Should Scottish Government Scrap Plans for Pay Cut for Supply Teachers?

I read an article today by Andrew Denholm of the Herald Scotland entitled “New demand to scrap pay cut for teachers” which read:

Teaching unions and political opponents made the plea yesterday after a survey by Scottish Labour found 84% of local authorities did not fill all requests for short-term cover in 2011/12.

In addition, some 52% of councils also experienced problems filling long-term supply requests over the past year.

The highest rate of non-fulfillment for long-term supply was in Edinburgh, while for short-term supply the greatest problems were in West Lothian.

Of the local authorities in Scotland holding accurate records, half revealed a reduction in the number of teachers held on their supply lists.

The biggest drop in the number of supply teachers available was in Aberdeenshire, which lost 275 teachers from the supply list in one year alone. Read More.

As an employer of Scottish teachers who tutor in our Kip McGrath Education Centres, there are a number of tutors who teach for us at Kip but are also supply teachers in the Scottish Education system.  I have listened to their plight and cannot believe how badly these bright new teachers are being treated.

We normally only employ highly experienced teachers at Kip McGrath but I sometimes employ an inexperienced teacher who I believe is a star and will motivate and teach our students.  I find it so hard to believe that these bright and eager teachers full of so many wonderful ideas cannot get a full time permanent job in Scotland.

When I started teaching the world was a different place.  We could pick and choose the schools we wanted to work for.  Now everything is different and as a teacher who has had a very fulfilled life as a teacher, I genuinely feel sorry for the bright new teachers in Scotland who are struggling to find a secure, decently paid position in our Scottish Schools.

I also have had contact with this Group of Supply Teachers who are trying to raise awareness and give support. http://www.scottishsupplyteachers.com/apps/blog/

They are also on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/ScottishSupplyTeachers

Please note, I do not know anyone associated with either of these sites personally and they have no connection to Kip McGrath Education Centres but if you are a supply teacher in Scotland there appears to be a lot of support and advice on offer.

Helping Scottish Children become more Independent Learners

Reblogged from Kip McGrath Musselburgh blog:

I’m up early this morning planning for my sessions down at Kip McGrath Education Centres in Musselburgh. Thursday is a busy day for us and I’m very much looking forward to tutoring English, French and Maths to all our wonderful Primary and Secondary students. Can’t wait to see 8-year-old Becky beat her times tables record again. She’s become so confident with the table she’s been practising that she’s even beating the Secondary kids! Way to go Becky!  Independence in Scotland The news in the background …

10 Tips to help your child become an Independent Learner written by Angela Giglio of Kip McGrath Musselburgh in East Lothian, Scotland. This is a fantastic article for parents on how to encourage their children to become independent learners. Excellent advice for parents.

Why teach handwriting in the digital age?

Reblogged from Kip McGrath Lisburn Tutor's Blog:

• 

Is handwriting soon to become obsolete? The advent of the digital age has meant our world is changing . The way in which we communicate has changed fundamentally from a more formal style of  letters and written correspondence to email and social media – a series of short, spontaneous messages we create and send within seconds. Our schools are beginning to see the benefits of using new technology in the classroom and the use of tablet computers to enhance the teaching and learning experience will become …

To read the full article click on the Link above to Kip Lisburn’s original article – this is our response.  As kindles replace books, as ipads replace jotters in schools and our children learn to “text speak” on their mobile phones, I worry about the future of childrens’ literacy, grammar and handwriting. However the digital age should be embraced by teachers (it’s not going away). I wonder if in 10 years time teaching children the art of hand writing an actual letter may be part of the curriculum? I hope so.

Teacher Franchise Opportunities – Make Teaching your Business at Kip McGrath

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I am Margaret Carmichael and I have been a teacher for over 40 years, latterly as Deputy Head Teacher at Paisley Grammar.  I consider myself to be a great teacher but I felt restricted in my teaching role and unable to teach children in the way I knew I could.

In 1999, I discovered Kip McGrath Education Centres which was founded in Australia and loved the idea of being able to teach children in a way that I could really make a difference and controlling my own career by running my own business.  I have never looked back and have now helped 28 other like minded teachers open their own teaching business in Scotland.

Who can Open a Kip McGrath Centre?

Running my own Kip McGrath Tutoring business has been one of the most rewarding experiences of my life and we have many successful centres in Scotland run by teachers I have helped make this transition who would agree.  I do not allow just anyone to set up a Tutoring Centre – in fact I have turned away teachers who I felt were just not ready.  So are you ready to open your own tutoring centre?  This is what I look for in applicants:

• You must be a qualified teacher and registered with the General Teaching Council
• You must be passionate about teaching and be able to inspire students
• You must be organised, motivated and dedicated

What will you get from Running your own Centre?

I could talk about training, marketing and support that we will offer but if you are just considering this as an option, the best thing is to speak to our other Scottish franchisees, visit a local centre and watch them in action, look at the teaching materials and unique computer programmes and decide if this is something you would like to do – then we can talk!

