Uniform...

This post from last year on the Guardian student blogging site is refreshing to read since it is written by a student (albeit not from Belmont).  Students and parents will regularly ask "How does uniform affect learning?" Some are in favour, several are not.  It is not the clothes themselves, as I think despite the questions, most people understand, it is what they represent. 
Apart from the 'Innocent Drinks' company  (that I know of) who have a very relaxed office ethos where people can wear what they wish to work and sit in large comfy chairs and the whole office layout has a look of 'laissez faire' to it to the external onlooker, most serious companies have strict standards and protocols.  However, when you look at Innocent more closely, their individuality is their uniform, their radical/unusual methods of human resource management is their testimony to their own systems built around their core beliefs.  All employees of Innocent make that method of management their equivalent to the more conventional rules and regulations in other organisations, as one thing they have in common are their core values - they have 'bought in' to their organisation just as students who wear uniform 'buy in' to their schools standards and expectations. 

All Change!

Things have changed quite a bit since I last added information and comments on this blog: job role, colleagues, assessment methods, qualifications being reviewed and updated, and the benchmarks for curriculum content being slimmed down (yet being very prescriptive). 


Hopefully I will add more comments to this blog, however it may less driven by curriculum but by the holistic approach taken when considering the impact of pastoral processes upon my thoughts and actions.   

River Wear Tuesday 27-11-2012

10.00am

2.00pm

The webcam today shows how the height of the river is likely to have peaked in the night and gradually decreased throughout the day.  Above are two photos that show this decrease - look at the path on the RHS to see the difference.

River Wear in Flood - November 26th 2012

As rain affects many parts of the UK, with several places in flood, the River Wear also bursts its banks.  I have found a new webcam that shows the levels of the River Wear in the city centre in almost real time (there is a lag of approximately 20mins on the camera).  It is located next to The Gates shopping centre and if you click on the times at the top of the picture you get an image with the height superimposed on it.  I have shown the difference between 9.00am this morning and 3.00pm this afternoon.

9am

3pm

Conflict between Israel and Palestinians

Year 9 have been looking into issues related to water scarcity in the Middle East and have recently looked at the conflict that exists between Israelis and Palestinians.  This is a challenging topic and is difficult for many adults to understand as it is a historic yet very complex conflict.  Below I have posted a link to some of the pictures BBC have published about the recent conflict going on between Israel and the Palestinians in Gaza.  The Palestinians in this area that Israel are fighting are the Hamas which are classed by the West as an extremist organisation,  however by Turkey and nearby countries they are not.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-20383584

Remembrance Service with Belmont Juniors

Year 9 Form Representatives attended a short Remembrance Service in Belmont at the war memorial at the top of Carville High Street.  The juniors sang and read acrostic poems that they had written specially with a focus on love towards all.  Beth Percy and Aidan Barnabas read poems, then Jack Ball laid the poppy wreath on behalf of everyone at Belmont Community School.  It was a short, yet moving service.

Maldives - Case Study for Coastal Flooding

Year 10 last week were looking at coastal flooding and as part of their understanding have to have detailed knowledge of the social, economic and enviromental impact of coastal flooding in regards to a case study.  The case study we use is the Maldives in the India Ocean and it just so happened that the Sunday night before I happened to watch the BBC2 programme  'Indian Ocean with Simon Reeve' episode 4 - Oman to the Maldives.  The second half of this programme (forward to around 31mins to start the Maldives section) described many of the effects we have looked at and gives many more interesting facts too, including the island that they use as a dumping ground which is very different to the idyllic scene the tourists see!

You can watch this on the BBC iplayer at

Indian_Ocean_with_Simon_Reeve_Oman_to_the_Maldives/

He has a blog and website that is quite interesting too - links to these can be found on the iplayer page above and the programme website is below:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/tv/2012/05/indian-ocean-simon-reeve.shtml 

Day 5 - Travelling back home

Got up ridiculously early this morning! Flight a bit turbulent due to the wind but made it back ok but battling the traffic on M62 at the minute! All the students on the trip have impeccably behaved - thank you to you all for making it a really enjoyable and successful trip.

Day 4 - Reykjavik

Today we walked into Reykjavik town centre for a look at the local shops and culture. We visited their famous white church which was extremely modern looking. Several purchases were made within the group including, limited edition albums, t-shirts, Christmas decorations and various souvenirs! Unfortunately we had a phone call at this point to say that the whale watching as cancelled as conditions were getting worse so even if we changed to the south shore to do it, it was too dangerous so no boats were leaving the harbour that day. So then we managed to organise an impromptu second visit to the Blue Lagoon. Even there it was a lot colder than it had been on the Monday when we'd arrived! It had waves on it due to the gales blowing! Later we braved the wind to try and visit a restaurant recommended to us by our hide guide, Sara! It wasn't out day as it was fully booked! So we headed back to our hotel ! Tomorrow is an early start - 5am!!!!!

