Hereford

I have spent a lovely week in Marden, Hereford.  Just spending time in my parents house gives me the love and energy I need to keep going in Sweden!  On Thursday me and my Mum went into Hereford on a shopping spree to discover that there had been a fire in a card shop!

I think the damage is repairable but this fire could have destroyed some historical buildings.

Me and my Dad were out and about yesterday.  He took me to Bodenham lake where we had an encounter with some local sheep :)

I think school children could learn a lot from these sheep about how to line-up!........ (hehe!!)

So, tomorrow I will be flying back to Sweden.  These are the things I am going to miss:

• Mum and Dad
• Fish and Chips
• Real sausages
• Northern humour
• Strictly Come Dancing
• Master Chef the professionals (especially the death march and tipsy cream)
• A real fire
• Cooking for my Mum and Dad
• Charity shops
• Old English people
• Speaking English all the time.

But I will be back for New Year so I think I will live :)

Day 5

I spent my last day in Class 4.  Being with the older children confirmed that this is the age group I want to work with in the future.  My future work experience in Sweden is going to be in a year 5 class.  I am hoping to set up a pen friend exchange between these two classes, so watch this space!

The day started off with a multiplication test, followed by a spelling test.  As the class has two different years in it, two different tests were done.  I have seen this in the past where one group has to wait until the other group has finished.  This was not the case here and something that I really liked.  The group waiting were given a list of words to look up in a dictionary and record the reference.  This was an excellent way to utilise this extra time.

I got even more ideas from the PE lesson.  The teacher had spent some time training in New Zealand and had got the idea from there.  He played 3 pop songs and did simple routines to the songs.  Each song had approximately 4 different routines in them that were repeated at different parts of the song.  One of the songs was "Who let the dogs out".  When they sang these words, they did a pawing action and made a woofing song.  It was great fun and enabled the pupils to really let go and get crazy for 20 minutes.  I worked up a real sweat and everyone looked really happy.  One thing that really surprised me was that the boys and girls got changed for PE together in the classroom.  This is a school policy that I really think should be changed.

More similarities and differences.....

• The children wear a school uniform and the teachers are expected to dress smartly in England.  In Sweden the children don't have to wear a uniform and the teachers can wear anything they like.  I prefer the English way and believe that smart dress can have a positive influence on how I am perceived as a teacher.
• There is more lesson time in England than in Sweden.  
• England offers a more varied approach to learning that appeals to all of the childrens' senses.  This is something that our teacher training in Sweden is geared towards and I believe one of the reasons a foreign exchange is a part of the course.  It is a real shame that a more varied approach was not adopted in the school I have experienced in Sweden.  A big problem, in my opinion, are the behaviour issues, stemming from a lack of consequential discipline.  When I was on work experience in Sweden and had planned a practical lesson it was difficult to execute it because of behaviour problems.  

I have to add that the two schools I am comparing are very different.  The Swedish school I was in last year was in a suburb of Gothenburg with a high immigrant population, where there are language and cultural challenges that are absent in this English Primary School.  The school I am going into for the next year is socially equivalent to the one in Marden.  This is going to be interesting! 

Day 4

I was in Class 1 today which has children aged 4-5 in it.  I was surprised to see how much free play the children were given and how much choice they had.  There was very little difference between the class that I was in today and the equivalent in Sweden.  One difference I did see was that the children have more space, better facilities and more support, however I don't think this is the norm.  There are only 11 children in the group and I was told about schools having 30 + children in a similar class in the city.  The one on one support that the children receive is impressive.

I got the privilege of taking the children one by one outside and supporting them while they painted onto a see through plastic 'canvas'.  They had to paint what they saw and then we transferred the image to a piece of paper.  It was so interesting to watch how these young children worked, many of them happily singing away as they painted.  The children had no time limit and they were free to paint whichever part of the playground they preferred.  The interpretations the children had of different things was the highlight of my day.

More similarities and differences, compared to Sweden.....

• All of the wall space is utilised to showcase the children's work or to give helpful advice.  Look at the tricky word tree in Class 2:    

and the Ancient Egypt display in Class 3:

and some important messages that Class 3 would like to give to the world:

The classrooms I have seen in Sweden have very little wall space and I have only seen very small displays that showcase the pupils work.  When I am a class teacher, I will make sure that my pupils' work is given lots of space on the wall.  I know myself how much pride I felt as a child to see my hard earned work up on the wall for all to see!