This is what some of our Kip franchisees have to say:

“Running a Kip McGrath centre is a great way forward for anyone who would like to stay involved in education but close the door on traditional teaching.  It may seem like a daunting project but support and encouragement  from your Master Franchisee or Franchisor is only a phone call away.  I now run the Livingston and Balerno Centres and make a very good living and have a much higher quality of life.  I am about to open my 3rd centre and am happy to welcome anyone interested in joining our Kip network at my centres.”  Pip Watt, Centre Director at Livingston and Balerno, Edinburgh South.

“I have been operating my Kip McGrath Education Centre for over two years.  It has been the best decision I have made in a long time.  Not only do I thoroughly enjoy going to work everyday, but my turnover has grown steadily every year.  Parents in my area know what the Kip McGrath brand stands for and almost all of my business comes from referrals”.  Jeremy Hemmings, Centre Director, Peterhead

Financing Your Teaching Business

What does it cost?

You are now able to purchase your territory, teaching resources and training package at a much lower cost of £15 000 . This means that to fit out your centre and launch your own business, you would be investing around £23 000. We also have accreditation for finance with a number of high street lenders including Barclays, RBS and HSBC.  Full details are available in our free business information pack.

If you would like an information pack, to visit a Scottish centre or just to ask a question in confidence, please contact me on 0141 571 2517 or 07711 451 400.  Alternatively you can email me at margaret.carmichael@ntlworld.com.  Further information is also available at www.kipmcgrath.co.uk/Scotland.

Hunting the Internet Bullies – Should stricter laws be enforced for Cyber Bullying??

I have just watched BBC Panorama’s Hunting the Internet Bullies and, although I was aware cyber bullying existed, I was shocked at the extent some sick individuals (grown men) who call themselves “trolls” go to cause hurt and pain to individuals just to get a reaction, especially in young people.

You can watch the episode in full on BBCiplayer at http://www.bbc.co.uk/i/b01c00y3/

I was appalled at the story of a young girl called Natasha McBride who was relentlessly bullied on a social networking site called Formspring and was in such despair she threw herself under a train.  Hours after a Tribute Page was set up on Facebook, her family were sickened by “RIP trolls” who posted obscene comments about their daughter on the page.  This is not an isolated incident.  These people do this for fun just to get a reaction and take pleasure in causing grief.

The other girl highlighted in the report was just 11 years old.  Watching the videos of 11 year old was just heartbreaking.

Another victim of cyber bullying is Cher Lloyd who was 4th in the X Factor.  You can watch what she has to say about how this has affected her below:

The panorama team managed to track down some of these trolls who showed a total lack of conscience or responsibility for their action.  One offender was prosecuted and served 9 weeks in jail.  Another referred to this and laughed stating this was nothing.

Surely harsher laws must be introduced to stop the cyber bullying that is going on.  I hope politicians have been watching and take notice soon.

I also hope parents take note and ensure they are aware of the dangers that their children may be in.  Please take the time to read Facebook Privacy rules under “help” on Facebook and make sure your childrens’ settings are set appropriately.  There is some excellent advice for both parents and children on internet safety at http://www.childline.org.uk/Explore/Bullying/Pages/CyberBullying.aspx.

East Renfrewshire Council postpone new Curriculum Exams

East Renfrewshire Council has announced that it needs more time to prepare for the new national four and five qualifications due to be introduced in Scotland in 2014 in line with the Curriculum for Excellence.  This means that pupils in East Renfrewshire could be sitting different exams to the rest of Scotland.

According to an article by BBC Scotland Education Correspondent, Seonag MacKinnon: “Confidence in the new curriculum for excellence has been dealt a blow by the decision of a flagship education authority to postpone implementation of new exams which are related to it.

East Renfrewshire Council, which records much higher numbers of exam passes than any other area in Scotland, says more time is needed to train teachers for the radically new courses.

The delay of a year is the latest set-back for the more open-ended curriculum which encourages staff to draw up most of their own lessons.

Supporters say it allows staff to teach modern material that is relevant to their pupils. But critics have suggested instructions to staff are so vague many are uncertain what they should be doing.

Under Scottish government plans, pupils now in the second year of secondary school are to be the first cohort to sit, in 2014, the national exams which replace Standard Grades and Intermediates.

But East Renfrewshire headteachers say they are uncertain of the detailed content of the exam courses due to start in August – which has yet to be unveiled by the Scottish government’s exam agency, the Scottish Qualifications Authority.

East Renfrewshire Council also plans to continue with the traditional exam timetable, putting pupils forward for eight exams in their fourth year of secondary school and five exams in fifth year. Preparation for the exams begins several years in advance”. Read rest of article.

As quoted in Gregor Hollerin’s article in The local Extra:

“A council spokesman denied the decision was a rejection of the Scottish government’s policy.

He said: “We must stress that we are not commenting on the quality of the new Nationals, but are using the distinctive characteristics of East Renfrewshire’s schools which offers our staff the opportunity of one further year.

“This will give our staff the opportunity to develop the new courses in a managed and measured way, ensuring that the experiences in the classroom will be as high a quality as they are at the moment.

“Our staff have engaged fully in the implementation of Curriculum for Excellence and the introduction of the new Nationals and will continue to do so”.

What Does this Announcement Mean?

