MANX MAX

Monday, June 26th (Day 96)

Today was all about welcoming our new cohort of Reception children, due to start in September, with some introductory parent briefings across the three schools. 

At Dhoon, and then Laxey, we broadcast these briefings as live webinars – a positive change introduced during Covid times but one we that proved popular and has stayed in place. 

At Willaston we ran a similar briefing but offered it in-person in the school hall. My reflections on this are that next year we’ll move to a webinar style as these offer people the chance to tune in live and be interactive if they wish; but also means that a recording can be watched “on demand” when people have the time and inclination. I’m sure that will have a better overall reach. 

Tuesday, June 27th (Day 97)

My employers at the Department of Education, Sport and Culture had organised training for all of its headteachers today called “Self Awareness in Leadership.” I attended the afternoon session which was held in the restaurant of UCM. Self-awareness in leadership is an understanding of how your personality traits, habits and abilities affect your interactions with the people around you, particularly in the workplace. Leaders who are self-aware actively reflect on how others perceive their words and actions and work to change their approaches so they can lead their peers more effectively. Self-awareness leads to personal control and growth that helps leaders use their strengths to guide teams to the best possible outcomes. 

Over at Willaston School, a community “litter pick” had been organised in partnership with Douglas City Council and Isle of Man charity Beach Buddies. It was a very positive event, and the first organised by our recently appointed TLR. We even had the Mayor of Douglas turn up to join in.

Wednesday, June 28th (Day 98)

Today Willaston School and Dhoon School had choirs taking part in the Sound of Magic Concert at the Isle of Man’s Villa Marina. Over 500 children from across loads of the island’s schools came together, firstly in the afternoon to rehearse as a massive children’s choir, and then again in the evening to perform to a packed concert hall of thousands. 

I was very proud of our children from Willaston School and Dhoon School who were cracking ambassadors for their respective schools – and big thanks must go to the staff team at each site who worked so hard to prepare the children and support them through this amazing event. 

Thursday, June 29th (Day 99)

Today we returned to the theme of New Starters for September as we welcomed in the children due to start in September. We ran welcome days in Dhoon and Laxey – Willaston will have their turn next week. 

Friday, June 30th (Day 100)

And so, just like that, I have reached my 100th day in post. Truth be told, 100 days passed a while ago as I have only documented term-time days and not included school breaks or weekends, but today still feels like a big achievement. 

The three schools are ticking along well – we have some great development pieces in train: bringing the QA online, fine-tuning the new Cornerstones Curriculum, using Pobble for cross-school moderation… the three schools meet as a partnership SLT regularly for away days to do strategic work on quality assurance and curriculum, the social media and comms is helping build some good publicity around the schools which helps create reputational pride and binds in trust and ownership from parents and community, and the three schools are learning from each other too. Obviously there remains much to do: I want to continue with a focus on the learning environment at Willaston and redistribute how we utilise some of the spaces; there is a raft of work on monitoring and evaluating the new curriculum and how that looks in lessons and learning – this is needed across all three schools. And I need to reflect more on how I spread my time across the schools. But, at this stage – 100 days in – I feel it is working and the progress is there to see. 

I am very lucky to work with three excellent Heads of Schools. Their role is crucial and I am so fortunate to have three of the best. 

As the 100th day fades into the distance, and June turns to July, the school year offered up so much more that needed to be packed in before the summer. 

Final highlights of the school year included the Y5s from Laxey and Dhoon having a mini-residential, the Y6s from Willaston enjoying a full residential at the Venture Centre, the famous Laxey School Headteacher For A Day event, an off-island trip with the Y6s to see Edge Hill University, Dhoon’s Got Talent, three Leavers’ Assemblies, leavers’ meals, BBQs, and moving up days. We managed to cram loads in – and on top of all that we completed end-of-year assessments, published end-of-year reports and end-of-year newsletters. Somehow, in the middle of all that, Willaston School was visited by Tottenham Hotspur legends Graham Roberts and Ossie Ardiles. 

All in all, a fantastic school year. I’ve been made to feel very welcome at Willaston School since starting here, and I’ll close my blog with the words I used in my end-of-year message in the final newsletter of 2022-23: