Five things I've learnt this half term

The reason I set up this blog was to charter my own journey of learning as I teach. In Year 6, we teach a rich and varied curriculum, and I'm always finding out fascinating things that I'd never been aware of before. Here are five of my favourites from this half term.

1. A British soldier had the chance to kill Hitler in WW1

This story made my jaw drop, and led to a very interesting discussion about how the world might have been a better place if Henry Tandey had pulled the trigger. A wounded German was trying to retreat. Tandey's rifle was trained on him. The German looked round and their eyes met. Tandey thought the young German may have had a family. In sympathy, he let the man go. That man was Adolf Hitler. In World War Two, he became the most brutal dictator the world has ever known. What's more, Tandey found out who the German was in a phone call from the British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. How must he have felt? It's a fascinating and mind blowing story. You can read my Guided Reading activity on it by following the link below.
The Soldier who spared Hitler's life

2. Roald Dahl was a WW2 fighter pilot

Prior to becoming the world's most famous children's author, Roald Dahl was a fighter pilot in the RAF. During our literacy lessons on biography, we looked at his auto-biography, 'Going Solo'. Our class were on the edge of their seats as he recounted the tale of a crash in the African desert which almost cost him his life. After getting lost and running out of fuel, his Gladiator plane crashed and Dahl was knocked unconscious. Waking up, he could smell aviation fuel and see flames. He dragged himself away from the plane before it exploded. Bullets and shrapnel miraculously avoided his body. It took hours before he was found, and the injuries he sustained ended his flying career. From this he eventually got into writing. Alongside the books for which he is best known, Dahl also wrote the screen plays for Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and somewhat bizarrely, James Bond: The Spy Who Loved Me. When he died in 1990, he was buried with some of his favourite things - chocolate, wine, pencils and a power saw!
More Dahl facts

3. Dick Turpin was not a dandy bravado

The legendary highwayman, Dick Turpin, was not the brave and courageous man that literature would have us believe. Instead, he was an ageing, pock-faced, plain looking man who lived in a cave and hunted in a gang. He wasn't one to take on stage coaches single handedly. He would often prey on the weak and vulnerable, such as elderly widows. His eventual capture, however, was a remarkable coincidence. He had moved to Yorkshire from Essex some years previously, and changed his name to John Palmer to evade capture for his gruesome crimes. In a bizarre twist of fate, his old school teacher, who now worked as a post master, recognised his handwriting on a letter to his father, and turned him in. The children loved this story, as well as the excellent Horrible Histories video of the tale, performed in the style of Adam Ant.
Horrible Histories: Dick Turpin

4. Edvard Munch's Scream is screaming out at open spaces

I've often wondered what the Scream is actually screaming at. Well now I know, thanks to our art topic on mood and emotions. The abstract piece of art, which has inspired some wonderful pieces from children in my class, is actually representing Munch's own agoraphobia. The skull shaped head represents his fear of death. The image recalls a specific event when he was walking across a bridge with friends and felt 'a tinge of melancholy'. The people he was with kept walking (visible to the left of the picture), the sky became a bloody red and he heard a piercing scream. The scream was his own.
This term is actually the first time I have taught art. In my NQT year last year, I was on PPA when my class had art. My only previous experience was an OFSTED inspected lesson during my training year, which was deemed as 'inadequate.' I've come a long way since then!

5. Witches don't use even numbers in spells

We've been doing Shakespeare in literacy. Macbeth. I wasn't looking forward to teaching it. But I loved it, and so did the kids. With battles, ghosts and murders, there's certainly a lot to keep the children interested. When looking at the poem of the Three Witches, we noticed these lines:

Second Witch 
  2    Thrice and once the hedge-pig whined. 

"Why doesn't she just say four times?" one of my children asked. Good question. Armed with tablets, I asked the children to find out the answer. The reason is that even numbers were considered inappropriate to magical spells. (It's just a shame that with Halloween coming up, I live at number 27)

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That's what I've learned this half term. Do I get a sticker?