With other councils admitting they will “reserve the right to delay”, obviously many schools are concerned they will not be able to implement the necessary changes in time. If East Renfrewshire Council who have some of the best schools in Scotland are concerned about this, then perhaps that would be an indication that a decision should be taken to delay the new Curriculum exams throughout Scotland.

Having Scottish pupils in neighbouring local authorities sitting different exams seems like a recipe for disaster.

What are your thoughts on this announcement?  We would welcome your comments.

Struggling Pupils don’t catch up according to Department of Education

In a report published by the Department of Education in England, just one in 15 (6.5%) pupils starting secondary school in England “behind” for their age goes on to get five good GCSEs including English and maths, official data shows.  Read more details of the report as reported on bbc.co.uk here.

Obviously this report applies to the English education system.  Scotland has a completely different curriculum.  However the statement that “struggling pupils don’t catch up” is not only true for England. It applies anywhere.

The number of children our qualified teachers at Kip McGrath assess who are struggling with basic literacy and numeracy skills is a concern, especially in those pupils making the transition from Primary seven to S1.

This is one of the main reasons students come to Kip McGrath (or any tutor for that matter).

At what level is your child really performing academically?

Early intervention with a structured consistent approach is necessary.  Reading problems must be tackled early since it affects maths and how the wider curriculum is embraced.

Parents must ask teachers specific questions to establish exactly how their child is performing within the class.  I hear many parents mentioning a common phrase used by teachers at parents’ night “your child is performing well at his/her level” without actually revealing which level the child is on compared to his/her classmates.  If your child is coping well but is in the bottom group for maths or English, is this acceptable to you? How can you help your child move to be “performing well” in the top group?

Is your Child Actually being Assessed?

 

Under the old 5-14 assessment guidelines, every student was assessed regularly and parents could see from certificates which level their child had reached and from the guidelines assess if their child was on target for their age group.  As part of Curriculum for Excellence in Scotland, this is no longer the case and I wonder if this is why we at Kip McGrath are receiving many more calls from concerned parents requesting an educational assessment by our qualified teachers.

 

Expectations and Aspiration

Another issue is expectation. If teachers set low expectations for children this will become a self fulfilling prophecy.  Some students have been discouraged to sit exams at certain levels as the teacher believed they would struggle.  Many parents refuse to accept this and enrol the services of a tutor.  At Kip McGrath we have heard many variations of this. This was a comment from a very happy father at our Kip Edinburgh South Centre in 2011.

 

“OMG.  Graham got a credit 2 and Craig got an A! Thanks,thanks,thanks!  I can’t begin to tell you what you have done for my sons who both hated English.  Craig was told he was going to fail Higher English by the school and thanks to you he got an A!  Graham got a Credit 2 and now English is his favourite subject.  I have no qualms about recommending your services to the school.”

 

To read more examples of these testimonials please click here.

 

How can Parents Help Children?

Our children deserve the best education possible and in Scotland many of our schools and teachers are performing exceptionally well with excellent student exam results. Sadly, this is not always the case and many students are ‘slipping through the cracks’. Longer working hours for teachers and large class sizes contribute. Some teachers are exceptional and can motivate struggling students whilst others struggle. I would urge parents who have concerns that their child is under-performing to talk to the teacher and discuss options that you can put in place to help your child reach their full academic potential.  Don’t settle for “performing well at his/her level”. It is not too late to help your child get back on track and aspire to achieving the best education they can.

10 Questions to ask at Parents’ Evening

My colleague at Kip McGrath Luton has published a blog entitled “10 questions to ask at parents’ evening” and we would like to list the questions we feel parents should be asking of teachers:

1. Is my child happy at school?  This means on an emotional and social basis.
2. What is my child’s attitude to learning?
3. Can he/she make friends easily?
4. Does he/she contribute to class discussions?
5. What does my child enjoy doing? Does my child prefer practical subjects (eg P.E, art, Design Tech), sciences (eg maths, science, geography) or humanities (history, English)?
6. What are my child’s strengths and weaknesses?
7. How can I help at home?
8. Is he/she at the right/expected level for his/her age group? Don’t accept “performing at his/her level”.  Ask which group he/she is in and how you can help your child reach the top group.   If you are worried about your child having learning difficulties then bring this up as well.  If your child is getting extra support at school then ask for details so that you know exactly what is being done to help your child.
9. For older children ask about any outstanding work and when school exams are.
10.  How much homework should my child be getting?

What Next?

If after having talked to the school you remain unsatisfied, you may wish to consider extra tuition for your child.  At Kip McGrath, our fully qualified teachers will provide a full FREE educational assessment and will advise you exactly how your child is performing.  If you wish to enrol your child, an individual learning programme will be created to concentrate on specific areas of weakness. To read our full learning programmes and further information please visit our main website at www.kipmcgrath.co.uk.

 

You may also wish to consider other tutoring agencies or a private tutor.  These options are discussed in our article “Does your child need an English or Maths Tutor?” and may help you make the right choice for your child.

Author

Margaret Carmichael is a former Deputy Head Teacher of Paisley Grammar and Master Franchisee of Kip McGrath Education Centres Scotland since 1999 and has over 40 years teaching experience in Scotland.

