Harlaw Academy

A few weeks back we held a set of assemblies linked with anti-weapons and knife crime.  These assemblies were part of a city wide initiative aimed at keeping children safe.  At the assemblies I made reference to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and to article 6 – the right to life.  As well as speaking of the dangers of knives/weapons I also referred to other risk taking behaviours which young people can engage in and which have in my working life lead to fatalities amongst young people.  These include:

• Road related – youngsters not taking care crossing roads or when cycling, youngsters getting into cars with dangerous or drunk drivers, newly qualified drivers not taking enough care
• Drugs related – youngsters who take substances or who are put under pressure to smoke, drink or try drugs
• Behaviour related – playing in derelict sites, unsafe actions (eg prodding things into electric sockets), daring someone to do something dangerous
• Emotion related – slagging people off, bullying, on-line humiliation or abuse

All of the above we have had to deal with over the last few weeks.  We all need to recognise that some risks are not worth taking and the consequences of some behaviours can be life changing or even fatal.

We need to urge our youngsters that sometimes it is right to let others know if someone is putting themselves and others at risk.  This is not “grassing” on a friend, it is helping to protect that friend or others from serious harm.

We need to educate ourselves around what is acceptable risk taking and what crosses the line.  When, for example, does “banter” or “mucking about” become “bullying”.

It is really difficult for a young person to make that judgement and it is also difficult for adults to know when, and how, to give our youngsters more freedom and trust.  We simply have to keep thinking about the risks and recognising the impact of the behaviour or choices we take has on other people.

We need to keep encouraging youngsters to take risks and to learn from their mistakes.  Alongside this we need to keep educating around when a risk is too great and empowering them to walk away from some situations or to report their concerns.

The UN Convention on the rights of the Child sets out a lot of ideas around children being allowed to play (article 31) or to hang around with their friends (article 15) and to do all of the things which make it fun to be young and carefree.  But it is also about protecting children from dangers and empowering children to take action when they are being put at risk.

A big focus for teachers and pupils at present is getting work complete for internal SQA deadlines.  It is difficult to underestimate the importance of this work as the coursework can represent a big part of the overall course award.  In addition, many pupils are trying to finish off unit assessments and re-assessments without which they will not gain an overall course award.

The various deadlines undoubtedly place big demands on pupils and their families.  But they also place massive demands on their teachers who are often trying to support in excess of 100 pupils through to SQA qualifications.

All year I have placed emphasis on the concept of pupils producing “best work, first time, on time, every time”.  Sadly, many pupils have put things off, have done too little and have settled for second best and just in time (or even a little overdue).

If they had truly produced their “best work, first time, on time every time” things could have easier in a number of ways:

• Unit assessments would have been passed meaning re-assessments would not be needed (significantly reducing the workload on pupils and teachers)
• Work could have been marked on the day it was handed in by the whole class and returned the next lesson (rather than everyone waiting for stragglers to hand it in)
• Learning could have been progressive and demanding (rather than having to go back over things people have only half learned)
• People could have secured a good prelim grade and be looking for top grades in their final exams (rather than having a marginal grade in the bank and pressure riding on the final exam)

For many pupils there is still a little time (around a week) to meet the internal deadlines.  This is followed by a bit more time (around 4-6 weeks) to prepare for the final exams.  The main message for our pupils remains “best work, first time, on time every time”.  Now is not the time for half measures because there is no time to do anything about it.  It is a time for maximum effort and full concentration.

Almost all departments have additional revision sessions on offer, individual teachers are wiling to help anyone who asks and there is a vast amount of support on line (through Google classrooms, Bite size and Scholar from the school and numerous other sources).

I am very confident that the pupils who have been producing  “best work, first time, on time every time” and taking advantage of the support of their teachers all session will get the SQA grades their efforts deserve.  I am also fairly sure that anyone who steps up the pace, even this late in the session, can still do pretty well.  Those who keep putting things off, taking short cuts and settling for second best will be disappointed.  There really is no substitute for hard work and practice really does make perfect.

This message is mostly directed to our senior pupils but it also applies to those in S1-S3 (and even those in our Primaries).  Good habits cannot start early enough so the message to all our pupils is to keep producing your “best work, first time, on time every time”

Choices (Course choice):  There is a lot of work going on at present to ensure pupils can make informed choices.  Our S2 pupils have the chance to choose a broad ‘pathway to follow in S3 giving them some specialisation but ensuring that they are not locked into life changing decisions from a very young age.  Our S3s, having had a year on their chosen pathway, are selecting 6 courses to study in S4.  Our S4 and S5 pupils have different decisions to make – by now they are reaching an age where school is only one of the routes available to them and we do all can to help those who decide to leave us to move into what is called a ‘positive and sustained destination’.  Many pupils at this stage decide to return to school but they need to see this as a positive decision which they will sustain through to some positive results.  I do not want pupils to return because they don’t know what else to do – they should return with a clear sense of purpose and with a commitment to do all they can to achieve their ambitions.  Which leads me on to our S6s – they know they have to leave and they often have offers for what they are doing post school.  This can be a real problem because some think they can switch off from school work.  Anyone with an offer should check the ‘small print’ of their offers – almost all indicate that a drop off in S6 could result in the offer being withdrawn.  Even if that is not the case personal pride and satisfaction should be motivation to see courses through to a successful outcome.

Choices and Changes (SQA):  At the information evenings we spoke of changes being proposed by SQA for next session.  We have looked at what is being proposed and it would be fair to say we are extremely concerned at what is proposed.  The changes relate only to National 5 courses next session and they will see the removal of course units but with an increase in the length of exams.  In several cases we are looking at exams running for two and a half hours at National 5!  Youngsters with additional support needs and are entitles to extra time in exams may be almost 3 hours in the exam.  The removal of units will also make it impossible for a youngster who narrowly missed National 5 to gain a National 4 and is in my view a backward step which will impact most on the more vulnerable pupils should be trying to support the most.  We await information on how the system will cope with pupils who are taking National 5 over two years.  I know teachers, parents and pupils are concerned about all of these issues and will continue to try and seek the reassurances we all require at this time of uncertainty.

Changes (Google drive/Google Classroom):  This week we had a meeting with the Head Teachers from the 4 Primary schools linked with Harlaw Academy.  It is always good to meet our Primary colleagues and we are making really good progress on a wide range of issues which will support pupils as they move from Primary to Secondary.  What made this meeting different was that we tried to run it as a paperless meeting sharing documents within Google Drive.  We were keen to try to work in this way because we want to work this way within our schools and ultimately work like this between the schools.  A couple of education officers were at the meeting and were very impressed not only at the work we were discussing but also at the way in which we were working.  We have a lot to learn about the technology but we have made a good start and are keen to see this develop new and exciting opportunities for our pupils.