Harlaw Academy

 

The picture above shows Tyler, Skye and Astrid our 3 senior prefects.  This session, following discussion with a range of people, we felt it was time to move away from a gender based system of Head Boy/Head Girl to one based on merit.  Skye is head prefect and Tyler and Astrid are depute head prefects.  They work closely with the 5 House Captains to form an 8 person ‘pupil senate’ who we have asked to lead and develop pupil participation in the school.

Each House captain work with a group of form class captains in what we are calling ‘house of representatives’ meetings.  Each form class captain will involve their classmates and try to ensure that all pupils feel part of their school – a pupil forum.

It is a whole new system and is driven by a strong belief that if pupils feel involved and empowered they will show a greater commitment to their school and their work.   It should also mean that pupils have a way to influence school improvements and there are systems to communicate more effectively with all pupils.

Increasing participation and improving communication are also ways in which we can ensure we help realise two areas set out in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child:

• Article 12 Every child has the right to have a say in all matters affecting them, and to have their views taken seriously
• Article 15 Every child has the right to meet with other children and to join groups and organisations, as long as this does not stop other people from enjoying their rights.

For more information on UNCRC click on the summary below.

     Child_friendly_CRC_summary_final

 

Later this month we are being assessed at level 1 of the UNICEF accredited Rights Respecting Schools Award (Ferryhill Primary gained this award last session).  I am keen that parents, pupils and others take time to think about the rights of all children and what we can do to ensure our children recognise and realise their rights.

Last week I commented on good news around the building works and SQA results, I also mentioned bad news around staffing issues.  This week, under blue skies and sunshine, we welcomed teaching staff and pupils back to school.  It was a really encouraging start with our pupils showing attachment to their school by wearing their uniforms.  Our seniors pupils have been brilliant buddies to the new S1s and overall people have got straight into their work and done well.  I held a set of assemblies looking at the past present and future of the school and this is summarised here Newsletter August 2016

I cannot emphasise enough the importance of the work we are taking forward with the City Council and the City Centre masterplan.  This has the potential to offer our pupils meaningful curriculum links and real job prospects for the next 40 years.  It could provide them with a place to live and work long after they have left school.  I attended 3 meetings around this on the first week and already it has delivered opportunities – on Monday 20 pupils will attend a session looking at success and marginal gains led by Judy Murray.  We are currently planning an event for September which will be a marketplace setting out aspects of the city centre masterplan and promoting jobs and opportunities with the City Council and in the City Centre.  Parents asked if we could run a careers evening – this event promises to offer much more than a standard careers event.  But we will only get these opportunities if our pupils look smart, learn smart and behave smart in and out of school.  Get it right and we will walk into jobs, get it wrong and employers will be at the back of a very long queue.

I was delighted with almost all of our pupils but in particular;

• our new S1s who settled quickly and enthusiastically into things
• our senior buddies/prefects who helped S1s and who planned/ran their own prefect training session

This year we broke a mould by moving away from the gender based prefect roles of ‘head boy/head girl’.  In discussion with pupils we now have a merit based ‘senior prefect team’.  Congratulations to Skye (senior prefect), Kyle and Astrid (depute senior prefects) who ran the prefect training and who will lead the development of pupil participation through to pupil senate and forum.

As we approached summer there was good and bad news.  The good news was that work started on repairing roofs and windows.  The bad news is that a number of our staff secured jobs elsewhere.

Over summer work on the windows and roofs proceeded well and by the end of the week it looks like we will be back to school which is more watertight and better looking than it was.  I want to pay particular thanks to the janitorial and cleaning teams who have ensured the school is looking bright, clean and shiny for our return.

