mcherrill

[mcherrill]

Southern Rocks 2019

It was all set to go. Pastries, chairs, coffees, rooms, projectors, lights, cameras. But no ‘action’. The snow couldn’t be beaten. Basingstoke was under a white mountain of snow and organisers Kristian Still and David Rogers took the difficult decision to postpone the event to secure the safety of over 250 visitors and presenters. A tough choice given the sheer amount of planning that had taken…

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Brilliant Bogotà

Brilliant Bogotà - such a great few days training teachers with @dragonfly_edu

Dropping into any big city for a few days means it can be difficult to gauge what real life might be like if you were actually living there. Bogotà, Colombia comes with a plethora of health warnings for personal safety and most people think of drug cartels, violence and political chaos when you mention either Bogotà or Colombia. I read the FCO advice before I travel anywhere for work or holiday.…

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Teaching teachers. A piece of cake they said.

I spent a day with teachers from St. George’s English International School in Munich last week. A wide range of nationalities, skills, teaching backgrounds and experience and a whole host of previous training days under their belts. For the teachers, the new term promised a brand new school building, slightly out of the centre of Munich, but with so much to do and only so many hours in a day, the shiny windows, squeaky clean flooring and whistle-white walls would have to wait. It wasn’t ready. We were relocated to a local football club with a decent-sized function room.

Training teachers takes effort, patience, understanding and an unusual perspective. It took me a while to get over the fact that I wasn’t teaching and I wasn’t offering egg-sucking courses either. The fact that I had 22 years teaching experience didn’t really matter. What counted was my ideas, my take on teaching, knowing what works and finding the right way to connect with colleagues on many different levels. I consider myself to be emotionally intelligent. It is important to know what a bad training day looks and feels like. There have been a few. Listening to regurgitations of the ‘Haynes manual of teaching’ and wishing you were still on that beach. Painful. But a good training day can be inspirational, uplifting and fire you up for days, weeks and even years. I am fortunate enough to have attended lots of these. I have also worked with energizing colleagues and gained a great deal from them.

The teachers at St. George’s were definitely ready for a good day. Some were still figuring out where to live in their new town but all were ready to engage. After some warm up activities, we looked at three key pillars of good teaching and learning: Differentiation, Assessment for Learning and Feedback. Teachers tried some practical ways to differentiate for learners. We called it ‘personalization’. There are so many ways that learners can be challenged, stretched and engaged appropriately.

Here are some of our differentiation ideas:

Multi part tasks – split part one into three different tasks with different levels of complexity eg describe A) Romeo and Juliet main characters, B) family circumstances and C) the effect of family on their relationship. Then use all of these together to D) write a short summary of the main events of Romeo and Juliet and then E) write a 140 character tweet to summarize the story including spaces, hashtags, and emojis.

Providing roles – scribe, observer, listener, artist, designer, summarizer, timer etc. Kids love roles and respond differently to each job description. Rotate at will.

Scaffolding – provide support and structure in different guises. Simple skills developing into more complex skills. You can also use mind tools to help with creative thinking.

Framing questions – ‘from the viewpoint of ……., how did …….impact on …….’ creates opportunities for empathy and can also provide constraints within which a question can be answered.

Big questions – contextualizes the learning. This is important for all learners but especially EAL learners.

Real Issues – gets young people fired up about big issues and means they can see how learning becomes relevant to their world

Projects – learners can approach projects in so many different ways. Let them have an open-ended outcome and see what happens

Differentiation by learning needs – this could be dyslexia, EAL (English as an Additional Language), cognitive (processing), sight, hearing, behaviour, autism, Free School Meals, Gifted and Talented. Think about how you would need to differentiate for each of these.

By sequence – change the order of activities to suit the needs of different learners

By pace – change the timing of each activity to suit individuals but keep the pace up.

Use circus or stations – you can change the order, have certain stations for each group of learners or provide increasing complexity as you move around – this works well in science with different experiments for example.

By outcome – provide different levels of outcome (possibly colour them, grade them or give them different names such as ‘beginner’, ‘expert’, ‘ninja’)

By task – provide choices for learners eg hot, spicy, mild – better than easy, medium and difficult

By activity – watch something, listen to an audio file, talk to each other, write something, act out something – lots of ways to engage learners on different levels.

The ‘enable table’ – set up a table, space or wall display with extra, extension information.

