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Happy New Year. As we have been back for a few days now, and there was a decent run after the New Year celebrations itself before we returned to school or college, it seems like the New Year and Christmas celebrations were a lifetime ago. That said, many of you may well be reminded on […]
Read More...No mention of Plan B or Christmas parties. I think many of us are just worn out by what COVID keeps on bringing/doing. And by the shenanigans and behaviours at Westminster: be that this year or last. As I write there is something to cheer me up. After two tired and quite terrible days, England […]
Read More...As we rattle towards the Christmas break we are all determined to keep our foot hard to the floor, right up to that very last day of term, for and with our children and young people. We know that is the way it needs to be and has to be. We have too much ground […]
Read More...I hope that you’ve had a productive week. I know it can be a grind at this time of year but we just need to see off the next couple of weeks and we are there. I’m not sure whether this Friday has been a boon day for you or not. If your inbox is […]
Read More...I recognise that this is a particularly difficult half term. I’ve discussed, in previous weeks, the dark nights, cold days and that long haul into the Christmas break. I just want to say thank you for maintaining your patience, persistence and good humour. It keeps us all going and it keeps the children and young […]
Read More...As I have discussed in recent weeks, the autumnal winds, the changing weather and the dark nights make this half term particularly difficult. What you don’t need is a phone call from OFSTED on a Monday morning in November. As many of you will know, OFSTED did call Monday and did visit Oakwood High School […]
Read More...I do very much hope that you had a lovely break, over half term – if you had a break, that is, I know that some will have worked, fulfilling their duties. If you did get that break it did need to be restful. The long half term behind and ahead, as the winter nights […]
Read More...You’ve done it! You’ve made it to the end of this extremely long and challenging half term. Mostly you / we have done that without incident or injury. For that I thank you and I congratulate you. As I reflect upon the last half term and how we’ve all had to work (be that staff, […]
Read More...This will be a short message this week. Sometimes less is more. Many of you will know that, just this last weekend, our friends and colleagues at Sitwell Junior School tragically lost a highly valued, highly regarded and much-loved friend and teacher. After a short, but incredibly brave battle with illness, Miss Emma Longstaff passed away […]
Read More...It would be wrong not to spend time this week focusing on mental health and well-being: through the #HelloYellow, Rotherham’s ‘Be the One’ campaign and that the World Health Organisation recognises World Mental Health Day on 10 October every year – this year’s theme, set by the World Federation for Mental Health, is ‘Mental Health […]
Read More...It’s time to celebrate. It’s our annual, global opportunity to celebrate and recognise the contributions that teachers make in our schools and colleges. It isn’t fanciful to suggest that teachers are the glue which holds firm communities, societies and even countries. It’s been no accident that some of history’s greatest tyrants have gone after teachers […]
Read More...We’ve had another great week in school and college. This long half term needs us to all (pupils, students and staff) work at pace and with a consistency. I’m confident that we all understand that and we will all endeavour to meet those standards, over the coming weeks. As we move into autumn it’s important […]
Read More...As discussed last week we certainly now have routine and rhythm in our working world. The summer break seems like such a long time ago. With the working days passing quickly, with the daylight getting shorter, with the weather being less predictable, it certainly feels autumnal at the moment. Here in Rotherham we may not […]
Read More...Well done you! It will have been the first full week for many people and for a significant period of time. The rhythm and routine of the academic year has been reasserted and, as might have been expected, we’ve then had a good dollop of summer sun and warmth – after almost 8 weeks of […]
Read More...I’ll make this first weekly message of the year short and to the point. It’s a simple message: just to say to you that I hope that you’ve had a fantastic summer break. Whatever you did (whether you managed to get away or not) I hope that those activities provided a suitable and substantial distraction […]
Read More...As we rattle towards the end of term and the end of another, what we might euphemistically call, a very interesting academic year we will all be taking the opportunity to look forward to what the summer might bring. That’s right and very natural. Whatever you do and whatever your connectivity with the schools or […]
Read More...In the schools and the college, we continue to countdown towards the end of term. For those of you in the schools, it’s two more weeks to go, and for those at the college, just five more days before the summer break – although depending upon timetables and induction it may well be much less […]
Read More...It seems that pretty much on a weekly basis another report is issued which in some way divides the educational sector, divides the country or vilifies some young people. It can be that those reports are politically motivated and are posted as almost (pseudo) academic studies, by which think tanks pursue a particular political agenda. […]
Read More...Last week the musings focused on the frivolous things; football, cricket and a bit of summer sunshine. The football continues this weekend – by this time you read this you may well be celebrating an English or Scottish victory in the big game. The test match (cricket) was a poor show. The sun did shine […]
