Wednesday 23 December 2015
New Signage For The Campus
As promised in my last post the new signs are now in place. Those who view this blog will now have a sneak preview of some of the new signs.
Sunday 20 December 2015
End of Term - Phew!!
It seems like it has been a very long term, but a highly successful one.
BJPS finished the year with a poetry themed writing week. With the support of The Link (PTA) we brought in a poet to offer workshops to every class culminating in a final assembly with every class performing either a poem they had learned or a poem they had written.
You will also have now received a copy of the new BJPS Homework Policy. We are taking a leap of faith moving homework from compulsory to optional. We are also changing the nature of the homework so that it focuses on core skills and less on research. We know that not all will like this approach as we also know that homework will continue to divide the parents as a whole.
On the BJPS website you will see a copy of the latest school newsletter. It would be great if everyone took the chance to read this and share the many things that we can celebrate.
Going into 2016 schools will start to feel the financial pinch. Cash value school funding has been guaranteed but staffing costs continue to rise as pension contributions increase and our support staff are now to be offered the Living Wage as a minimum. Schools across the country are also being encouraged to consider moving to Academy status as this is soon to be expected to be the norm.
Balanced against this are the ever increasing numbers for both schools. LJFS now has 53 pupils, double its July 2015 roll. Admission applications for 2016 suggest that it will have its first full intake in 2016. BJPS now sees cohorts of 40+ becoming the norm and this will have to be reflected further in our structure as we move towards a natural 1.5 form of entry.
LJFS is consulting on its revised admissions policy for 2017 and will be sharing this in a meeting with the Year 5 parents. The only significant change is that we will no longer prioritise all the cluster schools. Instead Brodetsky, Alwoodley and Allerton C of E schools will have priority over other schools. The full draft policy is available on the LJFS website and feedback on it is sought.
Brodetsky also has its admissions policy open for consultation. This should happen every 7 years as a minimum. There are no significant changes to the policy.
2016 also brings changes to how Year 6 and Year 2 are assessed as they move over to assessment without levels. This was already in place for all other year groups. We do not yet know what the SATs will be like but will ensure that all our pupils are well prepared for it.
Finally we have, at last, commissioned new signage for the campus that reflects the very complex usage. These signs should be in place for the start of the next term. I suspect that the chosen colour will be contentious as it reflects none of the colours used by LJFS, BJPS and The Zone. This was a deliberate choice so that no-one of the organisations is seen to dominate the identity of the campus. I will wait for the feedback to see how contentious the colour is.
The most important thing now is for everyone to have a relaxing holiday and then to return in January for another frenetic term of high activity. I look forward to seeing all the pupils and students back in school ready to work hard.
BJPS finished the year with a poetry themed writing week. With the support of The Link (PTA) we brought in a poet to offer workshops to every class culminating in a final assembly with every class performing either a poem they had learned or a poem they had written.
You will also have now received a copy of the new BJPS Homework Policy. We are taking a leap of faith moving homework from compulsory to optional. We are also changing the nature of the homework so that it focuses on core skills and less on research. We know that not all will like this approach as we also know that homework will continue to divide the parents as a whole.
On the BJPS website you will see a copy of the latest school newsletter. It would be great if everyone took the chance to read this and share the many things that we can celebrate.
Going into 2016 schools will start to feel the financial pinch. Cash value school funding has been guaranteed but staffing costs continue to rise as pension contributions increase and our support staff are now to be offered the Living Wage as a minimum. Schools across the country are also being encouraged to consider moving to Academy status as this is soon to be expected to be the norm.
Balanced against this are the ever increasing numbers for both schools. LJFS now has 53 pupils, double its July 2015 roll. Admission applications for 2016 suggest that it will have its first full intake in 2016. BJPS now sees cohorts of 40+ becoming the norm and this will have to be reflected further in our structure as we move towards a natural 1.5 form of entry.
LJFS is consulting on its revised admissions policy for 2017 and will be sharing this in a meeting with the Year 5 parents. The only significant change is that we will no longer prioritise all the cluster schools. Instead Brodetsky, Alwoodley and Allerton C of E schools will have priority over other schools. The full draft policy is available on the LJFS website and feedback on it is sought.
Brodetsky also has its admissions policy open for consultation. This should happen every 7 years as a minimum. There are no significant changes to the policy.
2016 also brings changes to how Year 6 and Year 2 are assessed as they move over to assessment without levels. This was already in place for all other year groups. We do not yet know what the SATs will be like but will ensure that all our pupils are well prepared for it.
Finally we have, at last, commissioned new signage for the campus that reflects the very complex usage. These signs should be in place for the start of the next term. I suspect that the chosen colour will be contentious as it reflects none of the colours used by LJFS, BJPS and The Zone. This was a deliberate choice so that no-one of the organisations is seen to dominate the identity of the campus. I will wait for the feedback to see how contentious the colour is.