There are many others (feel free to add yours in comments) but with a limited amount of time, we then considered how to assess pupils progress using a range of classroom techniques and strategies.

Asking questions (the right type of question) – these are the tools of your trade – get them right and you will find true wisdom and enlightenment!

Red, Orange, Green student response cards, to hold up, leave on the desk so that teachers can see who understands what.

Mini whiteboards – these have seen significant use in classrooms across the world. Great for checking on progress. Join them up in a line or make a ‘big picture’ with all of them on the floor or hold them up for a time lapse video.

Standing on a continuum – these are useful and get learners out of their seats – try ‘yes/no’, ‘agree/disagree’, ‘1-10’ or make up your own

Find your corner – label each corner A, B, C and D – pupils stand in each corner depending on the question

Hot responses – hot, spicy, mild – pupils choose an activity and difficulty, therefore, indicating their confidence

How many fingers – 1-10 confidence level or 1-5 depending on the question

Thumbs Up or Down – quick testing of confidence

Confidence Rating – use 1-4 rather than 1-5 as pupils will often plump for the middle one.

Sad face or smiley face – easy to use in books, whiteboards etc for self or peer assessment

Starting Point – by deciding on level of entry pupils indicate their confidence level and prior knowledge

No hands – means all pupils have to come up with a good answer and to help with this…

Random Name Generator – use http://www.classtools.net (with loads of other games and tools) or StickPick app (small cost).

Snowball fight – write/work on something – scrunch it up and all throw at the same time – good fun – open, add, edit, assess, scrunch and throw. Repeat. Use notes with annotations to formulate a final draft.

Snowballing – one person works on a task, pairs up, joins a third, a fourth and so on.

Pyramid – one pairs with another, two become four, become eight etc – good for class discussion

Feedback has most effect when it creates ‘cognitive conflict’ meaning that the student is puzzled they got it wrong, and starts to work out why, Hattie (2003)

We also had a play with Quizlet Live, Kahoot, Spiral, Socrative, Plickers and QR codes. Lots of digital ways to assess learning and find ways to move forwards. We also looked at how to support EAL learners in the classroom – often a significant factor in International Schools.

You can see some of the feedback on the course below. Teachers left with practical strategies that really work. Dragonfly Training pride themselves on making courses ‘hands-on’, based on current research and educational thinking and bespoke to a particular context for each school. Each course can be adapted to suit any number of teachers. They also work well for all-through schools. Get in touch if you would like more information. With huge thanks to those staff willing to share some feedback on camera. (You were great!)

This was a great team of teachers to work with. Full of enthusiasm and ready to take on new ideas and tweak some old ones. Have a look at their site here http://www.stgeorgesschool.de/munich

    I also deliver courses on Google Suite – Apps for Education (Digital Pedagogy), Raising Boys’ Achievement, Active Learning, Science and STEM in Junior and Elementary Schools and Wellbeing. Just get in touch with Dragonfly HQ for more information.

Differentiation and beyond - another practical, essential Dragonfly Training course #Munich Teaching teachers. A piece of cake they said. I spent a day with teachers from St. George's English International School in Munich last week.

[mcherrill]

Whilst not quite the eye-opening experience of last summer, my return to Bingham Academy in Addis Ababa, was none the less inspirational and uplifting. I was delighted to be asked back to work with an amazing group of teachers, many of whom were present last year. Retention of staff in International Schools is always an issue especially when they don’t get paid. That’s right. No pay. Teachers raise money through friends, family and their church groups in order to fund a year at Bingham Academy in Addis Ababa. The funds cover food, some of the travel costs and general living. Many teachers bring their families. Lock, stock and barrel. They often commit themselves to at least two years with many staying longer or returning at a later date.

This is where staff are: right in the middle.

There is an undeniable feeling of warmth and welcome in the campus. It’s not the weather – it was rainy season again and just about scraped into the twenties (seventies Fahrenheit) – but the people who work there. From the drivers, security staff, cleaners and cooks to the teaching assistants and teachers, everyone plays their part and very much contributes to the unique atmosphere at Bingham Academy. Their Faith is key. They come here to help spread the word of God. It’s not overt and ‘for the sake of it’ but it is interwoven in everything they do. They are fully committed to what they do. A husband of one of the teachers works in a recording studio, translating the bible stories into many of the 80 different local languages in order to improve literacy rates. Fascinating and inspiring.

