Fire and Skill

What was I saying now? Got distracted for a minute. More like three months to be exact [since the last post]. But a lack of activity on the blog front doesn't mean stuff hasn't been happening in gov-land. It has. Lots of stuff, actually. All a bit of a blur really. I have a foggy memory that before Christmas senior governors had a high powered meeting with the Headteacher and School Improvement Advisor and then enjoyed  a slap-up Christmas dinner in the canteen with all the trimmings. Crackers included. After that we attended a CVQO awards ceremony to watch students receive their certificates from military top brass. All in the same day. 

After Christmas Oftsed came to call. And things haven't quite been the same since. Whoever said, 'all publicity is good publicity' evidently wasn't familiar with some of the stuff trotted out in the media around these parts. Less said on that front the better, I think.

School uniform. Some people have difficulty in accepting that our students made the running in wanting to change from the existing get up to blazers and ties. I mean, it's daft to think that they could have such high aspirations for themselves. Much easier to believe that the move was a dastardly plot dreamed up by the Headteacher with the connivance of the Governing Board. Westbury children wanting to look as smart as any school kid out there, whatever next? But they do, with 65% of our students backing the change. Good on them, I say. 

The school production Singing in the Rain was brilliant. Well acted, brilliantly staged and with some great singing. Still haven't worked out how they did the rain special effect. 

Last week it was back to school for the govs for another Visit Day. I attended History and Geography lessons. In History the subject was the American West; Cowboys and Indians and that. The lesson involved an interactive quiz using clicky things that resemble a TV remote, but can do more than just change channels and adjust the volume. A governor colleague and I got 60% between us. Mostly due to inspired guesswork on our part, I must admit. In Year 7 Geography one task was colouring in maps of the UK according to population distribution, but I didn't get to have a go at that. Just as well, as I was always hopeless at colouring between the lines.

During the Visit Day we also held some Pupil Voice panels in order to get students' perspectives on the school. We were not only interested in whether they are making academic progress in relation to their targets, but also what fires them up about education, and whether their time at school is helping to prepare them for life in the big wide world.

Last Friday night my wife and I went to see a Paul Weller concert in Swindon. The Modfather was in fine form. As teenager I was really into The Jam; Eton Rifles, Going Underground, Town Called Malice and all that. The band's motto was, 'Fire and Skill'. It was meant to encapsulate The Jam's explosive mix of fiery passion and skillful playing ability. And that kind of sums up what we're trying to do at Matravers. Not simply to give our students the right skills and knowledge, but also fire up their ambitions and give them a strong sense of moral purpose so that they will be the kind of people who make a difference to the world in which we live.

 'Matravers for education with fire and skill'.

A cure for the summertime blues

Big Picnic

Governors, eh? One minute we're painted as little more than well-meaning dolers out of sherry and cake at the school fête. The next we're dangerous subversives, bent on re-enacting the siege of Troy, only in Birmingham. Trojan horses and all that. It's enough to bring on a fit of the summertime blues for us poor, put-upon govs. 

Just to reassure worried parents, Matravers governors would never get caught up in any of that sherry and cake malarkey. No way. And we don't even have a school fête. As for Trojan horses, I was never much cop at woodwork. Besides, the siege of Troy didn't exactly end well for Achilles, did it? What with his dodgy heel and all that. Naah. We'll just have to settle for giving the school strategic leadership and accountability. That'll keep us busy enough.

Not that it's all high powered meetings, data crunching and target setting. The role does have some perks. On Thursday evening my wife and I attended the Matravers Sports Presentation Evening. What an amazing array of sporting talents we have hidden away in the school. It was great to see our top class gymnasts, athletes, footballers, netballers, bowls players and much more receive awards at the event. A special 'Well Done' to hammer thrower Elly Webb for winning the Sports Personalty of the Year!

And then on Friday (it's all go), we attended the Big Picnic. Good food. Banging tunes. Sumo suit wrestling. Didn't try that. Face painting. Didn't try that either. Queue was too big. But it was thrilling to see the school at its chilled-out (with the help of lots of ice lollies), yet vibrant best. A great cure for the summertime blues. 

Now the final term of 2013/14 is almost over. We've seen a lot of changes in the school since Dr. Riding took the helm in September. Changes for the better, I trust. Here's hoping that all the hard work of students and staff pays off come the exam results in August. Onwards and upwards. 

In the autumn we'll be publishing our first Board of Governors Report to Stakeholders (2013/14), setting out the key actions of the board and charting their impact on the school. If you can't wait for that eagerly anticipated blockbuster, don't forget my reading challenge for the hols. 

Have a great summer break! 

That was the term that was

As I was saying, back last term we had a Governor Visit Day. Sitting in lessons it struck me how much things have changed since I was in secondary school in the 1970/80s. Chalky Blackboards are now snazzy interactive Whiteboards. Students are spared the soul destroying drudgery of taking down dictated notes. Rather, they are encouraged to play an active role in their own learning. In my day it seemed you could get 1000 lines for saying, 'Please sir, my pen's run out.' But nowadays participation is positively welcomed. Thoughtful contributions can earn you a House Point or two. Why, I didn't witness even one teacher throw a well-aimed board rubber at a daydreaming student. Aren't teachers shown how to do that in PGCE courses any more? Anyway, Governors were impressed by what they witnessed as they visited classrooms and talked to students about their educational progress. Behaviour for learning was overwhelmingly good and students seemed to be enjoying their lessons, which was great to see.

Apart from that, highlight of the term for me was this year's school production, The Wizard of Oz. The wife and I attended Thursday's packed-out show. It was a lively affair with well acted performances, note perfect singing and a good dose of slapstick humour. The costumes, choreography and staging were a credit to all involved. The greenfaced, cackling Wicked Witch of the West was scary, though. And the flying monkeys freaked me out a bit. But I tried to be brave. While watching I started to reflect on which of the principal characters I identified with most. I don't posses a pair of shiny red slippers (honest) and you wouldn't want to hear me singing 'Over the Rainbow', so that's Dorothy out.  Scarecrow had no brain, Tin Man no heart and Lion no courage. Too close to call.

At the last meeting of the Full Governing Body, amongst other things we decided to 'reconstitute'. That may sound rather painful, but it simply means that we now have more of one kind of governor (Co-opted) and less of others (various). Reconstituting will give us a little more discretion when it comes to appointing new members of the Governing Body. We also welcomed a new Parent Governor and appointed people to fill vacant Partnership and Co-opted roles. Term 3  being midway through the academic year we revisited our goals for strengthening governance and reviewed our targets for school improvement. That left us reconstituted, reinvigorated and refocussed. There is some debate as to whether the route to Outstanding is a green or yellow brick road, but whatever the colour, we're determined to follow it. 

The Three Musketeers of Education

Demothsenes
(Not one of the Three Musketeers) 

Tony Blair (remember him?) told delegates at the 1996 Labour Party Conference, "Ask me my three main priorities for government, and I tell you: education, education, education." I'm not going to offer my opinion on the success or otherwise of Labour's education policy when in government.  What I'm interested in for now is his rhetorical device, "education, education, education". 

This is more guesswork than scholarly source criticism, but I reckon that Blair was borrowing from Demosthenes. "Who's he when he's at home?" I hear you ask. Well, Demothsenes was one of the mightiest orators of ancient Greece. One day a pupil of his asked the great man, "What are the first three principles of oratory?" He replied, no doubt with an appropriately dramatic gesticulation, "Action, action, action." See the resemblance? 

The old Greek rhetoricians believed that persuasive and compelling oratory had three essential components: Athos, Porthos and Aramis. No, that's the Three Musketeers. What I meant was, logos, ethos and pathos. I believe that a successful school will also incorporate those basic elements. Let me explain:

Logos

'Logos' is Greek for 'word'. In rhetorical terms this refers to the matter of the speech and the reasoned arguments used by a speaker to win over an audience to his point of view. When applied to a school 'logos' means the subjects that are taught; arts, maths, sciences, languages, history, geography and so on. This is the essential stuff of education; conveying information and enabling students to understand what they are learning. The school sets challenging goals for student achievement and attainment in the subjects they study. We want our students to leave Matravers with the best possible exam results and/or vocational qualifications. That way their education will open doors of opportunity for further study, training, or the world of work. Ethos and pathos without logos are little better than well meaning sentiment. But if all we offer is the ‘logos’ of education, then we are failing our students. We want Matravers to be an academically successful school, but that's not all. We must not lose sight of:

Ethos

In ancient rhetoric this meant that the speaker’s background or character contributed to the persuasiveness of his speech. A convicted con man might be able to deliver an eloquent speech on business ethics, but who would listen to him? A man who has never left the comforts of life in the UK might be able to give a snazzy PowerPoint presentation on the value of overseas aid. But you would find the words of someone who has devoted their lives to helping the poor in Africa much more meaningful and persuasive.

