Picking up the pieces

On Thursday, I asked my class if they had a vote, how would they use it in the EU Referendum. 19 said they would vote to remain, and 5 would vote to leave.

I was very careful not to share my view, and I outlined the argument on both sides. The truth is, it probably wouldn't have mattered if I was biased - they were quite confident in their vote even if they weren't sure of what it was all about! It's obviously been a topic that's been discussed at home, and many of them shared the views of their parents.

To be honest, I hadn't anticipated anything other than a remain victory. When I switched the TV on on Friday morning I felt shocked to the core. I felt the colour had drained from the modern, vibrant and confident country I had grown up in. Great Britain felt decidedly like 'Grey Britain.' But like most of the experts and people of my generation, I misjudged it. I misjudged the mood of a nation where large swathes of working class people feel dissastisfied with the political elite. I just wish their feelings could have been taken into account before it came to this.

Like most of my generation, I took to social media to share my grief. I drew solace from links, likes and shares on Facebook. I realised I was not alone. I was angry and confused, and it quickly became apparent that so were millions of others. I guess when the vote was as close as it was, there was bound to be a strong reaction.

And then came the backlash. 'I believe in democracy - until I don't get my way and then have a tantrum on Facebook.' That one was posted several times. I'm normally a moderate user on Facebook, but this weekend I have been more active purely because I care passionately about the outcome of this decision and I think it's a mistake. It's OK to care. And let's face it, being a keyboard warrior at least allows me to share my feelings and concerns with others.

One thing is clear - time will tell whether this was a good or bad decision, but if the public have got this badly wrong, then it's the children in my class who will be picking up the pieces.

And on current trends, the majority of those that wish to Leave the EU will be a minority within eighteen months as young people become old enough to vote. It will be up to them to show Europe what it means to be British in the 21st Century. I'm hopeful for a tolerant, unified, diverse and welcoming culture. I'm hopeful that this negative can be turned into a positive. And I'm hopeful that the young people in my class right now will have a massive part to play in that. Here's to the future.

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My Place in Europe.

Today is the day when the 'Vote Leave' heavyweights talk bout immigration. This, they believe, is their big chance to persuade voters in the referendum that we are better off out of the EU.

I have found the last few weeks of electioneering incredibly confusing and vague. Politicians on both sides of the argument have made their points with concise ambiguity . If we leave the EU, the economy might grow. If we leave, the economy might not grow. If we leave the EU, trade may increase, If we leave, trade may not increase. And so on.

I know I am not alone in being baffled. As I cast my eyes through my Facebook feed, I notice that the lack of meaningful dialogue has led to some alarming and misinformed posts being shared widely:





The worrying thing is, in the absence of meaningful debate, voters will use such propaganda to help them make an informed decision!

As for me, I have been thinking a lot about my own experiences as a member of the EU to help me in my decision.

I've been thinking about my Grandma, in a care home. She is surrounded by Europeans from various nationalities who treat her with compassion and dignity. They always have a smile on their face. I'm in awe of the job they do.

I've been thinking about my daughter, who recently had a series of visits a dermatology specialist. This doctor had moved here from another European country. I'm grateful for her - my daughter's skin condition has now been cured.

I've been thinking about a conscientious and studious child in my class. She happens to be Polish. Her parents work very hard in a  factory. They work long hours and unsocial shifts. They are amongst the best parents I have come into contact with.

I've been thinking about my brother-in-law and his family in France and how much our family enjoys going to visit them. He moved from the UK to be with his French wife.

I've been thinking hard, and cannot recall a single time when I have come into contact with an illegal immigrant who is claiming benefits without lifting a finger to pay their way.

Perhaps I'm looking in the wrong places, but my point is that being in the EU has brought colour, diversity and skills into our country, and I feel like I have been a beneficiary of that.

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Flying kites, and other issues with our primary education system.

"Mr Townend, can we fly a kite?"

That was a question I was asked in September - my first week of being a Year 3 teacher. What a good idea, I thought. We could learn about air resistance in science. We could look at making our own in DT using dowel, tissue and string. We could do some poetry exploring the movements of a kite using similes and metaphors.

If I was teaching in Early Years, I would have found it easier to fly a kite. In our reception classes, the child is at the centre of their own learning journeys. Every now and then, they will come into my class with something random, like a toy dinosaur that will only eat pencil sharpenings because it doesn't eat other dinosaurs. Their teacher then will lead them on to talking about how different animals have different diets - some carnivores, some herbivores.

