This happens at the start of every year. I half-write a journal entry and then something else note-worthy happens, I begin another entry and I neglect to complete both. The result is either a huge single entry full of items, or three shorter entries in close succession (surely much preferred).
Grab a coffee/chardonnay/small dog and read at your convenience.
Dear Journal
Has the year begun well?
Is our events calendar full, fun and shared?
Are the staff focused, trained, motivated and equipped for the year ahead?
Is the new timetable working?
Are Friday Afternoons running smoothly?
It never fails to astonish me how different two adjacent weeks can be as the summer closes and a new school year begins. From a peaceful planned period of completion of the Estate works at the end of August, to the high energy of a now-major, year-opening festival and the full influx of hundreds of fresh and refreshed faces.
To see Cransleyfest in full flight: lights dancing on the Hall; guests dancing on the lawn; fireworks dancing in the eyes, allows me a moment to take stock of the school’s ever progressing development, as it begins the academic year. That moment to take a long breath before the show begins.
I watched this time with a more critical eye after five iterations of the event, and concluded - rightly or wrongly (someone will eventually let me know) - that the festival itself is still engaging for all ages, entertaining, well-timed and worth holding.
Note to self, to speak to the team who sorted the weather…
The Cransley events calendar (see the schoolbase portal or Mr Morris’s recent email) is packed full of more and more occasions, for pupils and parents alike with every year that goes by. And as a result this term tends to sweep by in a blur. There is not a week that goes by without a major event taking place in school - from Head’s coffee mornings, parents evenings, ISA Art exhibitions, promotional filmmaking, guest speakers, trips and activities out of school, Harvest, Fireworks and Christmas festivals and productions and services, Open days, open afternoons, makers’ markets, occasions when we are hosting both Mr Morris’s Association of Junior Independent Schools and my group of fellow ISA Headteachers in the North West, and much more.
My colleagues and I recognise that being a Cransley family is as much about a sense of experience and opportunity as it is about anything else. I hope we meet that brief.
As employees of the school, we are part of a truly talented group of colleagues, each ever-increasingly expert in their field.
The year began with two intense training days for staff on mandatory safeguarding and child protection, our next careful but confident strides in the development use of AI in teaching and assessment, some exemplary pedagogical research, a wider sector overview and my outline development curve for the year ahead.
If you are unlucky enough to find yourself talking with me at a Head’s coffee morning, I might chunter on about Sigmoid Curve theory, which describes a common life cycle pattern of growth, maturity, and decline, observed in various systems like businesses, products, technologies, and even individuals.
If you haven’t encountered such a dull conversation topic before, it's an S-shaped concept curve that begins slowly, then enters a period of rapid, almost exponential growth, followed by a slowing growth rate as it approaches a plateau of maturity or saturation. It can model projects, physical and mental activities, even relationships.
Sigmoid Curve Theory 1
A crucial aspect of the sigmoid curve theory, especially in business, is the concept of the "second curve" (yellow dotted curve above) which must be identified and started before the first one peaks, not once it is in decline (brown dotted curve).
The second curve initiates by recognising slowing growth from a previous curve, and the need for something new. Progress isn’t immediate, because everyone gets twitchy - no one likes change and people love WhatsApp. Problems have to be predicted and addressed, plans have to be fail-safe and accurate, even when based on soft data and theory. Time and effort and thought and collaboration is required.
Then, after this, when everything is readied, the change takes place and everyone starts to see the benefit of why the second curve was bought in in the first place. Eventually these benefits become appreciated and normalised. Everyone settles in, and growth is allowed to happen.
Sigmoid Curve Theory 2
Having been the headteacher now for over nine years, and deputy prior to that, there have been hundreds of different curves which together have led to the school’s continued development - pedagogically, financially, operationally - and a school of our size is more flexible and adaptive than many other larger schools in bringing about those changes successfully.
The latest major Sigmoid curves, amongst others are the development of AI in teaching and learning practice (more of which will be shared in another journal post) and the new timetable.
We may still be coming out of the ‘uncertainty’ stage, but we can see the reality backing up our theory, and that the decision was the right one. Talking to parents and pupils and colleagues, even seeking out those who objected a few months ago, we can see that the benefits are being recognised and appreciated: Pupils don’t really notice the longer day, but teachers appreciate the increase in teaching time, and both feel that the Friday afternoon is a happy reward. We know that the Friday lunch service is being fine tuned and we will better ourselves with every week. If we are still making the mistakes in November, then complain. I am right here, and ready to listen.
I would love for other schools, and their staff and pupils, to follow suit, and reap the benefits (and they are indeed asking) but to be frank, they all are far too large and rigid to move on such an idea. Our agile, aspirant and flexible nature makes Cransley true pioneers in doing this.
Enough for now. You have finished your cup of tea and I am heading home.
Yours, as ever
Mr Pollock
Headteacher
Next Journal entry:
Are our policies reviewed, updated and compliant?
Are the Board fully informed?
