Today, we had the pleasure of listening to Dame Alison Peacock speak about ‘learning without limits’. Dame Alison is Headteacher at the Wroxham School in Potter’s Bar, Hertfordshire.

It wasn’t the first time I have heard her speak – and I hope it isn’t the last. As I sat and listened alongside other school leaders from across Knowsley, I reconnected with our drive in school to remove all barriers to learning. For 18 months now we have followed Wroxham’s lead. It has challenged the way we as teachers ,and our parents, think about labelling children and teaching to this label. At Prescot Primary we also believe that children should be given the opportunity to surprise us, that we should not limit them by placing a number above their head with an expectation to match.

We want our children to succeed; we want them to believe in themselves. It is our duty to provide an environment built on trust in which they can achieve. This is the right of learners in our care. It is our privilege to support them.

Thank you for inspiring us, Dame Alison!

Listen to Dame Alison Peacock.

This week, we welcomed fellow colleagues from around the North-West to our school. We have been busy as one of the schools chosen to trial the ‘My Book Blog’ resources from @ruthmiskin. Other schools are now interested in our journey so far!

Y5 have been our pioneers and they love the new materials. The idea is to combine real books with personalised digital resources that allow each child to build their own reading profile. ‘My Book Blog’ encourages children to share opinions about characters, settings and events whilst providing them with banks to powerful words to use in their blogging. We have invested in new group readers, including ‘Skellig’ and ‘Charlotte’s Web’ and having 1:1 iPads works really well with this new resource.

Look out, Y4 and Y6 – My Book Blog is coming your way!

I’ve just spent a great couple of days with Mr McNulty at this year’s Apple event to recognise the new Distinguished Schools.

Apple Distinguished Schools

We were lucky enough to visit one of the first ever Apple Distinguished Schools – The Stephen Perse Foundation in Cambridge.

Stephen Perse Foundation

We listened to staff, shared ideas and enjoyed the company of Y6 children who – like our own Prescot Primary children, demonstrate self-confidence and enthusiasm for learning with the iPad. It was good to reflect on our own Apple journey as we shared stories with other schools with the same desire to use technology to facilitate learning.

Day 2 was spent in Apple’s European Headquarters in London. During the day, we heard from an amazing 13 year old boy who is one of the youngest app developers in the world today. Such an inspiration.

Read about Tanmay!

We also heard about how Apple is impacting on the world of work, a world that our children will grow in to.

All in all, a fabulous opportunity to immerse ourselves in the world of Apple once again. We returned with our heads full of new plans. Watch this space!

Earlier this year, we decided to apply for a number of categories in the prestigious Educate Awards. These awards, now in their fifth year, are the biggest celebration of education in the North West, (including Cheshire, Lancashire and Merseyside).

Out of the three categories applied for, we are extremely proud to be able to say that Prescot Primary has been shortlisted for the ‘Outstanding Commitment to Sport in Primary’ award, alongside three other fantastic schools!

The winner will be revealed at the glittering ceremony at Liverpool’s Anglican cathedral on Friday 18th November. Read more about it at:

Educate 2016 Shortlist

Wish us luck!

 

Today we held our bi-annual Y6 Learning Review Meetings.

These meetings always have been a good chance to catch up with parents and carers to discuss the expectations for the year ahead. But for the second year, our Y6 pupils have played a leading role in the meetings.

Throughout the day, sixty children have presented their opinions on their learning: what piece of writing are they most proud of? Why? What maths task did they find a challenge? What helps them to improve? What do they think are their next steps?

Using their 1:1 iPad, each child displayed a prepared keynote to their parent/carer, teacher and to me. This takes self-confidence and maturity and I saw both in abundance today. Each child has a secure understanding of their learning – their successes and challenges, and they own their learning. Today’s meetings highlighted how important it is to put the child at the centre of the learning process.

I know that the children have worked hard to prepare their presentations and I know they will be valuable to look back on as the year progresses. I am very proud of our Y6 pupils.