Dragonfly Training delivers an extensive range of courses for teachers. This is my third year and they have sent me to all sorts of places to deliver training. It’s a real privilege to be part of a team committed to improving standards in education and supporting teachers with practical strategies to engage and inspire young people. Bingham Academy identified some key issues that were hindering their rate of progress. Children come from diverse backgrounds, cultures and educational systems. They often dip in and out and their starting points can vary widely. Add to this the fact that ‘results’ count and teachers are under pressure to make every lesson count. Dragonfly Training approached this with some teaching and learning fundamentals: Assessment for Learning strategies and good old fashioned differentiation. Teachers explored how to assess learning in a number of practical ways. Great responses and engagement from teachers meant each of the ideas generated even more suggestions for success within this unique context. A series of differentiation ideas and some Project Based Learning followed in the last two sessions with positive outcomes for all staff.

I will apply ‘digital’ strategies to learning wherever possible but the internet in Ethiopia often hangs quite literally by a thread. I offered some use of Spiral (www.spiral.ac) which with strong internet will be a potent tool for learning and assessment. We also had a play with Kahoot and Quizlet. The Ethiopian Government often disconnects the Internet (it’s a big red switch) at the first sign of political unrest or for days on end when there is exam season. Last year, exam papers were released online (unofficially) from which widespread cheating ensued. This year, WiFi went offline for 3 weeks in June which negated the (online) cheating somewhat. The school has to cope with regular outages and it just becomes part of life. I found it rather refreshing.

I had three evenings on campus; A chance to socialise and get to know a little more about what makes Bingham Academy such a great place to be. The first night was pizza night with board games. I haven’t really played board games for decades (apart from a family game of Scrabble which I ended up winning because I was the only player left!) and it was great not to be reliant on devices electrical or otherwise for entertainment. It was social networking in its truest form. New staff joined in and I became one of the family for the evening. I loved it. The second night was dinner in a family home with friends, stories, good food and the usual warmth of welcome. Thirdly, was dinner out with twenty teachers and a bit of local grub. Njeera is the must-have and requires a good palate, a taste for spices and plenty of antibacterial hand gel. A sense of adventure helps too.

I am looking forward to another return to Addis Ababa. The people are fascinating, charming and passionate about what they do. There is a great deal of commitment to improving things in every classroom from Kindergarten right through to Year 12. I have set them some ‘Project Based Learning’ ideas – sown a few seeds – and I hope that these have created enough of a spark in each teacher to take them through the year. I am keen to develop science teaching in the elementary and junior school and thinking of ideas that fit with their unique context. You can find out more about their work here http://binghamacademy.net/ 

With best wishes for the next year and thanks to all the staff at the school.

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    Return to Ethiopia - finding your 'ikigai' Whilst not quite the eye-opening experience of last summer, my return to Bingham Academy in Addis Ababa, was none the less inspirational and uplifting.

[mcherrill]

Spiral to success

Teaching and learning are all about engagement. If you can find the right way to ‘hook’ learners then the ‘reeling in’ is much easier. In my role as a teacher and trainer, I have used a wide variety of tools to switch people on; tone of voice, body language, volume, music, video, quizzes, pupil leaders, active tasks, readers, visual stimuli (‘fascinators’ my art teacher friend calls them) and…

[mcherrill]

Pupils gather to share STEM solutions to major world issues in UK’s first STEM Leaders’ Conference for young people.

Over one hundred 9-12 year-olds from 11 East Sussex schools across Eastbourne, Hailsham and Seaford took part in the UK’s first STEM Leaders’ Conference. They had been working on a range of projects to create imaginative and sustainable solutions to major issues facing many populations around the world including sanitation, clean air and renewable energy sources. The projects were inspired by the work of the charity Practical Action (www.practicalaction.org) who work globally to tackle major issues in developing countries. Their projects include the Squashed Tomato Challenge, Floating Garden Challenge and Beat the Flood. They provide high-quality free resources for schools through their website.

The event was organised by Pevensey and Westham CE Primary School to raise awareness of global issues and to raise the profile of practical STEM subjects. Richard Thomas, Headteacher, said, “We have made practical science a priority at our school. Primary School is not just about Maths and English. We want to equip our pupils with a range of skills and enthusiasm for learning. It is through engaging science that we have been able to raise standards across the whole school. Ofsted inspectors confirmed this last month. This Conference has allowed us to share this enthusiasm with other local schools.” The schools involved were Pevensey and Westham CE Primary, The Haven Voluntary Aided Primary School, Stafford Junior School, Langney Primary, St. John’s Meads Primary School, Grovelands County Primary, Oakwood Primary, Willingdon Primary, Seaford Head School (Secondary), Hailsham Community College (Secondary) and Gildredge House (Secondary).