Read More...There was something for everybody this weekend. Whatever you are interested in, whatever puts a spring in your step there was be something for us all to enjoy. So, what is it that we all had to look forward to? Firstly, the second test match between England and New Zealand continued from Edgbaston. Even though […]
Read More...Unusually it’s been a day of goodbyes. In some cases, those goodbyes have been in absentium, in some cases they have been virtual and, in most cases, they have been in the flesh, with tears and all. Usually we experience these days much later in the year, but the post COVID assessment and examination grading […]
Read More...We are rattling towards another half term break. This has been an incredibly intense period for us all working in schools and college; staff and pupils and students alike. When that half term break comes it will be well earned and I implore you now to think carefully about what you are going to do. […]
Read More...Sometimes I use these blogs as an opportunity to have a serious look at local, national or even global events. Sometimes I use these blogs to be frivolous and even foolish. Today I feel it is absolutely appropriate to recognise that many of our friends and colleagues will be celebrating Eid ul-Fitr. To all of […]
Read More...I don’t know about you but it’s felt all a little strange towards the back end of this May day week. We are at that time of year when there is so much to do (and maybe more this year than any other year) and with there being a four-day working week we end up […]
Read More...It’s a long weekend. A bank holiday in the bank holiday season (Easter, May Day and Whitsun all bunched together). There are differing reasons for the bank holidays; in the main for historical religious reasons. Most people won’t recognise that, and probably don’t care that much, as long as they get the day away from […]
Read More...It really isn’t my place, through these missives, to be overtly or overly political. Sometimes it’s hard not to look at what’s happening in the world, in particular when we consider politicians and politics, and not be tempted to put out a personal position. However, there have been occasions when I’ve been known to have […]
Read More...A belated welcome back. I hope that you all had a relaxing and restful half term break. As it is the way in schools and college, I’m sure that break feels like a lifetime away right now. It’s been a little more difficult than it has needed to be this week solely on the basis […]
Read More...Well, it looks like we’ve got to the end of another term. All of you have survived and some of you may well have even prospered. In the rapidly changing environment within which we live and work and in the context of the ever-shifting sands of COVID it is easy to forget how much we […]
Read More...There are annual markers. Some are in our diaries year on year and we cannot shift them; just like the Mother’s Day of last weekend or the up-coming change of the clocks. There are other regular events which we might not diarise but we welcome none-the-less; the biennial Comic Relief (Red Nose Day) or the […]
Read More...I should start by saying an enormous thank you for ensuring that this week, in supporting the return of our pupils and students, has been as smooth as it could possibly have been. It’s interesting, talking to many of you out there, those of you who don’t spend every working day in schools and colleges, about […]
Read More...The strange time distortion continues. The days seem to fly by yet lockdown seems to drag forever. It’s difficult to keep track of where we are at and when we might see something change. I guess that’s the position for the wider community but for us in schools and college we do have some significant […]
Read More...Welcome back and I do hope that you managed to get something of a break last week. Notice I say welcome back. I do get irritated with the media suggesting that reopening, on Monday 8th March to all pupils, students and staff, means that is when we are all back at work after a period of […]
Read More...Well we’ve done it, we’ve got through another half term. As each half term passes we reflect upon how challenging it has been and we look forward to things being a little simpler and more manageable in the next and upcoming half term. Sadly, that’s not been the case in the last 12 months or […]
Read More...The weeks continue to pass. Each day, of each week, seems to fly by, yet this third lockdown period seems to be going on forever. It’s that strange disconnect between time, reality and perceptions. Some weeks ago, I wrote about new year’s resolutions. Many of us will have now completed our resolution period – I’m […]
Read More...This isn’t the week for facetious comments from me or mildly amusing jokes from aged British comedians. This isn’t a week which has been more tragic than others recently, it’s just that we have passed a significant milestone, in respect of the people / individuals lost to COVID. I think sometimes that when we hear […]
Read More...Thank you, yet again for the patience and commitment you have all displayed again this week. It’s been a good week, on the whole. I know that many of our learners have started to perfect your blended learning. You will have established a rhythm which allows you to work productively. I know that it continues […]
Read More...Another week passes and it’s another opportunity for me to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone for coping with the collective challenges we face and for participating in and supporting our children and young people. At this time, we know that we have a great responsibility in watching and caring for our children and young people. […]
Read More...Happy New Year Unlike previous years there won’t be anything about New Year’s resolutions. You may have resolved to do something, give up something or change something but many of us will have said …’not this year’. For those who have known me for some time you might be expecting something about me giving up […]
Read More...I’m sorry that I have so few words left in me – I know! Other than to re-say thank you and … Take time to rest, take time with your family (in whatever construct you can manage) and take time to think about and repair your own self. Happy Christmas.
