Skip to main content

'Well, nobody's perfect.'


As my time at Priory comes to an end, this made me chuckle:



It sums up my restless nature.

The image above was taken at Durrington Station, I've been catching the train there for a while.  To the left of the image is the way to Portsmouth, and the the right Brighton where my next challenge lies.

'I have always been delighted at the prospect of a new day, a fresh try, one more start, with perheps a bit of magic waiting somewhere behind the morning' J.B. Priestly

It's almost time for the thanks, but first a reflection on the year that has past. Words by Sam Atkins:

Priory Geography
Priory Geography has had what can only be described as a momentous year. Highlights of 2012-13 include:
 Best half way Year 11 results ever (72% A*-C).
 Year 8 Eco-Challenge.
 Our own Digital Leaders presenting at Teach Meet Pompey.
 Iceland’13.
 Kids Meet and BBC School Report at Action Stations.
 Mr David Rogers showcasing @priorygeography’s work at the national BETT
conference 2013.
 Microsoft UK visits.
 Mr Atkins earning Geography an honourable mention in the Ofsted report.
 Ms Jo Debens securing Curriculum Leader of Geography from September 2013.
 Mr Atkins growing an epic beard.
The Priory Geography department have loved every minute of the past academic year. We hope our pupils have enjoyed their visits to the east wing of the balcony as much as we have enjoyed having them in our classrooms. We’re already busy scheming ways to make what we do for you even better.
Special mention to our super PGCE students Miss Rolfe and Mr Parratt. They had what it takes to deliver excellent learning in an exciting environment. We wish them well in their futures.
Huge thanks to the parents and guardians of all our pupils for supporting trips, homework, extra-curricular adventures and important GCSE work. So much of what we do relies upon the additional help and encouragement your children receive at home. It is having an overwhelmingly positive impact, as we hope for yet another jump in GCSE results this summer.
So what next? Firstly, and sadly, we say goodbye to Mr Priory Geography himself. Mr Rogers leaves us at the end of this term for pastures new. His department legacy, wider school impacts and influence of teaching and learning at a national level cannot be understated. We’ll leave it there in case his head explodes. Thank you, sir.
Ms Debens takes over the reins as Head of Geography, with Mr Atkins as her trusty deputy. She’ll be awesome in the role and the @priorygeography team will go from strength to strength.
Highlights of what to look forward to in 2013-14:
 Brand new Year 8 Geography Camp.
 BBC School Report.
 More digital leader innovation.
 Mr Atkins leading the Priory Ski Trip to Austria.
 More guerrilla naughtiness, with clubs, prizes and micro adventures.
 Mr Atkins may trim his beastly beard.
See you in September! Huzzah!
Mr Rogers, Ms Debens and Mr Atkins

Huzzah indeed.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

High Impact, Low effort

This month is the start of the #29daysofwriting challenge.  I enjoyed this last year and will be using my Staffrm account to post.  I'll also be reporting here, both to give a little more detail and to keep a log of what I have written. The challenge developed a great sense of community last year, which is why I'm choosing to write on Staffrm. What I would say to those who are new to writing or don't want to run out of ideas is: Write for yourself. Clarify an idea, write something out loud. The process of distilling thoughts into writing is immensely beneficial to your practice. If other read, comment and respond, that's a bonus. Ignore the muppets who know nothing of your context, style or students. Mix it up - I like to read about real stuff from real classrooms and schools and also about other stuff.  If we always write about school, how does that work for workload? If you've nothing nice to say, don't say it. So, the following has been 
5 comments
Read more

What makes a learning experience profound? Personal reflections and possible implications for classroom practice.

I have recently begun a Leadership Pathways journey.  As part of the first core day, we were asked to reflect on a profound learning experience. This got me thinking about how many profound learning experiences I have both been involved in, and how many I have been able to give to others.  Our group came up with a huge long list, but these are my five. Emotional Connected Demanding Reflective Collaborative As always, these are personal thoughts and quite mixed up.  I put them here so that I can look back on them (plus they’d get lost inside my world-cup-free brain) 1. Emotional I can’t think of a time where deep learning hasn’t engaged my emotions.  From being awe inspired to that tingle feeling when a student gets a light bulb moment.  From this-is-the-happiest-day-ever, to I-think-I’m-about-to die.  How often do we engage the emotions of those we teach?  Here, I would argue that having a safe learning environment is not always conducive to profound
4 comments
Read more

The danger of Teaching and Twitter conversations: poorly formed bipolar arguments.

Sometimes in life, there really are only two options.  Get the wrong one and you can look like a muppet.  Take this useful sign for the toilets in Morocco.  I successfully navigated it, choosing the right option.  The result? No egg on my face.  As a mountain leader, there are many right or wrong decisions that I’ve faced, as there are all over life.  It’s not a good idea to let inexperienced young people walk themselves down Snowdon.  They may die or be seriously injured.  If someone is showing the signs and symptoms of hyperthermia, you need to treat it fast in a specified way.  There is no real arguing with this sign: Other options are less obvious.  Take this sign recently spotted near to where I live: Now, I wouldn’t consider sleeping in a bin.  However, faced with a sub-zero night, I could see the appeal.  The danger? Being tipped into one of those huge lorries with a compactor. (by the way, I only really considered all of this thanks to questions from my four year old boy).
1 comment
Read more