Pupils from Years 5, 6 and 7 brought along their ideas in the form of working models, presentations, videos and posters. The emphasis of the Conference was very much about the ideas rather than the presentation but the level of expertise in presenting to a packed auditorium of peers and teachers was commendable. Pupils also developed a range of employability skills, a focus of STEM Learning UK, including teamwork, collaboration, brainstorming, leadership and persistence. Pupils were also delighted with Conference ‘goodie bags’ and a variety of prizes drawn through the afternoon.

Conference coordinator, Marcus Cherrill was delighted with the level of support from local businesses and educational companies alike. He said, “These kinds of events don’t really happen without support and people working together. We would like to thank Eastbourne College for hosting the event in The Birley Centre and to TEVA Pharmaceuticals Ltd for sponsoring the staff training event. David Lloyd Eastbourne, The Beach Deck, Deliciously Gorgeous and Games Workshop also provided vouchers for the event. Twig World, Music4Learning and Twinkl Resources also supplied prizes and vouchers for educational resources. We are very grateful to our supporters.” Attending the event, Sarah Jerkins from TEVA Pharmaceuticals Ltd, said, “We were impressed by the enthusiasm all of the teams showed. It was clear that they had put a lot of effort and research into putting their ideas together to make a working model and were able to present their findings to the audience. We look forward to welcoming the voucher winning team to visit our distribution centre in Eastbourne.” The Conference was also supported by the ASE (Association for Science Education), The Science Museum and STEM Sussex and their team of STEM Ambassadors. Marcus Cherrill added, “We believe that with the right support and good planning, this kind of Conference for young people with Science leadership roles in schools, can work without imposing great burdens on teachers or pupils. It really works.”

Two year 7 pupils from Hailsham Community College commented afterwards, “That was great fun! We were really nervous as we had to wait until the very end but we were pleased with our water filtration system. We think it will solve clean water issues in a number of countries around the world. We are already thinking of ideas for next year!”

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Group photo courtesy: India Pocock – Eastbourne College

All other photos: Sarah Carmody https://www.sarahcarmody.uk/

Need a good idea? Ask a child! Pupils gather to share STEM solutions to major world issues in UK’s first STEM Leaders’ Conference for young people.

[mcherrill]

As a lifelong fan of decent music and in my new role as a Fellow of the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce), I attended my first RSA event at the Sallis Benney Theatre in Brighton: The Future of Urban Sound Planning on Wednesday 22 February.

With an eclectic mix of seasoned speakers, University academics, and engineers of soundscapes, I was instantly engaged in the content of the evening. Sound really does matter and how we respond to the multitude of sounds around us is complex, innate and fascinating.

Julian Treasure, he of acclaimed TED talks on sound and founder of The Sound Agency, branding machine for international corporations, spoke at length with crystal clear audio accompaniment on how sound affects us. Sound in the workplace, open plan office spaces, distracting sounds, painful sounds and calming bird song with rhythmic pulses of ocean waves filled the auditorium and carefully contextualized the importance of the evening. Julian highlighted the importance of protecting our wellbeing through careful choices and through ‘sound’ design and not just volumes but rhythms and types of sound. He explained how we are designed to respond to our ears much faster than our vision. Hearing is 360 degrees he explained, yet our world is dominated by the visual signals we are subjected to on a constant basis. Sound affects our behaviour – the deepest bin in the world clip demonstrates this. Sound affects our mood – melancholy or magical tones can lift us or bury us. Music too has its own place in our world. We are born with a natural response to rhythm and we just know how certain combinations of notes can make us feel. I believe that music has a significant and profound effect on our emotions, that’s why I founded Music4Learning. That’s why I was interested in hearing more about soundscapes and how people are working to achieve better sound balances in our lives.

A team from Brighton and Hove City Council are working on a number of projects to create better urban spaces through a more creative use of architecture and sound. In one of their pilot projects, they took a busy seafront location, full of traffic, people and noise and used focused sound to create a calm zone. The results were spectacular. Another part of the research took them to use cameras and music in a dingy subterranean tunnel from the main road to beach and promenade. With the sugar plum fairy music from The Nutcracker Suite playing,  skulking changed to waltzing and introvert switched to extrovert in a matter of seconds.