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#17 It's time for Fair Pay

In late 2009, I made the decision to be a teacher. My prime motivation was, and still is, to serve within a community, helping children to realise their potential. The pay and pension scheme was an added bonus, providing my family with a comfortable lifestyle and security for the future.

During that same year, the funeral march had begun for a Labour Government whose twelve years in power had been built on the premise of "Education, education, education." And education was all the better for it.

The following year, the funeral was over. Labour were well and truly dead and buried. The new government quickly set to work on dismantling what Labour had built. Meanwhile, the new chancellor raided the pensions and salaries of public sector workers in order to reduce the national debt.

Of course, I didn't need to tell you that - you already knew. But the reason I'm writing about it today is that the profession I aspired to join in 2009 had fundamentally changed by the time I started my training in 2012. The generous pension scheme I liked the sound of had been reduced significantly. I was told that I should expect to be teaching until the age of 68. Finally, the salary that had attracted me had been reduced in real terms by between 10% and 15% as pay freezes were at odds with high rates of inflation.

On the march for Fair Pay: 'Britain Needs a Payrise' 18th Oct 2014

I am a husband and father of two. We own a modest three-bed semi. We can afford to run one car. We haven't had a holiday this year. I'm not quite sure how we'll afford Christmas presents, but we'll get by.

And so I'm left wondering...is this it? Is it too much to ask for enough money to take my own children on holiday? Perhaps it is. It pains me to say this, but there is a very good chance that the Conservatives will remain in power after the next election, and if that happens, then below inflation pay increases will be the norm until 2018 at the earliest. By this time, a teacher is likely to be worth 20% less than they were a decade previously. What's more, trainees will have to fork out £9000 in fees just to do a PGCE.

All the while, the government are adding to the pressures and workload of teachers by driving up the standards to compete with the 'best' education systems in the world. But how can a world-leading education system be created if the government itself doesn't even value the profession?

I think we could create a world leading education system. To do it, things need to change.

Fair pay. Please.

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#16 The most important schooling a child receives is at home

This week, I have put my Year 6 class through the joys of sitting the 2014 SATS assessments, just so we can gauge where they are at. Whilst most of the children accustomed themselves very well, there were one or two who really struggled.

One child in our Year 6 simply cannot read and write at the level need to pass in the SATS. Although this child has been through every intervention going, there remains the sorry prospect that they will leave our school, after six years of education, as illiterate. This is my nightmare scenario and I often wake up in the mornings with this child on my mind. I've trawled the Internet for what to do next, but can't help but think we may have missed the boat.

It's a well known fact in education that a child is at their most receptive to learning in the early years and as they go through up school this capacity to learn gradually reduces. The truth is that before a child has even set their foot in the classroom, a crucial stage in their learning has taken place.

Parents have a huge responsibility to ensure that their child is ready for school but many parents take the view that at 5, that responsibility ends, and passes over to the school. This is wrong. Parents and schools are involved in an unofficial partnership. Together, they are responsible for the learning journey of children.

My 5-year old daughter comes home from school with books in her book bag every night, and every night my wife and I try to make sure she reads to one of us. Usually, she enjoys reading, but sometimes it is under duress! She is aware though of the importance of mastering this basic skill. As a teacher, I'm fully aware that good readers become good writers, so we help her with her spellings; encourage her to write short stories at home; make comments about her handwriting and suggest ways in which she could make her work better. All the time, we lavish praise on her, and as a result, her confidence and enthusiasm is growing in her reading and writing.

