David Rogers

I’m pleased to report that I have been appointed as Professional Tutor at Priory School.  This Associate SLT role is responsible for:  Co-ordination of teachers’ continuous professional development as identified through the performance management process  Development of the whole staff through the designing of INSET activities and Professional Learning Time in order to meet the school’s strategic priorities  Induction Tutor overseeing the induction of Newly Qualified Teachers according to statutory requirement It’s a role that this blog, Twitter and the professional network built over the past few years have hand in. Of course, it’s like standing on the edge of the unknown   Anyway, in the tradition of sharing, my vision for professional learning can be summarised by these five statements: We need to use what we have but better. If you’re not creating trouble, you’re not creating much. Teachers are a mixed ability set of learners. Teach...

Last week saw the second TeachMeet Pompey.  Phil at Action Stations did a fantastic job of hosting with lovely Explosion Ale, wine and other things sponsored by Geography All The Way and Rising Stars.  We also got to shoot each other afterward in the Laser Quest. The venue was excellent, and the screen truly epic in scale.  However, the event was small and friendly and I left feeling that all of the ideas on display were achievable. The highlights for me (apart from shooting each other) were: Priory’s DiGITAL LEADERS sharing their story and core values; Finding out about Socrative – have already used it; Listening to Action Stations Education Boss talk about hands on learning and why Museums rock; Phil talking about how he teaches literacy through Laser Quest. We are already planning the next event – pencilled in for the 16th October – so I hope to shoot see you there!

Last week I became an associate member of our school’s senior leadership team.  More on that later.  During the interview, we got talking about the idea of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs).  A definition of which is: The discussion started with the idea that practitioners in ‘high risk’ jobs, where deviating from the SOP may result in death, they are followed.  A good example are checklists when flying an aircraft – the checklist approach ensures that vital steps aren’t missed. SOPs are attractive to schools.  For example, taking the register, greeting students, filling out a lesson planning preforma, dealing with positive and poor behaviour, the three part lesson, the mini plenary…...  The problem is, where is the room for serendipity? My view is that SOPs and a flexible approach coexist. I’ll give an example from when I flew Bulldog aircraft with Bristol University Air Squadron .  The checklist changed and a vital step was missed f...