Bosworth rose at dusk

Journey to 'recently qualified teacher'

I've been asked to take part in delivering a session to a group of newly qualified teachers who are just finishing their first year teaching. My role is going to be as someone who is a little further through the process and is reflecting on where they have come from to where they are now. I need to have a little think about what I'm going to say without being too teacher-y. There is nothing worse as a professional teacher having a colleague talking to you as if you're a student.

The second year

Teaching is not the first career I've trained for, so I had the benefit of something to compare it to. Before I was a teacher I had gone a fair distance down the road of qualifying as a solicitor, specialising in criminal defence and immigration. I'd spent years of my life and tens of thousands of pounds getting to that point. I worked at three law firms, initially as an unpaid intern and then moving in to paid positions. Six months unpaid is a rite of passage most wannabe solicitors have to go through.

I started at my last first and initially thought:

"I'm not enjoying this, but it's probably because I'm new and it’s difficult not knowing anything". 

After a few months I wasn't new anymore but my feelings hadn't changed. I put on a brave face.

"It's better than nothing". 

Then moving to:

"I don't like this at all". 

Then:

"I really dislike this" 

Finally the slow acknowledgement of what I'd really known all along.

"I hate this"

The point that I realised that practicing law was completely wrong for me was when I noticed that the feeling of dread at going back on Monday would come on at lunch time on Saturday. Something had to change. I distinctly remember sitting upstairs at Coventry Crown Court waiting for a sentencing hearing of a violent mugger with a serious drug additions and it was there and then that I decided that the was going to become a teacher.

Over the past three years, through PGCE, NQT and RQT I've lived in fear of that feeling returning, but it never has. I tell you all of this in the hope that you have no idea what I'm talking about and you certainly can't relate at the moment. If you're sitting there and you relate you need to do something about it, immediately.

NQT year is tough and I was certainly not overjoyed throughout. At first teaching was the only thing that existed in my life. My time was absorbed by making resources from scratch, drafting and redrafting schemes of work, attending CPD and implementing new strategies. There was no room to anything else and what I was doing lacked the polish which comes from using a reflection cycle. During RQT the emphasis moves away from doing everything from scratch towards modifying and perfecting and as a consequence lessons become more cohesive.

Having 12 months employment under my belt I felt more prepared and in control so I'm able to manage my workload better. The only way that I have been able to achieve this is by creating my own rule book. I get to my office at 7:15 and I have an alarm set for 5pm but I aim to have left work before that. If the alarm does go off I stop what I'm doing immediately and go home. The only thing that I take home is marking, no more than one set. No emails after 9pm and no work at all on a Friday night. I allow myself one revision to a lesson plan, and that's it. I eat a proper lunch which I make from scratch and it has to be eaten before I leave (I'm still working on this one, sometimes you'll see me in the car at five past five eating my sandwich because I haven't managed it). 

As an NQT you are going to be sprinting through each half term and then spending the holidays recovering, but this is not a sustainable way to live your life and you're unlikely to survive more than a year like that. It can lead you to feel a bit like the person I described at the start. If anything struck a chord with you, I strongly suggest that you make yourself that set of rules and actually stick to them. I'm a self-confessed work-aholic but my rule book has made sure that college is still important but there is now room for other things and the experiences I describe before, they're a very distant memory.

The longest day of the year

I always find the summer solstice to be a strange day. On the one hand the year has been working up to this so nature is at its boldest and brightest, on the other hand is all down hill from here as the nights will start drawing in and it'll soon cool down. I suppose it should be a reminder to enjoy the summer it whilst it's here. 

The garden is certainly making the most of the hot days, warm nights and lots of sunshine,  as you can see. 

The new Ofsted Common Inspection framework 2015

I almost dare not admit that when I get an email from the teaching union I quite often click past it. The themes are often the same "CHANGES", "CUTS", "WORKLOAD".  It's ironic that the reason why I don't pay much attention to these emails that would help me reduce my workload is because I've not got time, due to my workload.