• I have seen a real sense of community in the school.  All the teachers know all the pupils and all the pupils seem to know each other.  Each week the school has a new value  and this week it has been co-operation.  In the daily assemblies I have seen different teachers talking about this value with topics ranging from the Miners in Chile, the Commonwealth Games and solving the problem of eating with giant chopsticks!  Yes, the kids managed to work it out :).  The school has been practising for their Harvest Festival celebration on Monday and all the classes have been practising their songs.  Having a common goal to work towards brings the school together and helps to promote a positive environment.  I have not seen anything like this in my time in Sweden.  The children don't sing in assemblies and I have not seen a common value that changes each week.   

• A similarity is older children reading with the younger children.  This encourages the older children to be responsible and helps the younger children feel like a part of the school.  I happy to see this being used in both Countries. 

Day 3

Discipline, respect and positive reinforcement.

I am really impressed and proud of my Country when I see the how much adults are respected by the children in the school.  I was curious to find out if things had changed from my days of schooling and I am pleased to report that clear initiatives are in place regarding positive reinforcement.  They are not exactly the same as my own experience but work on the same principle.   It is clear that all staff members work together to promote a harmonious environment where good behaviour is rewarded and bad behaviour is not tolerated.  

Each class has a list of rules on the wall, that each class member has signed.  The rules are discussed and agreed to.

When a pupil does something positive, for example; a piece of work well or performs well in a group then this behaviour is rewarded with a raffle ticket.  The students write their name on the back of the ticket and at Friday morning assembly, a name is drawn at random and a prize awarded.

In Class 4, a behaviour chart is situated above the class rules.  On the chart there are several wooden clothes pegs with the pupils names on them.  If the pupils misbehave then a yellow card is attached onto the peg and if something really bad happens then they get a red card.  A yellow card takes 5 minutes from a break/lunchtime and a red card takes 20 minutes from the break/lunchtime.  If the pupils get a card and then improves their behaviour significantly then the card (and punishment) can be taken away.  

On the rare occasion that the whole class is rowdy, minutes from the break are taken away from everyone using tally marks on the board.

No pupils are perfect and the staff in the school are regularly using these different initiatives to maintain a respectful and positive environment.  Good behaviour is constantly being praised.  I particularly like the way the register is taken.  Instead of just calling out names, the teachers say "Good morning xxxx" and the reply from the child is "Good morning Mrs James".  I think this is pleasant, personal and respectful and sets the tone for what is expected.  The teachers give respect to the pupils which is then reciprocated.  I have not seen an example of the teachers getting angry with the pupils and they are more likely to say "If you carry on then I am going to get cross".  They make it clear what is expected in a respectful way.


The Head teacher is used as a final resort and only for very serious issues.  An example of this was when a child took their seat belt of on the school bus going to swimming.  It is really important to know that support is in place from other staff members when needed.  I have seen examples in Sweden of pupils behaving respectfully towards their teacher and not towards other adults.  Politeness and manners costs nothing and is something that can be learnt.  If children are surrounded by bad manners then this will be reflected in their own behaviour.  

Day 2

Back to ICT.......

I wanted to focus primarily on how the school maintains a positive environment today but I witnessed an exciting ICT initiative this morning that must take priority.  I was in class 4 and it was a maths lesson.  All of the pupils were given learner response devices called ActivExpression and this is the first time I have seen this technology out in the field.  The pupils were given 4 minutes to answer 10 addition questions, 10 subtraction questions and 10 multiplication questions as a 'warming up' exercise.  The teacher was able to track the students' progress on a moving graph, enabling him to easily notice weak areas and the students in need of extra help.  It really was fascinating to watch and the pupils were totally engrossed in this activity.

The next part of the lesson involved more challenging addition sums that required the pupils to adopt mental strategies.  A question was posed on the IWB and then all students were given a time limit (ranging from 40-60 seconds) to answer.  The first question was 342 + 50.  All of the pupil's names were visible at the top of the screen and their name changed colour when they had submitted their answer.  A summary of answers given were reflected on a graph on the IWB.  The different answers were discussed and the class was asked which strategies had been used.  It is important to note that the pupils are  unaware of who has written which answer.  The questions got progressively harder as the time went on.  After approximately 5 questions and discussions, a worksheet was handed out and the pupils wrote out sums by hand in their maths books.  The lesson finished with 2 more sums on ActivExpression, where I also got the chance to test out a device!