Work on recruiting staff to replace those who got new jobs in the last week of term could not commence until just before schools returned and when we get back we will find ourselves in a very difficult position in some subjects.  We presently have no faculty head in Modern Languages and Mr O’Neill will be covering his DHT post and that of Faculty Head of English.  We will have no computing teacher and as a result I have written to families who selected the subject to asked them to choose from other options.  We will also be short staffed in Biology and in English and Business Education.  We will have 6 live adverts and hope to be in a better position soon but it is not the start we wanted and a great many staff will be picking up extras to help us get underway.  Guidance staff too will be very busy working through numerous unexpected course changes.

Many schools find themselves in a similar position and you will have seen the issue highlighted in local press.  I serve on the General Teaching Council Scotland and in that role am seeking to highlight the issues we face in NE Scotland.  There have also been high level meetings between NE councils and Scottish government to find innovative ways to address the issue.  Twelve people from the Energy sector will soon year embark on a training programme to become teachers.  In the first year it will involve time at university and a day a week in school.  Harlaw have agreed to support the scheme and will host one of the new intake.

We have also had a first glimpse of the SQA results.  It takes time to study these in detail but my overall impression is a positive one.  The overall ability of youngsters varies quite a bit year on year and my general feeling was that our results may be a little lower this year than in the recent past.  I felt that if we managed to stay roughly the same we would be doing well – the initial data seems to suggest we may have done a little better than that.  If this proves to be the case I would be very happy.

My blog from last week was not the first to mention the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and I am sure it will not be the last to do so.  Indeed in the blog this week I want to focus on 3 activities I have been working on this week – each which links back to ‘recognising and realising’ the rights of children and in particular article 29 which is about how we develop talents to the full.  The 3 activities are:

• SQA exams
• Activities days/work experience week
• Planning for the awards ceremony

SQA Exams – these are a major undertaking and whilst the main focus has to be on the young people and the efforts they put in to complete coursework and prepare for their exams there are many others who are working hard behind the scenes.  Parents for example can make a massive difference in ensuring ideas are reinforced and at times ensuring their child has time to relax and rest properly so they are at their best physically and mentally.  Teachers too have been offering an open door through the exam period and we have been encouraged by the numbers of pupils taking up these opportunities for additional help.  There has also been a team of school administration staff and SQA employed invigilators who oversee all the arrangements for the exam period.  They have done brilliantly in ensuring all of the arrangements/special arrangements have been in place so that children could sit their exams in a calm environment.  I hope the efforts of all are rewarded with pleasing results in August.

Activities days/work experience week – these are major undertakings again involving numerous people and complex logistics.  We have 180 pupils in S3 and all will be going out on a work experience placement.  We appreciate the support of so many local employees who offer time to support our pupils and we are grateful to all families who have ensured the paperwork is in place so that these placements could be confirmed.  The same is true for the S1/S2 activities days.  We have pulled back from a full week of activities as we felt it was not as well support over recent years.  Early indications are that pupils have signed up for the two day activities in big numbers and we hope the days will be a success.  We also have a large group of pupils over in south of France on an activity week and I know they will be learning new skills and making new friendships.

Awards event – Our Head Boy and Head girl plan our annual prize giving event and they met with me on Friday to go over their final plans.  We will be sending out invitations next week and I am really looking forward to their event.  the event is mostly for the senior school but we will be looking to recognise the achievements of a wider group of pupils in a second event which is being planned and through the assemblies soon after we change timetable.

As the SQA exams, activities days and work experience conclude we return to the new school timetable and also begin to plan for the arrival of our current P7s.  These are two other significant and very demanding pieces of work which require careful planning over a long period of time.

In closing this particular blog I want to pay tribute to, and thank, all the people who work so hard in the background to ensure that pupils are able to benefit from the activities and opportunities described above.