Yesterday I did give a union email a proper read over because it detailed the new Ofsted common inspection framework which, for those of you not in the teach profession or for teachers who have lived under a rock, is the set of rules which the inspecting body Ofsted uses when doing inspections. Ofsted inspections can make or break a school/college and the careers of those within it and are regarded within the teaching arena as being as terrifying as any major surgery and almost as painful.

My college was inspected in September of this year and we were graded as good (without outstanding features) so the new framework is not going to have any immediate impact on me which, I feel is a bit of a shame really as I think it would have meant that we could have delivered an even stronger performance.

The key features of this new framework include:

• The inclusion of early years providers and further education colleges

At least this means that there is some consistency across the whole education sector that there are recognised minimum standards to which everyone complies. Uniformity has got to be a positive.

• Two day inspections

I was in a fortunate position that when we 'got the call' I had got everything for that inspection period Ofsted ready because I knew the call was likely to come. Even so, I still spent hours making tweaks and changes, it meant that every waking hour in the 96 hours notice prior to inspection was taken up with this. Afterwards I was completely exhausted but I would have tinkered and changed for all the time they had allowed me, whether it was 96 minutes, 96 hours or even 96 days, I'd have filled them. An inspection lasting two days is a time period where it is achievable to maintain the sprinting pace you require to do well in this situation. Any longer than this you diminish the quality of the whole inspection. People get tired, their standards slip, they get even more stressed, they get ill. These inspections are to ensure standards and met, not to kill people. 

• Lesson observations will no longer be graded

I have an issue overall with graded observations, it's probably a topic to go into detail at another time. The numbering system is entirely arbitrary, I object to having half of the gradings ("requires improvement" and "inadequate")  being unacceptable. A failing grade is a failing grade, whether you got 39.5% and just missed passing by half a percent or whether you absolutely bombed and got 0%, you failed to meet the standard, they are the same.

I also feel that the fear of the grade means that teachers (me included) don't perform as well as they can because of performance anxiety. I also know that colleagues who don't get a 2 (good) or higher in an Ofsted observation believe that they have ruined their school or colleges chances in that inspection, and I do understand why they feel like this. One teacher in one lesson on one day does not make a school or college good, neither does it make it bad.

• Colleges will be inspected by type of learning rather than subject sector areas

Colleges especially will group subjects together in ways that they fit with their regime. The subject sector area that law falls into is business, administration and law meaning we would be inspected with business which currently makes sense because we are in a department with business,  but from next year we are being move in with RS, history and psychology. What this change means is that areas that are grouped together will be regarded together which makes so much more sense.

• Outstanding providers will not be inspected unless Ofsted feel it is necessary

What this will mean is that the trigger for an inspection will be an event or series of events, rather than "well it's been four years, they must be coming then". The impact should be that schools and colleges can't become complaisant because they know that the moment to results drop or they stop doing the amazing things which made them outstanding in the first place, they will be back. I do wonder about tactics which will be employed to keep them away, surely every system is vulnerable to abuse in one form or another and this is where Ofsted is most at risk I believe.

I'm in a minority of teachers who believe that Ofsted is a useful tool and the best way to maintain high standards across the profession. Overall, I think these changes are overwhelmingly positive, they remove some of the drawbacks such as graded observations and should help Ofsted become even more relevant and useful in the sector.

Richard III and the Bosworth Rose.

My Mom is a real fan of Richard III. It started as curiosity which was sparked by reading Phillipa Gregory's 'The White Queen', but as soon as Richard's remains were discovered under that Leicester car park Mom's interest became a real passion. She has read historical accounts and fictional interpretations alike, even the one where Richard is a time traveler who prevents his own untimely death at the battle of Bosworth. I'm not sure that that story really assisted in Mom's understanding of the man but I'm quite sure that she enjoyed it. Her interest is really something to behold.

In our household Richard spoken about as commonly as most people speak about their work colleagues. He's almost like the brother I never had and so understandably, Richard's re-interment event was taken very seriously. We applied to get tickets to the actual event at Leicester cathedral, but with no success. We did however get tickets to a service of remembrance at Bosworth battle where Richard's remains were brought on his journey to Leicester. 

