Fareham East Extended Services

Not only is the 1st of September the day of my birth and the anniversary of the death of our only English Pope (Adrian IV)

...but it was also the national target for delivering a full core of extended services!

So I'm another year older, Pope Adrian IV has been dead since 1159, and we have reached a significant date in the extended services diary. So I would like to take this opportunity to say "Job Well Done" to all of our schools, stakeholders and funding partners. Thank you for all of your help, enthusiasm and support over the past three years to enable us to reach both our county and our national targets. I look forward to seeing many of you at our CAPP September AGM.

When I started this blog back in November 2007, all I could see ahead of me was a huge, scary mountain; far bigger than that big one I climbed in August. And there seemed to be no apparent path up that mountain; with quite a few large boulders of resistance and slippery slopes to negotiate. I sometimes felt the targets were so beyond my grasp that I'd be safer biding my time with a cuppa and a digestive biscuit in the foothills.

But with our ever strengthening partnership between Cams and Portchester, we actually reached our county and national targets ahead of time. And over the past six months we have continued to develop and embed 'sustainability' into our plans and projects.

So here's confession number two - I'm not actually qualified as an extended services coordinator! You've been somewhat duped over the past three years by an impostor. Like many of my colleagues across the county, I have learnt this rather unusual and challenging job, 'on the job'. You may be aware that my highest level qualification is 'Education' not 'Extended Services', but the two are so intrinsically linked it is difficult to separate one from the other. Which leads me perfectly onto this month's theme.

I had never really considered the term 'extra-curricular' before I started this job. So I hope you don't mind me saying that over the past three years I've really grown to really dislike that term. If you would bear with me, then I'll try and explain.

First of all, I hope you agree with me that there is nothing 'extra' about the learning that goes on beyond the school day...it is ALL learning! Everything that occurs during a child's day will be a potential learning experience; good or bad. If a child accidentally puts daddy's shaving foam on their toothbrush instead of toothpaste, then you can bet your auntie's undies that they will learn from the experience!!!

In addition we are already aware that our most memorable moments in childhood normally take place outdoors; not in the classroom. So if we consider all of those clubs, hobbies, sports teams, bands, volunteering, household chores (yep, even the household chores), climbing trees and planting carrots that take place beyond the school day, then think how significant they are to a child's development. The incidental learning that takes place certainly isn't 'extra', it is complementary, it is extended. For example, my early sorting skills were developed wholly (or perhaps 'holey') from matching socks in my mum's wash basket - not from maths worksheets.

There is an extensive body of evidence to show that extended school activities can help children learn, enjoy and achieve. But let us not forget the host of other skills they gain from taking part in activities beyond the school day such as resilience, patience, generosity, gross and fine motor skills, risk-taking, working in a team, negotiating, experimenting, emotional intelligence and so on. All this additional 'stuff' gets packed into a child's toolbox to take into their world beyond education In other words, many of those essential skills that employers will actively seek in their employees. And as we are all aware childhood does not last forever, so we don't have much time to fill up those boxes.

I hope he won't mind me mentioning this, but a fellow Governor at Cams Hill (and Harrison Primary School) Mr Roy Lee reported back from a Local Governor's Conference with an interesting précis of typed notes. In appreciation of his hard work and kindness, I would just like to steal a lovely sentence from his conference summary that appears to supports my argument. It states:

But in reality how many teaching staff (and indeed parents and professionals) feel that 'extra-curricular' is second class learning...just that 'extra' bit that kids stay on to do at the end of the 'proper' school day; something that happens after the 'proper' learning takes place?

But let's think for a moment about that big, red, succulent apple pictured left. Imagine you are about to take a bite. Now would you choose to cut off the flesh and nibble the core curriculum only? Or would you sink your teeth into the whole body of extended learning? Now that might be a daft question (and an even dafter analogy), but I simply hope to illustrate that education is more than a core.

So I hope you understand why I am appealing for schools to drop the old-fashioned term "Extra" Curricular and adopt the rather sexier term "Extended" Learning when talking about activities that happen beyond the school day. How can teachers claim sole authority over knowledge if very little of it occurs at a school desk? So can I please make a mini sized September 2010 appeal. Can I kindly ask all of our partners to avoid the mistake of labelling extended learning (even if it is only sorting socks) into sub-standard, economy class, 'extra' bit of education.

We create exciting new neural pathways and lasting connections in the brain's physiology when learning is exciting, enchanting and 'experiential'. In essence by children and young people doing it, exploring it, tasting it and experimenting with it. It needs to be fun; and it needs to be irresistible. It needs to be mud pies and microscopes, mini-Martians and microbes. Marian Cleeves Diamond explains, "No matter what form enrichment takes, it is the challenge to the nerve cells that is important. Data indicate that passive observation is not enough; one must interact with the environment." I can't resist using the famous quote by *Confucius to emphasise experiential learning that goes:

"I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand" ~ Confucius

Undeniably teachers DO have a huge responsibility for firing children's imaginations. Even our future rocket scientists and mathematicians need to use their imagination to enable them to learn the art of hypothesising. So let's start bring fantasy into maths, bring glitter into biology (excellent for demonstrating the transmission of germs), bring project work and investigation, magic tricks and fireworks.