And so it is with a school. We need to get the ethos right. Education is an exercise in character formation. We don't simply want to stuff our student's heads with knowledge. We want to help them to become rounded individuals with a strong sense of moral purpose. That's why the school challenges poor behaviour and demand that students treat staff and each other with respect. More positively, we encourage students to look out for one another and get involved in organising events for good causes. Ethos means endeavouring to inculcate in our students the virtues of hard work, consideration for others, honesty and integrity that will enable them to become valuable members of the community and good citizens. 

Pathos

Rhetoricians wanted to do more than change people's minds. They aimed at winning their audience's hearts. Closely reasoned arguments and good character will only get you so far. The orators also appealed to the emotions by speaking with feeling, relating affecting anecdotes and deploying vivid poetic language. A school also needs to have a big heart, offering a supportive environment where students feel safe and cared for. This, however doesn't mean an "Aw bless!" attitude that is indulgent and lacks challenge. A good parent will care enough to demand that their children behave well and will encourage them to fulfil their potential through creative inspiration, self-discipline and hard work. So will a decent school. 

In the words of W. B. Yeats, "Education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire." It is for that reason that the governing body is dedicated to ensuring that Matravers offers students an education that has logos, ethos and pathos. That is what lies behind our drive to become an Outstanding school. 

Open Evening Coffee Morning

Thursday was the school's Open Evening. I'd attended a couple of these as a parent some years ago and was quietly impressed by what I saw, but I can't remember much about them save an exploding Jelly Baby trick involving a test tube, Bunsen Burner and said item of confectionery. 'Well' I thought, 'if they can nuke a Jelly Baby, that's the school for our kids.' And so it was. 

If you attended Thursday's event and were brave enough to venture near the science labs, you may well have witnessed the feat for yourself, as it's still a favourite with prospective parents and children. But that's not all you will have seen. The hall was packed with punters who experienced some great live music from our students. Our new head, Dr. Riding gave a talk, setting out his vision for the school.  

I did my bit too. Not wanting to single-handedly destroy our reputation for artistic excellence I decided against a song and dance act and said a few words on behalf of the governing body instead. Short and sweet. Well, short anyway, 

Our purpose as a governing body is to ensure that Matravers becomes a School in which every child fulfils their potential.

We aim offer students an education that will stretch them academically so that they achieve the best possible exam results. Year-on-year our results have continued to improve. We will set ambitious targets for next year’s GCSEs and A-Level grades.

As a thriving arts school we seek to unlock our pupil’s creative talents and encourage their self-expression.

We maintain a strong and caring pastoral ethos where every child matters, not matter what educational challenges they may face.

Matravers offers a full, enriching and rounded curriculum in a safe and inclusive environment. We want our students to be academically successful, but that’s not all. We also want to help form them into mature and responsible members of society, with a strong sense of moral purpose.

Our driving ambition is to ensure that coming to Matravers will not place limits on students’ life-choices, but open them up. Speaking as a parent as well as Chair of Governors, I know that’s why we sent our children here.

I hope that the open evening experience helped prospective parents and children to see that Matravers is the school for students aged 11-18 in our community. 

And then it was back to school for Friday's Coffee Morning in aid of Dorothy House. The event was organised by Sixth Formers, with hot drinks and tasty cake in plentiful supply. Once more, school musicians did us proud, providing an eclectic soundtrack for visitors and staff. 

Somewhat embarrassingly I received a telephone call on returning home, telling me that I (or the wife, more precisely) had won a rather fetching red Pashmina scarf. If a governors team also wins the quiz competition, people will think that there has been a fix. We were tempted to use our smartphones to Google for one or two of the answers, but resisted, as cheating in a 'test' would not have been be a very good example for governors to set. Conscience makes cowards of us all. 

Around £275 was raised by the Coffee Morning for a very good cause, so thanks to our brilliant staff and students for all their hard work and to everybody who came along for their support and generosity.