Success Diary

@IRIS_Connect keep a Success Diary to focus on the positives. These are priceless to me. #ukedchat #nqtchat pic.twitter.com/G3e5ZL7UrT
— Kelly McDonagh (@MissKMcD) January 29, 2015

I saw this tweet and thought - brilliant! It was intended for NQTs, but I'm inspired. I'm definitely going to do this.

Baby George

Our baby George is now seven days old. He's gorgeous. His older sister loves him to pieces and his mummy and daddy love him very much.

But I can't tell you what a shock to the system it is having a baby in the house again! It's hard work. I'll be returning to work later this week - it's going to be a challenge but one I'm looking forward to!

Review of 2014 and Thinking Forward to 2015

It's that time of year again when we look back and look forwards.

Review of 2014:
I didn't feel like I achieved much in 2014. But when I started to think about what has gone on, actually I've probably achieved a lot. 

• Watching Lily become a real little lady. She loves going to Nursery for a couple of days a week and her development is a joy to watch. She'll be ready for school in September.
• Finding out that Lisa and I are having another baby. It was incredible news (especially after our sad news in 2012).
• A holiday in Somerset was great because it was a holiday, but rubbish because it was at Pontins. We had a brilliant time!
• We went on holiday with mum and dad to Beaumaris. Our whole family came up for the day too. We had a really amazing break.
• We went to see Jack Whitehall in March. He was quality!
• Unfortunately my goals for 2014 were not even close to being achieved. Life got in the way. Never mind - let's move on.
• I managed to get lots of things sorted in our garden. Lots more to do, but I've made a start.
• I moved my office in the house and decorated the nursery. It was hard work - I wish I was better at DIY.
• The death of my uncle right at the end of the year was really sad. I hope my dad will be ok in the first few weeks of the new year as he comes to terms with it.
• My brother got married in December. It was a beautiful wedding. The stag do in August was a brilliant weekend in Newcastle.
• It was fantastic to see one of my other brothers finally find a girlfriend who loves him for who he is. He deserves it.
• Organising fundraising events through the church PCC was a real pleasure.
• Lots of fun nights out with friends.
• Continuing to build a few websites this year. They seem to be growing in popularity.
• Completing my NPQH was a relief. It was very demanding and I felt that it kept me away from my 'real job'. But I'm very pleased that I have finished.
• Finishing second in an interview for my first headship in May was disappointing but fair. I have put looking for jobs on hold until after baby arrives and my wife feels ready for me to put my energy into it.
• Enjoying a great year teaching Year Five was wonderful. I had amazing colleagues.
• Appointing four fantastic NQTs and watching them develop has been a pleasure.
• Teaching a more able Year Six Maths group was a real pleasure and I was very happy with their success.
• Becoming a non-teaching Deputy Head in September has given me the time to focus on whole school developments which I love.

My Goals for 2015:

• Be a great dad to our new little boy, due Jan 15th 2015.
• Be a great dad to our little girl and make sure she doesn't feel left out. I can't wait for her to start school in September and begin another adventure.
• Find my first headteacher's position. I need to move on from my school - I love it, but I need a challenge. I feel ready to become a headteacher. I hope the right job finds me.
• Blog more and become more reflective. I've hardly blogged at all. I guess I haven't had the time, but I want to make time in 2015.
• Use Twitter more productively. I feel like I've lost touch with it. I want to take part in things like #sltchat.
• Look after my dad more.
• Complete a 365 photo project.
• Keep a diary each day.
• Manage my time more effectively - this will be on my list of goals every year.
• Keep the house tidier - this will be a challenge with a baby in the house!
• Continue to find ways to save money.
• Run 100 miles - I managed to achieve 0 miles in 2014.
• Swim 100 miles.
• Give more thoughtful presents.
• Go out with my friends at least once a month.
• Continue to help with the church PCC.
• Begin to write a book - I have a couple of ideas, but I need the time to do it.
• Sort out my garage and loft.
• Finish sorting my garden.
• Get my office straight again.
• Read lots - with my new Kindle.

Tunes of 2014

This has been a great year for dance music. Therefore, most of my favourites of the year are dance.

