Nurture 16/17

Sorry, I can't keep it short! 10/10.

Review of 2016.

We didn't get on holiday abroad, mainly because I spent my money on fixing my car instead.

1. Family wise, the main thing this year was my step-daughter Esther's GCSE results and she really did herself proud with the number of A*s As and only one B that she got. She also got an A in AS English Language. She's coping OK with the academic demands of A-levels, but has set her sights on Cambridge and we are worried about how much pressure she is putting on herself to be perfect.  I also forced Esther to go to Wimbledon with my mother this summer. She had to get the train to London all on her own and meet mam at Kings Cross. Esther did have an amazing day despite 'not being sure that she could go' and now she's very keen to go again. A little taste of independence has spurred her on to do more. Richard now has a permanent job at a school that is hard work, but he likes the students and they have some level of respect for him. A teaching job is never going to feel permanent for him, but he's also prepared to move on if necessary. We bought a new TV because I was fed up of not being able to watch all the olympic coverage on the old CRT one, and we also bought a new sofa.
2. Another personal target has been my appearance. I am not that vain, honest! I have managed to lose a bit of weight in 2016, my eczema is more under control and I am getting my hair dyed every 8 weeks or so (£££). I feel so much better about myself. 
3. BREXIT. I am STILL angry about it. A lot of people will write about the number of famous people who have died this year, my dad was an undertaker, this doesn't affect me at all. But voting to leave the EU was ridiculous. I think it was more stupid than electing Trump, as least the US can get rid of Trump in 4 years. 
4. In school a major hurdle has been the resignation of our science technician. There is a blog post in there about coping for a week without a technician: it wasn't fun. We have a new one now and she's great, luckily we really landed on our feet. However, I wonder what would have happened if I hadn't been so proactive about working out how to find a technician when the normal routes weren't working? There is a yet another blog post there about being a middle manager and not leaving everything to those above you to sort out: I learned just how important it can be to take control of your own area. The situation taught me a lot about myself and about managing an impossible situation. I was sick to my stomach and unable to sleep properly trying to work out how to deal with a situation that had no solution. It did make me realise just how seriously I take the responsibility to supporting those who I line manage. The problem is solved now though, so I now need to get with ensuring our current technician has the skills to do the job. I have to add just how great CLEAPSS are, following their documents has really helped her get to grips with the job. 
5. In September I also took on responsibility for key stage 4 across the school. I am finding the pastoral position a little strange. I am used to just being left to get on with things as head of science. I get upset when science related things don't go through me and to be honest I can only think of a few times that this has happened. It's not the same pastorally. Information doesn't flow through me, it flows around. I am finding this hard to deal with. However, I have patience and a thick skin and I will slowly adjust the systems to ones that work for me. Looking at it practically I am not sure I wouldn't be overwhelmed if all the information went through me anyway; while I am learning the role in all likelihood I would be a block to that information getting to where it needs to be. I am keeping a diary to make notes of the issues that crop up so that hopefully second year through things run smoothly. 
6. The curriculum changes are looming large still, as they have for the whole of 2016. All key stages really, but GCSE in particular. As a department we haven't had time to discuss the changes, and I don't see when we're going to get it. Which is really frustrating. It has also meant that the time I have to devote to ASE has decreased. A lot of effort goes into the marketing of the events we run and I am not up to it at the moment. I am not allowed to go to the ASE conference for all three days this January, (even though I always pay for myself), and it's going to make getting to grips with the curriculum changes even more difficult. 
7. I have to add the Royal Society Summer Science exhibition to the list of achievements for 2016. I found out about it at the ASE conference and the dates fell nicely inside of activities week so I entered the ballot for tickets and got some. The event was fantastic. Girls who I would never have put as being interested in science had an absolutely brilliant morning and as staff we learned an awful lot too. The only issue with the day was that we planned to go to the Natural History Museum in the afternoon, but it was on the same day as the teacher strikes so the minibus got stuck on the other side of the march and when we'd finally walked to the Natural History Museum the queue to get into it was massive so we went in the V&A instead. 
8. I am eternally grateful to OUP how have given me the opportunity to write assessment materials for the new AQA mastery curriculum. This has given me a great insight into curriculum design. It has made me put my money where my mouth is in terms of producing resources and has been hugely enjoyable. 
9. The Olympics. I just love it, roll on 2020. 
10. In 2016 I finished paying off my student loan. 

Looking forward to 2017. 

