Training Day, Politics and Extremism.

The staff training day on Friday focused on data and extremism! Quite a contrast! The data aspect is really about student performance, knowing your school, class and individual children. Teachers are now able to complete electronic seating plans for their classes complete with data about progress, SEN etc. Staff spent a good deal of time in departments discussing class profiles ensuring that we have the answer to the following questions. Who are underperforming? Which students need to be stretched and challenged more often? What are we doing about it? How are we communication these actions? We also considered how we might encourage reading more particularly among boys. For one of the initiatives staff have been asked to recommend a book for display on classroom doors. There are a number of other recommendations and I will complete a separate post on this issue. A number of students in year 11 also joined staff on Friday re-drafting English coursework. In the afternoon session we were joined by a representative from Special Branch, who asked us to consider how schools can be encouraged to spot the signs of extremism, in all its forms. Essentially this is a child safeguarding issue and prompted a useful debate. On Tuesday BCCS host a radicalisation and extremism conference aimed at raising awareness for all schools in Bristol. We had a wonderful sixth form event last week in the Cresswell Centre. Representatives from all the main political parties were invited for a Question Time event with all members of the sixth form, We were also joined by some students from CGS. The students asked questions to the panel who were predictably divided in their opinions. Students voted at the end. A clear winner was the representative from the Green Party, Darren Hall with the Lib Dems in second place.