Author: Steve Philp

Yes: schools should be fined for not teaching reading

So, the recent report on the Summer 2011 riots recommended that schools should be fined for not teaching reading. I agree.

Michael Bond, the author of the much loved Paddington Bear, was on the BBC on Monday morning. He said that the two most important things you can do with children are spending time with them and teaching them to read. He went on to say that reading must start in the home.

And for many families this is the case. Reading does start in the home. Children are exposed to books from birth. They are read to every night. They understand which way to turn the pages and which way to read the script. They may even recognise a few words.

However this is not the case for all families. For some children their first exposure to books is at school. For a sizeable minority in my school this is the case. And for many more, whilst the children still have had some exposure to books, they still enter school behind the national average for reading.

In my school we have to teach reading. Merely giving the children a home reader and hoping doesn’t work. The children have to be taught how to read from scratch.

In contrast, at the school where my own children go, less teaching of reading is needed. This is because in general the children enter the school more able to read and continue with more home support of reading as they progress through the school.

Yet funding is more or less the same. Yes, my school probably does pick slightly more special needs funding, but it is for the few children who are a long way below the national average, not those who are slightly behind. And despite that, the teaching of reading at my school really works. Where nearly 80% of the children enter the school behind the national average, less than 20% leave the school behind the national average.

We taught reading well to a lot of children.

I suspect the measure being suggested by the panel that investigated the Summer 2011 riots would suggest fining schools like us for allowing some children to leave us at a standard that is lower than the national average. But wouldn’t be great if it was a measure that rewarded schools who actually teach reading and don’t just leave it up to supportive parents.

Whisky Tour Day 3

The sun rose on another splendid morning in Islay, highlighting the underside of the clouds in a marvellous rippling pattern. I should have taken a picture. But I didn’t and half an hour later the sea fog, or ‘haar’ as they call it around these parts, had rolled in. 4 seasons in one day? It can be 4 seasons in two hours in Islay.

Still that didn’t dampen the enthusiasm for distilleries and 3 more were on our agenda for today. We began with Bowmore – the oldest on the island. The tour was very informative but unfortunately they’re very secretive about their processes and we weren’t allowed to take any photos beyond the maltings – 25% of which are made on site.

I tasted a pleasant dram of 12-yr old Bowmore overlooking the shores of Loch Indaal – a really stunning place to drink whisky.

Our next stop was Bruichladdich, but with some hours to kill before then, we stopped on the Islay Woollen Mill – an amazing operation in a stunningly beautiful setting and patronised by royalty. My wife bought me a jumper.

The Islay Woollen Mill is set in a stunning location

It really is a great place to visit to see a master craftsmen at his traditional best.

Our guide then took the cunning choice to walk the mile and half to Bridgend for lunch. A good idea on the face of it, even the dram of 12-yr old Bowmore we took half way couldn’t disguise the muddiness of the path, nor the wetness of the drizzle. Both of these things preceded our bedraggled arrival at the Bridgend Hotel, which I can say, serves both excellent food and excellent whisky.

Our next distillery stop was Bruichladdich. A relatively new distillery having re-opened ten or so years ago, this place boasts an overwhelming range of different whiskies – almost too much too choose from. However when I tasted the heavily-peated, 9-year-old, wine-cask-finished Port Charlotte and then discovered I had the chance to bottle my own  – I just had to go for it. I was also impressed with the Octomore 4.2 and came away with a bottle of  that too.

Some colours from Bruichladdich

Kilchoman was a last distillery on the tour. Having started in 2006, it only has very new malts, but both that we tried were really pleasant. The 5-yr old bourbon-cask was heavily peated, but excellent, and the 5 yr-old sherry-cask was much richer, but with an equally long peaty aftertaste – my favourite sherry finish that I had tried thus far.

Now there remains a ferry trip and a stop at Loch Fyne whisky shop on the morrow.

Whisky Tour Day 2

A short ten miles from Bowmore this morning and we were in Port Ellen. Once home to its own distillery (and still sadly mourned by some), Port Ellen now only hosts a ferry terminal and a huge maltings house that supplies many of the distilleries on the island. It is also the gateway to the big three – Lagavullin, Ardbeg and Laphroig.

 

The mighty Lagavullin distillery

Our first stop was Lagavullin. There we met the effervescent Ian, who I had first read about in Michael Jackson‘s mighty tome: “Whisky”. In his fortieth year at Lagavullin, Ian led us through a tasting of various Lagavullins, from the regular 12-year old, through a 15 yr old, 19 yr old, 46 yr old and then a double matured. While it was a treat and a privelege to hold a glass of nearly 50 yr old whisky, I wasn’t that impressed with the taste and much preferred the 15 yr old and the 19 yr old. However it was then both amusing and frustrating to hear Ian tell us with garrulous charm that there was nowhere we could buy the 19-yr old – it had all run out.

It might not look like much, but this could cost £50 a glass!

Ardbeg was our next stop. After lunch there we went into a room with Jackie for a tasting of different Ardbegs. All of them I liked, preferring Ardbeg over Lagavullin, but my very favourite was a variety called Corryvreckan, named after a large whirlpool that develops between Islay and Jura in certain conditions. For me it contained just the right bend of smokiness, bitterness and body, although maybe I’d be better off describing it when I taste it by itself and not after a few drams of Lagavullin.

The tasting room at Ardbeg

Our third stop of the day was Laphroig. It was another amazing place with a good tour and a splendid tasting room, although at this stop we only sampled one variety of Laphroig. It was great to see the maltings in operation at Laphroig – they use 15% of their own malted barley – the rest come from the big maltings in Port Ellen.

