Country Roads Take Me Home
Angus MacRury
Monday 10 October 2005
I found myself in the Country and Western section in HMV last weekend and couldn’t resist The Ultimate Country Collection. On the way to school I have been lamenting along with Glen Campbell and Don Williams. The Islands of Scotland, Barra in particular are a hotbed of Country and Western fans. As I child I remember hearing this stuff more than Gaelic or Celtic songs. Strange but true. Monday started with a visit to West Barns Primary to wave our four P7 students off to camp at Dounans. The Cluster camp is a great way for the children from all the feeder primary schools to get to know each other in preparation for first year at Dunbar Grammar. After the bus had left I spent some time with Kay Chapman discussing our joint trip to York in the summer. I then had a long chat with David about his Assessment Tracking Database that is simple and effective.
In the afternoon I catch up on lots of paper work and e-mails.
On Tuesday I am stuck behind a cement lorry on the A1 listening to CW McCall, Convoy. 10:4 buddy… Today I am in class with P5/6/7. I realty enjoy my Tuesdays as the pupils are so hardworking and eager. We cover Literacy Comprehension, Maths problem Solving and I read them the Gruffalo. It surprises me how well they respond to the story (poem). The focus for reading this was to allow them to listen to the fluency rhythm and rhyme in the book. I finalise the newsletter at lunchtime and check on the responses for parents’ consultations.
In the afternoon I attended the newly formed assessment working group. This was an honest and frank meeting which produced a positive outcome. The group came up with the following expectations to formative assessment.
Teachers should:-
1.Share their intensions with learners.
2.Provide quality feedback to children
3.Summarise the lesson at the end of the teaching period
4.Use appropriate questioning techniques to further childrens’ learning
5.Expect that every child will contribute
6.Provide and reinforce the context for learning.
7.Provide advise about what children can do next to improve
8.Provide regular opportunities for children to give feedback about their learning experiences
9.Be prepared to modify their practice in response to children’s feedback.
Wednesday. I am listening to Steve Earle, Copperhead Road. As I drive past the cement works and the rubbish dump and as Torness comes into view I think to myself that Copperhead Road sounds quite appealing. I start today in Nursery as the Nursery Teacher is with the P7 students at camp. The nursery is a great place to work. It reminds me that children are enthusiastic, keen and open learners and we have a commitment to maintain this throughout their primary school education. I introduce the feast of Ramadan to them and show them a Prayer Mat. We look at the patterns and colours and we read story. Later in the morning we have a puppet show and make Humpty Dumpty pictures. At 11:20am I discover that a member of staff is unwell and I will require to go into the class. I spend the rest of the morning with the class. At 2pm I meet with Gavin Clark and Lesley Gilles at DGS to discuss Friday’s Moderation Panel meeting. I then make my way to Longniddry to meet with Colleague who have staff about to start on the Learning Team initiative. This is a great opportunity for staff to work with Lesley Clark. A The aims of the Project are:
To form a learning team of teachers as action researchers, with an expectation that they will experiment with formative assessment in-between the project days and feedback their findings
To update teachers on recent, significant research findings which underpin effective formative assessment
To enable schools and teachers to move from an “activity culture” to a “learning culture”
To support teachers in reviewing and modifying existing systems
To share and celebrate achievement
If we can do all this we will be doing really well.
Thursday. I am in class all day due to staff absence. This gives me the chance to do some Maths Assessments to check progress and as a treat I read the class “Room on the Broom” by Julia Donaldson which is really well received. I welcome staff from KEYCOMM to Innerwick. They are here to assess the requirements of a student and by the end of the morning have given some excellent advice. At 1:30pm there is a review meeting that I manage to catch the tail end of when my own class go off to PE.
At 3:30pm I make my way to the Musselburgh Racecourse for a seminar on target setting. I still am a bit confused about box graphs, but I will have a look at the website to aid me more, when it comes around to looking at it. (2020, maybe) Only joking. Ruth Munro informed us of the Authority plan to send out a prediction spreadsheet for Maths and Language. I got a row from Ruth for whispering to Ronnie Grieve. It had been a long week.
On Friday I am at John Muir House for the Moderation Panel meeting. The moderation panel discuss and agree exceptional status for students with needs that are not predictable. Schools who require support or additional staffing can make a bid to the panel for funding to support this student. In order for a student to be exceptional a best fit criteria chart is used. There is always lively debate at these meetings and this one was no exception. I manage to get back to school for 11:15 and spend the rest of the morning following up emails and arranging a “hosting” of a family from England for 4-5 weeks. I am heading to Manchester tomorrow for a Christening, back Sunday so the weekend will not bring much respite. I think I need to dump that Country and Western CD, as I appear to be living the life of the songs. Roy Orbison, Crying. On the way home.
What does your name come out as on a spell checker? Try mine. I sound like a superhero who sorts out piles. Go on try it.