The whole is greater than the sum of the parts

Following the 2001 McCrone review of teachers' pay and conditions one very important outcome was the hiring of additional staff to support classroom teachers. This group of staff take on a range of tasks including: photocopying, banking, filing, typing etc. At a time of unprecedented curricular change in schools, these staff are crucial in freeing up teachers so they can focus their energies on tasks directly related to children's learning.

As I continue to settle into my new post at Jghs, one of the many challenges I face is to learn about what goes on behind the scenes. One example of this is the work undertaken by our classroom assistants. This morning I had the opportunity to meet with our team of classroom assistants in order to learn about what they contribute to the school and to get their views on what might change as, for example, we prepare for the building of our new school. What struck me again today, as has been the case with others i've met across the school, is how highly everyone thinks of the school. Pupils and staff are really proud of our school and work hard to ensure that high standards are maintained. I am really keen to build on this excellent teamwork as there will be many challenges for us in the weeks and months ahead.

The Times They Are a-Changin'

Earlier today I met with headteacher colleagues to share thoughts on how we are going to build ICT into our learning and teaching in the next few years and what type of hardware we should be providing for pupils and staff. With a background in Physics, as I do, I have always been interested in gadgets and utilising technology to enhance learning. The rate at which technology is advancing and the fact that we have finite budgets poses particular challenges for school leaders as we prepare our pupils for an increasingly technological world.

In all of Edinburgh's schools it is planned to have wifi in place by the end of 2013. This is a really exciting development. Such a facility offers enormous potential for us as teachers to embrace and utilise technology in different and more creative ways. By way of example, almost all of our pupils have devices (phones and other hand held digital devices) that are capable of connecting to the internet. Should we continue to ban these from being used in classrooms or do we change tack and encourage teachers and pupils to integrate them more fully into classroom learning? How do we ensure that pupils who cannot afford the latest gadgets are not disadvantaged? How we do ensure that learning is enhanced rather than diminished by a more technological approach? What support and professional development do we offer staff and parents to prepare them for this type of learning?

If you have thoughts on the answers to these questions then I would like to hear from you!

Does spelling matter?

Earlier this week, I was embarrassed to discover that one of my titles (Practice makes perfect) contained a spelling error. I'm sure you can work out which word was incorrectly spelled! Thank you to 'anonymous' for pointing this out.

Does it matter if parents receive a letter from their child's teacher which contains several misspelled words? Should we be concerned if an application form for a teaching job is littered with spelling errors or the title deeds to our property is incorrectly punctuated? Similarly, when a child's annual report is sent to parents, should the school take steps to ensure that the spelling, grammar and punctuation is accurate? During my teaching career I have come across a minority who argued that such attention to detail doesn't matter, but thankfully, the vast majority I have encountered over the years agree that spelling does matter and that we, as teachers, should lead by example.

As Headteacher in my last school, one of the expectations I had of my staff was that at least one colleague should proof read any letters prior to being posted. Gillespie's is a much larger school and, as one would expect, much more correspondence is generated. In the coming weeks, I will be interested to see what the quality of our correspondence is like.

By drawing attention to this issue, I know I will now have to take extra care when writing my blog!

Year of the dragon - 2012

At our early morning Pts' meeting we discussed the arrangements for next week's prelims, management restructuring and the 'Speakers for Schools' initiative. This Friday meeting with pts is an excellent Jghs tradition and is one I am keen to continue with. Friday is my turn to be on call and, as the morning was very quiet, I took the opportunity to visit a few classrooms and catch up on correspondence.

At morning break I learned about another long standing Jghs tradition - the cake club! By joining, as I have done, I agreed to bake a cake to share with the other 40+ members when my 'opportunity' comes around. When earlier this evening I shared with my wife what I had committed to she expressed considerable concern at the possible health risks that may lie in store for my unsuspecting colleagues.

