1. My feelings on the Training Day presentation.

I felt that you were constrained by the fairly limited amount of time you had available for your presentation and, as a result, were not able to go into some of the deeper aspects of this particular project and more of the possible lessons we may have learnt from it.

2. Did the presentation change my mind about Creative Learning Week?

No. I have always been a strong advocate of the importance of this aspect of the school’s work and, despite the pressures exercised upon us by the national “standards” agenda and the style of work associated with this agenda (targets / assessment / results and the like), I have always believed that the creative engagement of staff and students in the process of learning is central to the greater health of the school. The tension between the national expectation that the school should continue to improve, as measured essentially by GCSE / BTEC performance, and the potential role played by the impact of creative approaches to teaching and learning in pursuit of such measured improvement is, in my view, one of the key issues which currently occupy the school. Are we ever likely to be bold enough to embrace “creative learning” as a central element of our drive for further improvement, in the same way, for example, as we have had to embrace the setting and sharing of targets with students? I’m not certain of the answer to this myself.

3. What value do you put on academic research in educational contexts?

High value. There is no doubt that teachers who have a deep and genuine interest in, and mastery of, the discipline of their particular subject(s) and who continue to develop the range of their approaches to the teaching and learning of the discipline, are better teachers. I approve of academic study, in that it promotes amongst its successfulparticipants, thought, reflection, application and persistence. In my experience, learners respond more positively to, and do better with, teachers whose knowledge and expertise they respect.

I hope this is of some help to you.

Grahame.