Safely, Fairly, Fully

We would like to thank the staff of Glyncoed Comprehensive School for their professionalism over three intense days of training. They engaged safely, fairly and fully with each other and ourselves, enabling laughter to accompany learning. They showed incredible stamina (fuelled by the occasional ‘sugar rush’!) and commitment considering it was the last three days of the school year! It was impressive and encouraging to see evidence of collaborative learning at both classroom and staff level. And we have to say that the pupils were amongst the most courteous that we have encountered.

Looking forward to returning in September!

 

(Thanks to Cath Hart for allowing her photo to appear on our blog!)

The serious business of play…

‘Play’ can often attract negative responses  – frequently seen as the opposite of ‘work’, messing around or even as something ‘childish’. 

We disagree with this strongly. And we often talk about ‘plearning’ – a term coined by a talented 3 year old (Cian). It is a perfect word for ‘learning through play’ – whatever age you are! 

It was great today to come across ‘PlayDUcation’ whilst checking out the new edition of ‘Out of Our Minds’ (Ken Robinson). They have a presence on facebook and a website which is worth checking out. Bring on that learning revolution!

http://www.playducation.org/

 

Also worth a look is the Ken Robinson book …and we particularly liked this excerpt from the ‘write up’.

 

‘I remember when I was running the national commission on creativity, education and the economy in the U.K., the Secretary of State there said, “We’re very committed to creativity in education but we’ve got to get literacy and numeracy right first.” And I said, this is just a basic misunderstanding. It’s like saying we’re going to bake a cake and if it works out, then we’ll put the eggs in. That’s not how it works. If you want people to be literate, you have to get them passionate about reading and that’s a creative job. To think of it as an afterthought or in conflict of the core purposes, is a misconception of what creativity is. Creative leaders get that. And if they don’t they will.’

 

http://www.fastcompany.com/1764044/ken-robinson-on-the-principles-of-creative-leadership

It’s a week for radio!

A huge smile…and quite a few giggles…as Radio 2 with Alan Carr began their karaoke sing-out! Well done to our friend and colleague, Shona, from Stirling…the star of the Karaoke! It is always great to take a risk and step outside your comfort zone!!

 

Shona – you definitely deserve the rosette you asked for!

Sharing BBC Radio 5Live space with Ed Miliband…or rather he interrupts with a phone call…!

Big ‘congrats’ to Karen Workman, Family Learning Students (including Rachael Morgan) and the children/staff of Brynhyfryd Primary School in Neath! Or should we say ‘BENDIGEDIG!’. 

The 2 hour radio feature on Family Learning and Literacy Skills was full of honesty and passion – real stories, real learners of all ages, real moments and a real feeling of supporting each other. 

We loved the fact that the broadcast took place in a local school and that both the adults and children took an active role throughout the two hours…despite their feature being interrupted throughout by the current NoTW story and Ed Miliband being available for a telephone interview in the middle! Apparently this also knocked out the allocated time for Leighton Andrews – oops!

More details and photos to follow in the next blog…

(For those who have already asked, we are able to get hold of a full recording of the show and will post details about this asap.)

A reminder to tune in tomorrow…

Tune in to BBC Radio 5Live http://www.bbc.co.uk/5live/

between 12 and 2pm tomorrow (UK time) to hear Karen Workman (Lynne’s sister!) talking about ‘Adult Learning and Literacy’. The interview will be taking place in a Primary School in Neath Port Talbot…and there was talk of getting Leighton Andrews on the show too – Education Minister for Wales! It will be interesting to hear what he has to say about literacy and the new national tests for 5-14 yr olds in Wales (beginning Sept 2012). More on the blog tomorrow…!

Related articles

• Literacy of young ‘must improve’ (bbc.co.uk)
• Banding set for primary schools (bbc.co.uk)
• Primary schools banding delayed (bbc.co.uk)

CPD for us…

Back to the Apple Store, Cardiff! 

Personal Project for 2 hours working on website design…learning and enjoyment – just as it should be! Thanks Mike!

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