1. I have always made and taken opportunities presented to me and I will continue to do that in 2017. 
2. In my professional life I during 2016 I made the decision that I am ready to move into management. I am enjoying Andy Buck's book 'Leadership Matters' and it is helping to give form to my ideas about being a senior leader. In 2017 I need to continue to refine and develop my understanding of being part of senior management so that if I do get the opportunity I am ready. 
3. My aim in 2017 would be to find that new role in SLT. But a massive difficulty is the lack of roles for someone with my experience in my area. The only job I have applied for had over 70 applicants and I wasn't selected for interview. Another post I have seen wanted someone with recent experience of schools in difficult circumstances, I haven't had this in the past 10 years. I am certainly considering just putting my CV out there and see what happens. I need to improve my linkedin profile, just in case someone is looking. I have remained on the fringes of #womened and I haven't committed to any coaching. I am not sure why to be honest. I don't want to become someone who CV builds, rather I do the job in front of me that way that works for the situation, but I am prepared to do that if that is what it is going to take. I would consider a deputy head role if AHT positions remain scarce, and I may even have to take a side step to get into a MAT to find the opportunities. I don't know what this means for my link to the big picture of science education and the ASE.
4. I will join the College of Teaching. I have had huge benefits from being an ASE member and I hope that the College will be a help in the same way. I am looking forward to the networking that it will allow and I hope to get to some events. I hope that it doesn't conflict with anything else. 
5. Within the department we are slowly crafting a curriculum that works for our students from Year 5 to Year 13. It's been almost three years since we started, and by this time next year it will almost be over. On the rare chance we do have to meet on the first day back after Christmas I will start the discussion about how our teaching and learning strategies at key stage 4 are going to help us overcome the issues we've identified. I want to put in place something stable so that we can concentrate on teaching and learning and refining what we do. I have never believed in making great changes for the sake of it.
6. I also need to work on my understanding of how my key stage 4 role (Head of Upper School) can make a difference to students and colleagues alike. I know that my colleagues are happy with my leadership in this role and very supportive, but I also know that I can do better. It is my aim to. I hope that Year 11 have a good run in to their GCSEs and Year 10 build a firm foundation.
7. Esther learning to drive is the family target for 2017. I am worried about how we'll afford the insurance after she passes her test. It's going to be an extra £1000 per year and I don't have that spare. It's wrong to hope she fails her test a few times isn't it? She's also got to get that UCAS form and personal statement completed in 2017. Leaving home and going to university is becoming a very real prospect. 
8. Always in the year we have small treats that we look forward to. This year I want to go up the Shard; it will be expensive, but we are going to do it as a birthday present to me. We also have tickets booked to go to the paratheltics and world athletics in London this summer. I am looking forward to the Cheltenham Science festival, Fame Lab heats, the festival of physics and all the other science communication events I can get to this year. 
9. Richard is riding London-Edinburgh-London again this summer, or at least hopes to. I will volunteer at one of the checkpoints. Having this on the horizon is great for us as an aim keeps him positive and I can keep the conversation off politics, education and work. 
10. I think that this year I will have to consider marking exam papers. I want to apply to do A-level physics and I have applied to mark the Year 10 new gcse mock papers. See 2017 target 7 for the reason! 

Nurture 15/16

When I sat down to write this blog post I felt that my 2015 wasn't as busy as previous years (especially 2013), but it seems that I have still been busy.

The greatest defining points of my year have again revolved around my husband. I am just used to calling him that as we have now had our first wedding anniversary. Of course on the actual date he was cycling!

1. Paris-Brest-Paris: In the summer Richard cycled 1000km in 87 hours (three of them sleeping) from Paris to Brest and back with thousands of other randoners. He absolutely loved it.

2. New job: The main cloud hanging over us this year has been Richard's job. In the spring he was put in a position where his only option was to resign without a job to go to. However, he has a new job and is a lot happier and making good headway with very challenging students.

But the whole experience has been crushing on my opinion on the people involved in education. I naively thought of teaching as a job for life, but now heads are now able to give a couple of observations and destroy 25 years of a career that you thought you were good at and don't expect your colleagues or union to be able to support you.

I fear to go back and work in the state sector. To see so many good and hard working colleagues fall is heartbreaking and I don't want a part of it.

3. Curriculum change: My job is defined by the changes that are going on at the moment. After the October half term I had a real wobble about the new GCSE and the amount of work it will create for me.