This learning at home goes beyond reading and writing. In fact, there are more basic building blocks that we need to be intentional about. In the acquisition of new language skills, children listen, then speak, then read and finally write. So how can we improve our child's speaking and listening skills? It's simple. I don't want to come across as a smug parent, because I know there is an awful lot I get wrong, but one thing I get right is that I ensure that my family and I sit down together at the table for an evening meal. However busy it is at work, this time is sacred. It's family time. Half an hour a day. We've got into the habit of taking it in turns to talk about our days and question each other on the things we've been doing. The children (I have two girls, 5 & 3) love this. Once we have done this, we play a few games, such as going round the table thinking of different flowers or animals or something. It's like Mallet's Mallet, but without the mallet. Sometimes we play 'Who Am I?', or 'Guess the animal.' These are simple games which entertain us, but are also vital to the learning development of our children. Sometimes I think that half-an-hour we have together each day is their most valuable learning of the day.

For parents who take the opposite view - that schools are responsible solely for the learning of their child, I have a message:

There is no-one in a school who loves and cares for your child as much as you do. There is no-one in a school who individually spends as much time with your child as you do. So use that time well - talk to them, read with them and encourage them to write. They will thank you for it one day.

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#15 RE is a vital part of a child's education

My Year 6's and I get into some pretty deep discussions.

As a class, they fall into one of three categories. The first group is a handful of vocal and opinionated girls. The second group is half a dozen thoughtful and reflective boys. The third group don't really care but listen politely

Yesterday, my RE lesson on the five pillars of Islam was hijacked by a heated debate on arranged marriage in the Muslim culture. 

The majority of the class, particularly my opinionated girls, thought it was wrong and were stinging in their condemnation of it. The debate moved swiftly onto honour killings, and the children impressed me with their knowledge of current affairs, spouting out stories from the papers.

That said, I decided to step in at that point to say that honour killings are very rare in the wider scheme of things, and actually arranged marriages in the vast majority of cases are much more successful than marriages in western culture (if divorce rates are anything to go by).

We eventually came to an agreed viewpoint that it may not be for us personally, but we have no right to criticise it in our culture.

Our understanding of world cultures and religions is instrumental in our ability to live in harmony with our neighbours. The teaching of RE is vital for children to develop a tolerance and respect of those they share the planet with. Sadly, there are evil forces at work that want to put an end to that.

Here is an extract from the 'Just Say No' campaign by the British National Party:

Don´t let this happen to your child! These unfortunate British children were forced by their school to visit a mosque and dress up as Muslims under the guise of ´religious education´. No-one has to stand for this wicked indoctrination.

The BNP are urging parents to write to their schools asking for their children to be removed from RE lessons. They have provided a letter template and a well-organised awareness campaign is underway.

I have taken children to mosques and have always enjoyed the experience. I have felt welcomed by Muslims who have shared their faith in a sensitive and informative way. The very thought that an Imam would use a school visit for 'indoctrination' amuses me!

But maybe there is something more going on here. Ever since 9/11, Muslims the world over have been unfairly viewed with suspicion and discrimination. In recent months, a murderous organisation using the banner of 'Islamic State' has shocked the world with its treatment of minority groups and brutal killings of westerners. Does this mean that Islam should be seen as an enemy? Of course not! The very thought is preposterous. Indeed, Imams from across the world have been universal in condemning the actions of the Islamic State. They say that the Qu'ran has been taken way out of context, and many have gone as far as saying that IS are heretics. IS are a tiny, yet powerful and significant organisation of terror. They're not representative of modern day Islam...far from it.

The area I work in as not multi-cultural, nor is it racist. On occasion, I hear bigoted comments from parents and children, but this is ignorance rather than anything more malicious, and is quickly corrected. I fear, however, that these parents will be the target of the BNP's campaign of poison. It would fill me with sadness if the parent of a child in my class sent that letter.

My message to any parent wishing to remove their child from RE is this: If you want your child to live in a world of fear, intolerance, prejudice and hatred, then go ahead.  If you believe it's better to hope, not hate, then don't write the letter. Your child will thank you for it one day.

And one more thing...if a parent still wants to send the letter, then it's their statutory responsibility to provide RE lessons to their child at school. That may put them off the idea.

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