In no particular order my favourite tunes are:

1. Gorgon City featuring Jennifer Hudson - Go All Night
2. Kiesza - Hideaway
3. George Ezra - Budapest
4. Take That - These Days
5. Mark Ronson & Bruno Mars - Uptown Funk
6. Ed Sheeran - Thinking Out Loud
7. Idina Menzel - Let It Go
8. Rixton - Me And My Broken Heart
9. Sia - Chandelier
10. Faul & Wad Ad & Pnau - Changes
11. Sam Smith - Stay With Me
12. Nico & Vinz - Am I Wrong
13. ZHU - Faded
14. Meghan Trainor - All About That Bass
15. Jessie J, Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj - Bang Bang
16. Jimi Jules & Oliver $ - Pushing On
17. Sigma & Paloma Faith - Changing
18. The Script - Superheroes
19. Sam Smith - I'm Not The Only One
20. Angel Haze & Sia - Battle Cry
21. Robin Schulz & Lilly Wood - Prayer In C
22. Vance Joy - Riptide
23. Ed Sheeran - Sing
24. Ella Henderson - Ghost
25. Oliver Heldens & Becky Hill - Gecko (Overdrive)
26. Charli XCX - Boom Clap (Cahill Remix)
27. Clean Bandit - Rather Be
28. Sam Smith - Money On My Mind
29. Rita Ora - I Will Never Let You Down
30. SecondCity - I Wanna Feel
31. John Legend - All Of Me
32. Pharrell Williams - Happy
33. Mr. Probz - Waves (Robin Schulz Remix)
34. Route 94 & Jess Glynne - My Love
35. Coldplay - A Sky Full Of Stars
36. Pitbull & Ke$ha - Timber
37. Paloma Faith - Can'r Rely On You (MK Remix)
38. Tiesto - Red Light
39. Sigma - Nobody To Love
40. Zedd & Matthew Koma & Miriam Bryant - Find You

My Top Ten

Kiesza - Hideaway

What a way to debut! A brilliantly catchy tune.

Mark Ronson & Bruno Mars - Uptown Funk

The complete pop smash hit!

Ed Sheeran - Thinking Out Loud

A perfect love song.

Jessie J, Ariana Grande & Nicki Minaj - Bang Bang

Brilliant pop.

Sigma & Paloma Faith - Changing

Love this dance tune,

Ella Henderson - Ghost

A great song and some great remixes.

John Legend - All Of Me

Another perfect love song.

Pharrell Williams - Happy

Although it was released last year, Happy has continued to dominate this year.

Sigma - Nobody To Love

The best dance track of the year.

The Script - Superheroes

A great song,

A big year ahead

This school year marks a crucial school year for me. It is the year when so much will happen for me personally and the year that I want to shape my leadership style for the future.

The previous school year was an extremely busy time for me. This was mainly because I was working hard to complete my NPQH. It involved a lot of time out of school and a lot of time working on it at home. The relief when an email arrived in August to say that I'd passed was enormous. The course inspired me to apply for a couple of headteacher positions. I feel ready for the next step. There was one in particular that I really wanted. I was very pleased but also disappointed to finish second in the interview. Around about the time of my interview we found out that we were expecting another baby, due in January. This made me question my career plans for the next year and I am putting applying for other jobs on hold until after the baby arrives. All around the same time, several staffing changes at school have created an opportunity to become a non-teaching deputy head in my current school in the next year.

All of these circumstances make for an exciting year ahead:

• Although I am not based with a class I will still be teaching. I am teaching a couple of high ability maths class (challenging for Level 6s). This is one of my passions! Also I will be teaching Year Six for a couple of afternoons, teaching Computing and PE. These subjects are lessons I love and I can't wait to get into this. I believe that a senior leader must continue to do some teaching and I want to make sure I do this well.
• My headteacher has asked my to do a lot of observing and scrutinising planning and books this year. Although I don't necessarily agree that these should be massive priorities (another story) I am working to the head's vision for brilliant teaching throughout the school. I want my monitoring role to be supportive, nurturing and fair. I will make sure the NQTs have an inspiring start to their teaching careers.
• A massive reduced marking schedule means that I can concentrate on aspects of my leadership which I believe will make a real difference. It also means that I can find time to do a few things that I haven't had time to do over the last year - such as blogging!

Are you ready to become a headteacher?

I stumbled upon this tonight. With the subject of possibly becoming a headteacher very much at the front of my thoughts this week, this video highlights some important points for my to think about.

Are you ready to become a headteacher?

A review of 2013 and setting goals 2014 has in store...

I've read a lot of #nurture1314 posts. I have to admit that I find it hard to muster up the energy to think of 13 things to write about from 2013 and then come up with 14 things to hope for in 2014. I seem to remember a similar hashtag on Twitter last year. Surely by the time #nurture2021 is up and running the craze will be over!