Andy Knowles from Anderson Acoustics described brilliantly the passion that some architects have for creating better soundscapes, responsive to our needs and promoting our well-being. Sadly, planning blocks, intransigence and bloody-mindedness get in the way. It’s a frustrating business to be in by all accounts. Generating ideas is only half the battle.

One of the last presentations was on how the study of sound from an academic point of view can ‘open our eyes and ears’ to more thoughtful approaches to urban design and public health. In one part, Dr. Emmanuel Spinelli described how he had studied the designs and subsequent noise output of a wide range of hand dryers. Interesting – particularly when you consider the noise output from a child’s point of view. They are tested to within an inch of their life in sterile sound-proof booths but not necessarily in a fully tiled echo chamber that exists in most restrooms and can leave a sensitive 4-year-old requiring another visit to the bathroom.

I found the explanations of how sound design can be better incorporated into our world entirely fascinating. My role as founder of Music4Learning is to help teachers change the atmosphere in their classrooms through careful choices of music. Sound really matters.

The event was supported by The Noise Abatement Society, Anderson Acoustics, and The RSA. Our Twitter feed commented on the evening @music4learning #rsasoundscapes

Sound Matters - Urban Sound Design and its impact on our wellbeing As a lifelong fan of decent music and in my new role as a Fellow of the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce), I attended my first RSA event at the Sallis Benney Theatre in Brighton: The Future of Urban Sound Planning on Wednesday 22 February.

[mcherrill]

June 2016 – University of Sussex

Some key ideas from the talk given by Sir John Jones to a large group of trainee teachers at Sussex University this summer. It was remarkably inspiring.

“Magic weaving”

The three most important words to an educator should be ‘children, children, children’, nothing else too catchy or well-thought out just tell it like it is straight from the heart. Most educators would say they join the profession to ‘make a difference’ and Sir John Jones would generally agree that this matters. However, bigger factors influence the success of our endeavours as educators. Babies are born (fairly frequently apparently) into a ‘demographic’ (a family, a postcode and an income level) and life begins. For some, this is a happy journey but for others, it’s a daily struggle against the odds. It’s not fair. One in four children in the UK lives in poverty. One and a half million children live in a house where no adult has worked. Sir John described four battlegrounds that these children face over the next few years:

Cognitive – in a professional family a four-year-old will have been exposed to over 40 million words. Adults will hold conversations over the dinner table and read books together. In a deprived area, the likelihood is only 10 million words and lower levels of literacy. Society wrongly confuses this gap with ability. Not fair.

Emotional – in a professional family, children will get on average twelve encouragements to every one discouragement. A huge impact on self-esteem. At the other end of the spectrum in benefit street, one encouragement is met with two discouragements. Not fair.

Aspiration – society distinguishes the aspirations of children from wealthier backgrounds as ‘high’ and those from poorer backgrounds as ‘low’. Sir John suggests we use the words ‘broad’ and ‘narrow’ instead.

Expectation – most wealthier children would expect to attend university. Those from poorer backgrounds have never heard of a university. He reveled in the fact that at a Bolton Academy, where he is a governor, 15 students went on to University last year. The first members of their families ever to have attended University. Boy did they party.

He went on to quote Nelson Mandela:

“It is only through learning that the son of a miner can become the manager of the mine and it is only through learning that the daughter of a cleaner can become a doctor and it is only through learning that the child of a farm worker can become the president of a proud nation.”

The future of the planet lies in the palms of the hands of those adults that have dedicated their lives to young people – the magic weavers.

Sir John skillfully and passionately described the context in which teachers are required to perform. It was not a political statement. It clarified the importance of the role of the teacher as a route to social justice.

“The keeper of dreams”

Everyone should have one of those teachers. The ones that made school better or even bearable. I remember mine, Mrs Yorke. A maths teacher from the old school. She taught we learnt. We practised and we got really good at it. We would do anything for her. Sir John described a conversation with a teacher who was inspired by one of her teachers. A teacher who was there on a wet and windy November afternoon to see her one and only netball hattrick. The teacher who said I’ll look after your self-belief until you’re ready to take it back. She was the one person who a year after her mum’s death, whilst she was still at school, came up to her and whispered in her ear “Are you okay? I’m here if you need me.”

