May 29, 2012

[Note:  Our hotel in London only has Internet access in the lobby, and it is slow and flaky.  So unfortunately,  there might not be many more posts from us or the students.  We'll see.]

All of our school visits have been great, and today our final visit was as well.  Andrew Turnock has been the Principal at Hugh Myddelton Primary School for three years and he was at the gate greeting students and parents, before the start of the school day, when we arrived.  The school serves inner-city students whose families are experiencing unemployment and underemployment and who live in housing-project multi-story apartments near the school. A large number of the students come from multicultural immigrant families. (An irony is that just a mile away is Fleet Street—London’s financial district where millions and billions of pounds and dollars and Euros are at work/ play every day.)

Andy Turnock’s school mission is boiled down to these words:  focus on the children.  That is the guiding directive that then turns into curriculum, pedagogy, relationship building and family service education.  The school just completed a national inspection and received a score of “good” which is fantastic.  (Don’t let the word “good” steer you wrong.  The next highest score is “outstanding” and only 7% of UK primary schools achieve it.)  Preparation for the school inspection seems to be much like accreditation and self-study preparation in the US.  Andy worked with a consultant who conducted a mock inspection ahead of time to help prepare the school.  On the given day of the inspection, anything observers see and comment on that doesn’t seem representative or ring true to the school can be reconsidered with additional information. 

While assessment is hugely important in the US and the UK, it is the climate and relationships within the school that Andy’s philosophy is shaping.  First names are used for everyone of any age because it takes away one level of distance between people, as Andy explains it.  The school rules are posted as “behavior promises” for students and teachers.  Even the word “behavior” brings forward a concept Andy wants to examine in favor of focus on relationship promises.

A second issue is outdoor learning.  Since our first visit to the school three years ago, Andy has worked to have outdoor space, connected to each classroom with their own door into the school yard, turned into learning space.  There is a clear roof/awning and space with worktables and supplies.  One classroom had its paint supplies and easels, another had a row of little Wellingtons on a shelf, still another had a huge sink and tables, plus whiteboards and markers outdoors.  Andy talked about the importance of the mental stimulation of being outside “seeing the leaves moving and feeling the air on your face.” (On our neighborhood walk, he explained that while there is no green space to speak of, what is there is used by drug dealers in the evenings.  Many families, living with four or more children in one or two bedroom flats, simply do not let their children play outside.  A point that adds to the importance of the upcoming whole school day-trip to the ocean next month.)

Andy talked about working with a staff of teachers to lead them into carrying out the “focus on the children.”  He talked about the importance of having key people who are willing to take initiative to build teams and mentor and support colleagues.  The direction the school is going is positive—and there is no sense of resting now.  Shaping a team that is passionate about teaching children is no small accomplishment.  Egos have to disappear.  Andy talked about how some teachers might be defensivee when working with a principal who is so involved in the everyday events in classrooms.  But there is no time for defensiveness.  On our tour of the school, he pointed out a few details to teachers (need to lower the question of the day so it is at eye-level for children; need for more markers and encouragement to extend a lesson to include students’ written reflections).  He didn’t wait—he asked a question of the teachers that brought the issue to their attention.  It’s not about bossing people around.  It’s about a focus on the children.

Next we visited the Thomas Coram Foundling Museum, which describes the desperate life orphans lived in the early 1800’s and before.  Thomas Coram was a wealthy shipbuilder who established the first orphanage in London.  He was a contemporary of Charles Dickens, and Handel (the composer) both of whom he enlisted to perform benefit readings and concerts to help the orphanage.  The need for the orphanage was so great, that not all children could be accepted there.  Mothers who were destitute and hoped to give their infants a better life by leaving them at the orphanage – hoping a wealthy person might adopt their baby – had to spin a little barrel and then let a ball spill out at random.  If the ball was white the baby was accepted, but if it was black the child was not.  This museum, along with the Clink Prison Museum, provides a clear perspective of how difficult times were back then.

Students had the rest of the day free until we met at 7:00 at the Lyceum Theatre to see a production of the musical The Lion King.

The Hugh Myddelton Primary School grounds are fended off \from the street.

In a small park adjacent to the school there was a memorial statue honoring all aviators who lost their lives in World Wars I and II.

Principal Turnock showing us his school and explaining their expectations of student behavior.

Moriah taking a picture of Kristin leaving for Hogwarts School on Platform 9¾ at King’s Cross Tube Station.  Danielle is waiting for her turn.

Thomas Coram’s bust above the entrance of the Thomas Coram Foundling Museum.

Joni and Laura in a crowd watching a street performer on their way to the Lyceum Theatre.

This coffee house is just across the street from the Lyceum Theatre.  Charles Dickens frequently gave readings of his work at the Lyceum, so it’s plausible this was a restaurant he frequented. 

Traffic at an intersection in front of the Lyceum Theatre.