Back HomePosted by ictsupport@allsaints.liverpool.sch.ukat 18:49, February 24 2013.
We arrived back at Manchester Airport yesterday following a night flight after a very successful week. My feelings are mixed and I'm sure I speak for all the staff who were with me; whilst we have enjoyed our time there and helped in small ways to support the educational improvements there, it's such a short stay and there is so much more needed to make sure the children have anything close to what our pupils in Anfield have. All we can do is our best though, and the staff have worked very hard all week - a credit to our school community. The building that we have funded has allowed the Junior pupils to have more space, but the Infant pupils are in a totally inadequate area which is small, dark and noisy. If we can raise any further money at All Saints, a further room in the 'new' area, and separate toilets for girls and boys will be the next stage. At present there is a very dirty toilet for the older pupils and outdoor buckets for the younger ones.
The two-day Literacy Festival was scheduled as the new library was opened and the pupils at FANO will be visiting the library each Wednesday to borrow a range of books that have come out from the UK. We gave all the pupils a book bag so let's hope that they can enjoy their new reading resources. The training that our staff have given the FANO teachers will hopefully help, especially the teaching of reading to the younger children.
Now it's back to our pupils, and a very short half-term. Once again, well done to all the staff who spent their half-term away in Africa. The other schools in the project are amazed by how many All Saints staff have been involved thus far - I think it's 12 people so far.
The Literacy FestivalPosted by ictsupport@allsaints.liverpool.sch.ukat 23:40, February 20 2013.Today was very hot and we arrived in good time to prepare for the first day of the Literacy Festival. Mrs Maguire and Miss Lipsey led a workshop on the teaching of phonics whilst the rest of us went to school to help. Miss Thomson worked very hard teaching the Y5 and Y6 pupils about recycling. They sang the song with great enjoyment and we recorded it to show the pupils when we get back. The only problem that Mrs Maguire had was getting the teachers to leave as they had so many questions to ask. Mr Barnes then went to Musa's house and met his lovely family before we all met back together to see the cultural dancing on stage at the festival. It was extraordinary. After a tortuous journey back we all went out to eat at Roy's Bar and discussed the day's events.
Back at FANO SchoolPosted by ictsupport@allsaints.liverpool.sch.ukat 21:29, February 19 2013.We all woke up today very excited for our first full day at FANO. The day started with a whole school assembly. Aunty Iris welcomed us and the children sang some lovely songs. We were delighted to see the All Saints school badge painted on the wall. Next it was time to get stuck in so we all made our way to the different classes. Mr Barnes and Miss Thomson worked with Year 5 and talked about recycling and sang some songs. Musa was very happy to see us all and loved using the iPad to record the children singing. Mrs Maguire and Miss Seddon worked with Year 2 and 3 and made a beautiful friendship garden with lots of different art materials. Miss Lipsey and Mrs Morgan read some stories and sang Jolly Phonics with the little ones. The day at FANO was a home from home, being made to feel so welcome at the school. All the children were so excited to see the staff from All Saints and send their love and best wishes to everybody back in the UK. We then visited the wharf and the bakery where we sang and danced with a variety of local people and the drivers. It was a day of fun, laughter and singing. Literacy festival tomorrow...
Kent BeachPosted by ictsupport@allsaints.liverpool.sch.ukat 22:09, February 17 2013.Today was our welcome to Waterloo! We began by going to mass in St. Raphael's church. Everybody was dressed in their Sunday best and the prayers and singing were beautiful. We were even given our own special welcome with a round of applause. After mass we gathered at St. Raphael's school and met different people from the community and teachers from the schools involved in the Waterloo partnership. Again, we were made to feel very welcome. We quickly made our way to Kent Beach for the FANO school trip and what a school trip it was! Within seconds of arriving, hundreds of people surrounded us, including Aunty Iris, Laura and Musa (in a very bright track suit). Musa has had another baby girl since he left All Saints last year. There was music, dancing, paddling, games of football with all the FANO pupils there. We recognised so many of them and they were asking after our school and so pleased we had come to see them. We were presented with special staff polo shirts and spent a couple of hours having great fun with the staff, children and parents. Then followed a eventful two hour journey back to Freetown with one of the cars breaking down and darkness falling. But we made it and now are getting ready for a full day in Waterloo tomorrow.