I value weekends as I get a bit of space to reflect on the week's progress and they provide me with the opportunity to spend quality time with Alice and the girls. We try to ensure that the girls' homework commitments are completed on week nights to free up time to relax. The girls are now 8 and 11 and I'm aware that before too long they'll want to spend more time with their peers rather than with mum and dad.

During this weekend we will celebrate the Chinese new year by taking part in a number of events with friends. On Saturday we will join the Chinese community at Liberton High School for a few hours in the afternoon and on Sunday we will go out for lunch with a number of other families that have also adopted kids from China. I would like to take this opportunity of wishing all of you, and especially our Chinese families a very happy and prosperous new year.

S6 Ceilidh

Well done to the S6 pupils who arranged a ceilidh this evening to raise funds for Amnesty International. I'm really proud of everyone who came out tonight to support such a worthy cause. The very impressive sum of £430 was raised for a very worthy cause.

The tawse - thirty years on

My day started with a secondary headteachers' meeting at Firrhill High School. A range of issues were discussed including: timing of in service days, management restructuring, campus police officers, budgets and pupil exclusions. This latter topic often attracts media attention, particularly when annual statistics are published, and, on the thirtieth anniversary of corporal punishment ending in our schools, is an issue I wish to reflect on.

As one measure of indiscipline in schools, the number of exclusions from schools has decreased in recent years but, as is often erroneously reported in the press, this reduction is not because of targets set for schools and headteachers. The improvement is down to improved practices in schools and much stronger and effective joined up working between schools, parents and external agencies. During the past 16 years, as a senior manager in four different schools and as headteacher in two, I have never been asked to not exclude pupils or had a target set for me. I have excluded pupils in the past and will continue to do so when that response is merited. I am very clear that decisive intervention is necessary when, for example, a pupil persists in disrupting the learning of others.

When I started teaching in 1982, the same year that the 'belt' or 'tawse' was discontinued following a European court ruling, many teachers who had been over reliant on using the belt, took time to adapt and develop new strategies. In 2012, 30 years later, I believe that schools, with a new generation of teachers, are in a much healthier and better place. Teachers no longer rely exclusively on fear as a means of controlling pupils. Nowadays, the onus is on developing relationships with pupils based on shared values, trust and mutual respect, in much the same way as parents would wish to raise their children. Continuing to base the relationships we have with the children in our care on these qualities will, in my view, go some way to ensuring that standards of discipline in schools continue to improve in the years ahead.

Practice makes perfect

One of the discussions I'm currently having with colleagues across the school concerns pupils in s4 who are underperforming. Having sat prelims in December we are now in a position to analyse results and decide which pupils would benefit from additional help. For some pupils the prelim results provide a timely wake up call whilst for others the results confirm that they are on track to achieve in line with expectations. As parents and teachers we all want the best for our children but what is the best way to do that in the lead up to the final exams?

I would suggest that there are a number of important steps in increasing chances of success. They include: planning a revision programme; learning from the prelim experience; attending extra classes offered by teachers and maintaining a balance between 'work' and 'play'.

On Wednesday 8 February there will be an opportunity for parents of s4 pupils to meet with teachers to discuss their child's progress and to discuss next steps. I hope to see all of our S4 parents on that evening.

South Africa 2012

As many who have had involvement with Gillespies over the years will know, the annual S6 trip to South Africa is a major event in the school calendar. This year, in two weeks time, 120 pupils and staff will travel to South Africa during the February Holiday.

Quoting from our school website: 'James Gillespie’s South Africa Project aims to provide a substantial link with Zwelibanzi High School in Umlazi township, Durban. Zwelibanzi is an urban school in KwaZulu-Natal with around 1300 pupils. JGHS students have been involved in fundraising for a number of projects in Zwelibanzi in recent years and there is now an annual visit by Gillespie’s students and staff to our partner school in Durban so students can see at first hand the projects they support. Some teachers and students from Zwelibanzi have also been able to travel to Edinburgh to visit us.'

Mr Alex Wallace (Former Headteacher), along with former pupils and parents, will be there to meet and greet those who are travelling, as they have been in South Africa for the past few weeks, progressing projects that were started in previous years.

