Improving Schools:

Following a positive performance review at Thomas Arnold Primary School in Barking, I was keen to learn more about the head-teacher; John Halliwell and how he transformed a school that was in the bottom 5% of schools in the country, to a school with ‘Outstanding Leadership and Management’.

An Interview with a phenomenal headteacher: John Halliwell:

When you visit Thomas Arnold, it is prominent that children are Thriving, Happy, Open Minded Achieving Students who respect their surroundings, but also have the freedom to express themselves positively.

Beyond running an exciting school, John likes to keep active by swimming & running. He also enjoys socialising with family and friends.

I asked John about what inspired him to become a head-teacher:

“I started my teaching career in 2001 wanting to teach food education to help ensure healthy education in secondary and primary schools. However, I found I was enjoying the primary experience and teaching a range of subjects appealed to me.

As time went on I wanted to make more of a difference…to be able to think about my own vision passionately and creatively but also balance it with also being able to teach.”

What’s the biggest challenge as a headteacher in 2015?
 “There’s a lot of pressure from government and media which hinders creativity and limits ability to create a well-rounded education that all children need.”

In spite of these challenges, John confesses that it’s a rewarding & humbling experience to develop pupils, staff and a whole school in a short space of time.

John’s experience with J and C Academy:
I’ve spent almost a year working together with J and C Academy as we wanted to introduce Spanish as part of the new curriculum. Children love the lessons delivered by Nora and J and C Academy have been an amazing asset to our curriculum.”

Intentions for his new School:
“When I move to Applegarth Academy in September, my focus will be helping to create a shared vision and expectations of really high standards; as well as ensuring the curriculum is fit for purpose. I need to make it clear to the community how we intend to create well-rounded individuals…”

Please feel free to comment on and share this blog. To find out more about schools we work with, please contact us: admin@jandcacademy.com

Enjoy Education!

Jazz Rose,
Director of Education,

www.jandcacademy.com

3 Personality Traits of Phenomenal Teachers!

As I sat down to have a cup of tea with John Halliwell, head-teacher of Thomas Arnold Primary School recently; we were discussing how important it is to have teachers of the right culture fit for a school, beyond teachers who can simply deliver 'outstanding lessons'.

In this short article I've outlined 3 key common personality traits among Phenomenal Teachers! Which of the brilliant traits below are most important in your school & why? I would love to hear your thoughts!

Charisma:
As outlined in my recent blog on school leadership, excellent schools seemingly employ teachers who possess a shared sense of values and often a shared style of working. A confident smile, accompanied by a divine sense of dress and positive mannerisms are common traits among phenomenal teachers.

These are the type of people who can walk into any classroom in any school and command, (not demand) attention, with the subtle raise of an eyebrow or a huge smile and a raised hand.

An example is during my first week at a primary school teaching PE, I walked into a dining room of supervisor staff trying to get their voices heard over 200 children. I walked in calmly, began clapping a rhythm and within seconds they were all following me with engaged smiles. Then I placed my finger on my lips.

Subject Knowledge:
Whilst observing Spanish teacher Nora Ferguenis at the same school; Thomas Arnold, she reminded me of the deepened value in shared discussion. It was brilliant to assess not only how much words and phrases the children could 'remember' but how confident they were in debating how they themselves could further develop sports terms. They were able to confidently communicate through dramatic expression and role play so others could guess the sport in the target language.

Excellent teachers have a plethora of knowledge but what fantastic teachers like Nora do is to impart snippets of that knowledge; and then get the children to expand upon it, so that knowledge sharing becomes a reciprocal process as opposed to a directed one.



Leadership Style Communication:
From children to adults, communication is key to success in any walk of life. I remember when our head of services, Sam was teaching PE and he remarked; "No, not 'kind of like'; with confidence tell me what peripheral vision means?", before receiving a more clear and astute response from the pupil.

Brilliant teachers communicate like leaders; with assertion and clarity. They often report more frequently and more thoroughly than what is outlined in their role requirements and their assessments are usually more thorough than their counterparts. They are distinctly aware of how to communicate with the right person, at the right time, so that they get what they need. By proxy their seniors get more time to focus on other areas of development for the school.

In an era of growing cultural diversity in schools it's essential for companies who supply teachers to schools to employ teachers who are chameleon like and are able to deliver phenomenal teaching in almost any environment. Phenomenal teachers such as these are a rare breed. However employing teachers with the appropriate personality and culture fit for your school ensures that with an effective CPD programme, schools, children, parents and the community will benefit in all manner of ways!

To find out more about sourcing teachers with the right culture fit for your school or organisation, look out for my next blog post: An interview with a phenomenal head-teacher: Mr John Haliwell.

Feel free to share this blog post & comment your thoughts below. I'd love to hear from you!

J and C Values: Passion. Positivity. Productivity. Performance. Progress.



Best regards,

Jazz Rose
Director of Education
J and C Academy
www.jandcacademy.com
admin@jandcacademy.com

L.E.A.D.E.R.S.H.I.P - What it takes to be a phenomenal Leader!

As I sat in a meeting recently with one of our largest and most influential clients - a head-teacher from a London primary school; it progressively became apparent to me how she managed to receive an 'outstanding'  Ofsted grade in a school which resides in a climate that others may refer to as 'challenging'.

