My friend,who is a prinicpal of a new but small integrated school had her school attacked and part of it burnt last night. She was invited to the school i am in with the kids and they were taught there to day and probably for a time to come. There is a resident evil about,who do not want change,peace or parents to have the right to choose what form of education they want for their kids. It is such a sad time,especially for those kids who were at a lose to understand just what was happening to them to day.

I got a copy of the school's mission statement and shared it in the community. I think it might be helpful foe other researchers,as i work in a different type of school,because of,they reason's why it was set up,the ethos and the fact that we do not have to follow LEA guidelines.we adopt them if we wish, Oakgrove IPS Community-Vision-Aims and Mission. Oakgrove Vision. Celebrating Diversity-Learning together for life. Oakgrove Aims. Oakgrove IPS aims o promote high achievements and learning for life by working with children of different backgrounds-regilion, culture, race, gender, ability to become, • Become happy,confident,polite,tolerant and caring people, • Develop high self-esteem, • Respect themselves, others and the environment, • Develop enquiring minds and a since of wonder, • Become highly motivated, lifelong learners, • Be flexible, adaptable and skilled for the modern world, • Be good listeners and communicators, • Be sensitive, articulate and develop empathy, • Achieve individual potential-inyellectually,physicially,socially,spiritually,culturally,morally and emotionally, • Be able to problem solve, self evaluate and goal set, Oakgrove Mission. At Oakgrove we believe each child will succeed through experiencing quality in the provision of, • A welcoming, happy school which listens to children, parents and staff, • A broad, balanced challenging curriculum, • A stimulating and supportive learning environment, • An ethos of respect,discipline,challenge and encouragement to succeed, • An enriching extra curriculum programme, • Learning partnerships between schools, home and the community. • High expectation of children and staff, • Excellent, up to date learning resources and equipment, • Active, reflective and collaborative learning and teaching. • Safe, supported opportunities for discussion on diversity issues, • Teaching strategies that recognise different learning styles, • Special needs education across the ability spectrum, • Inspirational, enthusiastic and highly motivated skilled teachers, • Cohesive, enthusiastic, well motivated and valued staff. This and the school's 5 yr development plan will be helpful for learning in the work setting module. The school stes great store on self esteem,i have mentioned that we have all be trained in the LOU TICE programme,and we are encouraged to discuss issues regarding diversity. Well as we are an integrated school,all regilion should be respected.

I have posted a few messages relating to evaluation and to goal setting. I revisited Lou TIce as we are going to have a refresher course on him next week. He has a holistic and some what regilious view on goal setting and affirmations. I know i did make a post about this in my blog but i cant seen to find it. I have made a good start to the about me module and i have nearly completed 2 parts. I have constructed my PDP so i am pleased that i have a stsrt made to 2 modules

i have been sharing some of my findings about self assessment in the community and await their views on it. I found this information in a booklet produced by local LEA's and thought it might be helpful for others in the coming term. What is self evaluation? Is a process through which an individual/teacher.groups of staff, reflect on their current practice,

identify and celebrate the strengths of the school,

identify and address areas for improvement in their work, engage in personal and shared professional development,  focus on improving the quality of learning and teaching.

The process of self evaluation: 

 is ongoing and sharply-focused and involves monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of existing provision,

 recognizes the need for all staff to have a clear view of the school's current stage of development and through school development planning,to identify priorities which will have a positive effect on learning and teaching, informs and influences classroom practice and the quality of learning and teaching and promotes development and improvement, requires staff to evaluate their work critically,reflect on the extent to which expectations are being realized in the work of the school, The purpose of self evaluation is to, promote school effectiveness improve the quality of learning and teaching, This is just a taster of the content of the booklet,i hope it might help in some way. Penny This information ame from a booklet produced by local leas,so i had hoped to recieve some comments on it. well iam trying to be an active member of the community and share new information with all. I think this information will be useful for LA3 IWS,in which i will look at my learning and relate that to the school development plan and action plans.

i have sent a few messages to the community about goal setting and lit from Damon Burton and Lou Tice. i decided to share this to see if it would be helpful to other researchers. Damon Burton site is excellent and gives great tips to creating your own personal goals I have found a very useful site,which offers a free tutorial on goal setting. Damon Burton is the author. I have found this very helpful for the "about me" module. Penny

 I have also shared Lou Tice's views on goals sharing see below Lou Tice founded the Pacific Institute for Investment in Excellence in 1971. All the staff in the school i work in have been trained by Lou in a 3 day work shop he facilitated for us. His thinking and that of the school Principal are linked. I thought i would share his thoughts on goal setting,bearing in mind,he has a very positive view and recommends at all times a positive self talk and affirmations, "Guide to goal setting,the big picture. Goals reflect the priorities and balance in life.the self is personally accountable for achieving each of our personal goals" .1.Big picture consists of personal marriage family health,physical health mental social vocation,job education recreation retirement spiritual. 2. order and consistency,we can achieve some goals in diverging directions but we can achieve many more with less effort when the goals converge or are aligned. 3. goal cooperation practical application of the cognitive dissonance theory,we need to help people acquire ownership in our goals. 4.constructive images it is essential that our goals exist vividly in our minds as constructive images. 5.clear imagery clear imagery of our goals makes us more accountable and consequently releases more of our energy and creativity. 6.accomplished end result.need to visualize the end result clearly and vividly as though it were already accomplished,all our goals are stated as in the now. His teachings can be a lot to take in as we can be negative in our daily lives. I have taken some of his teachings onboard,but found most of them a bit hard to swallow. Penny I wonder what other researchers will make of him. some of his thinking i have taken on board but i find the majority of his teachings hard to swallow. One of the reasons i have brought him up is that we have a refresher course of his next week and already staff heads are down because they do not want to waste time,their words listening to him again. The problen is that our prinicpal eats sleeps and breaths Lou Tice.

