Time.

The nature of time is something which has puzzled philosophers for as long as there have been bearded men without proper jobs thinking about non-essential phenomena. As teachers, we are all aware of the value of time. Time, since time immemorial, has been of the essence for teachers. We now enter the time of year where time becomes even more valuable, and this year, there is even more time pressure upon us, due to the odd structure of the Easter break and the timing of the royal wedding (please note the lack of capitalisation). We need to make the most of our next four days, knowing that in April our teaching will be limited to a mere handful of days. This is especially true for those of us who will be guiding year 11 to their exams in mid May.

It's been a very busy term, with plenty of positives, and plenty to learn from. We have had some excellent results, which is something to build on. With consistent effort and great team work, we can definitely do this.

This week, the final week of this short yet intense half term, will end with the now traditional merit and coaching sessions on Friday. Before that, we must navigate our way through the Scylla of book scrutiny, having navigated around the deadly Charybdis that was the learning walk process. As I am sure all of us learned scholars of literature know, that episode of the Odyssey ends with our cunning linguist Odysseus on the island of Calypso. In our case, this can mean the promised land of Easter - albeit an early Easter with exam prep and revision in the first week.

Also this week, next half-term's schemes of learning will need to be completed. Please ensure you are communicating with your partner effectively - if we fall down in our provision of the outlines, it can have a negative effect on the whole half term. I appreciate that this has been a very fast turn around. One way I feel we can help to get around this is to make the first few lessons relatively light in terms of photocopying, and to get copying done for others who will be teaching our schemes. This will really help everyone to hit the ground running after the holiday. April will be tricky - it always seems to be that broken up or shorter terms are tougher, perhaps due to the expectation that we complete the same volume of work as we would in a standard term. Let's make this next half-term as straight-forward as possible; if we produce quality work we will all benefit.

Enjoy this last week; ensure that all of your work is tied up neatly, especially if you teach year 10 and are completing Speaking and Listening this week. Have fun, and make the most of the lighter evenings.

Getting desperate for titles.

Greetings English teachers. I trust that this blog finds you hale, hearty and happily preparing for another week of joyous impartation of knowledge. And Progress Reports, Year 9 reports, marking, planning and cake on Thursday. That's without mentioning the fact that QA fortnight begins tomorrow, too!

This short, yet very busy, half term is now past half way, and we're looking at the run in. I think a highlight of this week will be the Owl Trail walk with our coaching groups, which could be quite an experience for some. Wednesday is deadline day for the Progress Reports, with the written reports ready for Friday. Along with the coursework marks and sample deadline, which is looming large, this promises to be a busy week, which will bring, hopefully a massive sense of achievement and relief at the end of it. 

As redemption for our hard work, we have the wonderful month of April coming up. We'll all be able to enjoy some time off, but hopefully you can all give up a few hours to support with the Easter revision sessions which we'll be putting on. A timetable will be out soon - please do your best to help out where possible. Unfortunately, I'll be here.

As a side note, a certain member of staff will be appearing in a fantastic play in Harrogate during the first week of the holidays. If you can make it, get down there.

Keep going - the end is in sight, the fat lady is going to sing soon, the final whistle will blow, and if we all pull together many hands will make light work, and at the end of the day, we'll get our just desserts.

Congratulations...

Congratulations to all teachers of Year Ten groups for the outstanding set of results you helped our young ones achieve this week (apologies for the mullet in the second video). The results are the result of our pupil's talent and hard work, but the role you have all played in their achievement cannot be understated. You have all persevered with often challenging students, and a new GCSE course; that is without mentioning the fact that they sat the exam a term into KS4. This shows how much we, as a school, can achieve, when we work together, focusing on excellent outcomes and believing in our cohort. This will make a real difference to their futures, so thank you.

A key fact to remember with this set of results is that it is the numbers which are important. Pupils who are close to a 'grade boundary' need not be disappointed - strong Controlled Assessment can mean they still achieve fantastic results in the long term. The outstanding fact, for me, is that attainment and progress are so high from the most able to those who may struggle academically. It is that range which makes our school a challenge, and which makes results like this so satisfying.

However, at the risk of seeing a killjoy, this is just the beginning. We are now into the Speaking and Listening assessments, with plans underway for the further Controlled Assessments which will complete this GCSE. If we keep working hard we will achieve great things with them.

Back to more mundane matters. This week sees Year 9 reports opening, along with Progress Reports (Yes, again!) for all. The deadlines for these will be next week. Let's make sure that these are accurate and reflect the progress that our pupils are making. Please refer to exam performance in your Year 9 reports. Let's also make them good enough to stay out of the press! We've also got Year 8 Opportunities and Parent's Evening this Thursday - please could you ask a few Year 10 pupils if they can help out at the stall, explaining the new GCSE to parents and saying how great it is!

Hopefully, you have all had a great weekend, and are ready to go this week. It's great to have been reminded about the effect we can have, especially as Year 11 deadlines and exams loom. I'm sure I say this every week, but if we pull together, support each other and work hard, we will make our already good Year 11 results outstanding.

We have to - Maths are ahead of us.

Keep the learning going.

Here we go again...

Another week begins! This week sees Year 9 sitting their exams, which will give us a picture of their progress this year. I am confident that they will be successful - their 'shadow GCSE' course has created some very good progress and excellent work. Aside from this, it is business as usual - the atmosphere on the corridor has been really good, and lessons have appeared to be engaging and interesting. Clearly, this is down to your hard work on the schemes.

The main message at the moment has to be - keep going! Year 10 results are increasingly near, and we have a few weeks to redraft and improve Year 11 coursework. Intervention across KS3 is increasing, from the Year 7 'APP' group to Year 9 - this is vital, and we should all support this key part of the progress agenda in whatever way we can. This could be as simple as passing information onto the relevant staff.

If you're going to watch any of the nonsensical links on this blog, watch this one in full. I expect a thousand word report by Monday. Only joking, obviously - although I do think we could all write millions of words about the issues and ideas raised.

Enjoy your week, teach some fantastic lessons, and keep talking to each other.