 

Recognising and realising the rights of children is central to us all.  The Children Scotland Act places the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) into our national legislation.  The UNCRC is a set of international articles which help protect children and ensure they have dignity and opportunity in their lives.  Some of the key ideas behind UNCRC are:

•  Adults are ‘duty bearers’ – all adults have a duty to help all children to realise their rights
• Children are ‘rights holders’ – all children have their rights all of the time
• Rights are universal – they all apply to all children all of the time
• Rights are unconditional – they cannot be given or taken away, they are not earned or denied
• Rights are inherent – children have them from when they are born until when they are 18
• Rights are indivisible – you don’t get some, then get more as you get older
• Rights are inalienable – they cannot be separated from the child

In our community and in our world there are many children who are not able to enjoy all of their rights all of the time and we have been asking children at Harlaw Academy to think about this and come up with actions to help.  Examples of actions include:

Rwanda – where we have helped in the construction of classrooms (linked to article 28 the right to an education)

Syrian refugees – where our pupils collected clothes for displaced children (linked to article 27 a decent standard of living)

Rock Challenge – where our performance was around children in conflict areas (linked to article 38 conflict)

School playground improvements – where our pupils are seeking to improve facilities on our own campus (linked to article 31 play and relaxation)

We are all aware of countless examples at home and around the world where children are not able to enjoy all of their rights all of the time.  By helping all children and adults to recognise and realise UNCRC we hope all children, at home and around the world, can be better protected and better able to enjoy a life which has both dignity and opportunity.

For further information on UNCRC please visit:

UNICEF – for example at http://www.unicef.org/crc/files/Rights_overview.pdf

Children and Young People Commissioner Scotland at http://www.cypcs.org.uk/rights/uncrcarticles

At the end of last week our seniors left to prepare for their exams.  We had a holiday on the Monday and on Tuesday staff had an in-service day.

In the morning we had a range of activities for staff to work on these included;

• Commenting on our improvement plans for this session
• Identifying priorities for next session and thinking about our school calendar for next year
• Looking at google classroom – a way for us to put lessons on-line for pupils and parents
• Discussing ways to recognise and realise the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child
• Working on our annual professional reviews
• In the afternoon staff had time to work in their subject areas.

It was good to see so many Seniors pop in through the week to take advantage of the additional study sessions we run at this time of year.  It was also great to see them arrive for their English exams on the Thursday and Geography on Friday.  Running the exams is a major undertaking and as well as our school staff there are a team of SQA invigilators required to help not only with the main exam halls but also numerous other spaces we need for pupils who have special arrangements to allow them to cope with exams.

During the week Mrs Rennie and I also visited the 4 Primary schools to speak to the P7s about transferring to Harlaw Academy.   I spoke to them about the anxious seniors who were heading into the exam room and the anxieties some of them may have about the transition.  Anxiety is not a bad thing and I know all schools do a great deal to help pupils develop resilience and confidence.  I was really impressed by the P7s they were full of enthusiasm and are a credit to their schools and families.  We have had them through to Harlaw a couple of times and plan to see them through again a few times more before summer.  In addition we are working more and more with Primary staff so are developing more common approaches which will help with transition.  If you are a P7 parent reading this and have any questions about transfer please do not hesitate to contact the school and ask for Mrs Rennie who is the expert in this area.

Anxiety was also a it of a theme in another important job I was involved in this week – interviews.  We had a number of jobs advertised and I spent most of Wednesday and Thursday afternoon interviewing staff keen to work with us at Harlaw.  The areas we were looking for staff were in hard to fill subjects – Physics, Biology, Technology and Business Education.  I was very pleased with the standard of applicant and, along with my colleagues on the interview panel, did our best to put them at their ease.  At this point in time all 4 of our preferred candidates have indicated they would want to work with us and we now have to complete some checks before confirming their appointment.  It is very difficult filling posts and if I am to attract the best applicants it is really important that Harlaw is seen as being progressive, supportive and ambitious.  I am particularly keen to get pupils to appreciate the role they have in helping me to recruit the best teachers.  If pupils have a reputation of being keen, enthusiastic and well behaved it makes a massive difference.

The enthusiastic seniors who I saw turning up for exams and revision sessions, the enthusiastic P7s I met this week and the many other fantastic youngsters I work with every day are a source of inspiration for all associated with Harlaw Academy.