It was a strange event, I can't exactly describe the way it made me feel. You were very aware that we were there to remember a very important, though controversial figure who died very young in a spectacularly violent way. He was King for only 777 days but, arguably, he achieved more in that short time than Henry VII did after him. There is a lot that we don't know about Richard III, primarily, was he responsible for the deaths of the princes in the tower? What we do know about him was he did quite a lot for the people to stop those with power and influence from abusing the poor. He also took steps to protect books because he loved reading. You can't hate a guy who loves books, you just can't. 

As I sat and watched the coffin arrive I became aware that I was experiencing something very special and momentous, I am unlikely to ever attend the funeral of another monarch, especially one who had been dug up and is going to be reburied. It will be one of those special events which I hope to remember for the rest of my life. 

Style Roses have created a special rose to commemorate the battle of Bosworth and everyone who was involved, not just Richard. Mom ordered one for her and one for me and it has just started to bloom. Richard's symbol was a white rose, Henry Tudor's was the red Tudor rose and this chaotic intermingling of both colours splashed together on each bloom is very symbolic of the chaos and the bloodshed which took place at the end of the Plantagenet rule and the start of the Tudor reign.

June in the garden

The potatoes are coming along nicely. On the right is the second set of first earlies which we succession planted into the ground. On the left is the main crop potatoes. You can also see the canes and the netting and the CD's that we're trying to scare away the pigeons, but to no avail.

Also, out lavender plug plants arrived on Thursday and we've potted them up. I've not included the picture of the mixed box that we got. I was amazed by the packaging and that the plants actually look reasonably healthy. From the mixed box quiet a lot have died but there were so many it didn't matter so much. For £5.95 for 30 plants from Thompson & Morgan I don't think you can complain, especially as the RRP for these is £34.95 + £5.65 P&P . These particular ones came with a little of free snips and were the gardeners world offer which you can see here if you're interested.  But be quick because the offers don't last forever.


Also looking pretty good at the moment is the clematis and the climbing rose.

The course work push Part 2 - The final push or, what do you call a teacher with no students?

I go on jury service on Monday 15th June. The last day for students is 19th June. The long and short of it is that today is my final day teaching for this academic year.

Let that sink in for a moment - it's the 12th June and it's my last day teaching for the year - I'll start doing proper lessons again on 1st September.

It's been a successful year I hope, although I won't really be able to tell until A level results day but it certainly feels better prepared, better resourced and more tailored to individual students. I feel we've 'cracked' the BTEC qualification to a greater or lesser extent now. We know how it works and how to play to the strengths of the students and the qualification.

We still have the students who leave it all until the very last minute and don't really work to their full capacity until the 11th hour. The consequence is we spent the very end of the qualification working with the people who have been lazy throughout the year when really what you want to do is spend time relishing in the victories of the students who have done brilliantly all year and now get to reap the rewards.

But now that is all over, the students have all got their grades, the marking is complete and filed away, all the paperwork has been done so that the results can be sent off to the exam board. There is part of me that feels like a mother bird after all the chicks have flown the nest, I'm not really sure what I'm supposed to be doing with myself. I should be relishing in my new spare time, and I will, but not quite yet.

Surprising Cacti

Tom has a real green fingers, he has a real understanding of how to understand and care for things which can't say what they need. His photographers eye seems to enjoy architectural plants with strong lines and shapes, so to fit in with that brief we have a lot of succulents and cacti. 

The specimen pictures is a Mammillaria which means 'nipple' which I find quite amusing because I can genuinely say that there is a boob sitting at the top of the stairs. It is one of the most common cacti that you find. If you've got your own cactus, stands a chance it's probably this one. Just because it's not rare or difficult doesn't mean it's not pretty special. They originate from Mexico so it is quite happy to be left alone and as long as they're some where dry and light (the window on the landing is ideal) they will be happy. They're quite wild looking all year round but in May and June they go up a gear again by producing these amazingly vivid pink blooms, seeming from no where. 

I know cacti are not going to be everyone's idea of beauty but we think they're pretty amazing. 