The most important thing now is for everyone to have a relaxing holiday and then to return in January for another frenetic term of high activity. I look forward to seeing all the pupils and students back in school ready to work hard.
Tuesday 8 December 2015
Channukah at 10 Downing Street
Sometimes the job brings along the unexpected. In this case it was a small envelope with 10 Downing Street printed on the reverse in simple text.
I was off site when the invitation arrived and was notified by email by the school office. I assumed that this was a practical joke being played on me (there is a history of this and a number of staff have threatened revenge).
However it soon became clear that the invitation was genuine.
As a result I travelled up to London (one of the strange rules of grammar is that you travel up to a capital city, even if it is south of you - and having stated this I am sure someone may challenge this view) on Monday morning.
I had assumed those invited would enter through a side door but we were all ushered (after extensive security checks) through the famed door and up the staircase lined with the portraits of every prime minister that has served and left office. Gordon Brown currently stands at the top of the staircase.
All those invited then gathered in two rooms, waiting for the candle lighting to start. This gave a chance for you to mingle which is very difficult when most of the guests were from London and seemed to have come in groups. There were current servicemen/service women as well as veterans. Rabbis, councillors and civic leaders in the group (and one headteacher of course).
I did finally meet up with the only other invitee from Leeds, Simon Jackson, who sits on the JLC and the Leeds Rep Council. He has been the sole Leeds representative in recent years. I was also able to meet the son of one of our Governors, who lives in London. Ivan Green did comment that his son has gained his good looks from his father, I will leave others to judge this statement of fact.
I can heartily recommend London's Kosher Canapés and, despite the fact they come from the other side of the Pennines, The King David Primary School Choir. I am hopeful that the Brodetsky choir might get an invite in the future.
The Prime Minister was unable to join us as he was in Cumbria following the devastating floods. The Home Secretary, Teresa May stood in for him and, with the Chief Rabbi, led the candle lighting. The Chief Rabbi spoke clearly about the need to appreciate what we have and the country we live in. He asked us all to give our thoughts to our servicemen/women who are currently in action in the skies over Syria and Iraq.
I was asked by one of the PM's press officers why there were only three candles. I was able to answer clearly but did tell him he had managed to find probably the only gentile guest in the audience to ask. This did draw a bemused smile.
Finally, as I left the event to get my train back to Leeds, I was able to pause and have my photograph taken in front of that famous door.
Clearly the gentleman taking a selfie had the same idea as me but without someone else to take the photograph.
Let's hope that other representatives of the Leeds Jewish community are invited next year.
I was off site when the invitation arrived and was notified by email by the school office. I assumed that this was a practical joke being played on me (there is a history of this and a number of staff have threatened revenge).
However it soon became clear that the invitation was genuine.
As a result I travelled up to London (one of the strange rules of grammar is that you travel up to a capital city, even if it is south of you - and having stated this I am sure someone may challenge this view) on Monday morning.
I had assumed those invited would enter through a side door but we were all ushered (after extensive security checks) through the famed door and up the staircase lined with the portraits of every prime minister that has served and left office. Gordon Brown currently stands at the top of the staircase.
All those invited then gathered in two rooms, waiting for the candle lighting to start. This gave a chance for you to mingle which is very difficult when most of the guests were from London and seemed to have come in groups. There were current servicemen/service women as well as veterans. Rabbis, councillors and civic leaders in the group (and one headteacher of course).
I did finally meet up with the only other invitee from Leeds, Simon Jackson, who sits on the JLC and the Leeds Rep Council. He has been the sole Leeds representative in recent years. I was also able to meet the son of one of our Governors, who lives in London. Ivan Green did comment that his son has gained his good looks from his father, I will leave others to judge this statement of fact.
I can heartily recommend London's Kosher Canapés and, despite the fact they come from the other side of the Pennines, The King David Primary School Choir. I am hopeful that the Brodetsky choir might get an invite in the future.
The Prime Minister was unable to join us as he was in Cumbria following the devastating floods. The Home Secretary, Teresa May stood in for him and, with the Chief Rabbi, led the candle lighting. The Chief Rabbi spoke clearly about the need to appreciate what we have and the country we live in. He asked us all to give our thoughts to our servicemen/women who are currently in action in the skies over Syria and Iraq.
I was asked by one of the PM's press officers why there were only three candles. I was able to answer clearly but did tell him he had managed to find probably the only gentile guest in the audience to ask. This did draw a bemused smile.
Finally, as I left the event to get my train back to Leeds, I was able to pause and have my photograph taken in front of that famous door.
Clearly the gentleman taking a selfie had the same idea as me but without someone else to take the photograph.
Let's hope that other representatives of the Leeds Jewish community are invited next year.
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