However, reading about everyone else has inspired me to write my own thoughts. Here goes...

Review of 2013:

My Goals for 2014:

In general I want to be less harsh on myself when I fall behind with things. I want to live in the moment a bit more.

• Complete my NPQH placement.
• Complete my NPQH qualification.
• Begin to apply for headteacher jobs.
• Blog more.
• Use Twitter more productively.
• Manage my time more effectively.
• Keep the house tidier.
• Continue to find ways to save money.
• Run 100 miles.
• Give more thoughtful presents.
• Spend time with family and friends.
• Continue to help with the church PCC.
• Begin to write a book.
• Reach level 75 on Hay Day!
• Build a timeturner.

Favourite Twitter-ers of 2013

After reading this list of the 40 funniest tweets of the year I thought I'd list a few of my favourite Twitter accounts.

Funny
Fake Showbiz News

Faces In Things


Jeremy Vine - tweets funny local news stories
Jamie Jones - nutter

Local
Winsford News
Local news.
Salt Fair
Not just news of the local Salt Fair, but from a gentleman who genuinely cares about the town.
North West Motorway
Funny and informative with a serious message.

Education
Lee Parkinson
Inspirational ways to use iPads
Primary Ideas
Lots of good ideas for the classroom
Ian Addison
Seems like an interesting bloke
Mrs P Teach
A dedicated teacher who tweets interesting stuff.
The Primary Head
Interesting views and opinions
Michael Tidd
Great ideas and views on primary education

Music
Official Charts
Official news from the UK charts

Well Being
Andy Cope
Inspirational stuff

TV Programmes of 2013

For most of the year our Sky+ box has been below 10% as I've tried to watch a backlog of episodes of shows. Now that Cheers and Seinfeld have finished I want to try to clear up some more space. Here are some of the programmes I've enjoyed in 2013:

The Wrong Mans

One of the best shows of the year.

Cheers

Since October 2012 I've watched Cheers from the very beginning. It was great!

Seinfeld

Since early 2012 I've watched Seinfeld from the beginning. This was a programme I should have watched when I was younger. Fifteen years later I've caught up.

Homeland

Although slow to get going, Homeland continued to be one of the best programmes on TV.

Boardwalk Empire

Another great Boardwalk Series.

8 Out Of Ten Cats Does Countdown

Well funny!

Derek

This programme made me laugh and cry. Just beautiful.

The Great British Bake Off

I got drawn into this and I loved it!

Educating Yorkshire

An honest insight into high school education. Excellent and inspiring!

Fresh Meat

A great third series with more of a serious tone than in previous series.

The Blacklist

Recommended by a friend and I loved it!

The Big Bang Theory

This just keeps getting better. Always worth watching as you're guaranteed a smile!

My favourite tunes of 2013

There have been a lot of great tunes released in 2013. I've managed to whittle my massive shortlist down to just 24 (I couldn't get any fewer).

Daft Punk - Get Lucky

From the first listen it was clear that this song would become a classic. It is, quite simply, brilliant.

Duke Dumont featuring A*M*E* - Need U (100%)

Overshadowed to a degree on its release by a stupid chart campaign after the death of a former Prime Minister, this Nineties throwback tune is fantastic.

Avicii - Wake Me Up

I've been a fan of Avicii's for a year or two. But this song is absolutely brilliant. Everything about it is cool. There are lots of acoustic cover versions buzzing around too which are worth a listen. Here is my favourite by Gavin Mikhail.

Armin van Buuren featuring Trevor Guthrie This Is What It Feels Like

Simple incredible vocals over an amazing dance track. This is a pop-crossover at its best. It deserves to be a bigger hit. Again, there are some great acoustic versions around, including this one by Jasmine Thompson.

Chris Malinchak - So Good To Me

Chilled out dance. This is close to being a perfect tune. Then the Steve Smart & WestFunk Remix takes it all the way.

The 1975 - Chocolate

A great rock tune which deserved to be a bigger hit.

Naughty Boy featuring Sam Smith - La La La

This just gets better each time I hear it. Amazing vocals and an annoyingly catchy tune.

Charlie Brown - On My Way

A great pop tune. One of the more underrated ones of the year.

Zach Sobiech - Clouds

This song brings me close to tears. It was released at the end of 2012 and is all about the singer's battle with cancer. The words are just beautiful.

