Review Day

Well, that's another Review Day over with. This is our fourth year of running these and it only seems like yesterday since we launched the first one.

Review Day is a chance for pupils, parent, carers and the form tutor to meet twice a year to review progress and to jointly agree learning targets.

The relationship which is developed between the form tutor, pupils, parents and carers is invaluable. As form tutors rotate with their form groups, this will often mean that they will have this contact for 5 years. At Bishop Gore we recognise that the form tutor is in a unique position in that it is only he/she that has a complete overview of the school experience for the pupils in the form. It is this overview which makes the Review Day dialogue so important.

How will Review Day develop in the future?

We need to ensure that form tutors have access to the most up-to-date learning information from subject areas and are able to communicate learning targets quickly and efficiently to all concerned. We also need to reduce the amount of paper that is used during the day and improve the appointments system. We need to have a regular dialogue with parents and carers in-between Review Days. The key to this must be IT - we recognise the enormous potential of using IT in the Review Day system and will be working hard to develop this over the coming months.

So much talent

I am writing this just after experiencing another fantastic round of auditions for our talent competition - Talent Unleashed. So many of our pupils wanted to enter, we had to set up a number of rounds of auditions as we simply could not fit them all in to one round!

The talent on display is quite simply breathtaking. Pupils from all year groups in the school participated and the final (March 14th) promises to be a fantastic event. We even had a special guest appearance from Molly the dog!

What was really interesting was the way large numbers of pupils used technology to record the auditions. This was completely unprompted and demonstrated, once again, that there is a huge momentum in terms of the use of digital technology amongst our pupils. They seem to be ever more creative in the way in which they work both inside and outside the classroom.

A snowy day....

It was a difficult day in school today. The snow around the school wasn't particularly bad this morning, but did get worse towards the end of the day. It became clear early on that the snow had hit pockets of Swansea and beyond. Whilst some pupils and staff found it relatively easy to get in, others found it more difficult.

When making a decision about whether to open the school, the most important consideration is that of health and safety. This is where we have to evaluate the impact of snow on the school, it's surroundings and also whether we can provide adequate staff coverage. Every effort is made to ensure the final decision is communicated to all concerned as soon as possible but because of the complexity of this, it sometimes takes a little while.

The pupils that did manage to attend school today had a normal timetable (and some great snowball fights) as we attempted to operate as normal. We will always try to stay open as long as it it safe to do so. Learning time is important!

Once again, yet another aspect of school life demonstrated how important technology is as we ensured that the messages about the school were communicated to all concerned. The school website (bishopgore.net) had a banner headline stating the the school was open and we used our Twitter account (@bishopgore) to give regular updates. This seemed to work well.

Finally, thank you to the pupils who attended and who responded in such a positive way and to the staff who, in many cases, had to struggle through significant snowfall to get in to school.

Snow v technology

Having an unplanned day off school can be very enjoyable for those who were able to spend the day relaxing, sledging, throwing snowballs and so on, it can also be quite disruptive. There will be many of our parents and carers who will have had to make child care arrangements at short notice and this is something which we consider when making a decision to close the school.

The day off also meant that our year 11 and sixth form pupils who are preparing for exams missed crucial learning time. This is a very short half term and, as is usual at this time of the year, every single lesson is extremely important.

How could we have made better use of technology to make up for the lost time? Even on a simple level, we could ensure that all pupils have contact with their teachers during such days. The school has a Twitter account, and it seems to be incredibly popular with our pupils at the moment - we need to bring the two together. All it would have required is for some simple instructions from the class teachers to ensure that at least some learning could have taken place last Friday. Of course, there are many other applications we could have used (for example, Edmodo). The facilities are there, it just takes a little bit of organisation and thinking in a different way.

Once again, this has proved just how powerful digital learning can be. It is up to us all to ensure it works for all learners.

Listen to the learners!

It is amazing to see how creative our pupils are when it comes to digital learning and how, given the scope, they really are independent learners.

We have so many pupils who are already utilising their own technology to assist with their learning. In this way, it is often the pupils that are offering professional development to the teachers as they share their learning.

In one year 8 geography class today, two pupils were using their iPads and it was obviously making a real impact on their learning. When asked, the whole class were able to articulate, quite eloquently, how they felt access to iPads would make a massive difference to their learning.

This is an opportunity too good to be missed - all of our pupils have to have access to this technology now!

Why iPads in school?

I have just come across a great blog by Ian Wilson who is a freelance Apple Education mentor. In one of his posts, he discusses why iPads should be used for learning. Here is an edited extract (full blog can be found at ipadineducation.co.uk):

1.It occupies a new space in technology, one which is still undefined to some extent, yet which is likely to be significant over time. The space is between the mobile space occupied by phones and iPods, and the portable space which is where laptops and netbooks live.

2.It will help to personalise learning - it is widely recognised the 1 to 30 one-way knowledge-transfer model is fast becoming redundant. As teachers and lecturers begin to create new ways of tackling this issue, the iPad could play a useful role in this transformation.

3.The end of networks? - the iPad could be the beginning of the end of the dominance of managed networks in education. How much time is wasted not being able to ‘log in’? How often is the network ‘down’? The iPad could hold all the apps a learner needs for a day/ week/ month/ term’s work. The only network needed will be robust wifi throughout the school buildings and in as many open outdoor spaces as possible.

