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On Friday we held a careers day.

It was great to have so many visitors in school to share their jobs with the children. Miss Lillie organised a timetable so that every class from Y1 to Y6 had a number of presentations throughout the morning. The children heard all about what life is like as a pilot, nurse, paramedic, graphic designer, air hostess, a radio DJ and much much more!

For many, this was the first time they’d heard about such professions and they enjoyed not only hearing about the job roles but also asking questions about the different things are visitors do on a day to day basis.

The day began with an assembly where everyone was able to see our visitors.  The children were asked about the careers they were interested in pursuing when they leave school.   Some said paramedic, which was great because we had one with us, someone else said nursing, which was also great because we had a nurse there with us in uniform.   Unfortunately we couldn’t accommodate the next little girl who said she wanted to be a tooth fairy!

We were delighted that so many of our visitors were in uniform and had brought a range of equipment with them.

Each class then had a number of presentations throughout the morning where they were given an insight into the different careers. The only complaint was that there wasn’t long enough with each visitor! Something for us to work on for next year.

Tim Rylands is a world renowned educational presenter.   He uses technology and games to help children learn but lots more as well. Before half term Tim came to Hawes Side for two days.

 

On Thursday 20th October, Tim taught three demo lessons in the small hall, one for Y2, one for Y4 and one for Y6.   They were quite long lessons but the children were engaged and enthralled throughout.  Staff were able to join in on the lessons and watch how Tim worked with the children, the questions he asked and the techniques he used.   Staff from our partner schools came along also and everyone who attended the demo lesson spoke very positively about the experience, taking ideas and approaches back to their own school and classrooms.   Just what you would want to get from a staff training day!

 

The Friday with Tim was for teachers from Hawes Side and our partner schools.   We worked with Tim all day unpicking different approaches, exploring new ideas and looking at how new technologies can support teaching and learning.   Tim showed staff how to use games, to freeze and scene and explore it, to stretch children’s thinking, challenging them and extended their imaginations.   At the end of the two days everyone felt inspired to try new things in the classroom.   We will be reviewing Tim’s work and the impact it has had in our schools in the new year when we meet up with our network again.

Today we welcomed lots of parents into school to have a good look round.   It is that time of year when many are deciding on which school to apply for, in order to secure a place for next September.   Lee, Danny, Nathan and Danielle did a fantastic job hosting tours around the school and our visitors got a real flavour of what life at Hawes Side is like.   Lots of parents were impressed with the IT infrastructure, the use of hand held and mobile devices and the Green Screen Studio.   Many also commented on the huge school site, the outdoor provision and the extended school offer.   We will be hosting an open evening in the Spring term for those parents who apply to Hawes Side.   This gives them a chance to ask further questions and start to plan in detail for the September start.

 

It has been another super year at Hawes Side with the children enjoying a huge range of exciting learning opportunities.   A huge thanks goes to all the staff at school who plan carefully to ensure all the children are safe, happy and supported in their learning.  Our curriculum is planned around an agreed rationale that we believe makes for an exciting and enjoyable experience at school.   Before planning any topics we ask some relevant questions:

Immersion Activities

Is the topic exciting?   Does it sound exciting?   Is it relevant to the children?   Does it ask them questions?  How do we engagethe children?  Are we starting from what pupils already know or what we think they know?   How do we find this out?

Audience and effect

Who is the work for?   Teachers, parents, peers, others?  How does this affect the learning? How does it connect to other learning? To real life experiences? In lessons, is the balance right between pupil centred and adult led? Do the pupils have the opportunity for independent learning?   To use skills for application?

Presentation and review

How will the children’s learning be presented?   Use of technology? Is an end of unit activity planned where the learning can be shared? Is the opportunity to reflect and review the work provided?   Is the work assessed against clear objectives and success criteria?   How do the children know if they have been successful?  Who reviews the work?   Self, peers, teachers, others?

This year we have been recognised nationally for three areas of school life, all of which underline our commitment to the school’s motto of  ’Community, Learning and Creativity in Harmony.’

The achievement of the PEQS (Parental Engagement Quality Standard) was awarded to Hawes Side for it’s outstanding work with the community.   ERIC time, parents’ workshops, Home School Group, Meet the Teacher and Learning Logs are just a few of the initiatives in this area that have been highlighted as models of good practice.

The status of ICT Advocate School has been granted to Hawes Side in recognition of the innovative and exciting use of technology to support learning in the classrooms and beyond.   This national role means that other schools visit us to look at how we make use of blogging, green screen filming and other key areas to enhance the children learning opportunities.

The Green Flag award was the culmination of a huge amount of effort put into raising the children’s awareness of Eco issues.   Their commitment to reusing, renewing and recycling has been rightly recognised and further exciting initiatives are planned for the coming year, including the installation of solar panels and a schools’ Eco conference for children from schools up and down the country to attend.   The conference will give children the opportunity to share their work and also find out more about Eco issues and how they can help by getting involved in their own schools.

A fantastic year, I’m sure you will agree!   2011-2012 promises to be another exciting and busy year at Hawes Side.   We have lots to look forward to with many things planned already.   As always we’re keen to hear what you all think and welcome your comments either in person or through the school blogs.  Have a restful summer and to all of those leaving us on Friday, the best of luck in the future.

Comenius project on PhotoPeach

We got an awful lot out of our last Comenius project and have recently applied to get involved in another one next year. Here are some of the pictures from the different schools we worked with between 2008 and 2010.

Yesterday was a fantastic day for us all at school. Not only did we gain Green Flag status for all the great work Mr Livesey and the Green Council have been doing, but we also received notification from the ICT Register that we are to become an advocate school.

The Green Flag award comes on the back of two previous successes when we recieved the Bronze and Silver awards respectively. The Green Flag Award is the highest achievement and we are delighted to have become one of a number of schools nationally to gain this. Mr Livesey informs me we now need to purchase a flagpole to display the flag!

The ICT register is a national body that supports schools in developing their ICT and use of new technologies. You may remember the school achieving the ICT quality mark some time ago – the Advocate School status means we will be working closely to support other schools in developing their ICT. Again, we are delighted to be one of a small number of schools to be awarded such status.

It’s a nice way to round off a short but very busy term!

This powerful video gives you an idea of how important it is that we get the education of our children right if we are to equip them for the future. Have a look and let me know what you think.

This week around 30 children from Y5 have gone to York for a week. They are looking at all the historical sites and staying in a super hotel close to the old city. You can find out all about how they are getting on by following their blog. Simply go to the main school blog and scroll down the page until you see ‘York Trip’. Why not leave them a comment? They’d love to hear from you!

Today is World Book Day and we have used this event to launh a new initiative at Hawes Side called Books at Bedtime.   We are using our TV studio to film book readings from our older pupils in the style of Jackanory Bedtime Stories.   These short films will then be put on the class blogs so our younger children can watch these at home before bed!  

Since discussing this idea many children and staff have volunteered to read a stories and be filmed.   Over time we hope to build a virtual library of book readings that children can choose from.   Mrs Bickerdike is booked in for a reading of the Gruffalo and Mr Livesey is reading The Hungry Caterpiller in French!   We are also asking some local celebrities to do guest readings as the collection grows.   Lots of children have been filmed today as we launch our Books at Bedtime.   We will keep you posted of where you can wacth these short films in the near future.

We are upgrading our in house TV system to make better use of the digital content we have created. Below is a video showing you just some of the things we plan to do.

Untitled from Hawes Side on Vimeo.

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• Recently Written

  • Careers Day
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  • Comenius Project
  • Two new awards for school
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  • Y5 go to York
  • Books at Bedtime
  • School TV