Read More...Other than Santa, I’m minded to talk about dark tunnels and bright lights – which now seem a little brighter than they once were. We can now see the light at the end of the term (tunnel). Many of you will have worked without a significant break since mid-August, and I know that there are […]
Read More...We’ve hit December and if we were in any doubt that winter was here we’ve had our first flurry of snow and there’s been a significant drop in temperatures. I don’t mind that. I much prefer those meteorological conditions to it being just wet and windy – no comments please! Maybe the change in the […]
Read More...Can I thank you, yet again, for the support for our schools and the college during this very difficult time? None of us take for granted that professionalism, commitment and hard work of the staff. But we want to recognise that all of us who live the experience, day in and day out, fully understand […]
Read More...As we are just about halfway through this most recent lockdown and we all know that it is pretty difficult on the ground. For the staff, for the children and young people and for their parents and families, in and day out, we are just trying to keep this ‘ship’ afloat. As someone said to […]
Read More...It is a difficult piece to write this week as many staff at Oakwood have just come out of being part of John Wilks’ (the caretaker for 22 years) funeral service. Some of you will have known Mr Wilks very well. A gentle, kind and caring giant of a man; who died suddenly and unexpectedly […]
Read More...Welcome back and I hope that you had something of a restful and relaxing half term break. As I discussed, prior to the break, it had and has been a terrifically challenging eight or nine weeks of work; on top of all the personal and educational challenges that you would otherwise typically face. Woven into […]
Read More...Well done you! However you made it, whatever you’ve done, however difficult it’s been, it looks like we finally made it – are they words from a song? It’s been a long old haul but we have now finally got across the half term line. Well done and thank you to you all. You’ve not […]
Read More...Another week passes and we slowly drift another week closer to a well-earned half term break. At this stage we still presume that it will be a one week break but the notion of a ‘circuit breaker’ is gaining more traction across the region. For now, we should plan for just one week away from […]
Read More...The longest half term trundles on. This half term is a significant proportion of the academic year and in this context, we still all have to manage day to day with the ongoing COVID crisis. Our schools and the college continue to respond to government guidance, public-health guidance and the circumstances on the ground. As […]
Read More...I recognise that it has been, for many friends and the wider community another difficult week. I think now we all understand that we are in this for the long run. We certainly cannot be thinking that, as some politicians may want us to believe, this will all be over by… you add your own […]
Read More...I know it’s been a tough week for many of us in our community: be that in school or college or out in our homes and workplaces. For many of us we have faced, within the context of our working environment, a tremendously difficult period of time; with pupils and staff absence being higher than […]
Read More...Thank you for your continued efforts this last week or so. Reflecting upon our return, many of us may well have naïvely thought that we would establish some sort of rhythm and routine which would allow us to settle back into the new term. However, I now realise that each week will be very different […]
Read More...Thank you, once again, for all your efforts of the past couple of weeks in supporting the schools and college in ensuring that we could open safely and, importantly, completely and in full. There is nothing that can replace face-to-face, in person, teaching and learning. I fear that through these messages, if I’m not careful, […]
Read More...I wasn’t sure a weekly message from me would be welcome, however it does now indicate some sort of return to normality. I’ll just take some time this week to say thank you for all that the staff, pupils and students have done since the return. It has been, undoubtedly, an intense period in our history and […]
Read More...We’ve battled through to the end of the term and the end of the college year. Last week I talked about things becoming more normal. It’s felt, this week, that we’ve taken a few steps further forward in that respect. In this vein, it seems strange to be watching live football and switching to […]
Read More...After 105 days of the national lock down tomorrow as something of a red-letter day (unless you live in Leicester). Some of those leisure activities, which previously we’d taken for granted; for example, the pub or the restaurant; and some of those necessary services; for example, hairdressers and barbers; will reopen. This presents me […]
Read More...The sun has been shining this week (although the Sun isn’t shining as, for the first time in 40 years it isn’t Britain’s best-selling newspaper – not going to even mention which paper is now #1), there are more students back in college, there are more staff back in college, Liverpool have won the Premier […]
Read More...I hope that you are all as upbeat and buoyant at the end of this week as I am. I know that the return of our young people has been rather limited but it has felt like we are slowly stepping back towards some sort of normality. The college is not an educational institution without […]
