Shooting The Breeze – I Am Writing To Express My Concern.

So there was Michael Gove on BBC Breakfast News this morning. I’d forgotten what he looked like and I seriously doubt if any of the students unfairly cheated of a pass grade in this summer’s GCSE English examination actually care what he looks like. In the words of one Deputy Headteacher I’ve just spoken with, they’ve “gone to the wind” – they’ve left school and dispersed and the school is unable to facilitate any plans for them to take the much vaunted offer of an Ofqual re-sit in November. A meaningless gesture – utterly meaningless.

The schools themselves are galvanised and angry. They want to stick one on the Government and the minister and officials responsible.

A Head of English acknowledged that data was not her strong suit but did say that she knows her students and how their performance could be tracked and analysed. Like Heads of English and their teaching teams up and down the country, she was sure about the likely performance of her students. To listen to the official line, though, they’d have you believe that she and her colleagues were little better than the punter placing an annual bet on the Grand National after a cursory look at form in the papers.

What this Head of English and her Headteacher are good at, however, is post-results analysis and the construction of strongly worded letters to exam boards and the like. I’ve read the letter and they’re pulling no punches. Like I said, they’re angry and know a serious injustice when they see one.

They’ve highlighted key concerns and posed serious questions for the examination board to address. They bring their letter to a close with a line that goes like this; “It is extremely disheartening for a student who has worked extremely hard to achieve a specific grade only to be told that a marks adjustment has deprived them of the grade that they actually achieved.”

I hope they and their students – wherever they are – get the honest answers they deserve.

Preparing Your Plans – It’s A Walk In The Park!

I wasn’t the only one taking a walk in the park this morning. Everywhere I looked there were people taking their dogs for a walk too. Some had them on a leash while others let them run freely. Walking down the broad tree lined pathway, I soon became aware of a park maintenance vehicle coming up behind me. Of more interest to me, though, was to watch – and listen – to an older woman talking out loud about the approaching vehicle. Sometimes to herself and sometimes to her large alsatian which was off the leash.

She was essentially thinking out loud. First and foremost, trying to determine which way the park maintenance vehicle was travelling and what steps she needed to take to make sure that she and her dog weren’t going to be in harm’s way. There was a strong sense of her visualising the scene while articulating the thoughts that were in her head.

A few weeks ago, I was asked to provide some support this term for a teacher taking up the reins as a Head of English for the very first time. So as I was walking through the park this morning, my thoughts were starting to range over the multiple responsibilities that this role carries. Looking at this picture of a dog walker in sunny California seemed to offer a visual summary of the need for order and a calm, measured pace, not to mention being able to keep cool under pressure. How many Heads of English and their teams have themselves been exercised by the recent GCSE English marking fiasco – and the need to broker the developing situation to their anxious students?

Being the Head of an English Department or Faculty is a tough but extremely rewarding role. As the summer starts to wane and the new term approaches, I’ll be encouraging the new Head of English to scope out that role and the responsibilities that come with it. And as that process unfolds, to seek to prioritise as far as possible.

As the Head of an English Department, her team will be looking to her to lead and manage their work and all the pedagogical developments needed to realise their shared vision. Among all the competing priorities, the new Head of English would do well to make a key priority the need to focus on the people that comprise the team and to learn to recognise their varying strengths while developing a clear understanding of their collective needs.

Come In, Romeo, Your Time Is Up.

Shakespeare, that hardiest of the English curriculum perennials, will be taking centre stage in classrooms shortly as the new academic year unfolds. The debate may continue about the provenance of the texts or about removing the compulsory study tag, but English teachers will do their duty, step up to the plate, and attempt to deliver the Bard to their students. It won’t be easy as we know there are multiple ‘barriers to learning’ when it comes to teaching Shakespeare. First among equals is surely the issue of relevance for 21st century high school students. Consider the image below.

An idyllic scene and a beautiful setting – if we ignore the English rain! What’s this got to do with making Shakespeare relevant you may well ask. This is Stratford-on -Avon, nerve centre for Shakespeare’s cultural hegemony. And adjacent to the river is the Royal Shakespeare Theatre,  mothership for the performances of his plays – here’s a link – http://www.rsc.org.uk/visit-us/rst/ .

