At the chalkface
Study leave
THE LITTLE 11th year darlings are off on something called “Study Leave”. Two weeks of it. A concept rather lost on some, who seem to deem it leave from study – a sort of shore leave. After five years of feckless, low drizzle sloth, they’re rather knackered and need a break. This segues gently into half term hols – a distinction also lost on some clots. I must act. There is
no holiday. There is no time to chill. Some 1,500 hours of intellectual development have reached fruition. Or not. Time to mull and hone and harvest that hard won knowledge. Time to retreat into the cloistered shades of academe. Otherwise Study Leave might just become permanent. They’ll get sacked. They won’t come back. Never again will I delight in their dark frolics. They’ll be gone. Forever. I get most lachrymose. Blub! Blub! I go. “No worries, sir!” No worries! No worries!
Recession! Cuts! Big Societies! Armageddon! All this – and Michael Gove! Lord have mercy. “What you do in the next
two weeks could echo through eternity!” I tell them yet again in my best Pentecostal voice. They nod and leg it… A few days later, I’m
wandering down the Portobello Road. I see three boys. Sidney and Shaka and Attila. They see me. “Going down library!” says
Shaka. Some very large pigs fly
extremely high over Westway. “Excellent!” I chirp. I watch them walk off,
curiously unburdened by books. They look round to see if I’m looking. I am. They smile wanly. I turn. They scuttle into a side door. Ladbroke Grove library? Shades of Academe? Not quite. More Shades of the pool hall – a den of vice and thrills. I should know. I’m a regular. I zoom in. Little Kevin is on the door. He seems to be the muscle round these parts. “Shouldn’t you be in
school?” “Chillin’” says the
muscled oaf. I charge in. I’m their
teacher, tutor and moral compass in a very naughty world. I could be saving their lives here. “So this is the library?” “Easy, sir! Give us a
break!” says Shaka. They’ve had one for 16 years. “You don’t want to peak too
early!” says Dervish, potting a red. “You gotta pace yourself, sir!”
says Sidney, rubbing a cue. Pace himself! He’s been doing
that since conception. “Get out! Get studying!” I see them off. I follow. Little
Kevin winks. “You tell ‘em, sir!” Will they get there? What do
you think. You can lead a Lunk to a library but you cannot drag him in… even though it’s Study Leave.
• Ian Whitwham is a former teacher. A book of his best ever columns is out now. For details, email
editor@sec-ed.co.uk
Future vision: Year 11 pupils Matthew Hicks, Jay McFerran and Daniel Renzi (left to right) use the iPad in their ICT classes
iPad makes impact in the classroom
by Emma Lee-Potter
With a week to go before Apple’s iPad goes on sale in the UK, the race is on to be one of the first in the country to own the gadget. But teachers at St Boniface’s
Catholic College in Plymouth are ahead of the game. They have been using the innovative tablet device as a teaching tool at the all-boys school since the beginning of the summer term and are convinced it has huge potential in the classroom. Paul Scott, who is head of pho- tography and teaches ICT at the
specialist science college, bought the iPad during a school trip to New York in the Easter holidays. “The boys spent about an hour
playing on it in the Apple store on Fifth Avenue,” Mr Scott told SecEd. “The boys were elated when I bought it and immediately used it to show all the photographs from the school trip.” Back in the UK, Mr Scott began
passing the iPad around his col- leagues. It has now been used in a variety of subject departments, from music to modern foreign languages. Science students have used an application called XE to explore
the periodic table while other pupils have accessed video pod- casts to support their learning. Year 10 student Kieron Kelly even taught Mr Scott to play the piano using the device. The school is also looking at the pos- sibility of developing its own software to cover specific class- room topics. “The iPad has made such an
impact already,” said Mr Scott. “In just a few weeks 70 to 80 per cent of the boys have used it. “I really think that this is the
future – much more so than laptops. Everything is built into this one
device. There’s no big keyboard and no plug, so in a classroom it’s easy to use. The boys already had the skills to use it and by being able to pass it around and walk about with it, it has also encouraged group work.” Year 13 student, Sam James,
added: “The iPad makes learning more fun. It is inevitable that these devices are going to change the way schools use computers.” The iPad launches on May 28,
with prices from £429. It remains to be seen whether the cost will pro- hibit many schools from investing in the device.