 

Power of Practice – Is talent or hard work the answer to succeed in Education?

We previously posted a blog on “How to help your child reach their full potential in life” in 2011 which was written by Angela Mitchell, a teacher and Director of Kip McGrath Cambuslang.

In our blog, we referenced an article by Mathew Syed, former three-times Commonwealth table-tennis champion.  Mathew Syed has now a best selling book called Bounce based on his view that everyone can succeed if you put in the hours and work.  He refutes the myth of the “child prodigy” and “child genius” and is adamant that practice and hard work can make any child a success, whether that be academic or sports related.

I subscribe to an excellent education blog written by Bill Boyd whose blog is at literacyadviser.wordpress.com and tonight he posted an article based on Mathew Syed’s new book called “Bounce -The Myth of Talent and the Power of Practice“.  This has prompted me to re-post our earlier blog.

We would thoroughly recommend reading this book and truly believe that born talent is a myth – the key to success in all aspects of life is not ‘born talent’ but is down to hard work and practice.

However, when we are dealing with children, this advice is only good if a child is receiving support from parents at home and teachers at school.  Many children are slipping through the cracks in education and not being engaged or encouraged to reach their full academic potential.  I despair at the number of children coming to me in primary school who cannot read properly.  How can children progress to Secondary School and learn and progress if their reading and writing skills are at P3 level?  Teachers are doing their best but with class sizes so big there are always going to be children with potential who are not achieving. What do we do?

This is our original blog post from 2011. I would like to mention Carol Dweck’s input from her link http://mindsetonline.com/whatisit/about/index.html

Praise Your Child’s Efforts

I read an interesting article the other day, written by Matthew Syed, a former table tennis champion, about how we can possibly hold our children back with the words we use and set them up for failure in the future both academically and personally.

We’ve all heard a phrase like”my daughter is not very good at maths or sports – she takes after her mother!”  People assume that talent is all about genetics and parents can unintentionally influence their childrens’ achievements by repeating this type of phrase to spare a child’s feelings if they struggle in a particular area and praise their children highly on achievements and results.

However, there has been lots of research into this subject (see link below) and it shows that every child has the potential to excel in all areas whether it be Maths, English, Science, Sports, Arts etc regardless of genetics.  The brain has the capacity to learn and excel at anything, as long as the effort is put in and encouragement given in the right way.

We need to remove the mindset in children that they have talent for certain things like sport but are not academically gifted.  This is not necessarily true – every child has the potential to be an academic given the correct teaching methods and putting in the effort.  It is very important that a child has the correct mindset and realises that effort will bring them to the top in any field, not ‘talent’.

My view as a Parent

As a parent I quickly became aware of the value of commenting on behaviour as this was something my children viewed as changeable.  They knew I was angry with the negative behaviour and I praised their effort for trying hard to change it.  Something as simple as teaching them to ride their bikes meant commenting on how hard they were trying and with practise/effort they could achieve their goal of no stabalisers. Shouting to remind my oldest about a previously learned skill, such as timing it right to put both feet down after breaking, saved her from smashing head first into a tree in the park, then praising her for working hard on this –  previously she fell off every timed she braked and nearly killed off a few cats in the process!

My view as a Teacher

As a teacher, you have to get to know the children you work with and build up a relationship with them.  However, the last thing you want is for them to perform a task just to receive praise from their teacher.  Praise can either be a bond or barrier.

Allan McLean, ‘The Motivated School’ (2010) talks about contaminated praise where a teacher gives praise with the add on of ‘but I wish you could do that all the time’ or ‘why can’t you always..’  McLean states that praise should be relevant, specific and immediate.  Praise for effort encourages children to concentrate on their learning as opposed to showing off their ability.  It teaches values and builds confidence and much research points to the fact that it is related to self-esteem.  It is important to be confident in your ability to deal with difficulties and to know you will progress if you work hard and use the correct approaches, especially when the going gets tough. Confidence in ability is only useful when pupils are doing well, therefore, praise for effort changes their mindset to cope when they come up against a challenge.

This links with Carol Dweck’s research where she states that praising effort and not talent encourages children to view challenges as learning opportunities rather than threats.  Hers and McLean’s research impacts on our beliefs about talent and influences the way we respond and think.  We need to promote the view that IQ is not fixed and the brain is like a muscle – the more we exercise it the more it grows and our skills expand with practise.

My experience at Kip McGrath Education Centres

The foregoing is at the heart of the Kip philosophy and the materials we use.  As tutors we have to remind ourselves the impact words have and can either hold back or encourage an individual.  The materials provide students with skills practise and as they move through the programmes they can experience first hand how their efforts reap rewards.

For example, I have a young student who is dyslexic.  The computer programmes use a multi sensory approach where he hears, sees, touches and responds.  The written materials provide practise and the tutor teaches the skills and approaches to use when meeting new challenges.  He told me he hated language work in school but after coming to Kip for a while he now likes to read books and enjoys sitting in the library corner at school.  He knows he finds reading challenging but now has the confidence to use his skills and knowledge about language to tackle words when reading.  His mindset has changed.  He views himself as a reader and believes if he works hard and keeps practising his skills will expand.  He no longer believes he can’t read because he is not as clever as the other children in his class but is something he can work hard on.  His mum told me today that his class teacher can’t believe the difference in his attitude.  He contributes in class, asks for help and is determined to succeed.  He still has many challenges to face but with the support of his tutor, the Kip materials and praise targeted to his effort he has the capacity to deal with the learning challenges he faces.