I am still not confident about the way that we are recording the practical endorsement and the quicker someone comes to see the better. We're doing the practical activities so I know that even if we get a slapped wrist or have to make changes the students won't be disadvantaged. However, I am happy about the opportunity to reflect on A-level. I would really like another couple of years to iron out the changes that are happening at A-level before the GCSE changes start

We still have work to do on key stage 3, but the students in Year 8 are very positive about science lessons. I fear that key stage 3 - the most important key stage will be neglected because of the impatience of politicians.

At key stage 2 I am delighted with the scheme we are using from collins. It takes a very long time to prepare lessons, but the ideas are excellent, the students love the lessons and I feel like I am doing a good job when I teach these lessons. I just wish I had more free time so I could prepare all my lessons so well.

4. GCSE and A-level results: Again I was delighted with our GCSE results. The A-level results were got on the back of an awful lot of hard work and determination on behalf of the students. They got into the universities they wanted to and are content in their courses. I am very proud.

5. ICT: As a department we have been using kerboodle with key stage 3 and it seems to becoming more and more part of our practice. There are a few girls still struggling, but they are in the minority and as a staff we are getting to grips with all the things it can do. Using iPads in lessons is reaching a peak now and it's 'newness' is wearing off on me. I find it frustrating when students don't bring their devices, can't remember passwords or can't connect to the WiFi properly. I have hit a wall and don't know if I want to break it down when I also have all the curriculum change hanging over us.

6. Drama: I have been given a bigger insight into the workings of the drama department this year. Drama and music are very important to the girls at my school. Last year the production was the Wizard of Oz and because I like to wear red shoes at work I jokingly became the witch that gets squashed under the house for one night of the production. It was interesting to help back stage and see how the cast work together to give us a show. My tutee was Dorothy in the show too. In the summer I helped with the lighting of the play that the drama department took to the Fringe in Edinburgh. Getting to see so many shows and seeing behind the scenes at the fringe was a fantastic experience.

This involvement is partly of my own doing as I try and increase my own knowledge of different areas of the school. If I am to have a whole school responsibility down the road, then I want to be able to have a degree of understanding for other colleagues in other areas of the school.  Of course it is also because I love supporting my colleagues.

7. Extracurricular: This year I have been to Edinburgh with the Drama department,  Weston-Super-Mare and Bath with the Geography department, Cardiff to hear a lecture about Einstein with the A-level scientists, Bristol for the IoP festival of physics with the Y13 physicists, and Thorpe Park with a mixture of students for a great day out. Again we went to see Team Bath play netball and I took a group of Y11 to tour the Krispie Kreme doughnut factory in Bristol. I got the school outside to see the solar eclipse, we had the space odyssey dome in to give shows to the students. In enrichment week the students took the squashed tomato challenge. Year 6 came second in the Great Bug Hunt and completed enough experiments to qualify for a Crest Mega Star Award.

8. Tutees: I have been very lucky over the last 12 months to have two amazing groups of tutees. Working with them is a great

9. GCSE Classics: Esther completed here Classics GCSE a year early and got an A*. Relived and proud are the two emotions. She has set her sights on Oxbridge, so the GCSEs need to be good.

10. CPD, MOOCs and conferences: The year always starts with the ASE conference, which makes going back in January a very positive experience. Speaking to Chris Colclough about being a head of science was extremely useful. Seeing great friends and getting lots of inspiration is the main reason to go to the conference. I don't think that I made the most of last year's ASE conference, but I still took a lot away. I went to two teachmeets and organised another; I always love these events because of their atmosphere and positivity. The iPad training day from Rachel Jones' school KEVI that I went to with a couple of colleagues was brilliant. I also attended Research Ed in September and was able to speak to Nick Gibb, and presented at Teaching and Learning Takeover 15. I also helped organise our own ASE conference in Bath.

The AfL MOOC from future learn, the SLC and Sheffield University was brilliant. Taking place over a period of weeks meant that my practice was changed much more effectively than just attending an event. The live Q&A with Chris Harrison was very good; there is so much to be learned from those people in universities who study education and being able to ask about AfL was very useful.

The CPD highlight though was the ASE professional learning conference. Shirley Simon's talk was a real inspiration to me and it was a real treat to hear Jonathan Osborne speak. Paul Black and I exchanged words! Hearing Brian Cartwright was very useful and I can only describe Andrew Carter as an 'interesting' character. It was great to meet Andrea, Katrina, Bryony, Helen and see Pete, Liz, Chris and Stuart.