Our students have been visiting local primary school in the past few weeks sharing details of the project with younger pupils. Primary pupils have also donated stocked pencil cases which will be presented as gifts to pupils at Zwelibanzi High School. As the new headteacher of Gillespie's I am keen to build on this wonderful link so that future cohorts of pupils in both our schools can benefit from this life changing experience. Many thanks to Alex Wallace for providing the drive and vision to develop this wonderful initiative.

Friday again

This past week has been exceptionally busy and enjoyable.

This morning, after a short meeting with our Principal Teachers, I enjoyed a very fruitful meeting with Sheena Purdom and Audrey Gilmour from our Parent Council. In the coming weeks I will be working closely with the Parent Council to ensure that parents have the opportunity to be involved in curricular planning and are fully briefed on progress with the new buildings.

At morning break I was pleased that there was less litter in evidence around the campus than last week. I'm hoping that the pleas made at assemblies are making an impact.

Highlights of this week included gaining Council approval for building our new school and meeting with Headteachers from our Primary schools. Obtaining planning approval was very important as I feel we need to get started so that as many of our current pupils can enjoy what will undoubtedly be an amazing school campus. I was invited to attend the hearing at the City Chambers on Wednesday and be part of the presenting team from the council. I really enjoyed being part of such a well organised and well prepared team. Overall, It was really interesting to see how rigorous the process was and how seriously everyone took the discussion that ensued. I was hugely impressed with how knowledgeable and prepared the elected officials were and how passionate they were in their views. There was some opposition to the layout of the new school but I noted with interest that all those who spoke in opposition were supportive of the school and proud to be associated with it. This, I felt was significant, as in the coming years I will want to work closely with all sectors of our local community.

Meeting with the Primary Heads gave me a chance to hear their views on what they believe we do well as a grouping of schools and what we need to improve.

Looking back at the week I feel that I need to spend more time visiting classrooms and less time in meetings. Achieving this and keeping on top of all the correspondence and meetings I am invited to is going to be a huge challenge in the coming weeks.

The joy of 'x'

Whilst driving home this evening I was reflecting on the day's business and found myself thinking about what had sparked my interest in maths when I was a youngster. From a tender age my favourite subject was Maths. I loved solving problems and learning about using maths to solve increasingly complex problems. This love of Maths started at home when my parents would reward me for memorising and reciting my times tables and then continued in primary school when I was fortunate enough to have an excellent teacher. Mr Campbell, who was also the headteacher, was a hard task master but his passion for maths enthused me and helped prepare me for secondary school and beyond.

Earlier today, whilst interviewing excellent candidates for 2 Maths vacancies, I tried to imagine which of the candidates would set the heather on fire for our pupils at Jghs. In addition to having a passion for maths and an ability to communicate with young people I also look for someone who genuinely likes children and is prepared to get involved in the wider life of the school. As we had interviewed so many candidates that fitted the bill, Mr Pennel, Head of Maths, and I, agreed to reconvene on Friday to make the final decision.

After the morning's interview schedule, I had the pleasure this afternoon of meeting with the headteachers of our local primary schools. I had heard so many positive things about Mrs Grierson, Mrs Noble, Mrs Brown etc and their respective schools that I felt I already knew them. Our meeting gave us the opportunity to share a few thoughts on how we will work together in the future in order to ensure that there is continuity and consistency between our schools as pupils move from P7 to s1. In the coming weeks, I look forward with enthusiasm to working closely with our primary colleagues and meeting with the primary school Parent Councils and all the boys and girls from P1 to P7.

Planning application approved

I am delighted to be able to share that our plans for the new school got the go ahead from Edinburgh Council today. This means that we can now start planning in earnest towards what we need to do to allow the builders to get started. I would like to thank everyone who supported us to get to this stage.

Assuming the actual building starts in January 2013, we would expect to have all the rebuilding completed for June 2015.