Working in a school is a supreme act of faith he went on to say. Never quite knowing what children have become. Sir John then described four gifts that teachers provide to young people:

opportunity – skills and expertise that teachers talk about in interviews should be brought into schools and used whether it’s embroidery, cooking, golf or playing the piano. Plant a seed.

passion – create passionate children by putting passionate adults in front of them. Passion gives you a desire to do more. A desire to do more gives you an appetite for discovery. Be enthralled by learning.

time – given unselfishly – teachers are good at this!

world class teaching – plant the seeds and allow children to fly.

“You’re hired!”

Sir John revealed key elements of his interview process. Before saying a word, he would look deep into the candidate’s eyes and look for passion. He knew when it was absent too. The look of a ‘velociraptor’ who doesn’t like children. Not good. The next thing he looks for is warmth. A warm heart of someone who cares.Not someone who brings fear and trepidation to a class. Next on the list, it was ‘fire in the belly’. Stand up for what you believe, push the boundaries and tell people what gets up your nose. Then, an unconditional positive regard. Liking all children is key even the ones who are tough. He described a school where some of the children were definitely unloved. An OfSTED inspector arrived for a visit but somehow ended up coming through one of the back doors only to be nearly knocked over by a group of teenagers leaving the school building. He asked one of the girls at the back, “What’s going on here?” She replied, “There’s a big inspection going on today so they’re sending all the dickheads home!” Out of the mouths of babes. The final attribute Sir John was looking for was a relentless pursuit of excellence. Doing small things brilliantly and relentlessly. There’s always a better way.

“We would like our teachers to …..”

A plea from children to their teachers. Sir John described some fundamental needs from a child’s perspective.

Have a great relationship with us. We’ve got to spend lots of time with you. It’s no good for our self-esteem if you don’t really like being with us. It has long-lasting effects on our cognitive and emotional status.

Ask me brilliant questions, abstract questions to which there is no right or wrong answer. About 80-90% of questions asked in a classroom are answered correctly first time.

Let me learn independently.

Don’t tell us how to do it.

Let me learn with my friends.

Tell me how I’m doing. John Hattie says this is important!

Have high expectations of me. Believe in me!

Give me challenging work.

Sir John ended with a reminder about telling good stories because all good teachers are good storytellers. Make it RING. Relevant, Interesting, Naughty and a Giggle. He described the American teacher who was asked out of the blue by one her more persistent students, “Mrs Johnson! How many times did you have sex with your husband last week?” He defied anyone not to see a ‘win-lose’ situation but being the true professional she ignored the question and carried on with the lesson, choosing to act not react. The boy asked again. He said, “Mrs Johnson, are you ignoring me?” She replied, “No! I’m still counting.” One-nil to the teacher. Humour is very powerful in the right context. The poor boy is still in therapy.

This was a heartwarming, stimulating and insightful talk. If you get a chance to see Sir John Jones talk then make a date. You will not be disappointed. Thanks to Jo Tregenza, Head of ITT at University of Sussex, for organizing and my invitation. @sirjohnfjones 

Sir John Jones: magic weaving June 2016 - University of Sussex Some key ideas from the talk given by Sir John Jones to a large group of trainee teachers at Sussex University this summer.

[mcherrill]

August 2016 Bingham Academy, Addis Ababa

A long flight from London Gatwick to Addis Ababa via Dubai brought me to Bingham Academy, a mission school in the heart of the bustling city. It was rainy season. Proper rain. Can’t see the roads kind of rain. For three months of the year, the quality of road surface gradually deteriorates and large holes are commonplace. The journey to the school was bumpy, slightly concerning but nevertheless eye-opening and entertaining.

The school is set within a busy market district of the city within a walled compound. A guarded gate provides entry. The buildings were a mixture of concrete and corrugated iron roofing with polished wooden floors and spaces in the walls for a select group of rodents, and newer buildings with offices and well-lit classrooms. The vultures flying overhead were interested in the local abattoir located just round the corner. The heavy humidity meant a variety of new smells were hanging in the air.

