Views & Opinion Teaching moments Comment by ALICIA BLANCO-BAYO, Early Years teacher at Kirkham Grammar School


End of year reports again. The completion of one cycle and the continuation of another. The time when Early Years practitioners reflect on children’s journeys and put all those important moments into words. What is it we need to comment on? What is it we believe parents need to know that we have not discussed with them throughout the year? Whatever we choose to write about and how it is worded will remain part of a document that parents and other professionals may get to read as a child travels through the educational system. We are in an era where it is becoming acceptable to talk about emotions and we are beginning to question how children’s wellbeing has an impact on emotional responses in a learning scenario. Should this be taken into account when we write a school report?


Interests and dispositions to learn I often highlight sections of the Characteristics of Effective Learning from the Development Matters document as I reflect about individual children and their journey. This is how I describe


the steps each child has taken, and how individual strengths shine. However, when I try to establish links between developmental stages in the Foundation Stage and curriculum expectations in Key Stage 1, I don’t always find a smooth connection. The Development Matters document states that, ‘Children develop at their own rates, and in their own ways. The development statements and their order should not be taken as necessary steps for individual children. They should not be used as checklists. The age/stage bands overlap because these are not fixed age boundaries but suggest a typical range of development.’ (p.7) Taking this statement into account, I have found myself commenting on children’s emotional well-being and how they are developing as little people moving away from what they have achieved from an academic perspective and how well they have done it.


Perhaps the answer is to have no set targets at the core of our practice, so we can focus on valuing children for who they are, and not how a system says they should be. That disposition


to learn is in everyone in one way or another and it is our responsibility as practitioners to find it and use it when we plan our teaching moments. Let’s not forget that the interests and dispositions to learn must not be measured according to what has traditionally been defined as “the focused learning moment”, when a teacher delivers a concept and children are expected to sit up on chairs facing the board. Rather, they are real shining moments when a sparkle of excitement spontaneously occurs because children are engaged in something that encourages them to explore and think for themselves. They are moments when interactions take place because children are fascinated by an occurrence and they wonder why things happen. The level of excitement will also reflect how children might be feeling, and using those situations to support children is crucial. This is when we hold our children’s hands, celebrate who they are and analyse their emotional responses so that they get to where they want to be. That is what I would like a school report to show.


Holiday highlights - maximising


commercial scope in the summer break Comment by MATT WHITE, Chair of The University Caterers Organisation (TUCO) and Director of Catering, Hotel and Conferencing Services at the University of Reading


While the end of term might mean relaxation and down time for students, this can be far from the case for some staff members. In fact, the summer season can be one of the most exciting times of the year for education hospitality teams and the chance to really maximise commercial scope. It’s a time when schools, colleges and universities open their doors to external events, welcoming visitors from across the world – creating an air of exhilaration and opportunities to maximise profit margins and raise the profile of a venue outside the education sector. In particular for catering teams, events offer the chance to showcase their culinary skills and represent a significant change in tempo, moving away from the day-to-day student offer to banqueting, silver service and multi-course high-end menus. External events not only provide chefs with the chance to flex their creative muscles but they are also a fantastic profit generator. The holidays are a time when an education venue would otherwise stand empty. By opening its facilities up for events such as weddings, award ceremonies and conferences, operators can generate valuable income from the event space, residential accommodation and catering – providing a much-needed boost to the far more tightly-controlled term-time budgets.


To help our members stand out from the crowd and make the most of the commercial opportunities which events provide, we run regular study tours to


July/August 2017


showcase the latest trends, and provide advice on more complex cooking techniques and how to best us unusual ingredients. We recently ran a full day course around molecular gastronomy – the blending of physics and chemistry to transform the tastes and textures of food. This is a concept largely associated with fine dining, Michelin-starred restaurants and pioneering chefs such as Heston Blumenthal. However, with the rise in schools and universities promoting their facilities as world-class conference and event spaces, we’re seeing a growing demand for this style of cooking across campuses.


Robert Grimer, Chef de Cuisine at the University of Kent, who attended the molecular tour, said: “This was a fantastic event held at the multisensory dining experience, Kitchen Theory, in London. The course covered everything from the history and theory of molecular gastronomy right through to practical techniques such as sous vide cooking, how to use hydrocolloids and the culinary use of dry nitrogen.


“To ensure our events spaces are regularly booked throughout the summer, chefs like myself need to continually push boundaries and reinvent our menus in-line with the latest food and drink trends. It’s through regular training and attendance at courses like this that we can ensure we’re raising the bar and competing with other venues.”


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