Getting it Right

As a person I am not saying I am perfect.  It has taken me years and lots of courses, assignments and analysing my behaviour to make sure the impact I have on children/students I teach is a positive one.  Sometimes I get it wrong and feel like kicking myself but self-reflection is a great tool to put you on the path to getting it right.

Angela Mitchell (right) runs the Kip McGrath Education Centres in Cambuslang together with Lesley McAteer (both fully qualified teachers).  To contact us, please click on the photo to take you to our main website or call us on 0141 646 2314.

Sources and useful links for this Blog

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/woman/3546553/Praise-your-kids-for-effort-not-being-bright.html

http://mindsetonline.com/

http://www.themotivatedschool.co.uk/

National Literacy Trust Survey Reveals Almost 4 million children in UK do not own a book – What can we do?

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Concerns about Childrens’ Literacy in the UK

In September 2011, The National Literacy Trust undertook a survey of school aged children across 111 schools in the UK.  Worryingly, it suggests that 33.2% of children (approximately 3.8 million) in Britain do not own a book.  This has shifted dramatically since 2005 when 1 in 10 children owned a book compared to 1 in 3 in 2011.  The survey reveals that girls and children from wealthier areas were more likely to own a book and that these children were more likely to excel at school.

As highlighted on the BBC website  on 5th December 2011, Trust Director Jonathan Douglas said the steep rise in the number of chilren without their own books was of particular concern. This is what he had to say:

He said: “We know there is a direct correlation between book ownership and childrens’ reading abilities”.

• “With one in 6 in the UK struggling with literacy it is very worrying that many children could be missing out on opportunities to develop these essential skills.”
• The trust said that children who owned books were more likely than others to read every day, and that book ownership had a clear link with reading ability.
• Of the children and young people with books of their own, more than half read above the level expected for their age, with fewer than one in 10 reading below the level.
• The survey also revealed links between reading ability and receiving books as presents.
• About a fifth of children said they had never been to a book shop or a library.
• But the survey also showed that reading any type of material, for example magazines, outside class at least once a month was also associated with greater reading attainment.
• In light of these findings, The National Literacy Trust have launched  the Gift of Reading this Christmas by asking the public to make a donation which could give a disadvantaged child a book of their own for the first time.You can buy the ‘gift’ for yourself or give the unique present to the booklover in your life. Those giving the Gift of Reading will be able to choose an exclusive Christmas card designed by a children’s author including the wonderful Julia Donaldson & Alex Scheffler who created the Grufallo.
• To support this wonderful cause and read the original report, please visit the National Literacy Trust website.

 

Why is this happening?

One of the findings of the National Literacy Trust Survey is that poverty is a factor in children not having access to books.  I don’t think poverty is really the issue here.  Many children from lower income families have access to expensive games consoles, dvds etc.  Books can be cheap.  Going to the library is free and there are numerous charity shops and book fayres where you can pick up childrens’ books for pennies.  I would suggest that lack of the parents’ education have reflected on their children.  If parents were never encouraged to read then why would they consider encouraging this to their children?  This survey shows that children who read at home are more likely to do better at school.  If a parent is not a reader, then they are less likely to gift books and put as much importance on it.  It is up to the parents and family members to encourage reading at home from an early age.

A major concern to the Trust is the steep decline in readers since 2005. This apparently could be in part to blame with the boom in information technology.  Children are texting, on social networking sites, playing computer games, watching dvds and surfing the web.  Of course this is going to have an impact on the next generation.  There is so much more access to entertainment now than the previous generation had.

However, children are missing out out so much by not reading books at home.  This is what one of our students at Kip had to say:

Why I love books by a 9 year old Kip Student.

Heather, aged 9

“I enjoy watching films on dvd, but I think reading is much better as I can imagine all the characters so vividly and it boosts my imagination.  Reading means a lot to me as I like to read in bed instead of watching films.  I love to imagine what the characters in a book look like in my mind.  When I am reading a good book, I can read for hours but if I fall asleep, I can pick up the story in my head the next night”.

“I love to read books.  My absolute favourite book is called ” Lily Alone” by Jacqueline Wilson and is about a family of young children and their mum (no dad).  Lily is eleven and the oldest.  Her mum leaves her with her brother and sisters to go on holiday with her new boyfriend, Gordon,  but her mum thinks her ex husband Mikey is taking care of them when he did not receive her message properly and Lily is left alone with her younger brother and sisters and is forced to run away and hide in the park in fear that she would be found and taken into care.”

My Experience as a Teacher

I have been a teacher for over 40 years and since 1999 I have been the person who runs Kip McGrath Education Centres in Scotland.  I also continue to run and teach in my own Tutoring Centre in East Kilbride.  I have found that my own experiences since 2005 reflect the findings of the National Literacy Trust and that the reading age of children is on the decline.  This has been a worry for myself and our other Centre Teachers for a number of years in Scotland.  It will be interesting to read what others have to say on this subject.