Read More...It is relatively easy, as I discussed quite early in the lockdown period, to get one’s self into something of a whirlpool of despair, upset or even depression; particularly in these days. The lockdown as a consequence of the coronavirus, the shocking and saddening actions, from across the Atlantic, which resulted in the death of […]
Read More...When I consider, on a Friday, what I’m going to discuss in my weekly message I can sometimes find it hard to identify something serious to discuss; or there are too many serious things to discuss, or there is something enormous and too significant which can’t be discussed. This week is an example of one […]
Read More...As this has ‘officially’ been a half term holiday I intend to just to share a brief message this week. I do genuinely hope that you have taken some time this week to rest up, stay away from emails and make the most of this absolutely fantastic weather. The present national and international circumstances continue […]
Read More...I’m sure you won’t need reminding but, it is the half term holiday and there are no expectations on anyone to be completing work. You all need that break. Take some time away from the work. Turn off your computer. Don’t check emails. Give yourself some brain space. It’s fitting that I can say this […]
Read More...It’s all but I can do this week to just not spend the next few paragraphs ranting. We all waited on the governmental announcement of the weekend and we were looking for some clarity as to where we might be going and how we might get there. Sadly, the communication was not as clear as […]
Read More...This will be something of a short message. I’m not expecting anybody to want to read this on a sunny bank holiday. It makes a nice change for the sun to be shining over the bank holiday weekend, even if it does not feel like a typical bank holiday; I’m not sure whether that’s as […]
Read More...I want to publicly thank all the staff at Thomas Rotherham College and all the parents and carers for all your work with and for our young people. These are, as we have discussed on many occasions, very strange times and we have all been presented with personal and professional challenges, the likes of which […]
Read More...We now have returned from our Easter break and have completed week 5 of lockdown. How long this will continue I cannot say. What I do know is that we have all been doing your bit again this week to support our young people in their work and beyond. I know many of you are […]
Read More...It really is still the Easter break and, as I said last week, I wouldn’t usually be sharing a message. But I will and you can choose to read, or not. A rhetorical question: Am I just doing these for my own sanity / routine / structure? We’ve been notionally closed again this week and […]
Read More...As it’s (nominally) the Easter break I wouldn’t usually be sharing a Principal’s message / blog – you all have a whole lot of other things to be doing rather than reading this nonsense. That said; now I’ve got on something of a roll with the messages and themes are developing it may well be […]
Read More...We are now at the end of week 2 of lockdown. And we are ready to start the Easter break? That sounds and feels very strange. I can’t quite get the ‘end of a long term, time to relax’ vibe going. There has been loads of stuff online and in social media this week designed to […]
Read More...At the end of week one I’ll try to keep this short. I’m sure many of you have had it with looking at screens this week. Thank you for everything that you have done to adjust to our new ways of working and thank you for supporting our each other and our students; all of […]
Read More...We are living through extraordinary circumstances and we have communicated so much, so frequently and (hopefully) clearly throughout the past few weeks. We are where we are right now and we are in a situation none of us would’ve wished for or imagined.I do believe that, as a community we have, as always, reacted […]
Read More...We face difficult days ahead. The magnitude of the current crisis is becoming clearer by the day. In these exceptional times I just wanted to take some time to reassure you that we, at Thomas Rotherham College, are doing all that is necessary, recommended, reasonable and proportionate in the face of the pandemic. We have […]
Read More...Thank you for your efforts this week. The weather has been a little bit better and, as a consequence, the atmosphere around the building has been a little bit more relaxed. It’s great when the students can get out and have some fresh air at break time. In that vein, it’s great to be able […]
Read More...After a week away from the ‘chalk face’ we have been back at it again this week. It’s interesting what can happen and how events can move when we have a week away from college. In the 21st-century, news, information and events move so quickly. It’s not quite Wilson’s ‘a week is a long time […]
Read More...We’ve got to the end of another half term. This past six weeks has been pretty good on the whole. The weather hasn’t been too bad; notwithstanding the odd storm, strong winds, sleet showers, downpours and so on and so on. Pretty typical for this time of year I guess. We know that […]
Read More...This week has been ‘Children’s Mental Health and Well-being week’. A national opportunity for us all to stop and think about supporting children and young people with their mental health and well-being. For many of the older generation this might seem a little strange. In years gone-by, when I was a lad and all that, […]
Read More...There will be millions of people in this country, around Europe and even all over the world who will be (or have been – depending upon when you read this) desperately concerned about the 11 pm deadline tonight (midnight on mainland Europe). The hopes and fears of many depend upon what happens in the […]