With 43% of their pupils having English as a second Language (EAL) and approximately 38% pupils receiving Pupil Premium funding, it is clear from the pro-activity of the head-teachers, the deputy head-teachers to the administrators that exceptional leadership has been the key to this schools' progress.

Through adopting a flexible approach to learning and a shared responsibility among staff to make children successful learners, Mrs G's indomitable will to see her school succeed is nothing short of phenomenal! 

On my way home from visiting this wonderful school, Mrs G inspired me to write an acronym about Leadership, and what it means to be an outstanding leader in what may otherwise be notified as 'challenging' circumstances.

Lead by example
Educate others through on-going training procedures
Always be Learning
Delegate and share responsibility
Engender a shared set of values
Relationships are crucial; Create bespoke CPD according to individual needs
Strategically plan for progress & have a backup plan for potential failures.
Harness individual talent
Inspire your team to inspire their learners
Pupils come first & progress is the performance indicator.

1. Which of the above points resonates with you most?
2. Which of the above points can you develop further to embed a stimulating and successful working environment?

Since progress is the performance indicator, I guess we've all got work to do; because ultimately we can never stop making progress!

In an attempt to inspire more children through education, I'm about to get back to it...and on my return I hope to see your comments in the box below. (,")

Have an outstanding afternoon! #BePhenomenal

Letting the Leaders 'Lead': CPD @ J and C

Delegation: #Leaders #CPD@JandC

#CPD@jandc - Classroom #Learning

Best regards,

Jazz Rose
Director of Education
J and C Academy
www.jandcacademy.com

7 tips for Outstanding P.E in Primary Schools

7 non-negotiables for Outstanding P.E in Primary Schools

Inspired by J and C Academy P.E teachers James Eaton, Alex Lewis and Paul Meakin during my
visits to schools this morning, I was inspired to share with you just 7 non negotiables for
outstanding PE lessons in Primary Schools.

1. Safety is of paramount importance. A great example of this today was when James positioned a green cone for the batter and a yellow cone a few paces behind for the catcher, thereby minimising any risk of injury.

2. Always include a whiteboard or power-point reference for your key learning objectives / learning focus. Pupils tend to remember more about the lesson if the key ideas are communicated  verbally, physically and visually. I was most impressed when a year 4 pupil confirmed that he was learning about 'symetrical' and 'asymetrical' balances in Paul's gymnastics lesson.

3. Maximise Activity and Learning. Following your key instructions and teaching points, get the children moving. During intermissions, give pupils an activity or exercise to keep their hearts racing or their brains boggling. The best way to prevent children from fidgeting or misbehaving is not to give them a chance to think about it.

 I really enjoyed this about Alex's netball lesson today as everything was really swift and pupils were constantly moving (except key reflective moments and demonstrations.)

4. Talk for Learning: Rather than spending 2 minutes explaining something, get the children to discuss the key context for learning with their peers and develop understanding among themselves. e.g. "I'm going to give you 30 seconds to quietly discuss with your partner, how you might be able to find space so your partner can throw you the netball, without it being intercepted by the defender."

This helps children think independently whilst keeping them mentally engaged. As a result, you will spend less time saying "stop fidgeting with the ball" and more time praising the children for progressing so swiftly, and advising them of the next steps for learning. #AccelerateLearning!

5. Teaching Assistants must wear trainers and be actively involved in supporting the learning. Help them to add value to the lesson by supporting key individuals or groups.

6. Group Calling is a tactile way to get pupils to remember key words and retain information. The skill is to use your body language (e.g. opening of your arms) to indicate that all children should respond in choral. e.g. "When we are travelling around the hall, we will be looking for (open arms nice and wide...children respond together) "Space"

7. James demonstrated differentiation in an expert manner today when he was teaching cricket. He asked pupils to hit one of 2 large cone targets before asking some who were still developing the technique to aim for 3 cones, and the pupils who were performing well, to aim for just one cone.

All the children were working at their own skill level, rather than 'one size fits all' approach which inevitably means that all children were able to make active progress.

I hope you find this blog useful. For further information about outstanding P.E, simply get in touch via our website; www.jandcacademy.com. Until next time, have a great week! #HappyTeaching

Jazz Rose,
Director of Education,
www.jandcacademy.com

What Makes a GREAT Music Teacher?

When I go to meetings with primary school head-teachers all over the country, I'm often asked the question: "What skills do your music teachers have?" or "What makes your music teachers reputable?"

Even more often, we receive dozens of applications every week for those who want to become music teachers within our company and we have to seek out whether they have the right skills for the job.

In light of the two points above, I've created a short but incisive report; so that schools and teachers can be sure of exactly what we look for, and how we go about delivering inspiring lessons.

'What makes a GREAT music teacher?'...6 simple steps to help your pupils develop an everlasting passion for learning and self-improvement.

Please click the link or the image below to view the pdf report and leave your comments below.

#loveteaching
www.jandcacademy.com

How to Deliver Outstanding Lessons

How to Deliver Outstanding Lessons

J and C Academy have been delivering Outstanding lessons in UK primary schools for over a decade, so we are well positioned to know exactly what it takes.

Check out the J and C Academy PPA Guide on How to Deliver Outstanding Lessons.

Please remember to like, share and comment on our blog.

#LoveTeaching
www.jandcacademy.com