" It doesn't matter what we cover; it matters what we discover."

It may seem that my obsession of the past 18 months has been the school's expansion and the progress of our fantastic new building, but the fact is that no matter how wonderful it will be, what goes on within the walls is the important thing.

So, as you would expect, the focus is always on teaching and learning and how we can make this relevant, meaningful - and exciting - for young people in the 21st century. Much of the process of developing the curriculum for Hollymount and refining the tools for teachers to inspire learning is carried out through professional development within school - but we - leaders and teachers - also need to get out of school and listen to and share with others in the field of education.

A couple of weeks ago, I attended a two- day conference at Olympia hosted by an organisation called "Learning without Frontiers". The theme was "the future of learning".

Noam Chomsky, the linguist and social/ political theorist was one of the keynote speakers via video link from the US on: " The purpose of education." Although much of the conference was about how we can harness digital technologies to enhance modern-day learning, Chomsky focused on the skills required for rich learning which need to encourage creative enquiry and exploration. For example, the internet can be an exciting gateway of discovery, but we still need a framework to pursue any line of enquiry - knowing the questions to ask and having the skill of interpretation. He quoted a colleague who, when asked by his students, what was on the term's curriculum, he responded: " It doesn't matter what we cover; it matters what we discover.

That's basically it, good teaching and learning: developing the capacity to discover. Here at Hollymount, when embarking on a new topic, pupils are asked "What we do know already; what do we want to find out?"  This ignites the spark of creative enquiry - and our objective should be encouraging pupils to want to learn because this is what they will need to do successfully in life (refer the school's mission statement!)

More on this theme to come......



 

SATs update

Well here I am commenting on my own blog - for a reason.  Since I wrote the previous post,  the NAHT (headteachers' union) has decided not to ballot for a boycott of SATs in 2011, but will instead take part in the Government's planned review of accountability and assessment in primary schools. Michael Gove has stated that "It is important that we make KS2 tests command the maximum level of confidence amongst both the public and the teaching profession".  So SATs as normal next May.  Hollymount will continue to deliver an enriched curriculum to Year 6 without overemphasis on coaching and mock testing, whilst assessing and tracking the children's progress to ensure the majority meet end of KS2 national expectations or better.

To Sats or not to Sats?

“Stress Activating Time Snatchers, or Sensible Academic Tests of Success?”

At the Year 6 ‘Meet the teacher’ meeting on Tuesday, parents wanted to know if the school is to proceed with preparing the pupils for Sats next May. On the same day, an interesting article appeared in EducationGuardian about a new report from the Wellcome Trust which canvassed the opinions of children – here’s the link: http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2010/sep/21/sats-survey-children-positive

Well, the ‘jury is out’ at Hollymount.  Despite the NAHT and NUT boycott of Sats earlier this year, the senior leadership team (in consultation with the Chair of Governors) took the view that two weeks before the event was too late in the day to propose a change of plan at our school - where parents and pupils were expecting – and prepared for – Sats to take place.

This year, the discussion within the school will take place earlier – with the teaching and leadership team, with Governors, with the secondary schools we feed to  – and with parents and pupils.  So I am hoping that parents will respond to this blog with their views.

As the quote at the top suggests, the debate ranges across the spectrum, with these two views at either end. There is no doubt that it essential to have a benchmark to use as a measure of progress, and to compare children during the transition process between Key Stages, so the question is, what’s the most effective way of doing this?

We are continually assessing children’s attainment and tracking their progress in school against national curriculum levels. So a means of keeping a tally on consistent standards is important - the drive to standardise assessment has meant an overall rise in learning, with schools recognising that it’s our job to turn out literate and numerate children.   

So, we do we rely on our own teacher assessment and tracking across the key stage and into Year 6 and have confidence in this as a measure, or continue with the tests which, after all, are a snapshot of performance on a given day?  Some would argue that being tested is a reality of life, others that it brings unnecessary stress to pupils.

What do you think?

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Mrs Jackson