Back to School

Today I spent the day with a year 6 class in a primary school in Moss Side, Manchester, where I will be helping out and observing for the next two weeks. I can happily and wholehearted refute recent irresponsible comments made by the Shadow Home Secretary. These 11 year olds showed no evidence of being involved in urban warfare. There were no bullet wounds, and not even a hint of a Baltimore accent. They were bright and enthusiastic kids who could probably do without thoughtless politicians labelling them and their home environment by comparing Moss Side to The Wire.

Anyway! Primary school seems to have got a lot more sophisticated since I was there. I got to witness a "Shake Up, Wake Up" assembly, when a dance troop of pupils performed to a song called "Show your national colours". It was really upbeat and the rest of the school got to join in at the end. Next came an hour of numeracy, a break, then 95 minutes of SFA (Success For All - today, conflict resolution and emotional vocabulary. It felt a bit like group therapy...). Lunch followed, then a brief spell of handwriting, which involved an programme on the smartboard that included videos of people leading hand warm up exercises! Next came science, when the students had to plan an experiment, including how to make it a fair test! Did we even discuss the concept of a fair test at primary school?? Finally there was circle time, which involved a couple of rounds of wink-murder, with some very dramatic death performances.

Generally it was all very enjoyable, although it was a bit awkward at lunchtime in the staffroom. No one seemed at all curious about who I was or what I was doing there, and although I tried to start conversations with them about the school, or their class, no one really seemed to want to chat. Hopefully this will improve with time. If not, I'm going to start bringing a book...

Will keep you posted on whether I have to resort to that or not!