11. Writing: One of my aims was to add more purpose to my writing. I have written a lot during the course of the year, but I haven't published much of it at all. I don't want to get into arguments. I am not all the knowledgeable about education, I only know my own classroom and some of what goes on in that of my colleagues. I don't know enough to be an expert. More than that though I don't want to get into an argument and have to spend a great proportion of time defending my position. I would expect some people not to agree or understand my position, but it makes me nervous that some people appear to not want to let others have their opinion based on their own experiences. I don't want to be part of that, so I fly below the radar thank you. (Actually more about time than not feeling strongly about something and the curriculum change is overwhelming me emotionally).

12. Home: In the summer I sorted out all the accumulated rubbish we had in the spare room. It seems that we had an awful lot more paper and plastic wallets than I thought and a large number of ethernet cables 'just in case'. Several 'very useful boxes' and trips to the dump later and we are at least able to get in there! Next step is to get into the loft and put some boards down so I get move some old CDs and books Richard refuses to art with up there.

13. Event at Westonbirt: This was one of the aims for last year. I will do a teaching and learning team party in the spring I think. It would be lovely to have a small gathering in the library at school with some cake. (The library is a wonderful room).

14. Shaun the Sheep and friends: After finding all the Gromit statues in 2013 we decided to do the same with the Shaun this year. Richard and I went to London and found all 50 there in one day. We walked a marathon that day. Then Lucie and Abi helped us find all the Shaun's in Bristol. It was a great excuse to catch up. It was also brilliant to meet Karen in Exeter for some black Friday weekend sale shopping.

15. Holidays and breaks: I make it my mission to get away and see as much of the UK (I can't afford the world) as we can. This year we had a day out in Oxford and London, went to the Brecon Beacons for a few days, visited Lincolnshire, Northumberland, had a day in Hull, Swansea and Minehead. My brother has bought me a scratch map of the Uk so I can make a record of where we have been.

The year ahead:

To be honest I don't have many plans that haven't a;ready been set in motion by things that have happened this year.

Esther's GCSEs feature heavily and hoping that Richard can get a permanent job. Although no teaching job will ever feel permanent again.

I really want a foreign holiday and we're thinking about visiting the North West when we book our cheep caravan holiday. The Olympic Games will feature heavily in my summer holiday plans.

I am still thinking about preparing myself for management and I want to aim my personal CPD to that. However, I think that it is unlikely I will find anything because school are not advertising for assistant head teachers externally. Budgets and MATS are the reasons I would imagine. However, I still enjoy working at my school and the curriculum changes present me with more than enough challenges!

So mainly next year is about dealing with the changes to the curriculum and trying to get the best possible outcome from them for our students.

Nurture 14/15 Update.

1. Writing with purpose

My blog needs more attention and direction. I would like it to show what I feel and my vision and I don’t believe that it does. I have strong feelings about things and I want to be able to describe them in a rational way. 

When I go to my blog, one word stands out: "draft". I have written a lot of posts about education. But most have been too angry to publish. Nothing that is really constructive and adds to the educational landscape. However, we now have curriculum change and a reason for me to write about the things that I am doing (particularly post-16) and share the progress of the things that I put in place. After Christmas I hope to look more at GCSE. 

2. At home

We only have one plan for the this year - getting Richard qualified and ready for Paris-Brest-Paris in the summer. It really is the culmination of ten years of cycling so that he is ready for this challenge. My main hope is that some of his colleagues recognise the achievement, it will mean so much to him. I doubt it though. We did say that we would take Richard’s daughter to Oxford to see the city and to go to the Imperial War Museum as we haven’t been for a while. When Richard is out cycling I want to work on things around the house and get over my fear of gardening. 

Richard has qualified for Paris-Brest-Paris. I haven't got over my fear of gardening. The over growth is winning every battle. I really want to let it win the war. However, in the house I am doing better. The recycling pile is increasing and I am being ruthless. We did take my step-daughter to Oxford, it's a really lovely place. A trip to London is planned for the summer. 

3. Bringing a conference/an event to Westonbirt

The head has seen me help organise activities outside of school and has invited me to replicate this in school. We certainly have the space. I need to think about this in order to bring together something valuable. It is a real compliment to be trusted with this. 

Still in the planning stage. 

4. More curriculum change

The next task at school is to embed the changes to KS3 and do more to look forward to the changes at KS5. I think that the department will need some help to develop the idea of a lab book as will the students. The changes at GCSE concern me greatly, I don’t think that the specifications will be ready towards the end of 2015, again giving teachers and publishers less and less time to prepare a good scheme of work. 

I am really pleased with how well Year 7 have done this year with the new scheme of work we have. We're teaching less in Year 7 than we used to and I think this really helped them. I worked hard on revision with them and as a result the test results were extremely high. 

