Wednesday, 3 September 2014

Official First Day: INSET Training

Today I woke up filled with a stomach of nerves and the mentality of a child who was starting his first day at school.

I arrived at school and was greeted by those I had met already and a couple new faces. My classroom is being shared by 3 teachers; myself, the main classroom teacher, and another who is new to the school but not teaching. Their roles are going to be shared during the week with the main teacher teaching Mon, Tues and Wed (afternoon), and the other teaching Wed morning, Thurs and Fri. This I can see will only benefit my training because I will be learning from even more teachers' practices. 

Our head teacher held the training, and on agenda first was the schools strapline (motto).
We were asked to go through a list of other schools' straplines and choose out top 3. 
Our selection is as follows:
Believe and achieve together
Aspire, achieve, advance 
Together we make a difference 

Each one we looked at have a different message to parents and the outside world. A strapline should be shared and owned by everyone. It should be something to believe in and is the bottom line in everything you do. It also needs to be understood and used: right from the youngest students through to the oldest. 

In my table group we were asked to write down what we think ours represents and what the school does to achieve it.
Thoughts included:
We give an exciting curriculum.
School Council and Eco Council involvement.
Extra-curricular clubs.
Always learning- teachers as well.
It's an inclusive environment.
The children feel aspiration all, industrious and open-minded.
They have great behaviour management in place.
Most importantly the school is going forward, making the world a better place.

Secondly we looked at the 5 Core Values; Love, Forgiveness, Responsibility, Honesty, and Respect.
Each table was given a value and asked to think about what it means. The head spoke about a company whose own values are clearly printed and given to each member of staff to bear on mind on a daily basis. Failure to uphold 'Integrity' could result in getting the boot. 

Now looking at 'Forgiveness' what did this mean to our table group?
You need to understand that everyone makes mistakes.
Be able to forgive others.
Nobody is perfect including yourself.
Before asking for forgiveness you must first understand why the the mistake was made and the consequences it could have. 
To ask for and gain forgiveness requires humility, strength and courage.
Words may not always be enough.
Each day starts afresh with no qualms. 

Every group gave feedback and it was decided that over the first term all if the values will be shown and modelled by the teachers. We need to ensure each value is lived and breathed throughout the school life. This could be done during PSHE or Collective Worship, and should always be referee back to by the teachers should the need arise.

Finally the main focus of the day was  the schools 'Steps to Outstanding. This is how we want the world to see these happening. 
1) Every Lesson Counts
2) Engage All
3) Reach for the Stars
4) Begin with the end in mind
5) Progress, progress, progress

Engage All was our chosen step and we explored all the different ways this can be achieved.
Ensuring all students are motivated and that the teaching is relevant to them a and their needs.
Cater for different types of leathers.
Differentiation- same age but different ability so will need varying work and discussion.
The children should be enjoying the work they do and develop a passion for learning.
Have a sense of belonging,
Able to say what they are doing and why.
Feel Inspired to take things further (after school and into the big wide world). 

To summarise today, it was insightful, helpful, positive and encouraging. I am entering a school with quite a few changes plus it's grown in size with more 3-form classes. I have already met some brilliant members of staff who I know will share their wealth of knowledge and accept anything I have to offer from not only my short time in a school but also my past life experience. 






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