First day in Sierra LeonePosted by ictsupport@allsaints.liverpool.sch.ukat 22:00, February 16 2013.After a long yet enjoyable journey, we had a good sleep ready for our first adventure in Freetown today. We had a leisurely stroll, talking to locals and becoming familiar with our new surroundings. Our next stop was the beautiful Lumley beach where we chatted to some fishermen. It was a pleasure to meet so many welcoming people in Sierra Leone. To our surprise, we also met a bizarre entertainer who performed his magic trick for us - eating sand! It's safe to say we won't be trying this magic trick any time soon! Next we visited the iconic Cotton Tree, a symbol of Sierra Leone. To end our day, we were very lucky to be given a tour of the Memorial Gardens where we found out lots of information about the history of the country. It was an eye opening experience. We are looking forward to visiting Waterloo tomorrow!
LossPosted by ictsupport@allsaints.liverpool.sch.ukat 23:24, February 14 2013.All Saints has been a very subdued place over the last fortnight or so after the sudden death of Agnes Reeves, our colleague who had worked mainly in the school Nursery for many years. The school has predictably felt a sense of loss, but nothing compared to that of her family. Her funeral took place at our church and was a fitting tribute and I know the family were delighted with the presence of so many staff and pupils. The sense of loss following the news about Agnes was further heightened when we heard about the sad loss of Millie, who had been in our Children's Centre for over two years, and the death of Fr Steve's own Father, Bernard. Though these have been desperately sad times, it has been comforting to all concerned that the school and Children's Centre community have come together to support the families through their grief.
Lent has started and already the children have been coming up with interesting ways to raise money for those less fortunate, Eloise in Y5 leading the way with an idea to help the NSPCC this week. We will be supporting the Archdiocese Good Shepherd appeal and also our partner school in Sierra Leone where the facilities for learning are so inadequate.
Today, over half the school were in the park for the city-wide health promotion event on St Valentine's Day. All Saints were responsible for the first two acts on stage - great for the school! After standing and dancing for so long, I think lunch was received particularly enthusiastically.
Half-term tomorrow and Sierra Leone for some.
Cavern Club and ChristmasPosted by ictsupport@allsaints.liverpool.sch.ukat 22:25, January 8 2013.Firstly, a very Happy New Year to everyone in our school community. I hope everyone can look forward positively to the year ahead, knowing that there will be challenges ahead. No doubt all our pupils will give us plenty of optimism too with their achievements and efforts. The lead up to Christmas was busy as always and I was full of admiration for our Choir particularly who performed so well at venues across the city. It was not just the singing either, with members of the public commenting personally to me about the children's manners, uniform, attitudes. But the singing was great too and the Gospel version of Mary's Boy Child will stay with me for a long time. The Carol Service was a beautiful end to the term and we've recorded it this year for parents to enjoy - the reading and singing were of the highest quality for children so young.
The musical achievements didn't stop during the Christmas holidays either with many of our pupils and past pupils performing in a concert at the Cavern Club on 30th December. It's a long story how this came about, but through friends of mine we got the opportunity and the band did not disappoint with a rendition of With a Little Help from Your Friends, When I'm Sixty Four and Londonderry Air. Later on, some of the group then played with the Irish Band on several numbers and you would not have known that this was after only one practice with the band. Amazing. It's a real success story for the whole Wider Opportunities Project which started in 2007 and gives all our pupils the opportunity to learn an orchestral instrument for at least one year. If you want to do it, and you prepared to work hard, maybe you too could take the stage at the Cavern in the future!
There's plenty more music to come this term with a school performance of Annie to look forward to in March.
PridePosted by ictsupport@allsaints.liverpool.sch.ukat 00:00, December 3 2012.
Out on Saturday night, I bumped into a past pupil from a previous school where I was the Y6 classteacher. Now a roofer, he began to tell me of his work on both the Velodrome and the Aquatic Centre in the 2012 Olympic Park . Without prompting, he used the word ‘proud’ on several occasions. His work had brought him great fulfilment and he was genuinely proud of his achievements.
I was so pleased, as it’s a word I’ve used at All Saints a lot. The children must always feel proud of their work, of their efforts, of their family, of their community. It’s such a crucial part of developing a strong self-identity.