I HAVE BEEN PUTTING SOME WORK INTO MY HOMEPAGE.
i HAVE ADDED TWO MORE PAGES,THE FIRST ONE I WILL USE FOR PICS OF MY GRAND CHILD/REN AND THE SECOND ONE I WILL USE FOR MY RESEARCH TOPICS. I AM PLEADED WITH THE WORK I HAVE DONE TO DAY BUT AS I AM NOT VERY TECHNICAL IT DID TAKE ME A LONG TIME,BUT WELL WORTH THE EFFORT. SOMETHING TO BE PLEASED WITH.

Taking Gills advice i posted a book overview of one i am reading on ASD. i wish i had of found this book when i wes researching autism for my ILM. This book does all the work for you. I charts the histoey,who discovered it,the schools that were set uo and have now closed,characteristics,how to help and revcelent web sites and other literature.Such a wealth of imformation,i do hope it will be able to help other researchers.
See confidence growing in regard to posting in the community,i am a bit of a coward and usually wait to see the threads and then make a comment,but now i have posted first and id do know it is not a review as such,at least i posted first.oh ho a first for me.wait and see,i will check to see who has read it and commented,worrying about it,well just a little.
started working on LA2, learning in the work setting and i am a bit to wordy and i dont have enough research and imformation that i think i should have in.thats ok i will go back to it cut down and add in what i think is lacking. God there is so much that could be added,from all the infromation i have ebbn reading i should make the revelent point as bullet points,keep it short and too the point.

I recieved flowers yersterday from one of the researchers i met when she came to Derry to visit her roots. What a lift they gave me,i do love flowers. Such a kind gesture.
I have been looking at SWOT analysis to determine my shrengths and weaknesses and i composed a mind map.
To do this effectively you need to be totally honset with yourself. They is no point in lying to yourself as the only person you are fooling is you. I followed their advice and asked criticial questions regarding these and this does help to find solutions and or stratigies to help reslove these issues.
I am now going to look at the dackground to self assessment and add what i find into the all about me section .
 I have also made a start on my PDP and luckily enough the school have just finished the school development 5 yr plan so i have that and last's years PDP as a starting reference point.
The school plan in my mind is directed to gaining the inverstors in people award in 2006,when they have to reapply again for it. They have included training for this but support staff training is directed towards that slso. Iy isnt specific enough and covers all support staff with general training in white boards,kidscape,invertors in people ect. I am going to have to look at my individual training needs and apply or use the professionals i know to get the required training i need.
I can apply to the school for training in specific areas but the stinger in the tail is that when you do this,you have to deliver an insert training day and train CA's.
It can be of putting,not because i an not confident,i have done it before,but ithere is such a hugh amount of work involved in it,combined with work,degree and home life,it can take its toll on you.
It might be worth my while to check out the price and pay for it myself,then,well no training of others. I am not beig selfish,just trying to look after myself and not leave myself ill with over work.

Juat got my results and i wanted to jot down my initial feelings.
Ok relieved that they are finally here and i got a 62,which makes me very happy considering i am not keen on AE.
Gill's comments are very constructive and will urge me on to attempt to do better,

Juat waiting for my latest AE results to be posted,hopefully to day.
How do i feel? Am i anxious? Not really. At the time of completing the work i was happy enough,but now that i have other information, the conculsions could have been different. But that is not my fault,it is down to lack of communication in work. I am being generous about that.Its more like staff looking after their own backs,trying to look good for the boss. And who lost out? me not really.I learnt a valuable lesson,to question loudly,to chace the truth,no matter who is looking after who. No matter who wants to look good,i need to satisfiy mt search for the truth. The losers in this are the kids. If phonographix is not going to be used on the group it was originally purchased for,then how are we to help those kids. I say we,as i have very little input into what programme to buy or use.
I do have my own ideas which would help but it would require a lot of work from the SENCO team and me.I am not afraid of hard work but the others???????
I believe if phonographix was adapted,intergrate symbol writing and using brain buttons form the brain gym programme,these children will progress.They would need daily sessions but icant see that happening. I wonder just what SENCO really do? When i worked with a child who had downs syndraome,SENCO didnt take her at all because she would not work for her.She worked for me,it required patience,time,intelligence and the main factor,the most important charecteristic needed when working with special kids,A PERSONALITY AND A GENINUE CARING ATTITUDE TOWARDS KIDS.
Then i woked with that beautiful autistic child and no one from the SENCO team worked with him,we were left out in the cold so to speak and i had to do the best i could for him. And i did,i saw him progress and broke my heart when he left this term .
So what is going to happen this term comming when i start to work with this kid with ADHD. Looking at his statement aand his ILP,he(no surprise) has had very little support from SENCO,he needs to have his self esteem raised and needs help with his short term memory.That is what needs to be worked on from the start.
So will i let him drown waiting for the powers to be come up with some kind of plan to help him.I dont think so.I have plans of my own for him.
Self esteem.I need to encourage more friendships,get him to look and be proud of any and all achievements he makes,get him to take charge of some areas of his learning. This list is amall but it will grow when we finally met and satart to work together.
Short term memory. maybe brain gym,try symbol to help him recognise words,make games, again so far a short list until i can guage just where he is.
so my plans do not include SENCO,so far,he comes first,even if i fail,at least i will have tried.