Brad Adams, Director of Bingham Academy showed me around. I had a little apartment within the main school building. Brad described how the teachers were sponsored by their local churches to teach children of missionaries working in the country. Most would raise tens of thousands of pounds to fulfil their calling to work in this fascinating country. Many teachers came with their families, with a long term commitment. Some were young Christians, wanting to start a lifelong career of service.   I got settled and then went to my first hosts for dinner. We chatted over spaghetti about faith and service, teaching and commitment and the Olympics.

Monday was the first of two training days for over fifty staff. We looked at differentiation and assessment for learning. Techniques for personalising learning and getting the best out of individuals. A great deal of engagement from participants helped along with some chocolate and some Haribo love. Dinner was hosted by an English couple, one a GP responsible for looking after the teachers, the other staff and the missionaries. Bizarrely, he was also my late cousin’s GP back in St.Albans in another life. Small world. Shepherd’s Pie, apple crumble and a bottle of local beer to wet the whistle was welcomed heartily. We talked about drones and how small the world was.

Tuesday was a day for Active Learning. We danced, sang and played. Lots of ideas for engaging learners. Maximum participation and excellent feedback on the day. We had a debate, we had trust games, team building skills, science experiments and lots of discussion about effective teaching. A good day.

My last evening was hosted by Shane and Naomi. An Australian couple. Both teachers, who had brought their four children with them for the long game. Strong in faith and full of hope and optimism yet painfully realistic about the challenges facing the people of the local area. Naomi had provided outreach to groups and families, supporting them to overcome poverty, prostitution, and lack of hope. A chance to refit a steel roof for a family of eight brought tears of joy to everyone and fortified links with the local community.

We sampled local food that evening washed down with local beer and the best coffee I have ever had. We were joined by three of Shane’s children who all delved into the ‘njeera’. They loved their days at school and were passionate about wanting to stay there and finish with good qualifications. We chatted that night about life, kids, fishing and the lemons that come our way occasionally. Lovely lovely people.

My route home was via an ancient monument on Entoto

and a flying visit to see Lucy (Australopithecus afarensis to her friends) which was a real treat. I was fascinated by the culture, the people, the history, and how they make their living. It is undoubtedly tough out there but people seem genuinely happy even when it’s raining. The flight home was filled with Ethiopian girls looking for work in the bright lights of Dubai. Housemaids, cleaners, domestics perhaps. Very few of them had been on a plane before. They struggled to familiarise themselves with airline toilets, food and drink choices and general etiquette on a plane but who could blame them.

On reflection, I would love to work with Bingham Academy again, if only to be in a place where character, commitment and faith are valued above all else. It was a collection of motivated teachers wanting to give their very best. I was inspired.

The building and surrounding walls have taken a battering in the last week as a result of torrential downpours. The school is funded by charity donations. If you have read this far and would like to help they can be found on Facebook (here) and a link to a fundraising page is here https://rceinternational.webconnex.com/43000

Training was provided by Dragonfly Training Ltd who bring hands-on practical courses to schools across the planet.

  Training in Ethiopia August 2016 Bingham Academy, Addis Ababa A long flight from London Gatwick to Addis Ababa via Dubai brought me to Bingham Academy, a mission school in the heart of the bustling city.

[mcherrill]

I was delighted to be invited to present at the Education Show this month in Birmingham in the Maths and Science Theatre. I based my presentation around the use of IntoScience in my classroom and how it enhances practical elements of science teaching. IntoScience is fairly new on the science noticeboard but I have been fortunate enough to run a few trials with my year 7 and 8 students over the last 6 months.

I have found IntoScience to be easy to use, intuitive and most certainly engaging on many different levels. I explained in my presentation that ‘blended learning approaches’ are important in the modern classroom because that’s where students are at. It is where they will be in two, five and ten years time. Allowing them to manipulate technology and use it to enhance their learning is crucial.

The ‘virtual world’ that IntoScience provides brings a natural safety net for students to make mistakes and take risks. How else could you run car crash tests at 100 km/h or create your own planets in a goldilocks zone? IntoScience provides a range of virtual investigations that just can’t be done in most classrooms. The other major advantage is that students can work with IntoScience at home on their own devices in their own time. This ‘flipped’ model means students return to the classroom and develop a deeper understanding having reviewed the content in their own time. Persisting with this model has brought great rewards to students in my classroom. They are used to working on projects at home and they come to lessons well prepared (training essential!).