I am teaching them as Year 8 in September, so I can continue to work on the new schemes. All of the curriculum change is a work in progress otherwise. 

5. What is next?

I love my school and working there. But I also feel the pull of a new challenge. I don’t know what that is yet and I fully expect to see myself working at Westonbirt in a year’s time, partly because I want to see through the curriculum changes and develop my use of 1-2-1 devices in the classroom and partly because it is a fabulous school and I believe in what we do. But I need to prepare myself for what is next. Would I get an assistant head position from where I am? Do I want one or do I want to stay more closely tied to science education? Would being an assistant head affect that? Am I good enough? Do I want to stay as a teacher?

But I also think that to look to the future I also need to consolidate. Think about what we/I/the department do really well and make the most of those things. Ensure they stand out as excellent and don't get lost amongst all the change. 

I have spent some time this year talking to my colleagues in other departments. I think that it is important to understand the pressure and commitments of other subjects if I am going to have whole school responsibility in the future. However, I am still really enjoying thinking about my own subject and working with my team. I want to work on the current set of curriculum changes and I am enjoying working on the 1-2-1 iPad scheme. I also enjoy being able to tap into the expertise within the ASE, the professional learning conference reaffirmed it's usefulness to me last week. 

Nurture 14/15

I have thought about this and there is no way I can describe my year in only 5 things without skirting over a lot of things. So I will do 14 and cut down my aims for next year to 5. 

It always seems that I do a lot, but this is because I say 'yes' to as much as possible. 

14 from 2014. 

1. Getting Married. 

We got married on the 30th August. It was quite a surprise when Richard agreed to tie the knot back in January. We have been together since January 2006. It was a lovely day and a fantastic experience to be able to publicly acknowledge our love, which we are not that good at doing. In October we had a blessing in Northumberland followed by a meal in the village hall, that was a really nice occasion with all the people I knew when I was little.

2. Exam Results

I suppose any secondary teacher's year is made (or rocked) by the results students get in the summer. More so when you are a head of department and feel responsible for them all. The GCSE results we got were spectacular. Much higher than I expected. I put this down to the hard work and determined revision of our students. There is talk of 'mastery' in the education world, but my students do aim to achieve it and often strop at my when they don’t understand something. Nothing less is failure to them. It is fantastic, but demanding. A-level results were not as exciting. All the Year 13 students got what they needed to get into university, but I was hoping for two A* grades and there is still work to do with Year 12. I have spoken openly to many people about As results and many have experienced a level of disappointment and feel there has been an impact of the loss of the January examinations. However, terminal examinations made no difference to Year 10, they probably helped improve them!

3. Commonwealth Games, Sport and Glasgow.

We often watch cycling and went to see the UK national road race championships as they weren’t too far away this year. We also went to see the last stage of the Tour of Britain in London, as the stage that came to Bristol finished to early in the afternoon to see it live after work. The Commonwealth Games were a great experience, we saw weightlifting, boxing (I have never see live boxing before), hockey, team triathlon and the marathon. It was a great few days, and we were able to catch a lot of it on TV when we weren’t watching it live. We also really loved Glasgow and had a one day visit during October half term. I really wanted to go back and see the world championship gymnastics next October, but it sold out before I could afford it. All of this sort of makes up for not being able to get to the start of the Tour de France (but not really). We did catch quite a bit of the world cup on the TV, and I loved the winter Olympics and Paralympics.

4. ICT - 1

I really missed the laptop that broke on me in the summer of 2013, and I bought myself a macbook air in January. I wanted to add this to the list because buying a laptop was one of my nurture13/14 aims for 2014. In June I found it necessary to replace my original iPad and I know have an iPad mini on contract when the school asked the girls to each bring an iPad. It continues to be a bug bear of mine that ICT is so vital now to my work, yet it isn’t something acknowledged by schools or government. At school the ICT is not suitable to someone who works in many different locations. I use my laptop all the time, but have to log on to the school server to print and use the MIS as it is internet explorer only. 

5. ICT - 2

In the summer I was really excited by the prospect of the 1-2-1 iPad scheme at school. It seemed extremely timely as I was invited to an event in Bristol about creating video and helping students to create video. It was a light bulb moment and has impacted my practice during the past term. I really feel that I am making massive strides in being able to use the iPads to help learning. Apps such as explain everything, nearpod, iDoceo, quizlet, socrative, keynote, dropbox, evernote, iDraw and iMovie have been extremely useful. The girls at school recognise me as having a strong grasp of ICT and how to use it, which probably means I am above average. Since the summer I have had a good think about what a 1-2-1 iPad scheme really means, and I hope to help guide the school. I have thank my use of twitter and those who connect to share their vast knowledge who have given me the expertise and confidence to embrace the 1-2-1 iPad scheme. 