Church in Reykjavik

Harbour at Reykjavik

Our second visit to the Blue Lagoon - a bit more chilly this time!

Day 3 - South Shore Tour

Today we saw the most amazing waterfalls I have ever seen. We stopped first at Skogar which was extremely impressive and the rock profiles at the side of the gorge looked like the profile of a troll!! We then passed on their most famous Volcanoes called Katla (which is due to erupt). We looked at amazing hexagonal columnar blocks on a black beach! We also got the added bonus of visiting a glacier - this the highlight of today as the internal caves and crevasses were amazing but also quite enchanting. We visited another waterfall which we had hoped to walk behind but the ice was so slippy we could not do it. Later on we had a Halloween face painting competition which Amy W won! Not sure what we are doing tomorrow as forecast is for worsening stormy conditions near Reykjavik.

Beautiful columnar blocks on the black basaltic beach

Snow storm in the morning!

On (or rather under) the glacier!

Iceland Day 2 - The Golden Circle Tour

Today has been incredible. We started off by walking part of the fault line between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates. Then we went to see the geysers, hot springs and fumaroles. We watched the geyser several times trying to take a better photo/video each time. It was amazing how a dome of water would rise up and then look as if it had exploded each time! Some of us then did some shopping in the large (and very expensive!!!) souvenir shop. We then headed off to see the Gullfoss waterfall which was spectacular. We also stopped off to see another waterfall and a volcanic crater. Tonight we have been on the coach to see if we could see the Northern Lights but after 2.5 hours of trying we had to give up as it was too cloudy.

Strokkur geyser 

Start of Day 2 

Gullfoss Waterfall - this was breathtaking!

Walking between the North American and Eurasian Plates

Iceland Day 1 - Travelling and visit to the Blue Lagoon

Yesterday we flew from Manchester airport to Keflavik in Iceland. On the way to the hotel we stopped off at the Blue Lagoon. It was amazing to see the pale blue opaque pools of water against the black basalt rocks. We also enjoyed the lagoon, it's silicon mud masks, massaging waterfall and natural steam room !

7 days to Iceland......!!!

Listen to a couple of reminders...

2012 Exam Results

Well done Year 11!

HISTORY

26% A*-A

72% A*-C

GEOGRAPHY

34% A*-A

81% A*-C

The David Sheldrick Elephant Sanctuary

One of the highlights had to be the elephant sanctuary as they were absolutely beautiful and did act like children (as in elephant terms they were) as they were playful, mischievious and naughty! There were elephants there that were between 3 months old to 5 year old. It was sad to hear about the horror stories which decribed the way that they elephants had ended up there - many often were traumatised by seeing their mothers being killed and as the saying goes - elephants never forget! Well, they do eventually but they do remember things for many many years so often young elephants find it hard to adjust to go back into the wild depending on the trauma they may have suffered before being lucky enough to be taken to the orphanage. It was interesting to hear how they were looked after and each elephant had their own worker who was like their surrogate mother and when they first arrive in the centre they sleep with the elephants for the first 3 months.

They also had a rhino there that had been there a long time who they could not release into the wild again as he was blind.

Their 2011 newsletter describes many of the rescue stories that put the elephants there.

Nakuru National Park

The next day we went on a game drive through Nakuru national park. Nakuru Lake is one of the alkaline lakes in Africa which has a large amount of algae which attracts its many flamingos. I saw many other animals whilst I was there including: lions, rhinos, several types of monkeys, water buffalo, water buck, warthogs, zebras and many other types of birds including sea eagles, herons, pelicans, and marabou storks (that are very ugly!).

The view from what is known as Baboon cliff was amazing and the baboons did live up to their repuations and did get into the minibuses and try to take bags etc from it - quite intimidating as they are not small animals!

Day 5 - Kakamega to Kisumu 53km

This felt like a long journey despite being nearly half that of other days. The most striking part of this day were the contrasts in wealth seen on the way into Kisumu centre. We stopped about 10km before the centre to re-group so that we could cycle in together for the last 10km. It was probably the most scary of places I cycled through and at one point we passed a demonstration where men were marching, banging drums, throwing stones and waving machetes! I later found out that the President of Kenya was expected in the town the day after for a conference and it was a political protest of some kind. We cycled to our hotel for the evening which had spectacular views of Lake Victoria which covers 70,000 square kilometres and is the major geographical feature of this part of the continent.

After having a short celebration for completing the cycle ride I went down to the Lake to go on a boat trip to see if we could see some hippos. We barted a price and managed to go out and have a tour of the small bay we were near to. I was delighted when I got to see a family of hippos and some of the life around the lake. There were lots of children playing in the Lake whilst their mothers were washing and men were bathing in the Lake. It was strange to see how some were washing in the Lake, collecting their drinking water from it and others were sunbathing next to it as part of the large hotel complexes that sat on the Lake shores.