As we move into the days leading up to the Christmas break, parents will be in school seeing their child in the Nativity play, or singing in the Choir, or playing an instrument at a special assembly, and they will feel proud of their child. It is the very essence of primary school life and we’re all looking forward to the performances, and those of ‘Annie’ when that’s staged in March.
There was more room for pride when the RE inspectors visited the school on Tuesday. All three inspectors commented how well mannered, respectful and thoughtful the children were, and how they had such good attitudes to their learning. Only some issues over the way in which we assess pupils’ attainment in RE prevented the school receiving an ‘outstanding’ grade. I was disappointed but (here’s the word again) proud of the staff and pupils.
Talking to the Children’s Centre staff, it is great to hear of more sessions and projects being planned, with the Nursery staying open right up until late afternoon on Christmas Eve. If you are not aware, the Centre has now got a twitter account @anfield_cc
This week, we begin our Christmas preparations in earnest with the Choir making their first appearance at Liverpool Cathedral on Wednesday. They are singing gospel versions of two traditional carols and they are fantastic, especially with most of them being Year 3. I'll be finishing the week at the Liverpool Lighthouse on Oakfield Road for the 'Festival of Choirs' concert. That could be something special.
Anti-Bullying WeekPosted by ictsupport@allsaints.liverpool.sch.ukat 19:38, November 26 2012.
Over the past ten days or so, we’ve been playing a full part in National Anti-Bullying Week finishing in an opportunity for parents to find out a bit more about ‘Cyberbullying’ and the school’s policies regarding all things digital.
The week was played out in school alongside lots of worldwide action involving elections (or in China’s case lack of them – they were told that their new leader would be Xi Jinping). Sierra Leone elected their new parliament last weekend, USA elected Mr Obama again a couple of weeks ago, and in the UK we struggled to get anyone to vote for new police commissioners.
Our pupils seemed to really understand how important it is to be able to have a voice. If they’re being treated badly, then they have a Learning Mentor or a Class Teacher to be able to talk to, often using a password to make it more confidential. We’re similarly lucky to be able to vote if we don’t like what our politicians are doing, fortune the Chinese don’t enjoy.
I received a letter from Aunty Iris from our partner school in Sierra Leone saying how excited everyone was about the elections. http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-20472962
After reading it to the children in assembly, we said a prayer that the new leaders will be trustworthy and peaceful, something we just take for granted.
Bullying is not just name-calling. It is the deliberate attempt to destroy someone’s dignity and sense of self-worth. I hope that we continue to focus at school on building up children’s self-belief and confidence so that the children can stand up to any bullying should they encounter it.
Now we turn our attention towards Advent and a busy December in school. All school Anti-Bullying policies and new E-Policies are now uploaded to our school website. http://www.allsaintsliverpool.co.uk/
Stickers, Jose Enrique and Mighty RedPosted by ictsupport@allsaints.liverpool.sch.ukat 20:19, November 11 2012.I am neither a supporter of Everton FC or Liverpool FC and, although I do want them both to do well, have no personal allegiances to the teams (though one of my own sons did have a trial period with Everton). However, if either club shows an interest in helping All Saints, I am delighted to welcome this. It is for that reason that we accepted Liverpool FC's offer to be the very first school to work in depth with the new Liverpool Foundation. The 'season tickets' that the children have been completing is an effort to use Liverpool's influence to promote good attendance at school, and on Friday 'Mighty Red' was once again at the school gates to welcome pupils into school. It's all good fun and it does seem to be helping - our attendance is up significantly this term. But in no way is the school trying to persuade children to follow the LFC team, and we are also working with Everton FC e.g. singing at their Christmas Carol Concert in December.
But there may be lots more to come from Liverpool, including multi-sports coaching after Christmas, so get used to seeing the tracksuits around the school. Has anybody also noticed how their tracksuits and training tops have copied the All Saints PE kit?
Related to the project, we had a visit from one of the players, Jose Enrique, on Monday. He kindly signed pictures and spoke to the Y6 children at length which was good of him. We are hoping that another player Lucas Leiva will be the special friend of the school throughout the duration of the project - he'll hopefully be coming in to see all the children before Christmas.
Next week, we're beginning to focus as a school on Anti-Bullying in preparation for National Anti-Bullying Week on November 19th. We take it very seriously at All Saints and I've invited a theatre group to come in on Wednesday to perform a play full of positive messages.
Food, Glorious FoodPosted by ictsupport@allsaints.liverpool.sch.ukat 21:27, November 6 2012.