If I was teaching in Key Stage 1, I wouldn't have found it quite as easy to fly a kite, but I would have got away with it. By then, the freedom of EYFS is replaced by a more formal system of teacher-led learning. The great explorers and dinosaur nurturers of Reception class fade into an academic system that may not suit their learning style. But then there is free flow Thursday, when they can explore learning for themselves.

In Key Stage 2, however, it all changes. I am the bad teacher that tells them that schooling will be different from now on - each half term they will be subject to tests, and the rest of the time is spent preparing for them and analysing the results. Seven years old. Just seven.

Another question I was asked in that first week was, "Where are all the toys?" (The blue-bot family in the corner didn't quite make the grade.) The truth is, there is little time for child-centred learning, or 'free-flow Thursday' in  my classroom. I try to make my lessons engaging and interesting. I want the children to enjoy school. But the demands of the curriculum are so great that there is no time in the school day to deviate from it. Every single minute is planned with what the children are told to learn. There is no room for them to explore it for themselves.

For that reason, I was cautiously welcoming of the possibility of being an academy when the pre-budget bombshell was announced. Giving schools the power to shape their curriculum based on the needs of the learner is surely what many teachers are crying out for - less accountability, more trust placed in the professional.

Of course, there are issues with the proposal, but when I compare it to our current 'state' system, I think there is a lot to gain as a teacher. The current system has been stripped to the bare bones, meaning schools are in local council control but receive next to no support from them. The expert advisors are gone, The access to training is gone. I don't even get a payslip, and when I email asking why, I never receive a reply.

As a parent however, I think quite differently. As a parent, my child could have a much poorer education if they have special education needs. As a parent, my child could be forced to get a bus to a school many miles away if the local village school closed as it cost too much to run. As a parent, my local schools may teach religious views that I'm deeply uncomfortable with.

Let's face it, the current state system, that has been around for more than a century, is no longer fit for purpose. As soon as academies started springing up, the old system was doomed to failure. We can't have a two-tier education system. No school should be an academy, or all schools should be. That should be the choice.

This week, it has been refreshing to see the unions emerge and engage with current issues in education. Schools are well and truly under the political spotlight and the unions need to take this opportunity. There have been three calls for strike action.

Firstly, teachers have called for strike action on workload. There is so much that we do - data gathering, providing of evidence, marking - that is not done for the children but for the sake of being accountable. It has to stop. It gets in the way of planning and delivering effective lessons.

Secondly, teachers have called for strike action on tests in Year 6 and Year 2. I don't teach in either of those year groups, but if we look at Finland's education system (and let's face it, the Department of Education seem to use this as a stick to beat us with), they don't have tests but have the best performing education system in Europe. So if we want to be like them, then scrap tests!

Thirdly, teachers have called for strike action on academies. Personally, I think that changing to academies is potentially more disastrous for parents than it is for teachers. If teachers strike, then some people see it as another thing that teachers are moaning about. But what if parents decided to withdraw their children from school on a certain day in oppostion to this policy? That has the potential to send shockwaves right through Westminster!

Either way, I'm hoping that one day I may be able to take my class to fly a kite.

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A Day in the Life...

This is what I have done today. It's been a good day, on the whole, and illustrates perfectly what a typical day for a teacher involves.

8am
Setting up the speakers in the hall and preparing computer and props for assembly.

8.15am
Setting up classroom for the day. Editing PowerPoint with days activities on and writing calculations for maths.

8.30am
Briefing TA on the day ahead and things to watch out for.

8.45am
Children enter school. I check their reading records, collect money and slips for Mother's Day pressies, lunch, trips and other things. Children engage in morning task, set on the Interactive whiteboard.

8.55am
Registration.

9am
Lead my class to assembly. Deliver to 350 kids -a dramatic and interactive retelling of the Boy Who Cried Wolf. I teach them a song and actions to finish.

9.30am
Tidy hall. Shut down computer. Pack away speakers.

9.35am
Teach class sketching techniques for a World Book Day drawing competition. All children make a start.

9.45am
Computer technicians speak to me about problems we are having.

9.55am
A TA complains to me about the behaviour of a child in an intervention group from my class. I told her I'd deal with it.

10am
Maths in sets - Column subtraction, differentiated three ways.

10:20am
Further questions from Computing technicians about installing Python and Skype on our system.

