Someone get him off those drums!

This website has just offered me a "Streamlined post editor".  I have no idea what one of those is, but if you saw me at badminton last night, you would know full well:  I am already quite streamlined enough, thank you!

So blog - eagues, how goes it?  Are you well?  Looking forward to Autumn with all the impending joy as a bear looks to hibernation?  Or are you, like me rubbing your sequinned mits with glee - glee - at the proximity of a new season of Strictly?  Or are you just smirking for the fun of it? Oh well suit yourself.

So, how did this week go for you, me hearties?  Did you all enjoy talk like a pirate day?  We, as per usual, threw ourselves into it with sheer unadulterated gusto, and showed the world how it was done.

But was that the highlight?  Oh no.  Oh no no no no.

The highlight came today, seeing a row of loved violin cases outside class after their very first violin lessons.  Then seeing them taken outdoors for a lunchtime practice, and the pride with which people held and played them.  Then seeing people leave school with them this evening with them strapped to their backs, ready to rehearse and stretch those soon-to-be-aching fingers at home.

It does not stop there.

Tomorrow, the drum teacher lands, as does the guitar teacher, and then we will hear about the ukulele teacher, and soon our corridors will resemble on of the passage scenes from the first Fame movie.  All japery aside, it made me smile... and not a little bit proud.

Dare to dream everyone, as one day soon, Miss Dark may allow you - yes you Mr D - to have the keys to the music room during your lunch.

September has been a really positive start everyone.  Well done.

That is all.

Your face is familiar...

I’ve seen you before somewhere, haven’t I?  Yes, yes, I’m sure.

Did you once play drums for Spandua Ballet?  No?  That can’t be it then. 

Were you once reserve goalie in the local park team?  You remember, it was really cold and wet, our friend Alan’s dog was the first choice keeper, having saved 17 penalties in a single first half, and you were sharing the gloves with a bloke two pitches away?  No?  That not you either?  Oh.  Oh, okay.

Perhaps we once met somewhere more ethereal, perhaps more cyber optic?  Was it – yes! I knew it was you all along.  Yes, of course! How have you been doing?  You look well, you’ve not changed a bit.  Well, a bit older and a bit greyer perhaps but other than that not a bit.  Of course, I recognized you at once, it’s you:

All of my companions in the blogosphere!

It’s so lovely to see you again.  I’d love to tell you all how much I’ve missed you during the long, lovely, sun kissed sojourn that has been the summer.  I’d really love to…

Anyway, let’s get on with the most important news-since-we-last-met:  we are now of course Badock’s Wood Community Primary School and Children’s Centre, and very pleased we are too.  Our first official visitor lands tomorrow, called “The Lord Mayor”.  Pretty impressive eh?  Before all that however, we got down to some serious training as a whole organization on Monday – the results of which can be seen on the BW website. 

This summer we have mostly been listening to the Zummer 2012 playlist, by yours truly.  Ruben know all the words before the second playround; Thea knew all the weird noises by the second month.  From Arctic Monkeys to Xanadu, from Sunsets (Avalanche City)  to moonlight (ELO) and sunshine (Katy Perry) to the rain (Mint Royale) we have had a ball.  I hope you have too.  You all seem to have come back clean, healthy, shiny and refreshed, and I am delighted that we have been joined by over 20 new friends throughout the school, even before our shiny new reception and nursery children join us.

So, as I said to the staff on Monday, I could tell you all about our aims this year, but Paddy MacAloon of Prefab Sprout does it so much better than me, so here he goes:

“Our plans are ambitious, a blue print of wishes,

That will come true, and when they do –

Folks from the valley will look up and say

“You finally built it! Can we come and stay?!

And cynics will marvel and say “We confess

There were times when we thought it was just an address”.”

Once we’ve built it, they’ll call it amazing.

That is all for now, but, rest assured, there is so much more to come this year.

That is all.

This is our quest...

As we head into the final throes of 2011-12, I am put in mind of the lyrics of The Impossible Dream, known by my generation as an anthem almost utterly murdered by Carter.  However, it is still a late-on-a-Friday-night favourite, and the lyrics, with just the merest of tweaking, suddenly sound rather apt.  When I laid out my plans for the School Improvement Plan at SLT in early summer 2011, they all looked at me with a searching look (i.e., they all started looking for my common sense).  When I started talking about the children’s centre project, people looked at me as if I were inviting IBS.  To me, it is and has always seemed, just the right thing to try to do. 

Therefore, going even further beyond the pale of the mighty Carter, I offer you a slightly alternative, self-indulgent version. 

To dream the impossible dream
To reach for a target so high
To bear with a dignified quiet
Those moments when apathets sigh

To improve on what’s already good
And observe, pure and chaste from afar
To strive on a cold Tuesday evening
To reach the unreachable star

This is my quest - To strive for that star
To prove only the narrowest of minds Prevent raising the bar

To stand up for what’s right Without pausing to see
If it’s realistic to strive for your FFT D

And I know if I'll only be true
To what I always knew to be best
That my heart will lie peaceful and calm
When I'm laid to my rest

So, just to recap in laymen’s terms:

EYFS results still on the up

Key Stage1 results on the up

Key stage 2 results way, way, way up

Provision up, and still going…

Attendance up

With all the success we’ve had this year, it is difficult not to be proud.  However, there are now several more ticks on my to-do list, bringing me closer to a leaving date.  That, however, is another story, and another song.  (For some staff, my leaving will probably be accompanied by Russ Abbot’s “Party”.) 

