone at Moray House would admit to that, but on some level it does make sense.

They say these few months are undoubtedly the hardest, so to have ‘broken the back’ of Unit 2, know what I’m doing and where I’m going with Unit 3, and have made a good start on the school improvement project I have to be happy.  Even if I get my Unit 2 assignment back for slimming down it’s not the end of the world.  My confidence is growing that I can ‘crack’ this thing!

Got a bit of a second wind today, thanks to the enthusiasm of others surrounding the alternative curriculum project.  Had a productive (very early croissants and coffee!) meeting this morning to (almost) finalise the programme for January to June 2007.  

We have had a tremendous commitment from the outside agencies involved and they have put forward both staffing and funding to help make it happen.  I am really hopeful that we can have this commitment matched in some way from the education side.  We also decided to look at making some bids to other sources for funding to help with the initial phase, although one of the criteria is that we have to be sustainble so we have to be careful about being reliant on short term sources of money. 

When I met with Lesley Gillies of Dunbar Grammar on Wednesday she gave me inumerable tips and solutions to some of the issues Dunbar have faced.  Their model is somewhat different to what we are proposing at the moment in that she has two Pupil Support staff who are basically full-time on the programme.  This is a fantastic resource and means the programme is more flexible than it otherwise might be.  I learned a great deal from Lesley.

Yesterday I had a fruitful meeting with one of the directors of ELCAP, Danny Harvie.  We are hopefully going to be setting up a partnership with them in the school, with youngsters having the opportunity to gain work experience in a social care setting.  We also see this as an opportunity to make links in the community and to challenge perceptions of what it means to be mentally or physically handicapped or to have a mental health problem by having speakers come into the school to discuss issues with the youngsters.

I explored the possibility of using Skillforce as part of our alternative curriculum programme when I met with Andy Bruce this morning.  Trinity Academy have an agreement with Skillforce to provide a comlpete alternative curriculum provision in third and fourth year, as well as doing work further up and down the school, most notably around primary 7/S1 transition.  It’s not inexpensive, the equivalent probably of employing two principal teachers (point 2) but they do seem to be providing an excellent service.  My gut feeling is however that it would be difficult to make it sustainable.

I had a very real reminder today of how important it is for some of our youngsters to have an alternative to the current model.  I was working with a youngster who is finding it particularly difficult to cope with the demands of a full academic curriculum as well as deal with his own ‘issues’ and consequently things are breaking down around the school. It helped me focus my attention on where this is actually going to ‘count’.

Finally, I think we have to find a more appropriate name than Alternative Curriculum.  Far too divisive I think.  Suggestions welcome.

Today I learned a lot.  I went down to see the new facility at the Pennypit Centre in Prestonpans which will be hosting some of our Alternative Curriculum activities.  It is fantastic, with catering facilities and internet access as well as teaching and meeting rooms.  The possibilities are enormous for developing the partnership between the school and this wonderful community facility.

I also learned about Young People Speak Out (ypso) who are an organisation that create an expressive platform for young people to explore, develop and share their thoughts, ideas and feelings on any subject which affects them personally, socially, emotionally, spiritually, creatively or politically, through the medium of Film and Television Arts.  Alternative curriculum bells started ringing immediately!  I’m hoping to get them involved with what we are doing.  Their website www.ypso.tv seems to be down at the moment. Hopefully it’s not terminal.   I’ll be following up my email tomorrow.

I further learned that I can advertise in our community newsletter, an offshoot of www.prestonpans.com so every person in Prestonpans will potentially hear about the Alternative Curriculum plans and have a chance to explore and add to the ‘wiki’.  Fantastic!

My final piece of learning, more good news than learning I suppose, was that Angie Davie at the Pennypit had been evangelising about the Alternative Curriculum and has got some volunteers for our mentoring idea from the staff at Meadowmill sports centre and from her outdoor education colleagues.  She is a fantastic person to have on the team!  We are going to try and match up the young people involved with a mentor who will meet regularly with them to listen to and ‘coach’ them through the programme. 

On a different tack our under-18 football tie was cancelled last night after everyone had travelled up to George Heriot’s at Goldenacre.  The all-weather pitch was waterlogged, that was a learning experience too, I didn’t know it was possible, but it is!  I’m hoping we can negotiate this tie because we are away to my old school Eyemouth High in the next round if we win!