The impact of poverty on our children.

A very interesting read from the National Education Union around children living in poverty and the level of education that they recieve. This hits the nail on the head and links to the discussions had in our last meeting.

https://www.atl.org.uk/advice-and-resources/publications/report-january-2018

Effective Leadership

Here is my brainstorm at the last leadership meeting around effective leadership. This seminar made me really start to think about how others portray me. I entered a difficult environment in September 2016 when I replaced a highly thought of, long serving member of the team. She was my mentor and English lead in my NQT year but a year later we were swapping roles. It was very strange and for some. Wrong! I was too young and lacked experience. In their eyes I couldn't possibly be apart of the Senior Leadership Team. This made my first year as the English Lead tough. Yet, I am still the English Lead and (i think and hope) a valued member of the team.

It was also interesting because I realised that it is the teachers and teaching assistants opinions which I care most about. This might be because I believe that I am valued at the top but it is those below that keep their cards close to their chest. Do they think I work hard? Do they appreciate what I do? Do they know that I appreciate what they do? Am I inpatient? ( I know i'm inpatient) but do I show this through my actions? I'm not too sure just yet. What I do know is that I have the children's education at the top of my agenda and I do all that I do for them. Maybe I care about this beause I want to ensure that we are working together, to produce an outstanding environment for our little learners. We all need the same ethos for it to work well. 

My viewpoint on the systems we use in school and their overall effectiveness. As a practitioner I always struggle with the homework debarkle. I think this is because in my setting it is the children who desperately need to do homework who don't. Usually my DA children. I find this frustrating as I am powerless to help. Yes I can send another nagging text out or grab parents at the school gates but is that helping? Am I being supportive? Or am I pushing away parents who I really need to stay close by? Can they read or write themselves? Or do they really just not care? I spend many a time pondering on these questions.... I guess that's being in leadership. Trying to find an answer, a solution.