29th of January 2017
This is my first post for 2017 so I thought I'd give you my impression on how our semester has started.
I came back on week three of the semester after recruitment fairs in Melbourne and Bangkok. This was my first experience at events like this sitting on the recruiters side of the table. Although on different size scales, these fairs run the same way. Those teachers looking for positions in international schools register and spend up to four days trying to link up, and get interviews with the schools they are interested in. As a team of recruiters from Chatsworth, we started by presenting to the job seekers what Chatsworth looks like as a school and what we were looking for in the teachers that worked within it. This is followed by applicants spending their time trying to connect to the people they need to see, and recruiters spending their time sifting through huge numbers of prospective applications, looking for just the right people and possible mixes. Parts of the process looked like speed dating, but this quickly changed to hours of interviews followed by discussions within the team on who best suited the school's needs. It finished with many, but not all of the teachers receiving offers from schools before the fair finished. It was a slightly crazy, yet a very effective process.
I came away understanding a little more about the school we are all part of. From many of the teachers present at the fairs, we were seen as a highly desirable option, as was Singapore as a location to live. This was reflected in the large numbers at our presentations and applications that followed. Most teachers who showed an interest quoted our commitment to teaching the whole child, and the concept that all staff, including our non teaching staff, sharing the responsibility of supporting all our students as core reasons for wanting to join us. They loved the idea of being part of a family that supported one another, something which is obviously lacking in some schools. We were very fortunate as a consequence to be able to find people who were the right fit for our school and what we prioritise. The bar was set very high and a number of capable teachers were disappointed. Some of the best were offered positions at Chatsworth, starting in the 2017/18 academic year. Later in the semester I will share with you what this means for East.
I came back to a school that was running smoothly without me which is a great position to be in. Instead of a hundred sticky notes over my desk there was a school of happy students and staff and a pile of paper that needed reading and signing, but no drama. The school was readying itself for student led conferences which were new to me. Although I have run three way conferences for many years, the concept of teachers stepping aside after scaffolding students, leaving them to lead discussions based on their learning was another big step on from this. All I can say after observing them is WOW! It is so easy to underestimate what children, especially younger children are capable of. Being able to lead and discuss with parents learning processes, successes and goals with this degree of understanding and confidence was not what I was expecting and not what I think you would find in most schools around the world. Our review afterwards found they could be further improved by providing parents with some guidance on how to make the most of these opportunities with a meeting held before the next SLCs. We would also like parents to think about taking advantage of the child care facilities we offer during SLCs for siblings. Not having them present in the room while the SLC takes place means you are giving 100% attention and respect to the student running the SLC.
On the horizon we have our school sports day next Friday and Chinese New Year celebrations the Friday after. CCAs and ECAs are in full swing and I am sure the remainder of the semester will be like a sprint. I'm looking forward to it.
Sunday, 4 December 2016
4 December
Firstly apologies for my lack of posts lately. The semester has really sped up and it is sometimes the blog that suffers. The first half of my first year at East has really flown past. Here we all find ourselves with another half year nearly finished.
For those of you who read my last blog, you might remember I wrote about the importance of connecting emotionally with children, and if done well the impact this can have on their learning. I wrote about Miss Shea, a person who connected to me and others in my class at an emotional level and provided experiences that engaged us and got us really interested in our learning. I thought it important to try and follow through and find out if I could find Miss Shea and tell her what an impact she had on me as a young child. Since writing the last blog entry, I have done a bit of detective work and have located someone with the same name close to where I went to school. I've written a letter, in my best handwriting, explaining who I am and asking her to respond if it is her. Feeling slightly stupid, I nervously put it in the postbox last Friday. I will keep you up to date with any news or lack of.
If you are surrounded by people who have similar philosophies, it is likely you are going to appreciate the teaching practice of those you work with. Mr Trevaskis, our Year 6 teacher and Mrs Pinto, our K1 teacher teach at opposite ends of the age range at East. This year, partly because they have small classes, they have buddied up their classes. This means they get together regularly for their students to work together, providing opportunities for leadership, to learn empathy and develop relationships and confidence within our school family. The outcomes of this pairing are really positive, but successful because of the planning and organisation that go into the learning experiences. Last week, the experience involved Mr T's class basing some of their learning around the maths, language and practical skills of making, baking and decorating gingerbread men. After making the gingerbread dough K1 and 6T cut out the gingerbread men and, baked them. 6T then worked with the K1s to teach and support them in the decorating process. I think they managed the eating process without the same level of support. This is teaching at an emotional level, creating memories and developing learning that will last forever. I will leave the pictures to tell the rest of the story.