10.45am
Break. Stayed in with the Boy who'd been messing around before whilst he wrote a letter of apology.

11am
Read Write Inc spelling groups - fifteen minutes of intense spelling practice. I have a mixed class from Year 3 to 6 for this.

11.15am
Back to normal class groups, continue with drawing from earlier. A nice lesson.

11.40am
Get the water colours out. Brief children on how to use these properly, looking at brush stroke techniques.

12pm
Pupil progress meeting. A relief teacher covers my class for a few minutes while I meet with the Senior Leaders to discuss progress (or lack of) for each child in my class. Steps agreed to move forward through small groups and targeted work.

12.30pm
Go through lesson with a Y4 teacher for topic work on Anglo Saxon clothing which I had prepared.

12.40pm
Order some online resources about the Scots and Picts. (Like searching for a noodle in a haystack.)

1pm
A quick bite to eat in the staffroom and some down time with the other staff.

1.15pm
Back in class. Registration for the afternoon. Hearing three children read.

1.30pm
Children finish off water colours. There are some fantastic examples, although one child knocks a cup of water all over someone else's work.

1.55pm
Tidy classroom.

2pm
Computing lesson. In groups, children storyboard a sports tuition film in groups for Sports Relief.

2.15pm
Go outside to film. Children have to avoid the corridor as an incident with a child from another class is ongoing.

2.40pm
Come back in and download all clips onto the children's drive. Quite a complex process for Year 3.

3pm
Show examples of art work to class.

3.05pm
Get coats.

3.10pm
Kids go home.

3.15pm
Another parent turns up to fit a new amp that he has supplied for the school hall. I show him how the system works.

3.30pm
Photocopying for tomorrow.

3:45pm
Marking.

5pm
Home time.

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In defence of teacher training days

Every school holiday, I take a trip to the barbers. There is no time during term time, so I make sure I get my hair cut short enough to last about six weeks, until the next holiday.

So it was this February. My sideburns had taken on that brillo pad texture and I had developed an uncontrollable quiff that was drawing attention from the children in my class. It was time.

Hairdressers are great places to eavesdrop - not that I make a habit of doing it. It's just impossible to avoid the small talk of another punter in the barber's chair. It seems some people prefer to spill the mundane facts of their own life in minute detail rather than sit awkwardly for the 15-minute duration of a short back and sides.

On this particular trip, it quickly became apparent that the conversation I was unwillingly eavesdropping on was in fact the parent (let's call him Mr P) of a child in my class. Topic got onto school, and naturally my ears pricked up. It became evident that this particular gentleman (who hadn't recognised me - must have been the quiff) had issues with the school holiday system.

"What really annoys me  is the training days. We never had them when I was at school. Why do they have them? I don't agree with it. Teachers get too many holidays as it is."

Now I was in a dilemma...do I stand up and defend my profession? Or do I respectfully maintain my silence so as not to create a scene? Of course, I did the latter, and thought I'd write a blog instead!

Let's take the first point...training days. Why do we have them? Do we need them?

Well, yes Mr P. We do need them. This government, believe it or not, despite the underinvestment and woeful approach to teacher recruitment, wants our education system to be the envy of the world. That can only come through regular development and training of staff to sharpen our practice and inspire us in our work. If you, Mr P, had read the leaflet about the expectations we sent for your KS2 child, you would know that we are teaching them about subject-verb agreement, subordinating conjunctions and the perfect tense. And that's just the writing! Children are expected to do much more in 2016 than they were ten years ago. Consequently, much more is expected of the teachers.

How about this issue with holidays? Tricky one. Yes, it's certainly an attractive perk of the profession. We do get regular holidays where we can spend more time with our own families, but boy, do we need them! Imagine, Mr P, if you would, six hours daily with twenty children like yours but slightly different - all with different needs and demands; all with different home situations; all with different levels of academic ability. Imagine that the government told you that none of these children were up to scratch and it was up to you to get them where they needed to be - your salary depended on it.

That is the pressure cooker that builds throughout the term. On the Friday before the school holidays, the lid lifts and the pressure escapes. The relief is palpable. Teachers need the holidays. And before you get any ideas, Mr P, our holidays are not all spent lazing on beaches in some far flung corner of the world. More often than not, our holidays are times to gather our ideas and focus for the next term. I have spent almost each day of the February half term doing some form of school work. I have been into school for one day too. The only true 'break' a teacher gets is in the summer holidays. Six weeks is a lovely, relaxing and special time, and I am so glad of it. That said, it will only be five weeks, as I'll spend the final week getting my classroom ready for my next group of children.