Curriculum for excellence

From discussions I've had with parents in recent months I know that some are unclear about what Curriculum for Excellence is and, in particular, what this means for our child(ren). I would like to use my blog to share some of the discussions I've had with colleagues and parents to shed some light on what Cfe means in the context of James Gillespie's High School.

I attended various meetings today, but three in particular, have helped clarify my understanding of where we are at as a school in regard to implementation of Curriculum for Excellence (Cfe) and what we need to do to ensure that we continue to provide the best possible service for pupils.

My first meeting was with Billy Higgins, our school Quality Improvement officer, and Sandra Evans, DHT in charge of Support for Pupils. I was very pleased and reassured to learn that we have good systems in place for supporting pupils towards a variety of positive destinations beyond school. Of course we can do better and we will do this by making incremental changes in a number of areas. For example, we will seek to ensure that all pupils are given training in interviews. It is not only the pupils who leave to go directly into employment that will be part of this but also the large number who go on to university. In order to achieve this, one suggestion I am keen to take up is that we invite parents to support us by offering mock interviews and feedback sessions to pupils. A formal invite to parents to get involved in such a scheme will follow in due course, after we have had a chance to consider the best way of delivering such a scheme.

A meeting this afternoon with my senior leadership team gave us the opportunity to tease out some of the timetabling issues that we will need to consider very soon. Among these we will need to decide on the structure of what we offer in S3 and S4 to the current S2 who are our first Cfe group. We recognise that we must be both ambitious for our pupils but pragmatic and realistic too as the rebuild/decant project may impact on our service in the next few years.

Following on from this meeting we met with the Principal Teachers. This was a very positive and solution focused meeting. There was much discussion around the number and the nature of subjects we should offer in S3 and S4 and how assessment will be built into these courses. There was recognition that we need to offer more vocational courses to some youngsters but a strong consensus too that we must not change too rapidly and run the risk of losing established excellent practices.

In general terms, Cfe is about ensuring that every pupil gets the best possible education. Cfe requires us as educators to ensure that learning experiences are tailored to the needs of individual pupils and must reflect each pupil's context.

Of course, the notion that we offer the best possible learning experiences for every pupil is neither new nor revolutionary; schools have striven to achieve that for decades. So what is different about Cfe?

Cfe asks us as educators to achieve a number of things. Key among these is that we plan learning for pupils in order to ensure that learning experiences complement each other and are connected across subject departments. By doing this I foresee that time can be 'released' to allow pupils to gain other skills in other ways. For example, work experience and other 'out of school' learning opportunities can offer enrichment to more established traditional classroom approaches.

My experiences over the past week have confirmed for me that JGHS is a great school with the capacity and the potential to become even better.

Through further consultation with pupils, parents and staff over the coming weeks we will be better placed to firm up our curriculum plans for next session and beyond.

Today's first meeting was with colleagues from a range of professions all working towards building our new school. The new school, which will be built on the existing campus, should be completed for the summer of 2015. Clearly a lot of work has to be done between now and then to ensure that we have the best possible school. Throughout the building programme I would want to reassure parents and pupils that we will give high priority to ensuring that disruption to learning and teaching is kept to a minimum. The experience I gained of a similar school rebuild project whilst I was depute headteacher at Knox Academy from the late 90s, will be of enormous benefit. Key points covered at today's meeting included: the layout of the main entrance, positioning of various offices, location of computers in the Art department and whether we should provide a locker for every pupil. (Current practice and a straw poll suggests that only around half of our pupils wish to use a locker). It was agreed that Bethany and Alex (Pupil Council Leaders) would be contacted to arrange for feedback from the pupil council on this issue.

Fingers crossed on Wednesday of this week, when the council planning committee has convened a hearing to listen to representations from various parties,that the decision is taken to give our school rebuilding project a green light.

I had the first opportunity this afternoon of introducing myself to S3 at an assembly in our main hall. I was pleased at how they applauded when i was introduced and, even more impressively, they also applauded after I had finished speaking! The main areas I covered were: 1) Who I am; 2)The reputation of the school, 3) My first impressions, 4) My expectations and 5) The future. I finished off my presentation by stating that, as with Mr Wallace and Mr Simpson, we must continue to set high expectations for each other so that every pupil is able to be the best he/she can be.