Well, despite the rain, Stratford was filled with visitors and tourists from all over the globe (no pun intended). The man sheltering under the umbrella was from Asia, spoke little English, yet had visited Shakespeare’s birthplace and had his ticket for the theatre. He was not alone. The bridge across the Avon was filled with Japanese teenagers in kagools while the cafes were brimming with visitors from Brazil. Even the current production of ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ directed by Iqbal Khan and starring Meera Syal and Paul Bhattacharjee, is given a Bollywood feel complete with swirling incense. The works of William Shakespeare are clearly still resonating around the world.

How then to ensure Shakespeare’s work resonates with the students in our classrooms? The commercial imperative is certainly important in Stratford-on-Avon. Even those boats for hire have borrowed their names from the collective dramatic personae – if you didn’t fancy rowing with Romeo, you could opt instead for Banquo, Lysander or Puck! Today’s high school students are certainly commercially savvy; the challenge is to ensure the dramatic and academic imperatives are brought to bear in the classroom with similar force and appeal.

Shooting the Breeze – Feedback for Future Provision

So the GCSE English examinations are nearly over for another year and you’ve worked your socks off to support your students through to success. Before they leave for pastures new – or even return to your sixth form – it could be useful to design a short survey to hear how the last two years looked and felt from their perspective. Maybe ask what they thought about the last few weeks and months leading up to the examinations. Was it useful? Was it stressful? Did they have enough time to think and reflect – or was it all too rushed and frantic? Or did you get the balance about right? Equipped with their feedback, you’ve got a great resource for working with the next GCSE English cohort.

A Matter of Confidence – GCSE English, the Queen’s Jubilee and the 2012 London Olympics

2012 is the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee celebrations. A curious word – jubilee – one that has it’s origins in the ancient Hebrew word yobhel – which denoted a ram’s horn that was blown in celebration. Now there’s a turn up for the books, unless you happen to be a Hebrew scholar. The next few months will see the final build-up to the other major event in the UK this year – the London 2012 Olympic Games. I felt more confident about the etymology of this word – olympic  – which derives from Mount Olympus, home of the Gods, in Ancient Greece.

The naming of these two very current and significant events in the British calendar for 2012 has very deep roots in places far from our shores, reflecting the historical pre-eminence of these two languages and ancient civilisations. Our own English language and culture also has deep and impressive roots, drawing as it does on the Latin, Viking, and Anglo-Saxon linguistic traditions, not to mention the original settlers of these isles – the Celts, be they Scots, Welsh, Irish or even Cornish. And it this hybrid language that modern day English teachers are called on to teach.

Ofsted has also chosen 2012 to deliver it’s new report:

Moving English forward -Action to raise standards in English which states;

There can be no more important subject than English in the school curriculum. English is a pre-eminent world language, it is at the heart of our culture and it is the language medium in which most of our pupils think and communicate.

What it suggests is that if English were an Olympic event, it would probably be the equivalent of the 100 metres final. Yet as Ofsted would have it, we’re not exactly in with a chance of a medal if current form is anything to go by. This is what the report has to say;

Although GCSE results have improved, nearly 30% of students who are entered for GCSE English do not achieve grades A* to C. Across all phases, girls continue to outperform boys in English. Those pupils who are known to be eligible for free school meals continue to achieve less highly in English than those pupils who are not eligible. In addition, the government’s White Paper3 makes it clear that floor standards in English need to rise still further and surveys suggest that standards have slipped in comparison with our international competitors.

Year 11 students are currently in the final stages of preparing for this important examination. At WorldClass, we’ve delivered our Strong Language GCSE English Revision and Motivation Programme in many different schools and academies across the country, and what the students tell us they value more than anything is having their confidence bolstered. Ofsted have just set the bar even higher but right now you might well have more pressing matters on your mind as a Head of English/English teacher. There’ll be time enough to respond to this and put your strategic planning in place once the examinations are over. For now, reinforcing your relationship with your students will be key as they look to you for support during this last critical phase. With this as a guiding principle your students’ confidence levels should rise accordingly. We’ll pick this work up in later posts. In the meantime, have a well earned Spring break!