Monday 17th February 2025

My focus today was on observing the level of English in four lessons, then teaching a double Maths lesson, which was very enjoyable, as I was checking out the level of English in two Science lessons, a lesson on Buddhism, and a Maths lesson. I then fed back to the teachers of those four lessons, before teaching my Maths lesson on number patterns, which was a lesson that I had already covered previously with another class in Grade 3 (Year 4 in the UK).

I also had a good chat today with Ravi, the Managing Director of the school, which took me back to my time as a Headteacher, as we discussed the impact on various initiatives, including the setting of students in Maths lessons, which I had actively encouraged when I was here with Valerie in October and November last year, and which has now been put into place to a large extent across the Junior Department, and is still being bedded in by the Maths teachers.

When running a school, there are so many variables that contribute to the academic performance of the students that it is almost impossible to assess the impact of each one e.g. the quality of teaching, the level of additional support in the class, the use of setting, the provision of high-quality resources, the benefit of homework etc. etc. All of these contribute towards standards of achievement, and it isn't easy to prove how much difference one variable makes over another.

After school I went into town to do some shopping, as I had found out that the gift that I had purchased on Saturday for someone was something they already had, so I needed to find a suitable alternative, which I did. I enjoyed browsing round the shops in the city centre streets, and I ended up seeing a lot more of them than I have previously, although I didn't actually buy very much, as there wasn't really very much that I needed today.

The photographs today start with a picture poster I saw on one of the stairwells, and include a few from my lesson observations and my Maths lesson, as well as a shot of students having a library session. The final photograph shows how quickly the construction of the new school building across from the swimming pool is coming along, with the blue roof now having been added.