6. ASE

I continue to be involved in the ASE, and started my final year as an assembly member this September. I am incredibly proud of the conference we put on in November as a region. The most important thing is that our new CEO seems to have a good handle on ASE finances and where ASE fits in the big scheme of things. Hopefully all of this will mean that ASE can do more to support science teachers and science teaching in the UK and further afield. It is interesting that strong subject knowledge has come out as being very important in the effectiveness in teaching. I think this makes part of the case for the presence of subject associations. I wish I had more time to devote to ASE projects.

7. Curriculum Change 

Deciding what to do about the key stage 3 curriculum changes was a big part of my 2014. We are following OUP’s activate scheme and so far we are really pleased with it. I am able to follow it without that much alteration, which means the most to me. If I spend money on a scheme of work I expect it to save the same amount of time. I am really excited though by the online aspect of the activate scheme, once the fibre optic broadband is installed at school it should be much easier for the students to use and we can really get to grips with assessment.

8. Trips

This year I took the majority of the school to the Big Bang Fair. I took ten Year 11 students to Krispie Kreme Donut Factory. I took Year 7 to the Super-league Netball. It is so time consuming to organise trips, even those that are in the evening, however I am planning to repeat the Krispie Kreme and Netball trips in 2015. The Big Bang Fair I will do again, but probably not until 2016 or 2017 depending on the location. These were all in an attempt to get STEM on a stronger footing within the school, I have more to do on this in 2015. 

9. Conferences/Events/Festivals

My year always starts with the ASE conference, which as always was fun and informative as ever. It was extremely useful starting point on my work on the KS3 curriculum changes. I also went to Pedagoo South West, Research Ed West Midlands, ResearchEd, the Festival of Education the tweet up at York University in the summer and an event on creating and using video by Teachit. I have hear Jon Butterworth, Alice Roberts (twice) and Ian Stewart all speak. I also helped to organise our own ASE regional event at Bath Spa University in November. For the second year we went to the Cheltenham Science Festival and had another great day and we went to the cycle show at the NEC. 

10. My Kindle

This time last year I wrote that I had read 31 books on my kindle, this year I have 76, so I have read a lot more books. Although probably not more words as last year I read the ‘song of ice and fire’ books and this year I haven’t read anything as nearly as long. Although next year I think I will read the “wheel of time’ series. I LOVE my kindle, it is an opportunity to escape from teaching and make my mind think of other things.  

11. Discoid Eczema  

I have really failed to look after my skin this year. At the start of the year my eczema meant that I could hardly bend my fingers. If I didn’t go home to reapply the emollients then I wanted to itch my legs all night and my back is often red, itchy mess as I can’t see it to know when it needs extra treatment. I don’t want to use the steroids all the time, but at the moment it seems that I can’t avoid them. It has really been a big feature of my year as it has made my life so uncomfortable and it is such a pain that I can’t use soap of any kind.

12. Step-daughter

We continue to be delighted with the progress of Richard’s daughter. She started Year 10 this year and seems to be thriving. She informs us that she had the joint best report in the whole of her year, (with her two friends). At the moment she wants to go to Cambridge to study Linguistics. Although she is considering St Andrews. I bought her a book of short essays on the subject of linguistics, which she read in a week and it is being passed around her friends apparently. We are so relived that she is interested in things and making her own mind up about everything including her social life (a Eurovision party where she designed a menu based on foods from around Europe).

13. Last years resolutions

Err, not so good. The house still remains undecorated, my hair has an increasing number of grey streaks and I am not yet 9st 7lbs. I didn’t go the arboretum enough and I can’t describe myself as organised. Although I did get a laptop, Year 13 did well, went on the trips and we enjoyed the commonwealth games. 

14. Being Opinionated

My blogs on the Royal Society Vision and on the new arrangements for the assessment of practical work have got me noticed. A blog post on the financial commitment a teacher makes also got retweeted by the Guardian and viewed many times. I have been interviewed over the telephone for various things too. I do find myself quite negative and miserable, though. Although being asked to present to the governors at the end of the summer term was a great opportunity to be positive about all the things that we did as a department. I got a hug from the deputy head, so I must have been good. 

It is always a surprise when people want to hear what I have got to say, I hope that I represent science education in someway as I anticipate others face the same struggles. Although mainly I just want to represent myself. 