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December 2009 Issue 107
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Will the recession affect school builds?
Experts have predicted that the budget for the Building Schools for the Future (BSF) programme – intended to refurbish every secondary school in England – will be cut whichever Party wins the next election.
Speaking at the British Council for School Environments’ (BCSE) annual conference, Graham Watts, chief executive of the Construction Industry Council, said that capital funding would be squeezed next year and that the BSF programme was ‘under great pressure’. He also suggested that funding for the Primary Capital Programme (PCP) might be cut.
Ty Goddard, chief executive of BCSE,
told Fundraising for Schools that
inevitably there were dangers to school capital funding programmes as a result of the economic downturn.
‘It’s crucial to remember that such programmes not only help support the achitectural and construction industries, but also improve the educational opportunities of our children,’ he said.
‘Most of the school estate was built before the 1970s. Building or
In this issue
News
Marketing Straight from the horse’s
mouth Grants and awards Applications Gift Aid
Case Study Grant reminders
1-2 3
4-5 6-11
12-13 14 15 16
refurbishing our schools, and making them relevant to teaching and learning in the 21st century, is not a luxury – it is a necessity.’
A spokesperson from the DCSF said that it was still the Government’s ambition to rebuild every secondary school in the country, but that it couldn’t make any fi nancial commitments before the next spending review.
Asked to comment on Conservative Party plans for schemes like BSF, a spokesperson for the Party said that one way to cut costs would be to reduce the amount of bureaucracy. ‘A recent Freedom of Information request revealed that the DCSF have spent tens of millions of pounds on consultants, including where there haven’t been new school buildings,’ he said.
Continued on page 2
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SecEd
The ONLY weekly voice for secondary education
Inside this issue
Don’t miss our NQT eight-page special in this week’s SecEd
Issue 232 • November 26 2009 Price £1.00
www.sec-ed.com
SecEd has once again teamed up with the NASUWT to bring you a dedicated eight- page NQT special offering an array of advice and support to help you survive and thrive in your first year at the chalkface
Pages 16 to 23
Coaching advice
Coaching can be an effective and innovative CPD tool. We look at how it should be structured and the secrets to success
Page 12
The dyslexic brain
Dyslexic author Al Campbell looks at how the dyslexic brain learns and how teachers can help
Pages 8 and 9
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PROMOTE racial harmony, cultural diversity, and social cohesion.
Inspiring: Winning PA Julia Marks with her head, Tim Mitchell. All 30 finalists are also pictured (inset)
Battle to save school wins Julia PA honour
Head praises the amazing belief of SecEd Headteacher’s PA of the Year 2009
In July, the school’s future was
by Chris Parr
When the local authority began consulting on the closure of Dayncourt School in Nottinghamshire, it was Julia Marks – PA to headteacher Tim Mitchell – who stood strong, rallied the school’s staff, and staunchly refused to let her colleagues throw in the towel.
secured after the council withdrew the threat of closure. According to Mr Mitchell, this was more to do with Julia than with any other individual within the school establishment. He told us: “Julia kept the faith
– even when my own was on the wane. She poked, prodded, chivvied and chided. She kept me focused and on track. She believed.” Julia’s amazing contribution
to the future of her school has earned her the top prize at the 2009 SecEd Headteacher’s PA of the Year Awards, which took place at the prestigious Landmark Hotel in London on Friday (November 20). Thirty finalists gathered with
their headteachers, where they were treated to a gala dinner before being presented with their awards by last year’s champion, Pam Waters, and John Rolfe, manager of the DCSF
NASUWT
The Teachers’ Union
the largest teachers’ union in the UK
UK news Independent thinking Moral support NQT diary Managing ICT Leadership page At the chalkface
International School Award at the British Council – the award’s spon- sors. SecEd editor, Pete Henshaw, said
that Julia was “person of tremen- dous drive, passion and vision”. He continued: “The standard of
entries was unbelievably high, but Julia’s commitment to her school’s cause under such immense pressure was what made her stand out from the crowd.
“She is a very worthy winner of
this year’s gold award, and a fine ambassador for PAs up and down the country.” The silver award went to
Elisabeth Collard from Kingsbridge Community College in Devon, while the bronze award was taken by Kim Annison from Alderman Peel High School in Norfolk.
• See pages 2 and 3 for details.
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