• Professional Development
  • Medicine & Nursing
  • Arts & Crafts
  • Health & Wellbeing
  • Personal Development

38876 Educators providing Teaching courses delivered On Demand

John Masefield High School

john masefield high school

Herefordshire

June 2011. We take children from Ledbury Primary School and over twenty other local primary schools in Herefordshire, Gloucestershire and Worcestershire. Headteacher’s Introduction Please click on the link for an introduction from the Headteacher, Mr Andrew Evans. Introduction from the Headteacher Site and Facilities The school is situated close to the edge of the town with views over the surrounding countryside. Subject departments have well-equipped suites of teaching rooms, all with interactive touch screens and we have seven ICT suites and over three hundred computers so that computer-based facilities are always available. Our sport and leisure complex provides excellent indoor facilities together with a large, floodlit Astroturf pitch. In 2009 we opened our Student Services Centre, the first of its kind to be established in Herefordshire. The Centre sets a new standard for inclusive and supportive secondary education, bringing together all essential pastoral and academic support services under one roof. Sixth Form Our Sixth Form Centre is housed in a purpose-built, separate suite of teaching rooms, an ICT network, study room, common room and offices. We have an open entry policy with courses to suit students of all abilities and aptitudes. Numbers each year average around one hundred and twenty students and this means that class sizes can be kept relatively small. Senior Leadership Team Our Senior Leadership Team includes the Headteacher, the Deputy Headteacher, four Assistant Headteacher and the School Business Manager. Successive OFSTED reports have praised the quality of leadership and management at JMHS. The Staff Staff work well as a team and are very supportive of each other. New staff have an induction programme which is individual and matched to previous experience, skills and prior knowledge. Faculty leaders see their most important role as the support of colleagues and they are committed to helping members of their team to work as effectively as possible. Pastoral Care We have an excellent pastoral care system led by our Assistant Headteacher for Pastoral Care and expertly supported by Year Leaders and a team of form tutors. We firmly believe that each student should have key adults whose support is continuous throughout their school careers. Student Support Assistants offer excellent support to Year Leaders as well as being a contact point for both parents and students alike. All students are also allocated to a House. At the end of each academic year Houses and Year groups compete for trophies awarded for positive behaviour, high attendance, sporting achievement and participation, the learning standards, charity work and House Points. Each week students have assemblies and throughout the year take part in a series of fun and exciting challenges. We find this gives students a strong sense of identity within our school

The Offer Bank

the offer bank

5.0(3)

Brighton

‘Yes’ is to accept an ‘offer’. ‘And’ is to build on that offer. ‘Yes’ is to agree to be on a threshold. ‘And’ is to step over that threshold and offer, receive or discover new information. When we improvisers say ‘Yes, And’ to an offer, we allow for divergent (aka ‘blue-sky’) and creative thinking that follows the points of interest and engagement in a conversation, rather than following a pre-written agenda. It also makes sure – because we always accept the ‘Yes’ and specifically build on that ‘Yes’ with our ‘And’ – that everyone remains on track and on topic, without any wild or left-field or non-relevant additions. It also means there are no denials or blocks and, equally, there are no wildly disparate or ‘out there’ suggestions. So by creating an environment without blocks, wild tangents or stagnant thinking, ‘Yes, And’ keeps a group on topic, imaginative and in flow. Improvisers acknowledge that many people (ourselves included), prefer to say ‘No’ or ‘Yes, But’. Saying ‘No’ makes humans feel more in control and safe. “Shall we try this new thing?” “No!” (I’m busy, it’s untested, there’s good reasons not to – and essentially, it feels safer to say “No”). Saying ‘Yes, But’ makes humans feel more in control and safe – and sometimes a bit cleverer. “Shall we try this new thing?” “Yes, But… Before we do, I can see and will now list a number of clever reasons why it might not work.” (I’m in control of my fear and the possibility of the unknown. I sound open to it but essentially, I might not like it, so it feels safer to say “No”). However, we are programmed, as humans, to keep ourselves safe. So we can afford to go with the flow a bit more often and to work our ‘accept and build’ muscles. When we get in the habit of saying ‘Yes, And’, it guarantees more focused, meaningful conversations, clearer routes to creativity, better teamwork. It puts more options on the table. Even better, it encourages imaginative connections instead of competitions involving egos. It’s good for rapport. It means we think fast and shiny. It’s the clearest route to pure play. And play is key. Play where we imagine, invent, create, and solve. Play is how and where we humans human to our best potential.