Aims for 2015

1. Writing with purpose

My blog needs more attention and direction. I would like it to show what I feel and my vision and I don’t believe that it does. I have strong feelings about things and I want to be able to describe them in a rational way. 

2. At home

We only have one plan for the this year - getting Richard qualified and ready for Paris-Brest-Paris in the summer. It really is the culmination of ten years of cycling so that he is ready for this challenge. My main hope is that some of his colleagues recognise the achievement, it will mean so much to him. I doubt it though. We did say that we would take Richard’s daughter to Oxford to see the city and to go to the Imperial War Museum as we haven’t been for a while. When Richard is out cycling I want to work on things around the house and get over my fear of gardening. 

3. Bringing a conference/an event to Westonbirt

The head has seen me help organise activities outside of school and has invited me to replicate this in school. We certainly have the space. I need to think about this in order to bring together something valuable. It is a real compliment to be trusted with this. 

4. More curriculum change

The next task at school is to embed the changes to KS3 and do more to look forward to the changes at KS5. I think that the department will need some help to develop the idea of a lab book as will the students. The changes at GCSE concern me greatly, I don’t think that the specifications will be ready towards the end of 2015, again giving teachers and publishers less and less time to prepare a good scheme of work. 

5. What is next?

I love my school and working there. But I also feel the pull of a new challenge. I don’t know what that is yet and I fully expect to see myself working at Westonbirt in a year’s time, partly because I want to see through the curriculum changes and develop my use of 1-2-1 devices in the classroom and partly because it is a fabulous school and I believe in what we do. But I need to prepare myself for what is next. Would I get an assistant head position from where I am? Do I want one or do I want to stay more closely tied to science education? Would being an assistant head affect that? Am I good enough? Do I want to stay as a teacher?

But I also think that to look to the future I also need to consolidate. Think about what we/I/the department do really well and make the most of those things. Ensure they stand out as excellent and don't get lost amongst all the change. 

Nurture 2014 continued

Highlights and lowlights of the year so far:

• The ASE conference is always a massive highlight to January.
• Richard and I agree to get married, the date is set for 30th August.
• I bought the new laptop that I needed.
• I managed to organise a campsite for the accommodation so we can go to the commonwealth games without having to commute from Edinburgh or something like that!
• A colleague and I took Year 7 to see the Superleague Netball at Bath. They loved it. 
• We had our ASE west teachmeet and it went well.
• March was busy with a Year 5 STEM day, the last as I don't feel that we need the hassle or that the school quite understands the issues around putting such a day on. Throwing my toys out of the pram, certainly.
• We also took (almost) all of Year 7-10 and a few VI formers to the Big Bang Fair in Birmingham. Something that upset the rest of the school. Apparently taking 5 separate trips might have been OK, but taking everyone so that cover is easier to deal with and giving the rest of the staff a free day isn't popular. The kids enjoyed it.
• The science week assembly went down well, it was delivered by the deputy head who received a round of applause at the end.
• I very much enjoyed attending a video-inset by Teachit, where I was inspired to create my own.
• I taught an IT-only lesson. Work needed! 
• After the Easter holidays many staff were given iPads as we move to 1-2-1 iPads for September. Many, many members of staff, but not me. I was very upset to say the least. It was my own fault, as I was asked directly if I could do without as there wasn't enough to go round. I feel very stupid now for saying that I would manage. I imagined that other staff with their own iPads would be asked the same, but this wasn't the case. My original iPad only has iOS5 and I can't even open my own keynote documents that I have created on my phone or laptop. I am very bitter that I have had to buy a new iPad mini (only 16GB and I am already struggling).
• In May I went to school on three Saturdays to help Year 10 revise for their core science exam.
• Richard went out cycling a lot of those weekends too as he keeps up the stamina he developed for LEL in 2013. His aim is to prequalify for PBP in 2015.
• I delivered my first ever assembly.
• I enjoyed the school lecture from the director of Westonbirt Arboretum.
• I have been to ResearchEd West Midlands, Pedagoo South West, and the Education Festival.
• I went to the Cheltenham Science Festival.
• My car had a warning light on, but didn't cost as much money as last year to fix it.
• On the penultimate Friday of this term I had to talk to the Governors about what we had achieved in science and I believe they were impressed.
• I have bought lots of new resources, particularly activate to allow students to access online resources that support their learning on their iPads.
• I have tried a variety of resources and teaching activities this year that I want to embed further next academic year. 

I have made a few resolutions.

