The Voice of Spalding and South Holland
Maggie Bird and Paula Baker are the Head of Year 8 team at Spalding’s Sir John Gleed School.
They are there to make sure that students are succeeding academically and there is nothing getting in the way.
We know that we all do better in our work when we are happy and feel well supported by those around us.
At Sir John Gleed we want our students to be happy and to enjoy their learning.
In this article they outline a typical day in their working life.
“We have been the Head of Year 8 team at the school for three years now and like all good students we are always ‘ready and raring to go’ each morning!
“Our job is very rewarding and it is great to see the students start to blossom into responsible young adults.
“Our working day starts with a discussion about how the previous day has gone and any students that we may need to see for academic or pastoral reasons.
“Most mornings we have students drop in to see us to either say hello, tell us what they have been doing the evening/weekend before and occasionally to discuss something more serious – whatever the issue the students know they can come and talk to us and we will help them to resolve it.
“We also put together a tutor programme which the students follow every day, this is designed to promote social skills and develop literacy and numeracy strategies.
“During Tutor Time we can also be seen visiting classes to carry out spot checks on uniform, equipment and planners – we expect all our students to come to school dressed in the correct school uniform and with the correct equipment.
“Tuesday is assembly day for year 8, during this time we cover various topics relevant to current affairs for example we have recently had a series of assemblies on cyber-bullying, some of which were led by year 10 students.
“We also talk about the importance of regular school attendance and the impact it will have on their achievement.
“To support this we hold assemblies celebrating student’s achievement throughout the year.”
Paula: ‘My role to help students to achieve’
Paula continued: “I will then either go off to teach History or will carry out my Head of Year role which may involve meetings with students or parents or tracking where students are in relation to their expected targets of achievement.
“I will then meet with the students to discuss any issues which may be impacting on their achievement and work with them to resolve these.
“I will also talk to staff who teach the student to find out what strategies can be put in place in the lesson to ensure that the student is achieving their full potential.”
Maggie ensures pupils’ high school attendance
Maggie said: “I will check who is absent from school and will follow this up with meetings with parents/carers to offer support to ensure that a student attends school regularly.
“We know that students with high attendance are more likely to succeed in their studies.
“In our year group we are doing really well at the moment with attendance of about 95 per cent and still rising.
“I will then attend meetings with parents and other agencies for example, Children’s Services, School Nurse, Family Support and Educational Welfare to name a few, to support any students who are experiencing any difficulties within school or at home in order to remove any barriers to learning.
“I will pop into lessons to support any students who, for whatever reason, are feeling vulnerable. No two days are the same and plans can change if a situation arises that needs my input.
“We are both passionate about helping our students achieve their full potential and love working with the Year 8s. They are a fantastic bunch who aim to please – most of the time – the job is not without challenges but we thrive on getting the best out of our students.
“If your child is struggling or unhappy at secondary school don’t hesitate to get in touch with the school.
“Some schools will have Heads of Years and some will have Heads of Houses but there will always be someone available to help.”