John Newman - Love Me Again

Boy this guy can sing. Love Me Again bowled me over on its release and it continues to do so each time I hear it. Simply brilliant.

Gabz - Lighters (The One)

Ultimately Lighters (The One) will be dismissed as a cheap cash in from Britain's Got Talent. But it deserves more respect. It's a great song and she performs it with cool style, despite the onesie.

Ellie Goulding - Burn (Alienator Remix)

A great bassy remix of an excellent tune. I wasn't sure about Ellie Goulding at first, but time and time again she releases some brilliant songs. This one is a classic.

Pink featuring Nate Ruess - Just Give Me Reason

Wow - this is a brilliant duet. Their voices compliment each other perfectly. It gets better with every listen.

Avicii - Hey Brother

Clearly one of the stand out tracks on the True album, Avicii has produced another smash.

OneRepublic - Counting Stars

I love this song. The words are endearing and the tune is incredibly catchy. A deserved smash hit.

Jake Bugg - Broken

An excellent tune from a growing talent.

Lorde - Royals

Who'd have thought this would be the smash hit that it was? Such a simple tune proved to be one of the best songs of the Autumn. Excellent.

John Newman - Cheating (Freemasons Mix)

Another great vocal from John Newman, but this is hear for the Freemasons. They are finally producing new material, and this is their best remix of the year.

Eminem featuring Rihanna - The Monster

They've done it again. Immediately catchy, but a tune with depth so that you discover more each time youy listen.

Justin Timberlake - Mirrors

A great tune from Timberlake. I was glad to finally get a radio edit - 8 minutes was way too long.

Rizzle Kicks - Skip To The Good Bit

Too cool for their own good. This song has 90s throwbacks and is a grower.

Luminites - It Hurts So Good

Frustratingly ignored by the masses, I loved this when I heard it on Britain's Got Talent. I never normally watch the programme but was drawn into the final by my wife.

Imagine Dragons - Radioactive

The best rock song of the year by far.

Rudimental featuring Ella Eyre - Waiting All Night

Are Rudimental the British dance act of the year? This is brilliant.

Disclosure featuring AlunaGeorge - White Noise

If Rudimental are the dance act of the year, then Disclosure are a close second. This is my favourite from their album.

My Learning Style

We all learn in different ways. I completed the Kolb learning style inventory. The inventory is designed to help you to understand how you learn best in educational settings and everyday life.

My results showed that I learn best through concrete experience and by active experimentation - in other words, by experiencing and by doing

Learning by experiencing means:

• Learning from specific experiences
• Relating to people
• Being sensitive to feelings and people

Learning by doing means:

• Showing the ability to get things done
• Taking risks
• Influencing people and events through action

I feel that these are all strengths of mine. I believe that I can learn best through experiences. I am able to relate to people and consider their feelings. I am a big believe in the phrase 'you don't know unless you try' and therefore I like to take measured risks. I am someone who likes to see action and think I can influence people this way.

My preferences in these types of learning confirm that I am an 'accommodating learner'. This means that I 'may want to put ideas that I have practiced into action, finding still more uses for whatever has been learned. I tend to accommodate, or adapt to, changing circumstances and information.'

People with an accommodating learning style 'have the ability to learn primarily from 'hands-on experience'. 

"If this is your style, you probably enjoy carrying out plans and involving yourself in new and challenging experiences. Your tendency may be to act on intuition rather than logical analysis. In solving problems, you may rely more heavily on people for information than on your own technical analysis. In formal learning situations you may prefer to work with others to get assignments done, to set goals, to do field work and to test out different approaches to completing a project."

The basic strengths of my learning style are:

• Getting things done
• Leading
• Taking risks
• Initiating
• Being adaptable
• Being practical

Emotional Intelligence

On one of our NPQH elective days I completed an Emotional Intelligence Assessment.
According to the results, the strongest aspect of my emotional intelligence is Relationship Management. This was followed by Social Awareness.

It is interesting that my scores for self-awareness and self-management both came out as my lowest score. It appears that I do not know myself very well.

But when I looked at Daniel Goleman's framework of Emotional Competences I can't help but agree with the results of my assessment. My self-confidence can sometimes be low. My self-control can be rubbish (e.g. poor eating and exercising habits sometimes.) Whilst I believe that I am trustworthy and conscientious, I am not always very quick to adapt.

