Primary Teacher UK

Teacher's TV on iTunes

Teachers TV programmes are now freely available on iTunes U so they can be watched on the go. Teachers TV are joining some of the leading UK providers of adult learning such as Open University and University of Oxford in making four hundred of their most popular programmes available on iTunes U, an area in the iTunes Store where leading colleges and universities share knowledge with the alumni community - and the world.   Andy Smith, Director of Digital Media at Teachers TV commented:

“This is another fantastic way to take Teachers TV content to our audience. Teachers TV are constantly looking for new ways to make training as accessible and painless as possible.  Training shouldn’t be a chore so access on iTunes is great news.  It’s wonderful that our users will be able to download a quick update on classroom discipline at the same time as that Leona Lewis single!”

How to make a difference

How to make a difference has an interview with Anna Hassan who is responsible for turning around a local primary school in East London from a failing, three quarters full school, to an over subscribed, outstanding school.  Interesting reading for aspiring headteachers.

Link: http://howtomakeadifference.net/2009/04/anna-hassan/

100 Free Online Lectures that Will Make You a Better Teacher

Best Universities have posted an article, “100 Free Online Lectures that Will Make You a Better Teacher” (http://www.bestuniversities.com/blog/2009/100-free-online-lectures-that-will-make-you-a-better-teacher/). They are mostly American but may be of use to some teachers.

Keeping your Cool

Most of us have experienced that feeling of losing control of our emotions and then doing or saying something that we later regret.

Our feelings and emotions can build up inside of us a bit like hot steam in a pressure cooker and if they are not regulated and controlled they can explode.

The problem with holding onto your emotions until bursting point is that it can lead to you getting angry and you may even shout which may give you temporary relief but it can also leave you feeling guilty or embarrassed.

And sometimes as the pressure builds up for some people the only way out is to moan, nag, drink or engage is some other negative pursuit which relieves the tension but wastes energy and the problem remains unsolved.

Some people think that if they hide their feelings they are managing them.  But this is really not the case and what happens is that our emotions seem to leak their way out in the form of sighs, fidgeting and nervous laughter.   This might bring minor relief but that’s all

So how do you manage your emotions?  Here are few thoughts about saying healthy and in control.

7 Steps to staying healthy 1.      Be aware you are feeling something. 2.      Recognise and label your feelings.  Don’t suppress them. 3.      Decide whether you can talk about them or take some other action. 4.      If you can’t, ask why not and check whether you are making excuses. 5.      Decide how to talk about your feelings, where and when. 6.      Try talking to a friend, spouse or the person who triggered the emotion. 7.      Relieve the tensions by doing something physical, walking, gardening etc People who are happy and energetic are generally those who can keep the pressure at a reasonable level, by letting their emotions out as they come in but using a positive outlet to manage them.

 

 

Dot Struthers runs tele coaching sessions for teachers wanting to stay in control of their emotions.  To get your free monthly CPD newsletter register at www.merechats.co.uk

£919m for school building projects in next 12 months

Thousands of school modernisation projects across England can start 12 months early after £919 million was brought forward to boost the construction industry, Children’s Secretary Ed Balls and Schools Minister Jim Knight announced today.

More than 100 local authorities in England will share £499m brought forward from 2010-11 to the coming financial year, after bidding for capital investment made available in last November’s Pre-Budget Report.
Mr Balls has also accelerated another £390m of capital funding devolved to direct to every school head in England to invest in smaller projects as they see fit – from building new classrooms or science laboratories to fitting out new gyms or ICT facilities. A further £30m is now available for play areas.

The announcement is a key plank of the Government’s fiscal stimulus package to boost the economy in the current downturn.

It means that overall schools capital spending in 2009-10 will be will now be £7.943 billion – up from under £700m a year in 1997.

Mr Balls also welcomed new measures to support long-term public capital investment programmes by enabling private finance to keep flowing into the Building Schools for the Future programme (BSF) and other PFI-funded projects, announced today by the Chief Secretary to the Treasury.

Pupil Absence in Schools in England, including Pupil Characteristics: 2007/08

More than 233,000 school children in England are "persistent absentees" – missing at least one day of school every week, statistics showed today. For primary, secondary and special schools, 6.29% of possible half days are missed due to absence, compared to 6.49% the previous year. 3.6% of pupil enrolments are classed as persistent absentees, compared to 4.1% the previous year, typically missing 20% or more of possible half days of attendance.

Some more figures regarding Persistent Absence (PA):

• In primary schools PAs accounted for 1.7 per cent of enrolments;
• Compared with 2006/07, the rate of PAs has reduced from 4.1per cent to 3.6 per cent.
• The rate of overall absence for PAs is 35.15 per cent, which is over 5 times higher than the rate for all pupils.
• In 2007/08 some 3.7 per cent of girls in primary, secondary and special schools were PAs. This is slightly higher than the proportion of boys who were PAs.
• The occurrence of PAs was higher amongst pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals (FSM). In 2007/08, 8.2 per cent of pupils who were known to be eligible for FSM were PAs, compared with 2.8 per cent for the rest of the school population.
• The percentage of PAs increases as pupils progress through school. For national curriculum year groups up to year 11, the highest percentage of PAs is in year 11, where some 9.5 per cent of enrolments were PAs.
• The percentage of PAs was highest for the Traveller of Irish Heritage (36.8 per cent of all Traveller of Irish Heritage children were PAs); Gypsy/Roma (30.2 per cent) and Mixed (White and Black Caribbean) (5.3 per cent) ethnic groups. The percentage of PAs for all pupils was 3.6 per cent.
• In most primary schools (84 per cent), less than 3 per cent of the school population are PAs.