Read More...A couple of things this week. Firstly, just referring back to the message of last week about ‘Blue Monday’. It was interesting and reassuring to read on the BBC website that, according to psychologists Blue Monday is ‘a load of rubbish’. The phrase was coined by a psychologist Cliff Arnall in 2004. He came […]
Read More...We’ve got over that period of New Year’s resolutions – the continuation of those resolutions with some of us and the slippage with others. That old line about ‘picking yourself up and dusting yourself off’ comes to mind. It is important to have something to commit to do but we shouldn’t make it a millstone […]
Read More...Probably for the final time this year: Happy New Year. I hope that you all had a wonderful break and you have been able to recharge the batteries. We know how challenging that first term can be for everyone; staff and students. The nights get longer, the days get shorter and colder and the […]
Read More...Having avoided, week on week, the election… I know that many of you will have voted this past few days. Some of you may be happy with the result, some of you may not. As Principal of this college I really do try to make it my business to be professionally apolitical. It isn’t […]
Read More...Thank you for your efforts this week. We countdown to the Christmas break. We have a couple of weeks to go at the end of a long long term. I know that it isn’t easy to get up and out and into school every day but the overwhelming majority of students do so with good […]
Read More...I’m concerned about you all. I’m concerned that the opportunity to drawn into the carnage that is Black Friday might be too much for you. You just might get drawn into the madness that is Meadowhall (other large retail outlets are available) and you’ll end up spending your well-earned or hard-earned cash on ‘stuff’. That […]
Read More...As we move into the depths of this Autumn I am absolutely determined not to talk about the general election and/or politics. In particular, I’m not going to discuss how politicians should or do behave – on the campaign trail or in office. If I state that I might just have half a chance of […]
Read More...The wheel of life turns. As a teacher you celebrate the successes of those who have completed their time with you and you turn, almost immediately to those who have those challenges ahead. This week I’ve spent time with those who have finished their education with us and been working with those young people […]
Read More...It’s not been the best of weeks really. Not that it’s been that bad at college necessarily, but the week started with defeat for England at Rugby World Cup final and ended with terrific floods locally and the sad news that a woman has died, having been swept away in floodwater. All I can […]
Read More...It’s the end of the longest half term and as such there seems little value in trying to find clever things to say to keep people motivated and ‘up and at it’. All I need to do is say thank you to everybody for their contributions over the past ten weeks; be that students, parents […]
Read More...Like many of you I watched Monday’s England football game (0-6 by the way) in Bulgaria. It was a strange experience. On one hand I felt angry and repulsed by the overtly racist behaviour being displayed by significant minority of fans. And on the other hand, quietly proud of the England team, all of the […]
Read More...I think I need to start with an apology. In my general irritation with the accountability framework that schools and colleges have to face I forgot that it was one of the most important days of the year last week. You might have missed it too. On Saturday 5th October we should have all been […]
Read More...Many of you will know that OFSTED have been in the college this last week. We await their published judgements. Those of us who work in education understand that we must be held to account for the performance of our children and young people. We may not like the OFSTEDs of this world but […]
Read More...In considering what I might discuss this week it has been immensely difficult to avoid the momentous national ‘judgements’ and related political and constitutional discussions that have subsequently taken place. It would have been relatively easy to make some play over the Supreme Court judgement or the conduct of MPs in parliament; I have heard […]
Read More...Last week I talked about the positivity I felt having worked with some colleagues newly appointed to the Trust. This week, amongst other things, I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing some colleagues for key teaching roles within Thomas Rotherham College. That got me thinking about the teaching profession in general. There is something of […]
Read More...Education is complicated these days. Long gone are the days when we had simple constructs. To a degree we knew we all knew where we were within those constructs. The central government directed the local government and the local government directed schools and colleges. We are now in a much more complicated educational landscape. That […]
Read More...The return to college Thank you for all of your efforts this week. However much we prepare for the return of students it isn’t until they are in the building that we fully realise what is needed and what we need to do to support them in their learning. However much the students prepare […]
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I intend to share a weekly message through the website with students, families, the community and the staff body of Thomas Rotherham College. This is the first of those weekly messages. I hope that you have all had a wonderful summer. It’s been particularly strange meteorologically, but it seems that that is something we are […]
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