I'm going to transgress for a little while with a little story; although I promise that it is totally relevant to the subject of irresistible learning (and does involves fireworks of sorts).

I had a dreadful teacher when I was at secondary school. I make no apologies for that statement - he really was dreadful! We've all had one of these at some point haven't we? Well my nemesis at my semi-rural comprehensive had a dark halo of crazy hair, a white lab coat, smelt of lavender bags and appeared to loathe kids and indeed...teaching them! The child catcher in Chitty-Chitty-Bang-Bang was slightly more cuddly than my science teacher. Anyway I had been warned by my big sister, who was a very worldly-wise Year 8 and wore a bra, that during the first year at 'Comp' the best you could expect from science was a tedious hour copying paragraphs from A. A Milne. It was like death by Pooh Bear! Sure enough, my first couple of terms were spent copying those paragraphs waiting for the 'proper' science to begin in year 8 (in old money...the 2nd year of seniors). That was until one magical day when our ~~child-catcher~~ (oops) science teacher skipped into class and announced that he was going to make fireworks. I believe that we were the last pupils to ever witness such a wonderful spectacle; and once the fire bells were silenced, the fire extinguishers replaced, and our teacher returned from his 'extended' period of leave, it left such wonderful, hilarious memories of interactive (and reactive) science I can still recall that smell of singed hair every time I enter a science lab.

I'm not endorsing setting fire to school science lab, but that was completely irresistible learning; albeit unintentionally. If you want to find out more about making learning irresistible, I would very strongly urge you to take the opportunity (when you have 45 minutes spare) to watch Prof. Mick Water's video. This video has been the inspiration for this month's blog and I think you will find it both funny and motivational. If I were a child, then this is the sort of person I would choose as my teacher...

Irresistible [Late 16th century. < medieval Latin irresistibilis < Latin resistere 'resist']

L.E.A.P UPDATE

As many of our partnership will be aware I have been away on Jury Service so I have been slightly out of the loop since the beginning of term. I promise that I shall catch up on the work I've missed during the past few weeks - but I really do need schools to help me. I desperately need as much information as possible about children and young people who have received L.E.A.P Advantage Subsidy Funding as possible for my September L.E.A.P Progress Report by 1st October 2010. Please be reassured that this is not simply a paper exercise, but an essential piece of work to audit spending and secure our next round of funding.

For Cams and Portchester cluster schools, a spare copy of the L.E.A.P Advantage Subsidy Funding Blank Report I sent at the beginning of the autumn term is available to download below:

L.E.A.P Advantage Subsidy Funding Blank Progress Report April - September 2010

Please remember to include in your report the details of any children or young people who have taken part in any one-off activities over the summer holidays. If you need any help with your paperwork then please don't hide it at the back of the bookcase hoping it will disappear - simply get on the phone and ask for help. I am here to help so please make the most of me while you can.

Could I also take this opportunity just to quickly remind schools that the L.E.A.P Advantage Subsidy is to enable children and young people to access extended school activities. This may sound incredibly obvious to most of us but we have had a few discrepancies where the funding has been used to purchase items that do not fit the description of extended school activities in and way, shape or form!

For example your funding may be used for a child to take part in a uniformed group, a sports club, to enable a family activity (such as purchasing a child's fishing licence) and enable a child to take up a completely new activity (such as sailing, climbing, archery, drama and dance) to do something they have always dreamed of. Therefore can I please remind schools that your L.E.A.P Advantage Subsidy Funding must not be used for laptops, school equipment, trips, uniform and school transport. Under extreme circumstances I may occasionally approve a sports kit for an extended school activity and/or transport to enable a disabled pupil to be able to access an after-school club but if you are unsure at any time of eligibility then please pick up the phone and ring, or e-mail your question and I shall get right back to you.

Just as a quick reference reminder I have popped the Six Guiding Principles for the Advantage Subsidy below. It was January 2010 when I briefed Fareham schools and distributed your School Packs, so it is worth taking a quick glance to refresh your memories about the funding criteria.

L.E.A.P Advantage Subsidy - Six Guiding Principles

By now you should all be progressing well with your funding and busy matching children and young people to their chosen activities - but if you do have any questions, problems, worries or just some difficulty sourcing a provider - then please ask for help.

All of the L.E.A.P Advantage Subsidy now has its very own page on this site (please click LEAP to go straight to the page) but if there are other supporting documents you would like to see on this page, then please feel free to ask.

In view of my short working month, I shall finish this blog here. Using my apple analogy - I'll save all the juicy bits for October! But rather than short-change you this month I carried out a quick Google search of the word "Irresistible" and came up not only with the definitions above, but also with the following funny pictures titled "Irresistible Job Offers".

Finally, I have sent this to all CAPP schools, but our community partners may be interested in viewing a copy of my Annual Report for the Community Action Fareham AGM in October. Please click to view the report below:

Fareham East
Extended Services

Working with Schools in East Fareham in Partnership with

Community Action Fareham

Susie's ESC BLOG