As a teacher and grandmother to a 4 and 6 year old, I love getting children to realise why they are learning to read as it is so much fun. Even if you are out visiting with your family, no-one thinks it’s rude if you are reading!!

I always give books and book tokens to my family and I think this is very important.  Of course, no matter how hard we try there will always be those children who are reluctant to pick up a book.  That is why we have compiled the list below of some of the most recent magical books which have been highyl accclaimed to inspire even the most reluctant of readers.

Books To Inspire Reluctant Readers:

Early Readers

Elephant & Piggie – We are in a Book! by Mo Willems – Part of the “Learn to Read” series, this is the latest and possibly funniest story yet about Gerald the Elephant & Piggie.  Be prepared to laugh out loud (children and parents alike) when the pair discover that they are actually in a book and can control what the reader says.  What happens when they discover that there are only so many pages left?

Interrupting Chicken by David Ezra Stein It’s time for the little red chicken’s bedtime story —and a reminder from Papa to try not to interrupt. But the chicken can’t help herself! Whether the tale is HANSEL AND GRETEL or LITTLE RED RIDING HOOD or even CHICKEN LITTLE, she jumps into the story to save its hapless characters from doing some dangerous or silly thing. Now it’s the little red chicken’s turn to tell a story, but will her yawning papa make it to the end without his own kind of interrupting?

Princess Poppy Series – The Tooth Fairy by Janey Louise Jones -A brilliant fairytale adventure that little princesses will love, Princess Poppy – The Tooth Fairy comes complete with a lovely pink tooth bag and is guaranteed to reassure little ones when their teeth come loose! With adorable illustrations and an easy to read and easy to follow plot, this is a wonderful bedtime story that kids will ask for time and time again. Poppy is desperate for a visit from the tooth fairy but her teeth just won’t come loose!

Middle Readers

Molly Moon’s Incredible Book of Hypnotism by Georgia Byng – Molly Moon is treated like dirt in her squat English orphanage, with only her pal Rocky, starry Qube soda ads, and the library stacks to give her comfort. After she discovers Hypnotism: An Ancient Art Explained in her favorite library spot, Molly begins learning the ropes and takes mental control of Petula, the orphanage’s grumpy pug dog, and the nasty staff members. But when Molly finds out that Rocky’s been suddenly adopted in New York, she hypnotizes her way to the city, into Broadway stardom, and — unfortunately — into a wicked professor’s plot to rob a high-security bank. Thankfully, though, she and Rocky finally meet up, and with a few surprises, the two hatch a plan to set things right for themselves and for their orphanage.

Gangsta Granny by David Walliams-

Another hilarious and moving novel from bestselling, critically acclaimed author David Walliams, the natural successor to Roald Dahl.  A story of prejudice and acceptance, funny lists and silly words, this new book has all the hallmarks of David’s previous bestsellers. Our hero Ben is bored beyond belief after he is made to stay at his grandma’s house. She’s the boringest grandma ever: all she wants to do is to play Scrabble, and eat cabbage soup. But there are two things Ben doesn’t know about his grandma. 1) She was once an international jewel thief. 2) All her life, she has been plotting to steal the crown jewels, and now she needs Ben’s help…

Ninth Ward by Jewell Parker Rhodes - Twelve-year-old Lanesha lives in a tight-knit community in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward. She doesn’t have a fancy house like her uptown family or lots of friends like the other kids on her street. But what she does have is Mama Ya-Ya, her fiercely loving caretaker, wise in the ways of the world and able to predict the future. So when Mama Ya-Ya’s visions show a powerful hurricane – Katrina – fast approaching, it’s up to Lanesha to call upon the hope and strength Mama Ya-Ya has given her to help them both survive the storm.

A Tale Dark & Grimm by Adam Gidwitz -F0rget everything you know about Hansel and Gretel. What you were told was the lite version, where all the interesting violent bits got cut out, or so the omniscent narrator of A Tale Dark And Grimm would have us believe. AND YOU GUYS, A Tale Dark And Grimm is WAY more kick ass, than the Hansel and Gretel we remember .

The Night Fairy by Laura Amy Schlitz - What would happen to a fairy if she lost her wings and could no longer fly?  Flory, a young night fairy no taller than an acorn and still becoming accustomed to her wings — wings as beautiful as those of a luna moth — is about to find out.

Older Readers

Artichoke Hearts by sita BrahmAchari – Twelve-year-old Mira comes from a chaotic, artistic and outspoken family where it’s not always easy to be heard. As her beloved Nana Josie’s health declines, Mira begins to discover the secrets of those around her, and also starts to keep some of her own. She is drawn to mysterious Jide, a boy who is clearly hiding a troubled past and has grown hardened layers – like those of an artichoke – around his heart. As Mira is experiencing grief for the first time, she is also discovering the wondrous and often mystical world around her. This is an incredibly insightful, honest novel exploring the delicate balance, and often injustice, of life and death – but at its heart is a celebration of friendship, culture – and life. This book is the winner of the 2011 Waterstone’s Children’s Book Prize.