In terms of my social competences I think that I am very service oriented and have an awareness of what good service involves. I believe that I have good leadership skills and am aware of the need for different parts of an organisation to work well together. I am frequently told that I can be influential within my establishment, and a good communicator. I am good at building teams and can be a catalyst for change, when needed.

So what have I learned? I need to be more reflective about myself. I need to be more confident in my own abilities.

IMAGE: http://www.kartikvyas.com/articles5.html

Work-Life Balance

I love this blog post about Work Life Balance by Ezzymoon. It has got me thinking about what my own personal work-life balance policy would be.

Mine is pretty similar, but for family reasons, there are some differences:

• Arrive at school by 8am and leave between 5 and 5.30pm.
• At the most, work 2 hours on Sundays and have the rest of the weekend to spend with family and friends.
• Work no more than 2.5 hours each night at home during the week. (I tend to do this late at night after having enjoyed some family and chill out time).
• Do not reply to work emails outside of working hours.
• Spend at least 20 minutes in the staffroom each day eating lunch and socialising.
• Have a conversation with at least 3 different adults per day during working hours.
• Go to sleep by 11.30pm each night during the week.

When I become a headteacher I will insist on my team setting themselves their own limits. How can we teach children to have lives if we don't have lives of our own?

IMAGE: http://wardteachingjournal.blogspot.co.uk/2013/03/work-life-balance-how-do-you-stay.html

The Great British Food Festival

Today we visited the Great British Food Festival at Walton Gardens. We had a really nice day, sampled some amazing food, bought some great souvenirs to bring home and we managed to avoid the rain!

The place was absolutely packed today!

Here are our favourite people of the day:

• We bought some lovely pies from http://orchardpigs.co.uk/
• There was some good music from http://havoc51.com/
• We bought some new Strawberry and Lime flavour Ginger Beer from http://www.crabbiesgingerbeer.co.uk/
• I had the best hot dog ever from http://liverpoolfoodblog.co.uk/2012/08/29/castro-grill/ (no website)
• We bought delicious sausages from http://pigandco.com/
• We bought some some Pickle Power (the best cheese ever) from http://www.snowdoniacheese.co.uk/
• We bought some lovely cupcakes from http://endoftherainbowcupcakes.co.uk/
• We bought some amazing pies and treats from http://shirleyspies.com/

Castro Grill
We Are Castro hot dogs.

Well worth a look!

A Review Of 2012

In all honesty, I'm glad to see the back of 2012. There have been some real highlights but there have been a couple of the most difficult moments of my life. 2013 begins for me with genuine optimism. I have this feeling that everything's going to be alright; that things will come good. And I can't wait to see what's going to happen!

Here are the things I am keen to forget:

Our miscarriage
We lost a baby this year. We remain heartbroken but we are trying to move on.

Dad
My dad spent three months in hospital in the first half of the year. He continues to recover well.

Operation
I spent five weeks off work recovering from a knee operation. I hated being off work.

Finances
Things have got no better financially. By the end of 2013 things should become easier.

Ofsted
Although our inspection was very successful, I'm glad it's all over.

But this year there have been some amazing moments:

Lily
Our daugher continues to make us feel happy every day. She constantly amazes us with all of the things she can do and say. She will be two in April.

Ofsted
Our successful inspection makes me very proud.

TV
I've watched some cracking TV this year - catching up with some old programmes like Cheers, The Wire and The Sopranos, and getting hooked on programmes like The Apprentice, Homeland and Alan Partridge.

Olympics and Jubilee
Compared to the dreadful riots in the summer before, these events made me proud to be British.

NPQH
My application for the NPQH was successful.

Holidays
We enjoyed short holidays in County Durham, Wales and Somerset. They were all wonderful. There's nothing like a holiday to recharge the batteries!

My Favourite Tunes Of 2012

There have been some great tunes in 2012. Without a doubt, my favourite is fun. featuring Janelle Monae - We Are Young. It became an instant anthem and it becomes more wonderful every time I hear it!

My list of 30 favourites, as always, reflects my completely eclectic taste in music.

In no particular order my favourite tunes are:

Olly Murs & Flo Rida - Troublemaker

It seems that each year he brings out a cracker.

Girls Aloud - Something New

Pure cheese.

Robbie Williams - Candy

A brilliantly catchy comeback tune.

Labrinth & Emeli Sande - Beneath Your Beautiful

Once I got over my issue with the spelling of your (it's because beautiful is being used as a noun, not an adjective) I quickly started to love the song.

