Reflections from a morning train journey

Travelling to work on the train, offers me a generally enjoyable opportunity to reflect on many things. Reading the paper as I journeyed to Barnham this morning, I was captivated by an article about a primary school in Croydon where 10 of the teachers had resigned following an expectation that they would, from September, be required to 'clock on' at 7am. I had many thoughts on reading this! Firstly, very grateful for the team of teachers we have at St Jude's many of whom are at school before 7am, when we usually unlock the school. Then I thought about the fact that the Croydon's school's belief was that the teachers needed to work very long hours in order to teach better and therefore get the school out of 'special measures' more quickly. Really good quality teaching is not about working very long hours; instead it is about knowing the children individually and being able to meet the needs of all of the children, all of the time. It is actually all about developing very strong and positive relationships with the children, enjoying learning together, believing that together you and your children can achieve amazing things and of course rigorously tracking their progress every step of the way!
Then, finally I reflected on the government's desire for all schools from 2015 to set their own term dates. Well... so much could be said about this but all I will say for now is, be assured we will watch this proposal as it unfolds and keep you informed about it as we journey through every twist and turn!
Thank you so much to the parents who came to 'Meet the Headteacher' yesterday. It was really good to see you and to share some very interesting conversation and discussion together. We will put some notes about our discussions in the newsletter on Friday. As it is now 6.49am my day must now begin!