Notes on happenings and non-happenings:
routine reports from a 50-year old comprehensive school
NOVEMBER
Root word of the month is rupt
Week 9:
Tuesday 2nd
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Happily back. Adjustment to leadership team.
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Wednesday 3rd
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Announcements at Briefing covered behaviour improvements, parents’ evenings, goodbyes to two staff leaving at unusual times, anti-racist testimonies, word of the month, training this afternoon and a request for old clothes for a climate-emergency art project.
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Thursday 4th
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Pedalled across the park to meet another HT. Two years since we last managed it.
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Friday 5th
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Off to a conference in Crewe. Fifty teachers from all over the country, spending and entire weekend thinking about their subjects, working twelve-hour days.
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Saturday 6th
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Ditto
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Sunday 7th
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Ditto
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Week 10:
Monday 8th
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Ditto, and back. Saw the Royal Train in Crewe Station.
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Tuesday 9th
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Meeting online with the Assistant Director of Children’s Services then an exciting internal appointment to be made: Acting Assistant Head.
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Wednesday 10th
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Staff briefing, meeting live with other local Heads in a primary school’s lockdown project, a mystery museum, with hidden sliding doors and all. Teaching year 13, lots of meetings and then joy oh joy a live parents’ evening.
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Thursday 11th
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Remembrance. A magnificent, wonderful trumpeter from the Grenadier Guard.
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Friday 12th
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Scattered showers, wind, gloomy weather. Nice day, with lungs being dissected in y8 Biology.
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Week 11:
Monday 15th
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Conference on ethos. Is it the same as the vibe you get from walking into a school.
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Tuesday 16th
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PLL meeting with a new Assistant Head. Why can’t I think of a better phrase for the frankly ghastly ‘principal line leadership’ I inherited? Govs Inclusion, great meeting.
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Wednesday 17th
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To Leeds to talk to about better curriculum then whizzed back for a frankly wonderful concert for Tallis 50 with little speeches of historic interest and vibrant performances, especially the growing orchestra’s Nimrod.
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Thursday 18th
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Online meeting with nowhere near enough secondary heads to talk about why it’s so hard to fix anything. I buy the speaker’s book.
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Friday 19th
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Looking at our Equalities Policy, speaking of things that are hard to fix. Hopeful.
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Week 12:
Monday 22nd
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Head Teacher Performance Management, the big accountability meeting.
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Tuesday 23rd
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Community Day on sustainability in many forms, relationships, endurance, climate. Govs Achievement committee, maths and English star turns.
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Wednesday 24th
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IP deep dives maths. Makes sense to me.
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Thursday 25th
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Greenwich conference in new but freezing venue. A historic artefact.
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Friday 26th
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Day to write HT report to govs completely fettled by events. Tube strike. Red tags to decorate the Christmas trees, written by all.
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Sunday 28th
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Representing PTI at Teaching Awards, new to me. Secretary of State on Omicron variant responses. Way too late for me (in all senses).
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Week 13:
Monday 29th
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HT report written at the gallop may have a brisk tone. Back to masks. A probable PX. Where are the Christmas trees?
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Tuesday 30th
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Arvo Paart’s Advent antiphons on Radio 3 followed by several meetings being cancelled, advent joy. Glorious catch-up vistas open. Facilitated anti-racist reflection space for LG. Govs Resources, back online
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