Miss...? Miss...? Miss...? How to stop answering the same questions over and over again

I teach one particular group of first year BTEC law students who constantly want reassurance that they're doing it right. They're asking question after question, usually on stuff that I have already covered.

This is something that I felt I had to sort out to make them more resilient and independent. As human beings one of our greatest skills is our ability to work things out for ourselves and this is something that needs to be practiced. In order to move them away from super dependence I have introduced question tokens. For a week long activity they are allocated three question tokens which entitle them to ask three practical questions about the workings of the activity. I don't limit anyone on the questions that they want to ask about the subject of the lesson, in fact I'm considering giving out tokens to collect for really great questions.

The impact can be instantaneously. Ensure that the new token system is the first thing you explain that lesson and watch them lean forward to really listen, jot down notes on their booklets and read and reread the written instructions given. When working in groups you'll see someone put their hand up or call me but before I can get there someone else gets them what they need to do.

Plants amongst pebbles

I've spoken before about about the huge expanse of pebbly nothingness at the end of the garden which was only interrupted by much large rocks. One of the first homely touches we put in place to put our mark on the place was to put some alpines and sedums in between the rocks. We've developed quite a collection now.

My favourite is below, its a sedum Cape Blanco and the yellow star shaped flowers are amazingly bright set against the background of the aqua coloured foliage. Plus, they take no looking after, the only thing that they really don't like is too much water or attention.The less I do for them to happier they are.

The poor, abused, nameless bush that we dug up and moved about a month ago has actually flowered, I can't quite believe it, this thing has every right to give up the ghost and die but this morning I went outside and it flowered all over. It produces the most beautiful open white flowers with yellow middles and most importantly it covers up the compost bin which is behind it. You can just about see it peaking out at the bottom left, but don't look there because you'll also see the piles of rotten wood that used to be the raised beds which I still haven't got rid of.

First early potatoes - From spade to plate

Today was the day for the first set of first earlies. They were planted at the end of February in bags, this particular variety is Rocket or Solanum tuberosum for those who like the latin and they produce very sweet baby new potatoes. I've only pulled up one bag which had five tubers in it but we got 30 potatoes. On reflection I think five was too many for the bag because they were very tightly packed in the end so one or two were very small indeed.

The biggest one was about four inches long and the smallest was about the size of my thumb nail but most importantly, they tasted fantastic cooked with paprika like potato wedges.

One week back at work - the coursework push

No posts say one thing - I'm exhausted and completely over stretched. Yesterday I came home, ate and got into bed all before 7pm. It was a gorgeous day out but I just couldn't do being awake anymore. This is not normal for me after a normal half term, usually I am still feeling somewhat refreshed but this first week is different - its the coursework push.

We run the BTEC Subsidiary Diploma in Applied Law and we're about 90% of the way through. The last hand in date was to first day back after half term, so straight away there is some marking and after that most students have one or two criteria to have resubmit, which is normal and they get it done and move on but this is the point that the 'problem' students really start to become a problem. The ones who have poor attendance, the ones who miss deadlines, the ones who cannot concentrate for any period of time and the ones who are lazy and disaffected. 

This is the second year we've run the BTEC and I think it's fair to say that this year was infinitely better than last year. We'd put into place some new strategies and it's working so much better but, I think the nature of the thing means one thing, no matter how much you encourage, suggest, cajole, bribe and even bully your students to get the work done and get it done well on the first try, they will all work hardest and produce the best work in the last week of the course. If they worked with the same ferocity all year as they do for those five days we'd have the whole course done before Christmas. 

I still have a lot to learn and lots of changes to make next year but these are the most important things that I've learnt so far:

1. When you set the assignment know what you're looking for and what you expect it to look like. 

2. Be realistic about what you're going to get when you write your assignment briefs. 

3. Provide flexibility in the methods of completing the work.

4. Ask for creativity, but expect it in all of its forms.

5. Don't accept plagiarism in any way, ever. 

So, despite the trials and tribulations we've had getting the students there, we've got students who are now completing the course with distinction stars (equivalent to an A* at A level) and now they're moving on to red brick universities, many of them to study law. That is what makes it all worthwhile.