I'd like to thank you all for the wonderful support you have given to the school for the first semester. Have a restful and enjoyable break with your children.
Adrian Smith
For those of you who read my last blog, you might remember I wrote about the importance of connecting emotionally with children, and if done well the impact this can have on their learning. I wrote about Miss Shea, a person who connected to me and others in my class at an emotional level and provided experiences that engaged us and got us really interested in our learning. I thought it important to try and follow through and find out if I could find Miss Shea and tell her what an impact she had on me as a young child. Since writing the last blog entry, I have done a bit of detective work and have located someone with the same name close to where I went to school. I've written a letter, in my best handwriting, explaining who I am and asking her to respond if it is her. Feeling slightly stupid, I nervously put it in the postbox last Friday. I will keep you up to date with any news or lack of.
If you are surrounded by people who have similar philosophies, it is likely you are going to appreciate the teaching practice of those you work with. Mr Trevaskis, our Year 6 teacher and Mrs Pinto, our K1 teacher teach at opposite ends of the age range at East. This year, partly because they have small classes, they have buddied up their classes. This means they get together regularly for their students to work together, providing opportunities for leadership, to learn empathy and develop relationships and confidence within our school family. The outcomes of this pairing are really positive, but successful because of the planning and organisation that go into the learning experiences. Last week, the experience involved Mr T's class basing some of their learning around the maths, language and practical skills of making, baking and decorating gingerbread men. After making the gingerbread dough K1 and 6T cut out the gingerbread men and, baked them. 6T then worked with the K1s to teach and support them in the decorating process. I think they managed the eating process without the same level of support. This is teaching at an emotional level, creating memories and developing learning that will last forever. I will leave the pictures to tell the rest of the story.
I'd like to thank you all for the wonderful support you have given to the school for the first semester. Have a restful and enjoyable break with your children.
Adrian Smith
Sunday, 6 November 2016
6 November
One of the great things about doing what I do is the exposure I have to great educational thinkers. Very rarely are these people politicians or university professors. Their views are not driven by the constituents vote or by a pay packet. Instead they have been developed over long periods of exposure to the educational sector, with their inherent driver being what modern teaching and learning should look like in an ever changing world.
The week before last I sat and listened to Sir John Jones, one of these people. He took us back to the fundamentals of successful teaching, the relationship between the teacher and the student and the importance of the student's happiness. Sir John made us all think about the people in our school life who had a real impact. Everyone in the room was lucky enough to be able to at least one of these people and was able to remember why they had such an impact. I am sure you are able to do this too. I was eight years old and my teacher's name was Miss Shea. She lived in an old house with a turret on the edge of the small New Zealand town I lived in. I remember visiting her in the weekend once with some of my friends while riding our bikes. Those were the days when we disappeared for a day and came home when we were hungry. She welcomed us into her flat and gave us biscuits and a drink. Miss Shea always laughed at my jokes, and allowed us all to shine in our own way. She made us want to go to school in the morning during a time when classrooms had up to forty five students, corporal punishment was used liberally, education was full of rote learning and was essentially a grind we all had to endure. I remember telling my father during that year that I was going to be a teacher.
Something that Sir John clarified for me was the importance of the emotional memory. The emotional memory is the one that stays long after other memories of other knowledge has faded. It stays because we were emotionally connected to the moment or the person delivering the experience. Creating these memories is one of the most important jobs we teachers have. Teachers like Miss Shea in those days were hard to find. I am pleased to say they are easier to find at East. One of my jobs is to find the Miss Sheas out there and offer them a job at our school.
Sir John made us all commit to contacting the people we identified and explain to them the impact they had on our lives. Although this happened a long time ago and anything could have happened to her I will attempt to do this. Maybe you should do the same.
You can listen to a little of what Sir John says at this link
The week before last I sat and listened to Sir John Jones, one of these people. He took us back to the fundamentals of successful teaching, the relationship between the teacher and the student and the importance of the student's happiness. Sir John made us all think about the people in our school life who had a real impact. Everyone in the room was lucky enough to be able to at least one of these people and was able to remember why they had such an impact. I am sure you are able to do this too. I was eight years old and my teacher's name was Miss Shea. She lived in an old house with a turret on the edge of the small New Zealand town I lived in. I remember visiting her in the weekend once with some of my friends while riding our bikes. Those were the days when we disappeared for a day and came home when we were hungry. She welcomed us into her flat and gave us biscuits and a drink. Miss Shea always laughed at my jokes, and allowed us all to shine in our own way. She made us want to go to school in the morning during a time when classrooms had up to forty five students, corporal punishment was used liberally, education was full of rote learning and was essentially a grind we all had to endure. I remember telling my father during that year that I was going to be a teacher.