Food, Glorious Food
Last week, I spent just about the whole of each lunchtime in the Hall monitoring the new system and menus. We also changed the organisation in an effort to give the children a more relaxed and pleasant experience. It is a peculiarity of British schools that lunch tends to be a rushed and rowdy experience; it’s even more difficult at All Saints because we have to try and get nearly four hundred children through the Hall in one and a half hours.
However, I was delighted with the children’s efforts and was also in awe of how the kitchen staff coped with such a huge change in their routines and management. In general, the meals were very popular with the Wednesday roast the definite winner! I sat with the children and tasted the food myself – definitely good value at £1.90 in my opinion. Once we’ve settled down into the new system, there’ll be an opportunity for parents to come in and taste the food for themselves.
All Saints Day was a great success last Thursday with the children singing as well as I have ever heard during Mass. Also on Thursday, we said ‘good bye’ and ‘good luck’ to Craig, our specialist PE coach for the past two years, who last week moved to a full-time job at Sandfield Park. He’s a great guy and the pupils really got on well with him – I wish him every success for the rest of his career.
Finally, I met the new School Council for the first time yesterday and they were full of good ideas and enthusiasm. One of the younger members suggested erecting two statues at the school entrance, one of Jesus and one of God! I shall have a word with Fr Steve later this week and see what he thinks…
Half-Term, Seville and a Chilean Pop StarPosted by ictsupport@allsaints.liverpool.sch.ukat 19:23, October 29 2012.
On the Thursday of half-term, I set off with Mr Macleod, Mrs Shea, Miss Dowler, Miss Freckleton and Miss Seddon to Seville in Southern Spain. Why? To visit two schools over international school partnerships. After arriving in pouring rain, we woke on Friday to blue skies and had a fascinating day talking to teachers, parents and pupils at the two schools. Colegio Rico Sejudo is a standard Spanish state school where Miss Lola teaches (Miss Lola had spent a year at All Saints if you remember) and San Francisco De Paula is an exclusive fee-paying school right in the middle of the city centre. Our staff showed the children pictures of All Saints and spoke to the staff about how we organise our curriculum and school day. I think we were all taken by how much better the facilities are at All Saints than in the Spanish state system. Infact, the facilities at All Saints are similar to those of the fee-paying school. We are very lucky. By the end of the day, we had made many friendships, and we are hoping this will be an Infant project with children aged 5-7 from the schools learning together over coming months and years.
During the weekend, we were hosted by the magnificent musician Manuel Marvizon who took me to see a CD being recorded by a Chilean pop star named Alberto Plaza. He's not Justin Bieber (he's over 50) but I was so impressed by his pure voice and constant smile. It's worth a look on his website www.albertoplaza.com Later on Saturday, we shared drinks round the piano with him and he sang for us as did some Sevillan flamenco singers. All the musicians there have invited our All Saints Community Band to come and perform next year, so I'm determined to try and organise it. The power of music is immense and it's so important our children have the opportunity to experience it.
We were treated so kindly in Seville, and it's set me up well for the new half-term. Hasta luego!
18th October 2012Posted by ictsupport@allsaints.liverpool.sch.ukat 20:21, October 18 2012.
This morning, Mrs Scrutton represented the school at an event at Pinehurst School marking the launch of a campaign to put defibrillators into all Liverpool schools. The local Anfield schools were all there and staff have received training in their use. We hope that the defibrillators will be in the schools shortly after half-term. The scheme has been organised by the Oliver King Foundation in memory of Oliver who died tragically at his school last year aged 12 from a condition known as Sudden Arrhythmic Death Syndrome (SADS). For more information, take a look at the website at www.theoliverkingfoundation.co.uk
Ian Harvey from the Liverpool Fire Service spoke to all the children today about staying safe during the Halloween and Bonfire Night period. It reminded me again just how brave our firefighters are; let’s hope all our children are safe and well during this often dangerous time of year.
For us though, All Saints Day on November 1st is the most important day during this period, and the school will be celebrating the day with Mass at 9.30am and treats for the children during the day. It really is the school’s own ‘birthday’!
Next Thursday, six members of staff will be visiting two schools in Sevilla, Southern Spain to develop partnerships and links. We will blog from there next weekend.
I hope everyone has a great half-term – stay safe and look after each other.
Mr Barnes