These are a few screenshots from the Crash Test Dummies activity in the Familiar Forces Topic. I can’t replicate this in the classroom (safely!). What I can do is introduce familiar forces in a practical way using film canister ‘rockets’ and balloons with some ideas about balanced and unbalanced forces, then students use IntoScience to explore. They can collect data, interpret results, analyse them using graphs, make predictions and suggest further investigations. They can do this either in the classroom on a set of tablets or they can do it at home. The best bit is that I can see their answers, suggest improvements and track their progress through a reporting tool. I can also compare with other classes to see where they are up to.

These activities are principally aimed at KS3 but the coverage of these activities against KS2 National Curriculum outcomes is excellent. They also support revision and consolidation at KS4. Each set of activities contains a ‘mid’ and ‘end challenge which tests their understanding as they go. Again, I can track their progress and identify areas of strength and weakness.

There is also a range of ‘locations’ within the application that take students (in the form of their personalised avatar) around an Asian woodland, exploring biodiversity, an Observatory, exploring the solar system and a Monorail, where they fix things to get the station up and running again. The wow factor is in the final ‘location’ which is a true-to-life replica of the Jenolan Caves (a must-see, field trip staple in the Blue Mountains of New South Wales). In the caves, students can explore and collect ‘inquiry points’ as they investigate humidity, temperature and oxygen levels inside the caves. The opportunities for students to explore new environments are numerous.

My presentation also referred to ‘The 3rd Degree’. This is an absolute winner with the students. They can play each other in real time as they try to score points with their science knowledge. There are four levels of difficulty: easy, medium, hard and extreme. Answering questions correctly unlocks higher point questions. Students have 90 seconds to do their best and beat any opponent that might be in the same game. They could end up playing a live game with students from another school too!

In summary, IntoScience is an essential part of my Year 8 planning. This year group require careful planning – they are just at that age – and I have two groups with a majority of activity thirsty boys. These activities and the level of competition and engagement they offer are crucial to successful outcomes.

Blended Learning Approaches in Science I was delighted to be invited to present at the Education Show this month in Birmingham in the Maths and Science Theatre.

[mcherrill]

Raising boys achievement

Raising boys achievement - some thoughts

There are many barriers to learning for young lads. I have been digging a little deeper only to satisfy my own curiosity and remind myself that a classroom teacher has often got the odds stacked against them if they want achievement for all. Gary Wilson is a heavily-cited educationalist, known for his work on boys achievement. He reckons there are at least 30 different barriers to success for…

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Science in Primary Schools

Science in Primary Schools

“The look on their faces as 30 rockets launched simultaneously into the sky was priceless! This is what science is all about.” – Year 4 teacher Mike

My new role this term has given me the opportunity to support science teaching in local Primary schools. Having taught secondary school science for twenty years, it is a privilege to be invited into a classroom as an ‘expert’. The real expert is the…

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Music4Learning #6

“You wake up tomorrow and there’s no music. It’s all gone. Not even a note. “

How crazy and unimaginable would that be. Our brains respond so powerfully to music that there has to be a strong connection. The Sync Project is trying to gather individuals to verify the effects of music with tangible, hardcore research and evidence. There are many experts out there willing to throw their hand in to…

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Top five tips for teaching primary science

Some great ideas to support Primary science

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TeachMeet Brighton 2015

TeachMeet Brighton 2015 A quick review of the best bits and a look at my first presentation at a TeachMeet.....

TeachMeet Brighton 2015 #TMBTON, admirably hosted by Brighton University on a sunny evening, brought together a great bunch of teachers looking to share ideas. David Rogers (@daviderogers), Peps McCrea (@pepsmcrea) and Leah Sharp (@leah_moo) facilitated and shared ideas too.

Darren Arbon (@Dr_Arbon) presented simple ways to use technology in the classroom. No gimmicks just good learning…

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“Take high quality science content and put it into a 4D adventure world and you’ve got students hooked.”

Our school have recently signed up for a trial of IntoScience. It takes students on a fantastic journey through a range of challenging and varied realms and scientific concepts. Once logged in the students create their own avatar with brilliant graphics controls and a plethora of options:…

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Music4Learning #5

Music4Learning #5 'Chill Out'

“Teaching is a passion. Don’t do it if it’s not.”

Wellbeing is underrated. So many people pay little attention to their own or others. Hardworking teachers and students crashing and burning their way through an academic week means there is little left for anyone else come the weekend. Teachers are victims of their own regime. The timetable creates a Pavlovian phenomenon of knowing exactly what…