Rise of the Wolf – Werewold by Curtis Jobling - ‘You’re the last of the werewolves son. Don’t fight it…Conquer it.’ When the air is clear, sixteen year-old Drew Ferran can pick up the scent of a predator. When the moon breaks through the clouds, a terrifying fever grips him. And when a vicious beast invades his home, his flesh tears, his fingers become claws, and Drew transforms …Forced to flee the family he loves, Drew seeks refuge in the most godforsaken parts of Lyssia. But when he is captured by Lord Bergan’s men, Drew must prove he is not the enemy. Can Drew battle the werecreatures determined to destroy him – and master the animal within?

Building the Maths Brick Wall – How gaps can form when learning maths

This is an excellent video and article written by my colleague Suzanne Lanzon of Kip McGrath Cambridge South that explains how gaps in your child’s knowledge of maths can hold them back as they progress through school.  Every Kip McGrath teacher understands that these gaps need to be filled so that they have solid foundations in maths and allow them to reach their academic goals.  This is a very well explained article and we would like to thank Suzanne for allowing us to share with you.

I’m sure that most parents understand that the foundations in learning are vitally important to how well their children do at school. In most subjects, learners can begin at almost any level, then learn something else at a different level and there is no real impact on overall understanding. Science for example: I could learn about electricity, forget exactly how it works 3 months later but have no difficulty in then learning about waterproof materials. I did not need to understand the first concept to understand the second. In contrast maths is a subject that builds upon itself, this is what we mean by saying learning maths is like building a brick wall. When building a brick wall, we place brick upon brick and we are certain not to leave any bricks out. In maths, we need to place concept upon concept and we must also make sure we do not leave any concepts out.

We enter Year 1. We are bright eyed and bushy tailed and we love school. Everything at school is ‘playing’. Our teacher is great and we learn so quickly that we constantly surprise our parents with how much we know…but…let me ask you these questions:

• Did you ever miss a day or more of school?
• Did you daydream occasionally?
• Were you ever distracted by your classmates? Were there one or two who seemed to demand more time and attention from the teacher?
• Are you certain your teacher covered every concept and until you personally understood it fully?

Generally we can assume that we have not understood every single concept that should have been covered in our first year of learning. We would have missed one or two bricks out of the 100 that we needed to lay down that year. This is not the point where we really think twice about there being anything missing. Laying down 99 bricks has been a great effort. Our results show that we are achieving and we are keen for Year 2!

So along comes Year 2. We still enjoy learning although we’re beginning to see the difference between playing activities and learning activities. Playing is just a little bit more fun than learning. We have the next lot of 100 maths ‘bricks’ to place on top of what we learnt last year and mostly, we do that well. There is a slight glitch when we have to place learning ‘bricks’ on top of the one we missed last year. The concept is ever so slightly more difficult we just don’t seem to really ‘get it’. Our teacher has 24 other children in the class. She does well to make sure everyone is on task and everyone is learning but she doesn’t have enough time to cover what we were supposed to understand last year as well as teach this new concept. We’ve understood most of this year’s maths but we now have a wider gap forming on that weaker point of ours. Once again, we get a report card that shows that we are on track. There might be a mention that we need to develop in some areas.

You can see what is happening here. We enter Year 3 and of course, the work gets harder and it gets faster. There are always plenty of other children in our class and only one teacher. Once again, we have a wonderful teacher but she cannot teach me the concepts I missed in Year 1 and 2, Samuel the concepts he missed in Year 1 and 2, Kara, the concepts she missed – as well as make sure we are all learning this year’s work. Through no fault of our own we have a gap in our maths brick wall. By about now, it is starting to show. Every time we attempt to build more difficult concepts on top of the weaker part of our wall, they fall down. It’s frustrating and we begin to think that maybe we’re just not very good at maths. In Years 4 and 5 our gap widens and we lose that wonderful confidence and love of learning we once had. Most of the time we’re doing okay but whenever we try to build on that widening gap we are reminded of how we are failing, how we just can’t seem to keep up.

This is the point when most parents notice that something isn’t quite right. It can be quite painful to realise that our ‘little learner’ has lost some of that shine they used to have; that they are having some difficulties in learning maths. Parents will usually try to help by assisting with homework, buying maths books or asking for more work from the teacher. I am always heartened when I meet great parents such as these! The problem is however, that parents can have no way of knowing exactly where those missing bricks are…or how far back they were missed. This is where we can help. At Kip McGrath Education Cambridge South our tutors specialise in finding exactly where those pesky, missing bricks are and in helping children to understand them once and for all. The learner can then build on that area until they are at the level they need to take on the new work in the classroom. Once students have a solid brick wall up to the level of their class, they are confident enough to put the new information on top and continue the process of building their maths brick wall once again.