• I will use all the appropriate online tests on activate with Year 7 to trial them.
• I want to create videos for instructions key stage 3 practicals.
• I will thoroughly investigate the new A-level courses.
• I will use iMovie and explain everything to create resources to support my learners. 
• I will embed iPad use into my teaching... I need to decide what this will look like.
• I will give my students more opportunities to answer open questions so that I can mark and feedback on their written communication as well as their science knowledge.
• I want to get a team together for the Engineering Education Scheme.
• I want to get the Big Bug Bag Man (Pete) into school next term.

I will also enjoy our wedding, my cousin's wedding, our trip to the commonwealth games and our visit to York for the Yort Tweetup. 

Nurture 13/14 - update

1: Richard will be 50 in 2014, I want to mark the occasion appropriately, but I don't know what that is yet.

It seems that we'll be going to York that weekend, I hope that our science teacher friends can help Richard enjoy his birthday. The present will either be a Raspberry Pi or a Gaggia coffee machine.

2: I have some tickets for the commonwealth games in Glasgow, I am really looking forward to them as I love watching live sport. I hope we can see some world cup track cycling too, and we aim to see the Grand Depart of le Tour. 

We can't see the start of Le Tour as Richard's friend's son is getting married and the band Richard is a member of are playing. I need to sort the Commonwealth Games situation as there are no hotel rooms left in Glasgow! ARGH. I think we'll be staying in Edinburgh and commuting each day. (Only two, don't panic).

3: We moved into our house in 2011, and we still haven't decorated our bedroom yet (any of the upstairs in fact). I want to at least strip the awful wallpaper in 2014! 

Today we bought a wall paper scraper and some tester pots of paint. I call this progress. 

4: I want to make more of an effort to visit Westonbirt Arboretum more often. I drive past it each day and I have never been during autumn. I must rectify this in 2014.

This has not been achieved. I WILL do better in the summer term. 

5: In 2013 I managed to lose 6lbs during the summer, I have put 2 back on, but I want to lose another 10-12lbs during 2014 to get back to the shape I was once proud of. Will power is necessary! 

I also need to do better at this.

6: I need to save money in 2014 to be able to buy myself a new laptop. I would love to save enough to be able to afford a trip to Hong Kong, but I think this may be beyond me. 

New laptop has been bought, but a trip to Hong Kong won't be happening as we have a lot of other things to spend money on this year.

7: The new national curriculum provides an opportunity I want to make the most of, I just don't known he details yet!

We had a meeting in February half term about this, I was working on it last week and we'll have another get together in May we think. Progress is being made, just slowly!

8: I really hope my A2 physics students get the results they need to get to university. 

Still working on this.

9: The more involved I get in the ASE the more I realise its power and importance. I want to continue to contribute to it, and I will.

I will be writing the clubber's guide in school science review.
I have already worked with Emma on developing an ASE pinterest board. A google+ community and working out how to share teacher made resources is next on my list. 

10: I keep finding white hairs in my brown ones. 2014 is the year that I am going to have to face doing something about them.

I have bought dye this week. It is sitting in a box looking at me. 

11: I am organising to take the whole school to the Big Bang Science Fair and I hope that the trip is a success that puts science week onto the school calendar as a permanent event. I want to start the engineering education scheme up in school in 2014/15 with year 12. I want to put STEM on a stronger footing within the school and attract more post-16 students who want to student STEM subjects at university. To me the value of studying science is clear and this is something I want to ensure comes across in my teaching and the teaching of the rest of the department.

The trip to the Big Bang Fair happened. It was quite a challenge getting all the reply slips in, but they all came and had a good time.

I haven't yet started to work on the strategic plan of how to encourage more girls to follow the STEM subjects, but this is something that I will do in the summer term with the help of colleagues. 

12: I have no more excuses not to apply for my CSciTeach accreditation in 2014. I should be working on the application instead of writing this. 

I am avoiding completing this as I write this updated blog post. I will have it done in time for the next round of applications, I am about 600 words away from completion. 

13: I want to be more organised, my time, my resources, everything! I want to be organised enough to make the most of all the opportunities I am given. 

I am still really struggling with this. My idea was always to leave it until the summer term to have a look at the resources that I have and the routines that I need to have in order that everything has its own space. 

14: In terms of improving my teaching practice and making resolutions for my department I will wait until after the ASE conference. The event always inspires me and connects me to the right people to point me, my teaching and my department in the best direction. I am especially looking forward to seeing Mary and talking York Science! 

I still haven't really set this goals and I want to do it ready for the summer term so that I can work on things ready for September. It ties in with 13, 11 and 7.