Prior to going home, I had a quick look through emails and was pleased to see that the thoughts I had shared with a sample of staff by email over the weekend as to my initial impressions of where we are at as a school, and what we should plan to do over the next five years, had, with a few exceptions, struck a chord. Tomorrow afternoon I will have the opportunity to further consult in this area when I meet with my senior team followed by the principal teachers.

End of first week

Reaching the end of the first week gives me an opportunity to gather my thoughts and reflect on the week's experiences. It's been a very busy week, as I expected, with a small number of surprises.

I've done my best to get around the school and to have a presence so that I can get to know pupils and staff. A very wise former headteacher, Sir Richard Staite, with whom I worked at Beeslack HS in the mid 80s always used to say that schools are about three things: Learning, Teaching and Relationships. When I met him a couple of years ago he revised this by saying that the three could be reduced to two; namely, Learning and Relationships. I think he was absolutely right. If, as a a school, we manage to get our relationships right everything else falls into place.

Another inspirational Headteacher I once worked with was Hamish Purves, former Headteacher of Portobello High School. Hamish was wonderful with both pupils and staff but his special talent was in managing staff so he always got the best out of them. He also had a passionate interest in ensuring that less able and disadvantaged children were suitably supported and provided for.

The day kicked off with a meeting with my senior team and Principal Teachers. This a is a long standing Friday tradition and one that I'm keen to continue with.

Later in the morning, following visits to several classrooms, I met with Sheena Purdom, the Chair of our Parent Council. This gave me the chance to share how the first week had gone and to discuss a few plans. In addition to having teenage children, Sheena is herself a practising teacher so has the advantage of having both the perspective of a parent and a teacher. Whilst at Liberton HS in my previous post, I developed a very close and effective working relationship with Karen Traill who was our Parent Council Chair. I learned a lot from working with Karen and am grateful to her for that and keen to use that experience as I develop into in my new post.

A highlight of the morning was, whilst I was on call, meeting with some of our S3/4 characters at break time. I love the banter with the pupils and the opportunity to get to know them in the less formal setting of the playground.

I will go in to school over the weekend for a few hours to clear my correspondence and get my filing organised for week 2 which is already shaping up to be very busy. Spending time with my family and relaxing over this weekend will help me unwind, especially as our older daughter is 11 on Sunday and we are having a number of fun events planned to mark this next milestone in her life.

The day began with an opportunity to respond to emails that have been arriving in large number my inbox. Pleasingly, I read a number of emails from colleagues who are keen to support my proposal to tighten up on our expectations of pupils. Next week I will share a few of my initial perceptions with parents with the intention of gauging how best we can support pupils i perceive as having gone off the boil. I feel that this is pressing as S4 sat their prelims last month and are now entering a crucial few months in the lead up to the main exam in May and June.

I have deliberately spent a lot of time in the last few days meeting with colleagues to discuss various topical issues. Of particular interest at the moment is our progress on management restructuring. Colleagues are anxious about the next few weeks as important decisions will be made on who our new curriculum leaders will be. I will do my level best to ensure that we get the very best possible structure for Jghs within the current guidelines.

After break we hosted a meeting for neighbourhood headteachers. The main item on our agenda was management restructuring as it is essential that we manage this programme as efficiently and professionally as possible. (I was especially pleased to welcome David Russell to our meeting. David is currently the acting HT at Liberton High School). Also at our meeting were David Wright and Jack Hamilton, from HQ. Both have worked extraordinarily hard and skilfully in gaining agreement with the unions, thus enabling schools to progress in this key area.

Disappointingly, I didn't manage to visit classes today but I will remedy that tomorrow when I'm on call for the morning.