That night at the hotel there was a huge thunderstorm which caused a lot of disruption as the electric would go off and after the power cuts on the second night at Thompson Falls we knew they could last for a longtime! However we were given candles and moved inside so all was well in the end. It has been quite an emotional day for many of the women as they had completed the cycle challenge we had all come to do and there were some very touching personal testimonies from some of the organisers as well as the women taking part as to what made them take part in the challenge and their journey to get there.

Day 4 - Eldoret - Kakamenga 92km

Today was a longer ride but compared to the day before the hills were slightly less relentluss in that because they were undulating with every uphill came a downhill! We rode through some of the poorest areas I saw but also some of the friendliest. Children as like the previous days would shout "how are you" constantly and as soon as you answered them "fine, how are you?" they would roar with laughter. They also shouted Jambo and appreciated our efforts to wave and say hello to them. As a rule the Kenyan's who would line the roads as they walked to work would be very sombre looking and at times you did not know whether to say hello (Jambo) to them or not. However, once you had 9 times out of 10 their whole expression would change they would give you a great smile and say hello back. The children were so friendly - out of all the villages and towns we cycled through I only heard 1-2 derogotory comments referring to white people. There had been one village on the second day where a mam had pushed one of the women off her bike and they had to sent the ground crew in the vans to park at either end of the village to escort us through due to the possible trouble.

Here though they were so friendly and welcoming it was amazing. We stopped at lunch in a local pasteurs garden who was obviously quite well off for his village and he was very friendly, introduced himself and told me a little bit about himself. He was a pasteur, but also had a PhD and was a very well educated person. He strongly believed in education for children and told me that he intended on sending all of his 11 children (ages 21-1) to school and further education if he could afford it.

One thing that I noticed whilst cycling through so many villages that very young children were always looked after slightly older children - they were rarely with their parents. It was only babies that I saw with their mothers.

Day 3 - Kabarnet to Eldoret - 87km

This was the most challenging day of the ride. It involved crossing the Kerio Valley and climbing the Elgeyo escarpment. It started with a transfer from Lake Baringo to Kabernet and it started with a fantastic 18km downhill stretch which was really quite steep and basically meant free-wheeling for nearly the whole 18km! Then we cycled another 10km across the valley floor which had a really strange geomorphological gullies. The temperature was extremely hot here as it was over 35C. Then we started our climb up the escarpment. They had set a bronze silver and gold challenge for people to see what they wanted to do. However the heat of that day meant that several did not do any and most stopped at bronze! I was please to go on to the silver challenge but felt like it would go on forever at times! It was also embarrassing that at times people who were walking alongside the road seemed to be walking faster than I could cycle uphill! It was a great sense of achievement that I achieved the silver challenge. The views once at the top of the escarpment were amazing.

We stayed in Eldoret which is famous for the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF)'s High Altitude Training Center for Kenyan and international athletes. My legs were aching but it was satisfying to know that I had completed more of the uphill challenge that I thought I would have been able to. That night we stayed at a pleasant hotel however it was yet another challenge trying to get a shower when hardly any water came out when it was switched on - did I forget to mention that it was cold too?

Day 2 - Nyahururu - Nakuru 57km

This day already seemed better just because I knew I didn't have to cycle as far! I ached justed a little but after the first couple of km I was fine. Today the weather was sunny and warm yet due to the altitude was not too hot. Yesterday we were supposed to have ridden through a lucious countryside that was filled with fields of crops, however this was more what I saw today. There were a lot more trees and it did seem more lucious than the day before I passed at least 2 signs for universities but saw no building that could represent a university like those we have in the UK. I passed lots of tea and coffee plantations which made the landscape look extremely green. We stopped to see one and listened to the process in which they are involved in here. There was not much processing going on which is where the profit is added - they gerenally exported the raw beans or leaves. Some coffee is produced but mostly for local comsumption. I bought 2 packets of ground coffee whilst I was there and then for the rest of the trip everything in my bag stunk of coffee! We then had to take the buses to the evening stop at Lake Baringo at the Soi Safari Lodge. Many of the local boys and girls had been down to the Lake and had to walk past the entrance of the hotel - the younger children were amazingly friendly, however the older ones were becoming very consious that they did not want their photos taken and would complain. Yet all of the them asked "Can I have a pen for school please?" this was the most widely asked for thing by children whilst I was there - they very rarely asked for money. Me and my new friend Jo decided to go on a boat trip to see if we could see any rhinos! The two local boys that took us out were very polite. 'Jeff' as one of them called himself must only have been about 14. The most noticebale thing was his teeth - they were very brown and discoloured however part way through the trip he stopped his 'tour talk' to answer his mobile phone!!! We saw several of his friends out fishing. The hotel itself was ok but I think since I had arrived my expectations were lowering themselves in order to cope with the quality of some of the places we stayed - it was here that I had to remove a cockroach from our room (or rather I got Jo to do it!) before we could sleep.