A barley grain showing that first sign of a root.

It had been Laphroig who, earlier in the day, we had seen cutting the peat bogs on the road to Port Ellen. This is an operation they still do in a traditional style, by hand and using no machinery other than hand tools on the turf. Perhaps this is a reason why Prince Charles chose to bestow his Royal Mark on Laphroig some time ago – he’s also been one for believing in natural, traditional methods. Or maybe he just likes a wee dram of Laphroig.

The stills were impressive too, pumping out their spirit at a fast rate.

The stills at Laphroig

With Laphroig done our touring was over for the day. Tomorrow we sample Bowmore, Bruichladdih and Kilhoman. Should be interesting.

Whisky Tour Day 1

Auchentoshan was our first stop on the whisky tour. Just outside Glasgow, the tour is well-organised and quickly takes you through the essentials of whisky production. Our guide, Ali was knowledgeable and friendly, even if the noise of this fully-operational whisky distillery made it difficult to hear at times. Our guide at Auchentoshan

The whisky was certainly colourful. The difference from the 6 year old to the 21 year old made a splendid display.

The Colours of Auchentoshan
The Colours of Auchentoshan

And it tasted splendid too.

A wee dram of Auchentoshan

There followed a long drive. The countryside was marvellous – beautiful views of Loch Lomond, followed by Loch Awe. However the quality of the road and the quantity of the roadworks (too features which must be somehow linked) put a dampener on the beautiful sights.

We stopped on the way in Oban, for lunch and briefly popped into the distillery there. We stopped briefly at Kilmartin and saw it’s ancient church, Cetlic Cross and grave carvings. We also stopped at Tarbert where once Viking lords had pulled their longships across the land to claim the Mull of Kintyre.

Finally we were on the ferry to Islay. The light coming through the clouds was stunning, and the brand new ferry meant for a very pleasant crossing.

Now tucked up in bed next to Bowmore distillery, I’m looking forward to a trip to the peaty ‘Big 3’ on the south part of Islay tomorrow.

 

 

The danger of visiting posh toilets

Have you ever been in one of those shiny new places

With crisp mirrors set into blue lazer bright tiles,

Where the reflections are only of beautiful faces

Well-trimmed eyebrows, neat nosehair and toothy, white smiles?

When,

After using the urinal disguised as a fountain

And the basin disguised as a wall hanging plant

Hands dried, you inspect the pores and start counting

The number of eyelashes too terminally bent.

And suddenly notice the way bright lights are angled

Gleaming and glinting from every which way.

They light up your ear hair – so eerily spangled

Glistening and sparkling in random display.

Easy wins

Looking at the mound of old, slightly damp paper I found in the loft was slightly daunting. How was I going to start sorting through this? Especially when I have so much to do to prepare for the Spring term.

Fortunately a couple of easy wins popped out at me: poems.

Written on a scraps of paper some years ago, it wouldn’t be too difficult to type them out. And here’s my first one: The ‘F’ word.

By tomorrow I need to think of a title for a poem about toilets and ear hair.

The ‘F’ Word

I don’t like the way ‘F’ sounds

Eff. Phhhh. Phuh. Effeffeffeff.

It’s clumsy at the end of a word.

Makes rhyming difficult: like life

Only really rhymes with wife

And strife, I suppose.

Oh and knife – that goes.

‘F’ spoils beautiful

And starts that word we don’t like to say.

But it does have one redeeming feature:

‘Frog.’

Digitising the Frog

It’s been on my mind for a while that I have created a lot of stuff. My back catalogue includes songs, poems, cartoons, stories, games, letters and stuff that I can only describe as “stuff”.

My inclination is to continue creating. I like to blog and contribute to 6 blogs of my own creation. However my timing is inconsistent and ill-disciplined. I love to start new things – I find finishing things hard. Belbin would describe me as a ‘plant’. I like to be the ‘ideas’ person – providing a spark or an innovative solution and then moving on to the next thing. I like to think I’m a radical – laying the track for the train, but not being particularly bothered whether the train comes down it or not.

I am aware that in my role as deputy headteacher I cannot always afford to be this way. I have to see things through; to be there when the train passes through; my purposes I have to keep true; I want to be there for you.

Besides my role, I have been challenged in other ways last year. I have become aware that some of my responses to the various blogs that I read have varied in viewpoint. Like an educational butterfly I have found myself flitting from position to position to the point where I’m not really sure what I believe. I have found some of the blogging of @andrewolduk, Michael Merrick and Doug Belshaw to be helpful in beginning to secure a more stable educational philosophy.

A curious parallel to this is something I’ve been working on with my mentor. I described to him that I saw myself as a Jack of all trades and master of none, and went on to sum myself up as being quite good at lots of things, and by implication, not particularly good at anything.

The obviously solution to this would be to depart on a long journey of self-discovery to Tibet or some such place, but in a shocking break from tradition I’m going to do something quite different. I’m going to digitise my content. I’m going to curate it: keeping the good, destroying the bad and then archive what’s left.

I’ve been mulling over this idea for a few ideas under the working title: ‘digitising the frog‘. And that title has stuck.

So apologies if you’re reading this – it’s going to be quite a self-indulgent place. Worse, I’ve got the hang of this #project366 thing now – I’m supposed to make a contribution to the project everyday and that’s what I’m going to do. This is entry #1

I’m going to continue to write educational stuff over at Posterous.

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