Half term did not come soon enough - and now it is nearly over! In the two weeks before half term staff gradually got iller and iller. This is not a new phenomenon, it happened for both of the previous two years. It seems the January and February period is a killer for staff here and we all went down with a variety of flus and colds.
It was good to get the feedback from the parent survey that people generally think we are doing a good job - philosophy, ethos and teaching were all rated highly by parents. Some parents feel we do not achieve highly enough academically - I feel the same sometimes but always remind myself that we take in children of all levels of ability, mostly with English as a second language, and so we are not going be ranked in the highest achieving schools. However, that is not an excuse for doing nothing about it and I feel that, particulalrly in the secondary classes, there is more we could do to stimulate students and get better results.
Having said that, it is very difficult to work with, and adapt to our educational way of thinking, students who arrive in the secondary part of our school having had a number of years in a different educational system. I think particularly of students who come into the IB programme from Polish schools - they have a really hard job of understanding why we do things the way we do as their previous experience has been so different. well done to them for succeeding in the way they do!
One thing that surprised me from the school survey was that a parent should take the opportunity to make a personal attack on me and the way I, personally, behave. It was meant to be a school survey, with questions on how the school delivers education, and I did not expect to be accused of personal weaknesses! The same parent made the comment that there is more to communication between school and home than the headteacher writing a blog - I agree entirely. I am pleased that I have had an article on this subject recently published by ECIS in their International School magazine where I make precisely that point - that there are many ways in which we try to make good communications between school and home and that my blog is just another way of seeking to do this. A less formal and more personal way but still only a small part of a greater whole of activities, meetings, letters and conversations that make up the whole home-school communication. So if you are reading this, dear survey respondent, please accept that this blog is not the only way we communicate with parents - I am sure we could do better, but only because there is always room for improvement and not because we are not trying.
This last week Jill and I had a pleasant couple of days in Wroclaw. As part of that we visited the other BISC school - and we are deeply envious of the space the school has - both in classroom size and in terms of the outdoor areas. We want something like that in Krakow please!
We also had a day out skiing together - as a family. The boys disappeared on their snowboards while Jill and I went to the beginners’ slope. I had not skied for 7 years so needed to get back into it - we were soon on the main slope, however, as it all come back to me. The next day I regretted that I had tried to do things that I could remember mentally but that I was not physically prepared for!
This is the link to my alternative school website - jmerrett.com/bisc
Jake is number one son and today he is 18 years old. When I shared the thought with my maths class this morning they could not believe I am old enough to have a son of 18 and to have been married for 29 years (it is our 30th wedding anniversary in July this year). Should I be flattered or not?
Anyway, Jake is now officially an adult. 18 years ago I remember coming home from school to find Jill a bit agitated, taking the dogs for a walk around the park and then dropping them off with friends as we went off to the hospital. I remember, clearly, leaving Jill with a baby in the hospital and going home, some hours later. It is incredible that the last 18 years have gone so quickly. He is a lovely young man (I know I am prejudiced) and I am proud to have him as my son.
A week into the new term and it feels like we have been back a long time. Maybe it is the dark mornings that are still with us - up to walk the dogs in the dark and then back home in the dark - it all makes me feel that life is passing by and not much is being achieved. However, the days are now lengthening, and I can see it each morning. It was very cold last week too and that did not help as our house is hard to get and keep warm. It is open plan and the double glazing is old fashioned and less than efficient.
Last week I had cause to reflect as I heard one of my expatriat colleagues say he despaired of this **ing country and that what had just happened to him was typical of all that is bad about Poland. I thought, on reflection, that what had just happened to him could happen in any country and I can remember many frustrating and annoying things that happened to me in England, my own home country. It is such a dangerous sort of thing for us foreigners to say - I learnt early on in my life as a teacher in international schools that our comments can easily be misinterpreted and that we can never say the things about a country that a local person can without giving great offence. Of course I get frustrated by life in Poland sometimes and I get upset and angry with people - but I do always try to remember that is is an individual I am annoyed with, not the whole country (which I love dearly). Often the person I get angry with is myself, for having done something stupid, but it is so important, as a guest in the country, not to sound off and generalise - it can cause great offence.
One thing we do as a school is teach our students Polish. This can cause great frustration with some parents who reckon that only Polish people speak Polish and therefore learning Polish has little value for their children (who will soon be leaving Poland). I would add that we only teach Polish to children once we know they are secure in English, the language of the school! But I feel we are in line with other international schools in teaching the language of our host country and morally and educationally correct. Again, I think it is a matter of respect for the country in which we are living, it is giving our students a way of communicating with people round about them and we are giving them some life/living skills. I think learning any language is an academic and intellectual exercise/challenge worth facing and learning a language teaches you more than just the language itself - there is the culture of the country to absorb but there are also the language learning skills (which I know I lack myself) to acquire. I think teaching the host country language is one of the core international school values, one of the things that makes us an international school, and I get very ‘excited’ with parents who say otherwise!
There, two good ‘rants’ in one post!!
Jill and Ben are off at Ski Camp this week, along with another 50 people. Jake and I are here on our own. I expect a quiet week in school - but when has there ever been one of those?!!
So here we are in 2009.
Christmas went quickly and this holiday, as always, has passed in a flash. I think it is because there is so much to do in preparation for Christmas celebrations and then we celebrate and then we recover. And then we go back to school. We had a very pleasant Christmas, though, and our family enjoyed our time together.
Over the past couple of days we have been helping our new member of staff settle into Krakow - I hope it worked and that Heidi enjoys being here. She has come to take the place of Beata in Year 1 so she will have a hard act to follow - but I have every confidence. I have also interviewed an interested teacher for next year and been working on a revised website. I want it to look the same as the current website, as much as I can, but I am using a Content Management System (CMS) called Joomla. With this I will now be able to alter things on pages much more easily and I will be able to get teachers involved in putting stuff on pages themselves. It will be much more flexible. You can have a look at my work in progress at www.jmerrett.com/bisc
Let me know what you think!