And that is why I do my job. It's for the children. It's because I honestly believe, Mr P, that I can help your child, little P, to be the best he can be. I believe I can get him writing with subordinating conjunctions, and multiplying fractions in maths, And as for his handwriting, I'll sort that out too.

It's not for the holidays. It's certainly not for the money. It's for little P, and the rest of them. That's why each day of my job is a privilege and a pleasure.

I just wish sometimes that you, Mr P, and a few others would understand. We are not a glorified baby sitting service, We might just be the difference between whether your child will sink or swim through life.

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BETT 2016 - Observations of an amateur

So BETT 2016...where do I begin?

Well firstly, there is that realisation that all that 'trailblazing' I've been trying to do in my own school is nothing compared to what else is happening out there. I felt distinctly average in my skills, knowledge and provision. Below average, even. Requires Improvement. Let's go with that.

Secondly, there is the understanding that any day at BETT, or any other quality CPD provision for that matter, will lead to added workload. Thankfully, I don't see it simply in those terms. I feel envisioned and inspired to move on in my own teaching and support others at my school in doing the same.

Here are some of the observations I made from my day there yesterday:

1) Apple v Android - no longer a 1 horse race

For years, iPads have been the dominant force in school-based pupil hardware. Android has been the poor relation, and rightly so - they cannot be networked easily; they are difficult to manage and bulk purchase of apps is nigh on impossible. In my classroom, we use Tesco Hudls. Not bad at £80 a piece, but the line has been discontinued and support is being withdrawn, The connectors for the power supply are easily damaged, which isn't ideal. Nevertheless, they have been a good classroom internet tool. But I've always wanted more from my tablet devices, and do like the Android platform. Step forward Learnpad. Learnpad are Android devices that can be networked to school servers. What's more, content is controlled centrally and not actually on the devices themselves. Individual lessons can be found by scanning QR codes ensuring children are viewing only the content you want  them to see. Another huge benefit is the charging trolley that Learnpad supply. The devices charge wirelessly. They just need to be placed on a special magnet in the trolley. No more dodgy power connections! With Google also putting on a good show at BETT, could the tide be turning for Android in schools?

2) Robots. Everywhere.

Back in the 1980s, robots were very cool but you couldn't do much with them. They were big and usually looked something resembling R2-D2 with a smile and carrying a tray of drinks. Now, after years out of the limelight (save for a brief resurgence in the Robot Wars era), they are back with vengeance. BETT was full of robots. And good ones too. From minor robotics firms to established names like Lego, the great thing about today's robots are they are easily programmable by children, creating a sense of awe. Programming on its own is good, but robots allow children to see this in a physical entity. The other great thing is they are more and more affordable. I am still unsure how much I would use them though, so sadly, I was just a window shopper. One 'robot' I kept clear of was the friendly yet utterly useless Blue-bot. We bought some of these last year and have had to replace two of them as they stopped working. At £70 a piece, I would have expected much better from TTS, but have to say my confidence in them as a provider is minimal. I kept a wide berth,

3) Minecraft

I get the impression that a lot of teachers and exhibitors don't quite know what to do with Minecraft. I'm certainly jumping on board. After attending a fantastic training session in using Minecraft in the Classroom, I cannot think of one subject that Minecraft cannot work alongside. There is also now a version for the Raspberry Pi. Minecraft in schools is set to grow and grow. The game has been around for a while now, but its popularity shows no sign of waning.

4) Not just programming

For the last two years, coding and algorithms have dominated the thoughts of many computing coordinators. The new curriculum had programming at its core, something that had been neglected for more than a decade. People were rightly excited by this. As a result, the market was flooded with high quality and free programming resources. Now, there are a number of people, including Miles Berry, who are encouraging practitioners to look more broadly at the other aspects of the computing curriculum. Computer Science may take more of a front seat at neat year's BETT.

5) Microbit - Missed opportunity

It was rather strange to see the BBC Microbit so widely promoted without being available until June at the earliest. The project has had another setback which raises questions. On paper, it sounds great - a million Year 7 pupils to receive them free; available commercially at under £15; compatible with lots of programming resources; partnering with over thirty organisations. The devices themselves are clever, and may replace interest in the Raspberry Pi, but I can't get excited about something that is not yet on sale. And I can't understand why it's going to take another 6 months of development when there was so many exhibitors at BETT using them.