I asked the boy who I was sitting next to whether he liked using ActivExpression and his answer was "Yes, it's awesome" and I have to say that I totally agree.  Just holding the device felt exciting.  The feeling of anticipation as the teacher wrote the question on the board was immense and the desire to want to get the answer correct much stronger than simply working out sums in a maths book for only the teacher to see.  Even though the answers are anonymous, it felt very important to get it right and be a part of 'the correct' column on the graph.

As with most classes, there are a wide range of abilities present.  I strongly believe that ActivExpression helped the teacher effectively determine the ability level of his pupils, enabling him to issue appropriate worksheets and individual support.  The pupils seemed to concentrate the most and were focussed on the task at hand when they were using ActivEpressions.  What I saw today was another example of ICT being combined with traditional methods and it was both innovative and effective.

I am taking a camera into school tomorrow and will be posting my pictures :).  I will be writing about discipline, respect and positive reinforcement.

My first day

I feel very positive about my first day in an English Primary School.  In the morning I was in class 3 (7 and 8 year olds) and the class learnt about tally charts.  The interactive whiteboard (IWB) was used in the first example and 2 pupils were called to the front to record the results.  The classroom is centered around the IWB and it is even used for taking the register!  A very small traditional whiteboard was positioned to the left of the IWB and was used minimally.  Blackboards are officially a thing of the past.  I was impressed by how the teacher wanted the students to use a tally chart in a practical situation.  Even though this meant that there was a slight feeling of chaos for a short time as they recorded their favourite animal on each other's chart.  All the students were able to use tally marks in a practical situation and they had great fun doing it.

After morning break (and the children proudly showing me the school's hens), all of the pupils in class 3 were given a laptop to use.  The school has 30 laptops which are shared by 86 pupils.  Most of the pupils were able to log onto the computer successfully and follow the teacher's instructions that were first explained and then written on the whiteboard.  The point of the lesson was to learn how a mummy is made (the class topic is Ancient Egypt).  The pupils followed an interactive lesson at their own pace.  The links used were:

http://www.schooljotter.com/showpage.php?id=55591 then "Making a Mummy".
 http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ancient/egyptians/launch_gms_mummy_maker.shtml

After they had followed the lesson they were given a small quiz to test their knowledge.  The pupils seemed really engrossed in the task, especially when they learnt about the mummification process involving brain removal!

After a short assembly with the deputy head teacher, the pupils continued to work on the computers.  They had already written a story about a "Magic Bottle" and the task was to word-process the story using microsoft word.  During the explanation part of the lesson, the teacher talked about what a red line means under a word (mis-spelt) and what a green line under a word or phrase means (bad grammar/too many spaces).  The pupils were very engaged in this task and took pride in their work.

It is evident that ICT is incorporated into the school's daily routines and not just used "for the sake of using it".  The use of laptops really seemed to enhance the learning process without diverting away from the importance of writing (the first draft was done by hand).  Through the 2 websites, the pupils were able to engage in the mummification process by preparing a mummy interactively.  To say I am impressed is an understatement.

Going home to England

Having lived in Sweden for the last five years and now getting the chance to go back to my home country to do AVT (work experience) is very exciting.  I grew up in a relatively small, predominantly middle-class village (although my parents insist they are working class) called Euxton, in the north of England.


My Primary School was called Balshaw Lane and I have only happy memories from my time there.  I wonder how many similarities and differences I am going to experience Marden Primary School in Marden, Hereford, compared to the schools I have seen in Sweden and my own time at Primary School.  I anticipate there will be many  to reflect upon.  


One of the main things I will be reflecting upon is the issue of discipline.  I have seen many examples of bad behaviour simply being accepted in Sweden.  If you turn a blind eye to unacceptable behaviour then surely it is bound to continue.  Pehaps what is acceptable in Swedish society is different to England? and maybe the discipline I was accustomed to has changed. 


Only time will tell............