Many more figures are available in the official document.

Contacting Parents

The last few days have been an administrational headache for school leaders. The snow and ice has caused chaos with thousands of school closures. Trying to communicate to parents, teachers and other staff has been difficult and fraught with problems.

One possible solution is Parent Hotline; a unique number for each school that hundreds of parents can ring simultaneously to keep up-to-date with the latest news. The service is very effective; each school is given a unique number for their school. A designated member of staff rings the service from any location and leaves an emergency message informing everyone what is happening. Parents and staff can then ring in on a low call rate number (0844) to listen to the latest message. The message can be updated any number of times and listened to by hundreds of parents simultaneously.

The service is low cost at only £95 ex VAT per year. The service can also be used for school trips, after school clubs, sports fixtures and other important announcements throughout the year. There is a one-off set up fee of £100.  (For NAHT members this fee will be waived for all schools registering before the end of February).

To register your school, please email register@parenthotline.co.uk or call 01444 448092 (please be aware that lines may be busy!).

Regaining Control

Sometimes you can feel like you have no control of your day to day activities and that you are merely a passenger on someone else’s bus.  Here’s three ways which will give you the feeling of being in the drivers’ seat and having more in control of your time.

Diary

The key to having a successful diary is simplicity and flexibility.  You need three things in your diary, a place to record appointments, a place to formulate a “to do list” and a year planner to keep your eye on the longer term.

Daily plans or to do lists are essential to maximising your time.  They are normally created the day before and list the key things you want to achieve tomorrow.  What you need to think about is what you want to achieve, how long it will take, how important it is and when you will fit it into your diary? 

Prioritising your activities

Try prioritising your work into 4 categories; do it now (high importance/high urgency) defer it (high importance, low urgency) delegate it (low importance, high urgency) and dump it (low importance, low urgency).

Few tasks are both urgent and important it’s just that urgent tasks appear important because they demand action now.  It’s the urgent things like phone calls, demanding parents and accidents at school which can force us to put our long term goals to one side. 

The best way of dealing with interruptions is to ask yourself “is this more important than what I am doing” and if the answer is NO, then delegate or defer it to another time.

Learn from your mistakes

It’s always a good thing to take about 15 minutes out at the end of your day to review what has been achieved and to create your to do list for tomorrow.  Start by asking yourself these questions:-

• Did I underestimate what was involved?
•  Should I be more assertive?
• Can I change any of my deadlines?
• Can I get help?
• What things could I have delegated?
• Did I spend too long on one thing, i.e. being a perfectionist?

The key to being in control of your time and your day is to have a system that works for you.  How well is your system working for you?

Dot Struthers runs tele-coaching programmes to support teachers and if you would like to receive her monthly CPD newsletter register at www.merechats.co.uk

Freedom from Waste

Do you get that feeling that the clutter in your life is dragging you down and you have too many things in your classroom, too many tasks queuing up and needing your attention? 

We all have clutter, whether its books, files, stationery, clothes, posters, food, videos or even thoughts that we have stored safely around us like a nice warm blanket.

If you can answer “yes” to any of the following statements then read on for some useful tips before you loose your freedom and space.

“That might come in useful”

“That’s too good to throw away”

“I’ll save that in case or give that to somebody”

“I’ll read it later/ study it later”

“That’s a part of my life”

• Challenge your thoughts

Try to adopt more empowering thoughts like, “that information is out of date and I can get it on the internet”.  Scan the things you can’t live without.  When you buy things or are offered things, ask “why do I need this and where will it go?” and try to find a real purpose.

• Create rules

Only buy what you need and adopt a one in one out policy for things like clothes.  This way you can reward yourself when you chuck things out.  Recycle books to friends, charity shops and waiting rooms.

• Establish routines

Get into the habit of clearing out two or three times per year by making it a seasonal task. Choose a small activity at a time that you think you can accomplish, like a cupboard.  It will energise you and give you the motivation to tackle bigger areas like your loft or garage.   And it gives you a sense of freedom and space.

• Use a system

Keep your emotions out by simply devising a process to work with.  Try something like the 3 box approach; keep it, bin it, recycle it.  But you need to be strict with yourself and try not to read or reminisce; you can do this when you are finished.

To find out more about waste and clutter and to get a free monthly CPD newsletter register at www.merechats.co.uk

NPQH Application

If you are thinking of becoming a headteacher within the next 18months and you are thinking about applying got the NPQH then you need to know that the next application round for the National Professional Qualification for Headship (NPQH) is currently open and will close on 6 January 2009.  More information is available on the NPQH webpage.