I am delighted to be able to write to you again through this blog, which will now be a regular feature of our communication with you. So to begin this new year (although we are two weeks in) I want to share some thoughts with you about 'change'.
January 2015 sees me celebrate 34 years in this beloved profession. I remember very clearly my first day as a teacher at Broadwater CE Primary School, in Worthing. Interestingly enough it was the school I had attended as a child for most of my primary school years and so my first full-time employment as a teacher was with the same headteacher who had been there when I was a pupil some 13 years earlier.
On my first day, Mr Tammage told me of all the many changes that had taken place since I had been there as a pupil and how he wished that the pace of change would just slow down so that we could get on with the real job of educating our children!
Over the weekend I was reflecting with some friends how, when I took up my first Headship in 1999 there was no computer for me to use, letters not email were written, the week's post would arrive on a Tuesday morning and I certainly had no 'smart phone' to keep me on the move. Interestingly enough although I now generally like the technology I use, it has forced us all to work much more quickly, responding to requests with greater speed and often being reactive rather than poactive.
The way our schools are now judged has also changed many times. January 2015 also sees the most recent publication of the Ofsted Inspection schedule, a third change since April last year. Another change is expected for September. Keeping pace with all the change is a challenge at times but quite crucial in a world where the judgements made by Ofsted have such a powerful impact on us all. The whole scale change to the National Curriculum has been very challenging too becuse the expectations we now have to have of our children are much higher than before. Combine this with the changes to the test expectations for our current Year 1 and Year 5 pupils and we certainly have to remain forward thinking and ahead of the game.
In all these changes we will aim to keep you as parents fully up to date with what is happening and how you can support your children in an ever changing world where the jobs your children will be end up doing are unlikely to have been invented yet! Food for thought on a Monday morning.
As this year unfolds we will be working closely with Ofsted to ensure that everything we are doing in school is focused on meeting the higher expectations of the new testing framework and we will also give you as parents the opportunity to hear about the actions which will result from those meetings as we being to prepare for the next inspection at St Jude's.
