Wednesday 1 June 2011

Monthly Review: May 2011

May was a strange month as I was off on paternity leave for much of the first two weeks. Those couple of weeks were spent enjoying time with our baby. We went out for days out and had lots of visitors. Lily has been great so far and is sleeping well at night time!

Other things that have kept me busy in May are:

New teacher interviews
We held interviews to appoint two new teachers in KS2. Our interview process was excellent: classroom observation, an interview with the school council, a tour of the school (given by the school council), an informal lunch with a few members of staff and, of course, the formal interview. I believe we have appointed the two right people through this very thorough process. I wrote about do's and don't's when writing job application letters here

Returning to work
I hate returning to work after a one day course. So returning after nearly two weeks was really hard. I felt so behind and so out of touch with everything. I teach for 60% of the week and this has been too much since I returned from my paternity leave. Simple things like tidying up have been tricky - I need to sort myself out!

School University
Each year we have a 'university' for our children in KS2. This involves the children choosing a course in something that we normally do not offer in school. Courses include bricklaying, gardening and being a librarian. I had a strict deadline to put together a prospectus for the children to choose their favourite courses by the last day of the half-term. So much of my time since returning to work was spent arranging courses (run by teachers, teaching assistants, governors, local businesses and local high schools). The children chose their courses on the last day of half-term - just in the nick of time!

Teachmeet
I attended #tmchesh2 in Macclesfield at the end of May. I managed to take our assistant headteacher with me so that she can see how they work. I would  like to introduce professional development in this format to our staff in the next academic year.

Investors in Pupils
I attended a course about applying for a quality mark to celebrate our work in listening and responding to pupil voice. This will be one of my big targets for next year.

Best man
I was best man at my friend's wedding at the end of the month. I managed to write my speech a few days before and I had lots of compliments from guests at the wedding.


Seeing the physio
After I badly injured my knee on 7th April I have been seeing a physio. He has been giving me exercises to strengthen my knee. My knee is still swollen and is nowhere near right, but it is much better. My doctor has referred me to an orthopedic consultant so hopefully my appointment will come soon.

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