Something that Sir John clarified for me was the importance of the emotional memory. The emotional memory is the one that stays long after other memories of other knowledge has faded. It stays because we were emotionally connected to the moment or the person delivering the experience. Creating these memories is one of the most important jobs we teachers have. Teachers like Miss Shea in those days were hard to find. I am pleased to say they are easier to find at East. One of my jobs is to find the Miss Sheas out there and offer them a job at our school.
Sir John made us all commit to contacting the people we identified and explain to them the impact they had on our lives. Although this happened a long time ago and anything could have happened to her I will attempt to do this. Maybe you should do the same.
You can listen to a little of what Sir John says at this link
Tuesday, 18 October 2016
18 October
The thing that is most obvious to a kiwi from rural New Zealand when you walk into a school like Chatsworth East is the number of ethnicities that are represented here. Our last count showed we had twenty nine cultures represented by the students that attend our school. When coming from a bicultural, rather than multicultural school environment, this is a new, but really exciting prospect.
It took me no time to realise that the positives of this situation significantly outweighed the negatives. The most obvious benefit in my opinion is the richness that flows from a school where a multicultural community works together towards a common purpose. It is absolutely wonderful to see children and parents acknowledging difference as a positive thing, accepting that each of us comes from another place, looks different, eats different foods, speaks different languages and may have different beliefs. From a child's point of view, they understand difference but are more interested in the similarities that unite them. This could be the love of football or the bond of friendships that occur when certain personalities click. In this situation, children don't even see difference, just another child who enjoys the same things as they do. Cultural barriers do not exist.
The IB PYP curriculum puts a lot of emphasis on the development of 'international mindedness'. Promoting this concept within a school like Chatsworth East is so much easier than within a school where there is less cultural diversity. For each one of our students to understand that they are a global citizen, with both rights and responsibilities within the global context, lies at the heart of our PYP curriculum. To provide the opportunities to celebrate difference promotes a child's understanding of who they are and where they belong. This is a prerequisite of a self confident and successful learner.
UN day this Friday is one of the special opportunities. I'm looking forward to seeing our children celebrate who they are and understand a little more about the cultural background of their classmates. It will affirm and develop their understanding of the diversity of our world. When I look around at our children I can't help but see adults in fifteen years time who will know themselves and who they are, but also think in global terms as far as opportunities and responsibilities. They will be able to naturally collaborate in an international context. When looking around at what is going on in the world currently, this can only be a good thing.
Although I am posting this today, I will add UN photos to this post on Saturday.
It took me no time to realise that the positives of this situation significantly outweighed the negatives. The most obvious benefit in my opinion is the richness that flows from a school where a multicultural community works together towards a common purpose. It is absolutely wonderful to see children and parents acknowledging difference as a positive thing, accepting that each of us comes from another place, looks different, eats different foods, speaks different languages and may have different beliefs. From a child's point of view, they understand difference but are more interested in the similarities that unite them. This could be the love of football or the bond of friendships that occur when certain personalities click. In this situation, children don't even see difference, just another child who enjoys the same things as they do. Cultural barriers do not exist.
The IB PYP curriculum puts a lot of emphasis on the development of 'international mindedness'. Promoting this concept within a school like Chatsworth East is so much easier than within a school where there is less cultural diversity. For each one of our students to understand that they are a global citizen, with both rights and responsibilities within the global context, lies at the heart of our PYP curriculum. To provide the opportunities to celebrate difference promotes a child's understanding of who they are and where they belong. This is a prerequisite of a self confident and successful learner.
UN day this Friday is one of the special opportunities. I'm looking forward to seeing our children celebrate who they are and understand a little more about the cultural background of their classmates. It will affirm and develop their understanding of the diversity of our world. When I look around at our children I can't help but see adults in fifteen years time who will know themselves and who they are, but also think in global terms as far as opportunities and responsibilities. They will be able to naturally collaborate in an international context. When looking around at what is going on in the world currently, this can only be a good thing.
Although I am posting this today, I will add UN photos to this post on Saturday.