Day 3 - late coming and school bags

This morning I decided to meet and greet pupils who arrived late for school. Pleasingly, there wasn't a large number in this category but, as in every school, there are always a number who, for a variety of reasons, arrive late for classes. I made it clear to those I met that late coming is unacceptable. I make no apologies for being somewhat 'old- fashioned' in this as I believe that parents and schools have a duty to ensure that our young people develop the skills and work ethic that will be essential in the increasingly competitive world of employment beyond school.

Whilst speaking to the latecomers I was taken aback to discover a handful not carrying a schoolbag. Those who have worked with me over the years will know that I will insist on all pupils carrying a school bag with the appropriate books and equipment to and from school. My experience of tackling this particular this issue suggests that staff, parents and pupils prefer a consistent approach from schools on this.

For the remainder of the morning I met with colleagues to plan towards the imminent rebuild of our school. I am pleased to say that we are making steady progress. Our main priority will be to ensure that learning and teaching is not adversely affected during the period of the rebuild.

In the afternoon I took a Higher Gaelic class as a colleague was absent. The youngsters I met were super; a real credit to their parents. I really enjoyed talking about Iain Crichton Smiths writing and assisting in decoding some of the rich metaphors he uses. Of particular interest was the discussion on how 'swearie words' can vary and lose their impact when translated.

My last meeting of the day was with Bethany and Alex who lead the pupil council. Our meeting gave us the opportunity to share plans and to test the water on possible future projects.

A quick bite to eat and it was straight in to chauffeur mode so that our younger daughter could pursue her footballing interests. Tomorrow will be another day ...

Meet the pupils

Today was my first day with the pupils, so I took the opportunity to spend the first two hours visiting classes in English, Maths and Modern Languages. I was really impressed with the kids and the staff I came across. Pupils were all working well and focused on what they were doing. I was pleased to see that the pupils were polite and respectful of others around them. I was particularly impressed with one S2 girl, who, on being asked how she was getting on in Maths replied - 'I find it quite hard but I try my best'! I suggested to her that that is what I am looking for.

Throughout the day I took the opportunity to 'model'(see photo!) the new JGHS tie, which was designed by Mikaela Carmichael in S1. The tie was produced to celebrate the life of Mr Caddell who was renowned for his eccentric taste in neck wear. Commendably, and in keeping with a long standing tradition of supporting charities at JGHS, all proceeds from the sale of the ties go to support the 'Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland' organisation.

In the school hall we are hosting the 'Sci-fun' roadshow for a couple of days to highlight how important and relevant Science is as subject of interest and a possible career. (Many thanks to the Science staff, especially Ms Lyall for organising this opportunity for pupils).

During the rest of the morning, in the company of Mrs Westerman, I took a guided whistlestop tour of the rest of the school in order to improve my bearings. I was particularly impressed at the number of departments who welcomed pupils at lunchtime to pursue a variety of interesting projects.

In the first part of the afternoon I met with my SLT colleagues. In the coming weeks, I anticipate that management restructuring, Curriculum for Excellence and our new school building will continue to occupy much of our time as we plan for the future. The last meeting of the day was with the Guidance and Learning Supports staff, who, in the coming weeks, I will work closely with as we strive to further develop our provision for pupils.

First day

Having now completed my first day as Headteacher at JGHS I am very pleased to say that the day went well. The staff were incredibly warm and welcoming - just what I needed as I was nervous. I had the opportunity first thing this morning to meet with all staff and to set out my stall for the weeks and months ahead. Starting in January means that it has to be 'steady as she goes' in order to ensure that well established work routines are maintained and nurtured. I feel that I now need to spend a few months taking stock of what is happening so I can make well informed judgments as to what we would include in next session's School Improvement Plan. Over the coming weeks i intend to visit as many classrooms as possible to see what is happening on the 'the ground'.

Having already been a headteacher for the past 6+ years really helps as it more easily allows me to prioritise my time and taking what I believe are the right steps in building new teams around me. JGHS is a wonderful school and I look forward with a deal of enthusiasm to leading the school through major exciting changes in the next few years. Tomorrow, I get the chance to meet our pupils. I can't wait!