I shall conclude simply thus:

“Thank You”

For working late into the night on amazing planning, or quality assessment, or stunning displays, or that piece of maths work you’ve hated all week, or keeping your uniform neat and smart all year, or taking those reading books home, for bringing in all those letters, for running in with those packed lunches at the last moment, for staying at that governors meeting late into the night, for making that awkward phonecall, for smiling in the playground, for being one of the thousand citizens who works silently and diligently to make this place the special place it is every single day – to every single one of you, thank you.

Have a great summer.

From a proud head’s desk, that is all…for now.

PS In non-laymen’s terms: FFT D across the board, and APS averaging 3.8+ throughout.  Not bad eh?  That is definitely not all.  

Not they zig-zags again mind!

So here we are, the second annual BLOG-FROM-CAMP. The weather has been kind, by which we mean it hasn’t killed anyone we know, the food has once again been quite exquisite, and the staff at the camp have, as per usual, been legendary.


I always begin camp week with a little worry, trepidation and concern, especially over whether or not I still have enough energy for this kind of nonsense. (At the time of typing, my aching back, bruised shins and sunburnt face are all crying out “No old timer – you haven’t!”) So how has this year’s gone? Well, more from me later. Let’s first of all offer a shout out to all the amazing people who contributed so much to this week.

Elizabeth, for doing our washing and making our cream teas; Phil and Dave for ensuring our tents don’t fly away in the middle of the night; Rosie, Doug, Kieran, Andy, Mark and the boys for all the brilliant activities, and Nadine for running the whole shebang. Last, but by no means least the children and staff of Fairfield school, who were out of this world!

And the best bits? Too numerous, random, private and special to mention. So, over to our other campers.

What was the best bit kids?

Jessica – Trying to get up on the surfboard, and holding my fingers in a weird way to get arrows out of the targets!

Blake – My favourite part of camp was building the raft, because we learned all different kinds of knots, and it was fun on the water.

Alex – The disco, because it brought two different schools together, and we all had loads of fun!

Aaron – I loved the body boarding.

Ashleigh – Rifle shooting, because it was awesome!

George – My favourite bit of camp was skim boarding because it’s kind of fun when you slide across the floor.

Macy – My best part was the body boarding because it was easy and you could jump over the waves.

Finlay – The raft building was best, because we got to jump in at the end.

Lamarrah – I like the body boarding because it was something new to try.

Sandra – My favourite part was the water sports, because we got to play around in the water.

Morgan – I liked the part where I was the first one to stand up on a surfboard.

Kacper – I loved the zip wire.

Ethan – Almost all of it – every dessert, every bit of food, and I loved all of it except where I had to jump into the freezing cold water

Ellie P – Archery and the disco were the best bits.

Holly – I loved the archery.

Elisha – I loved all of the adventure day; building rafts and bridges, and going on the zip wire.

Ellie G – I loved the zip wire.

Kelsey – My favourite part was the archery because I’ve never done that before.

Miss Correia – Learning a new dance in the disco, and being part of the gang and school camp experience.

Mrs Brown – I particularly enjoyed the food, not slipping of the mattress, laughing at the bedtime fashion parade, body boarding with Lamarrah and Finlay, and helping Ashleigh surf.

And Mr Willis? The usual: having a huge lump in my throat every time one of these amazing individuals pushes themselves over the edge and succeeds. I don’t mind confessing to a few quiet, private moments at the end of the water sports today when I saw children from Badock’s Wood skim boarding, surfing and pushing it to the limit, when my shades were not just for the sunshine.

I began the week thinking it would be my last camp. Now, aching back listen up, I’m not so sure.

From another privilege-to-be-a-part-of Exmouth, that is all.

Soon, my son, shall come the rain...

So I'm sat in my kitchen, out at the washing, feeling sure my wife said something about washing and rain....  hang on a sec, it'll come to me....  nope, it's gone.  Never mind.

So dear blogbuddies, how goes it since last we blogstrutted?  We have made a sure and firm start to term 6, with the vast majority of the school taking up where they left off at the end of term 5 - hard work and high standards.  Books and displays continue to impress (and the governors have been into and around most of them already this term) and displays of our children are finding their way into the children's centre, and vice versa.  Ms Lacey's class even found the time to sneak down there last week to share stories, without even telling me! 

Therefore, what have we learned since the last intrepid meanderings of an inexperienced blogmasher?

Quite simply this - when in the right frame of mind, and with the right expectations from the grown ups, our children are quite amazing.

As for the small minority to whom this does not apply, watch out.

Short one this week folks, but next week I am hoping to bring you only the second ever blog-from-school-camp, which last year won some kind of Perrier writing award (or so I'm told - it'll have to go on the shelf behind my Little Chef Best Colouring 3rd Place certificate 1986 and my 2 Michelin stars).

So for now, from someone who looks as if he's about to get wet and in a whole heap of washing related domestic disconcord, that is all.