Ne-Yo - Let Me Love You

A break from the usual tedium he releases, this is great.

Swedish House Mafia - Don't You Worry Child

Possibly their best release yet - Greyhound almost made the list though.

Taylor Swift - We Are Never Getting Back Together

Who'd have thought a Taylor Swift song would ever be so good. Amazingly catchy, this is pop at it's best. A guilty pleasure.

Of Monsters And Men - Little Talks

A really good indie tune.

Owl City & Carly Rae Jepson - Good Time

One of those songs that takes ages to escape from your head once it's there.

Paloma Faith - 30 Minute Love Affair

Talks like a baby, sings like an angel. This is great!

Gotye & Kimbra - Somebody That I Used To Know

I didn't get the hype around this for ages. After hearing it several thousand times this year I guess I had no choice but to like it!

Sam And The Womp - Boom Bom

The inner child in me loves this!

Public Enemy - Harder Than You Think

Although not released this year, this was used in the advert for the Paralympic Games. It is brilliant!

Karmin - Brokenhearted

This tune should have been bigger than it was as it is excellent!

Florence + The Machine - Spectrum (Say My Name) (Calvin Harris Remix)

What a remix! This is simply amazing! One of the five best tunes of the year.

Train - Drive By

Love it! Train release an amazing tune every few years. But this could be their best yet!

Rudimental & John Newman - Feel The Love

In my top five tunes of the year. This is a fantastic tune!

Nicki Minaj - Starships

In my top five tunes of the year. I love the fact that Minaj is mental. This tune sums up her randomness.

Matrix & Future bound & Luke Bingham - All I Know

Brilliant.

Jessie J - Domino

Almost as good as Price Tag.

Jason Mraz - I Won't Give Up

Another soppy tune from Jason Mraz. But I like it!

Jake Bugg - Lightning Bolt

This gets better each time I hear it.

Emeli Sande - Next To Me

Overplayed, but worthy of appearing in my list.

fun. & Janelle Monae - We Are Young

Awesome.

DJ Fresh & Rita Ora - Hot Right Now

In my top five tunes of the year. Oh. My. Word. This is fantasic!

David Guetta & Sia - Titanium

When I first bought this in August 2011, who'd have thought it would go on to sell nearly a million copies the following year. Brilliant!

David Guetta & Nicki Minaj - Turn Me On

I love Guetta's album. This is a great tune from two of my favourite artists of the year.

Carly Rae Jepson - Call Me Maybe

How catchy? I love the tune. I love the parodies. This is a classic.

Alex Claire - Too Close

How good?!

Gary Barlow & The Commonwealth Band - Sing

My class sang this in the summer, and it reminds me of the Jubilee Celebrations earlier in the year. For those reasons, it just edges its way into the list.

Best TV of 2012

There have been a few programmes that I've loved this year.

Alan Partridge

Fifteen years after it was first filmed, my friends and I still quote Alan Partridge. His return this year was most welcome and it was brilliant! The documentary Welcome To The Places Of My Life was priceless. Open Books was great and it linked well with Partridge's book which I loved. And Mid Morning Matters was hilarious. I love the fact that each time Alan Partridge returns, it reinvents itself slightly. I can't wait for more!

The Apprentice

The Apprentice and Young Apprentice were both fantastic as always. I never tire of the programme!

The Sopranos

Only six years too late, I finally completed watching The Sopranos. What a series! A soap opera about the mafia. I think Tony got shot.

Boardwalk Empire

The third series seemed a little slow to get going. Then half-way through it kicked in! It was brilliant!

Cheers

Cheers is being repeated on ITV4. It's thirty years old but it doesn't feel it. I used to love it when I was younger. It's even better now I'm older!

Modern Family

The best comedy on the TV. I love it.

Peep Show

Every time this programme comes back I worry that it won't be as good. I've not been disappointed yet!

Fresh Meat

Series Two of Fresh Meat was amazing! One of the funniest shows on TV.

Friday Night Dinner

Series Two was even better than the first. This really is hilarious!

Sherlock

I was a bit behind with Sherlock. I had to watch Series One before I could begin with Series Two. What a show! I'm really looking forward to Series Three.

Homeland

I heard a lot about Homeland on Twitter last year but I hadn't seen an episode until September this year. I watched all of Season One before starting on Season Two. This is the best show of its type since 24.