4.No more ICT suites - too many schools segregate their technology from everyday teaching and learning by placing it often in a dark, windowless room and timetabling when learners can access computers. Children are then herded in large groups along the corridor to use the computers. Thus technology becomes compartmentalised and discrete rather than ubiquitous and generic.

5.It’s a blank canvas - the scope for apps written specifically for teaching and learning is huge. Educationalists can work with developers to create new and innovative software which reflect the learner’s needs and expectations in technology. Essentially the iPad is a tactile and engaging mobile device which could transform the way people learn.

6. When all the potential functionality of the iPad is added up, its form factor, the iOS, the cameras, and the apps, it becomes clear that the iPad is a Personal Learning Studio. It can be a science lab, literacy tool, research station, history archive, language lab, art canvas, music studio, video editing suite, games console and library.

What do you think?

Reflection at the end of the week....

Once again, the development block challenge was a great success. Pupils in year 7 have now completed two challenges with the third (led by the humanities cluster) coming next.

This challenge was led by the languages and English cluster and required all pupils to take a trip around the world. On the first morning pupils were briefed and issued with their passports before having to proceed through security! During the week, pupils completed a wide variety of tasks as they travelled the world including food tasting, salsa lessons, ordering food in a cafe, researching native animals and much more.

At the end of the journey, parents and carers were there to meet the pupils in the arrivals lounge. The excitement was obvious as the pupils shared their learning experiences with each other and their parents and carers before finally having their passports stamped to confirm completion of their challenge.

This was another mind-blowing learning experience for all concerned. We can't wait for the next challenge!

Coming in to land....

The second development block challenge is coming to an end. What a week it has been! It has been busy, loud, chaotic, fun........

So much learning has taken place is week, the key being that the learning activities inspired and enthused our pupils.

It would be wrong to assume that these pupils have had a week off timetable with no learning taking place - this was probably one of the most high impact learning weeks for our pupils ever!

All aboard....

Our 'Around the World in 5 Days' development project has really 'taken off'. Today, some pupils were experimenting with foods from around the world.

Tomorrow, some pupils will be taking on the role of cabin crew as they role play using the aircraft simulator at the college.

Brilliant, exciting learning which will only be enhanced still further when we introduce iPads as learning tools - the sky's the limit!

What will our timetable look like in the future?

When asked for their opinions on our new curriculum model pupils will invariably state how much they enjoy having 'blocked' learning time. The new model allows pupils to control the pattern of their school day. No longer do they have their learning interrupted by the sound of the bell - no longer do they have to waste valuable learning time by having to pack up their belongings and traipse around school (the teachers come to them).......

A few years ago we introduced our 'super learning' model which was used with our year 11 pupils who needed a more intense period of learning in a particular subject area. I remember the initial negative reaction of many of the pupils and staff when they were told that for 3 days they would be working with their English teacher on developing their understanding of Macbeth. Quite quickly they realised how much more productive and relaxed their learning was. Pupils and staff now ask for 'SuperLearning' and it is a permanent feature of our key stage four provision for all pupils.

Much has been written about the fact that, in a 60 minute lesson, the productive learning time can often be a little as 15 minutes. First the pupils have to find the class, settle down, find their equipment, chat about what happened last night and then they are ready to learn......at the end of the lesson there is a cool down period as well. Allowing pupils to work in blocked time immediately increases the opportunity to achieve productive learning time.

In secondary schools, why do we persist with timetables that really do not suit the learning needs of pupils? After all, primary schools have been doing this for years.....................

Year 7 Time Travellers

Today saw the launch of the second development block challenge 'Around the World in 5 Days'. This time, the challenge given to our year 7 pupils is for them to complete a series of tasks which will take them 'around the world'.

The very first task pupils had to undertake was to create a learning plan from the activities included on the challenge menu. Here is the challenge menu they will be working from this week (click on the image to enlarge):

And here are some of our pupils working hard at creating their learning plans-

Blooming technology.......

As we begin our iPad learning journey, the above graphic (click on it to enlarge) really does fit in well with the work we have been doing on our new Key Stage 3 curriculum.  Our development block challenges are underpinned by Bloom's taxonomy and have got off to a fantastic start even without access to iPads.  Now that we are beginning to use iPads as a learning tool, the possibilities are endless!

Timing is everything!

As we approach what many say is the most important term of the year, it is important that all pupils who are preparing for exams this summer plan the next few months very carefully. It may seem like a long way off now, but every year there is that usual panic as pupils (and staff) feel they are running out of time.

Some basic facts:

5 weeks until half term

6 weeks after Half term until Easter

Plan your time carefully!

Bishop Gore Young Playwrights

It is exactly one year until the centenary of the birth of our most famous pupil -Dylan Thomas. We are planning a series of events to celebrate this and the next few months will be very busy with a number of exciting announcements likely to be made.

One of our major events is to host a young playwrights competition which will be held in early 2014. We will be inviting  pupils to submit scripts for short plays which will then be judged with the winning scripts being performed by other pupils in the school.

In the clip above we can here Dylan Thomas reading one of his most famous works 'Do not go gentle into that good night' which he wrote for his father (who taught English at our school). We are proud to be part of the life of one of the most influential twentieth century poets and authors.