Students have really helped me out this week- demonstrating their initiative.
The Tour de Yorkshire hits North Yorkshire this weekend, the bunting is flying and businesses are prepared, as record numbers of visitors are expected to visit our area. As a school, budgets are tight- I think I might have said this before – however, the Town council made us a very kind donation to ensure we could decorate the school perimeter for the Tour. The next dilemma was – what can we do? Unfortunately, the weather over the last week or so hasn’t been very kind so our planned ‘field art’ idea was scrapped. Driving across the county I had seen a number of the MDF cut out bikes and set out to source some. Ten MDF bikes arrived on Monday morning – unpainted Ah! A trip to Sandersons for paint in yellow and sky blue. Next problem the GCSE Art exam is in full swing, so no chance of using the art room and some willing students, as they are all far too busy. Solution – ask year 10 art students. They duly took control, re roomed themselves to DT and set about undercoating and painting in every spare minute they had. If in doubt – ask a student! A similar dilemma was solved thanks to the students in The Bridge last week, as the new mobile phone racks arrived – flat packed with instructions in chinese. After a frustrating half an hour getting absolutely nowhere, Year 8 students took pity on the HT and in no time at all had assembled all the racks, labelled them and delivered to classrooms!
I have made many cups of tea for students this week as the GCSE Art exam and Spanish speaking exams have taken place. Together with revision and a bit of a last minute ‘wake up call’ – that revision might actually be a good idea – I have supported, cajoled and listened to a number of Year 11s as they prepared to ‘get their heads down’. It is proof that, even at this stage, being in school and not on study leave has huge advantages. Often, as real life suddenly looms, students who might previously been a little blase or lost focus, suddenly appreciate a bit of encouragement to make the changes that will make the difference in August.
Enjoy the long weekend.