6) E-Safety: The missing ingredient

In my own school environment, I've taught e-safety well. The other teachers have too. We've had assemblies, created posters, looked at the issues in PSHCEE as well as Computing. We've set up a school blog to allow children to use social networking on a safe and secure school site. Yet we still have children making foolish mistakes on sites such as Instagram, Facebook and Youtube. We strongly oppose them using the sites but provide parents with a guide in how their children can access them safely, but it still falls on deaf ears with a small minority of the children. Their online safety is in question - and BETT didn't really have much to say about it. Maybe next year.

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PS - A tip for exhibitors - when you're thinking of freebies to give away next year, can I request glue sticks? Our kids go through tonnes of them and it's wiping out my class budget! :)

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Seeing the world through different lenses - my battles with colour blindness

"Can you put this book away with the other scheme books, Jake?" I asked at the end of the day. There is a very good reason why such a task is beyond me, so my strategy of dealing with this is to ask a child.

Jake looked at the colour on the spine. "OK Mr.Townend. It's blue. No purple."

"It's turquoise." Someone else chimed in.

"Ah yes, that's right." Jake replied.

I took Jake to one side. "Jake, are you colour blind?"

Clearly this was a term he had never heard of, and he looked a little threatened. It's not good to be picked out as different in the classroom.

"Don't worry." I replied. "I am too, and that's why I needed help with it. I'll do a little test with you on Monday. Perhaps we could start a club!"

Colour blindness affects 3 million people in the UK. One in twelve men suffer from the condition, but it is less common in women, with 1 in 200 having the symptoms. In every classroom, there is likely to be at least one person who is colour blind. Looks like I've found the child in my class!

So what does it mean? Well, it can make everyday choices in the classroom challenging. For example, put a blue and a purple pencil together, and I wouldn't know the difference. What colour should the sky be? I know it's one of the two. I either guess and look a fool, or ask someone, and probably feel like a fool.

HELP!

Book bands are an absolute nightmare. The chart below looks helpful, but more often than not, It's just a coloured sticker placed on  a book that tells us what stage it is. Where do I begin? Gold and orange look the same. Blue and purple are too similar to identify the difference, as are lilac and turquoise and grey. And then there is red and brown.
For colour blind teachers, there is another issue - assessment. I cannot begin to tell you the problems I have had with assessment over the years because everything is colour coded! We use spreadsheets with every child's name written in tiny font, a different colour for each term. The problem is  - and this sounds really silly - on such small font, I cannot tell the difference between red and green text!

There's more. In everyday life, I struggle with knowing the difference between the green and brown bin on bin day.

Green or brown?

 I can never tell the difference in green and orange coloured LEDs which can be a  nightmare when I'm trying to get the printer and broadband working. Snooker can be interesting when I mistake the brown ball for a red.

 This week I'm going to be travelling on the London Underground, and I am already planning my route in the knowledge that the London underground map is about as functional to me as a chocolate teapot.



I remember the day when I was 'diagnosed' with colour blindness. I was 13. I was asked to look at some circles full of small dots and say what numbers I could see in them. It was a bit like a magic eye. As I listed the numbers, my Mum told me she thought I was making it up as she saw other numbers. I got them all wrong and failed the test with flying...colours.

It's not a big problem, I have always told myself since. I can work out strategies for getting through tasks. If all else fails, I will ask for help. I have even asked my headteacher before. And it's not a Special Educational Need, I have always told myself. I don't need extra support in the classroom. I can work it out. I even have put up with the mickey-taking that comes with it, usually from other adults. No, the whole world isn't black and white. No the sky doesn't look green. Yes, I can tell the difference between the red and yellow pieces in Connect 4.

But now, when I think about it, it is a big problem. It's one person in every class and there is no support or differentiation provided for it. There is no official testing or screening, and children suffer in silence often feeling slightly foolish. There is little in the way of labelling resources to help colour blind children or staff make informed choices. There is no training provided to staff to help them support children.

Surely in this day and age, when we do so much to make sure everyone is included, that needs to change!

On Monday morning, I'm going to do the following test with Jake. We'll look at the image below. The images that you and he see will differ dependent on whether or not you suffer from colour blindness.



It's a good test. If you want to use it with your children the answer key can be found
here: http://freepages.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~hellmers/test/

For further information, this website is also very helpful: http://www.colourblindawareness.org/

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