Be Your Own Boss

I loved this programme featuring Richard Reed. It involved him selecting small businesses to give seed capital to and then invest in. It captured the entreprenurial spirit of Dragon's Den with the characters of The Apprentice. It was a great watch. I'm not too sure that the name of the programme is right though.

Gates

Whenever there's a programme about schools, I wonder how bad they will make the teaching profession look. Gates was silly but enjoyable. It didn't really focus on the teachers - more on the parents.

Rhod Gilbert's Work Experience

I love Rhod Gilbert. The episode in which he goes to work in a primary school for a week is the most honest look into schools that I've seen since Educating Essex. For anyone who isn't a teacher, this is definitely worth a look if you can find it.

Ofsted: My Experience

Just a week and a half after running from a long period of absence Ofsted called to say they would be inspecting the school. Dammit. I didn't feel at all re-adjusted to being at work. It was going to be an interesting couple of days...

The team that came to inspect our school were incredibly thorough but they were fair and approachable. At 8.30 on the first day of the inspection they asked for the whole staff to gather together. They introduced themselves to us all. They wanted to remind us that they will be observing all teachers teach and that they would be giving feedback about the lessons. But they were very clear - their judgements were based on a snapshot of one lesson. We were certainly not to let their words define our careers. Their words made an instant impact on the body language of the staff as you could see people relax slightly. They were inspectors but they seemed human at least!

In the two inspections I've worked through before, I had not been at all worried about what inspectors had to say about my teaching. I don't mean to sound cocky. I knew I wasn't perfect, but I was sure I wasn't unsatisfactory. This team, however, after being out of the classroom for most of the term before it, I hadn't established routines and expectations properly yet. For this inspection I found myself becoming quite worried. Despite what the inspectors had said in the morning I was nervous that my teaching would be found to be not up to scratch. This would also undermine all of the judgements and observations I had made about my colleagues teaching. I was desperate to do well. The inspector arrived to watch a maths lesson. It seemed to go ok. I was aware that a few children hadn't found the task easy. I was sure that the majority of the pupils had made progress. It was such a relief when I was told my lesson was 'securely good'. Confidence restored!

The inspectors only observed Maths and English lessons, including a significant observation of phonics teaching. We sort of expected this, but we were disappointed that they were unable to observe teaching of other subjects, which we believe is s strength. Of course, they observed Foundation Stage as well. They mainly observed lessons on the first day, but on the second day they walked through maths and English lessons, just hanging around for a few minutes in each. Despite us leaving a selection of books in the classrooms for them to look at, they only looked at Maths and English books.

They gathered middle and senior leaders together for a lengthy discussion of various aspects of the school - leadership, teaching, English, Maths and more.

They listened to readers throughout the school. They had a meeting with a selection of children from the school.

The inspectors were rigorous but they were fair and approachable. This made the process easier. I'm delighted to say that they found the school to be Outstanding - amazing recognition for our pupils, staff, governors and the whole school community. You can read our report here.

NPQH

I'm delighted to say that I've been accepted on to the NPQH course. I'm looking forward to it and dreading it at the same time!
Here is my feedback from the Gateway Day:

FM Radio Presets

Now that Chris Moyles has left his Breakfast Show at BBC Radio 1, I've completely removed Radio 1 from my radio presets in my car. I like Scott Mills, and Greg James is listen-to-able. But as far as the rest of the station goes, I don't rate anyone or anything. 

A lot of criticism was made of the small number of records played by Moyles, but surely that was the whole point of the show - you didn't listen to it because of the music! I tend to only have two opportunities to listen to the radio - on my way to work, and on the way home. Whilst I will often play music from my iPhone, I tune in to the radio to listen to what the DJ has to say, not for the music.

Now I have relegated Radio 1 to a hard to find FM preset, I have started to rearrange my stations:
1 - Signal One 102.6 A local radio station with interesting DJs, and local news. (I can't listen in the mornings though, as the breakfast show presenter, Louise, is too annoying.)
2 - BBC Radio 2 88.1
3 - Capital Manchester 102
4 - BBC Radio 4 96.1
5 - BBC Radio Stoke 96.4
6 - Key 103
7 - Radio City 96.7
8 - Real Radio 105.4
9 - Rock FM 97.4
10 - Heart North West 103.4
11 - BBC Radio 1 98.9 (just to fill the 12 presets)
12 - Smooth FM 100.4 (just to fill the 12 presets)

I'm still not entirely happy with my choices though - can anyone make any recommendations?