Suzanne Lanzon (BTeach, BEd, MA) is the Centre Director of Kip McGrath Cambridge South. Suzanne has 16 years experience of teaching in a wide variety of schools and institutions. In addition to teaching in the UK, she has taught in Australia and as a volunteer in Malawi, Africa. This wealth of experience, combined with her passion for education makes Suzanne one of the best teachers you are ever likely to meet.“I am passionate about learning because learning brings self confidence and opens the doors to life’s opportunities; it’s also a lot of fun! It is my privilege to instil in my students this same passion and encourage them to be the best they can be.”Connect with Kip McGrath Cambridge on Facebook

East Kilbride Tuition – Do you know if your child is struggling at school?

Click image to go to East Kilbride Website

I am Margaret Carmichael and I run the Kip McGrath Education Centre in East Kilbride.

I pass two lovely new schools on my way to the Village in East Kilbride.  The children all look great in their school uniforms and you can sense that they are happy.

Talking to parents, it is clear that the teachers are working well with Curriculum for Excellence and most parents and teachers I have talked to believe CFE to be a good idea in principal.

Parents’ Concerns

However, I have noticed a distinct increase in parents expressing concerns about the lack of annual assessments as part of the new CFE and they find it difficult to guage how well their child is actually performing academically at school.  In some cases, this has resulted in parents being unaware of problems in English or Maths until they reach Secondary 1.

England have introduced a short reading test at age 6.  This gives parents a clear picture and allows them to know if help is required.  Having run Kip Centres for 12 years, I know that many children in the early years of primary need extra support in reading.  Parents knew this in the past because their child had not passed level A or Level B.

Our Assessments

At East Kilbride, I have a number of parents who have brought their children for assessments because they had concerns but had been told by the school that there were no worries.  When I did an assessment, it turned out that it was the parents’ instincts that were correct and that extra support was needed.

At Kip McGrath centres, we do a classic reading assessment which gives us a clear picture of a child’s reading age as well as indications of reasons for weakness.

Another area where parents have highlighted concerns is with performance in maths.  Unlike English, maths is a subject which requires building blocks and if some blocks are not there it is very hard for the child to progress.  This sometimes does not become clear until they start Secondary 1 and are given a maths test which can be very demoralising for the child.

Because all of our Maths and English tutors at Kip McGrath are fully qualified (and highly experienced) teachers, we are able to quickly pinpoint any particular weaknesses and create an individual learning plan for every student.

Arrange an Assessment

There are a number of ways to arrange a FREE educational assessment.  Either call Margaret Carmichael on 01355 266566 or email margaret.carmichael@ntlworld.com.  Alternatively, visit our main East Kilbride website and click on arrange an assessment.

Social Media at Kip McGrath East Kilbride

At East Kilbride, we are embracing social media and it is an excellent way to communicate and share ideas with our students and parents.  Please like our Facebook Page and follow us on twitter  If you have friends who may be interested in Kip McGrath, please feel free to share.

East Kilbride Students

Our students are working exceptionally hard as always and we love to see them arriving for their lesson at Kip with a smile on their face.  What makes my job so rewarding as a teacher is when a student suddenly “just gets it” and to watch their confidence and abilities grow.  These are some of our Kip Stars!

Is bad parenting to blame for the London riots?

Is bad parenting to blame for the London riots?.

“I am sure like me you have been watching with horror the scenes that have been coming from London in the past few days.  livelihoods destroyed, homes reduced to burnt out shells and traumatised people who have lost everything fill our television screens and social media feeds.  I was horrified to hear that one of my own Kip McGrath colleagues was right in the danger zone and has had to clear out her tutoring centre just in case of more rioting tonight!”

This is an excellent blog article written by my colleague in Lisburn, Northern Ireland on her reaction to the recent wave of riots in the UK.  Is bad parenting a contributing factor to what has happened?  We would welcome your feedback.

Whether it’s Hogwarts or Anytown High – Help your child Make a magical Transition from Primary to Secondary School

First Day of High School

Most adults can remember their first day at High School.  It was an exciting time but also a little scary.  As the last two weeks of the holidays fly past, parents and children are turning their thoughts to the new academic year.  New blazers, ties, shiny black shoes and the bit I loved best; getting a school bag and pencil case and filling them full of the most colourful and exciting pens, pencils and erasers that I could find.

If I’d been to France or Italy during the holidays, I’d be spoilt for choice. They have such lovely stationery items over there.  Even as a teacher, I could never resist buying lots of fun gadgets for my classroom and I even picked up a cool mushroom in Florence this summer for my Kip McGrath Education Centre in Musselburgh.  It has a rubber for its head and sharpener for the stem.  These things always put the ‘cool’ into school for me. I love languages and the French have a great word for back to school – la rentrée the return.

Problems Children Face with the transition from Primary to Secondary School

However, for children who are moving up from Primary to Secondary there is no return to that safe little haven where they learned to read and write.  As young adolescents it is upwards and onwards and for many children, as well as being an exciting time, it can be somewhat frightening to say the least.  For parents and grandparents too it is an emotional time.  The little ones are growing up fast and change is in the air. We know that change has to be managed carefully so it is important to make the transition as smooth and as stress-free as possible.

As a teacher of 20 years experience, here are some of the most common problems I found children encountered in the first few weeks of High School and a few suggestions as to how to overcome them.

Scared of getting Lost

One of the biggest challenges is the size of the new school.  As little 8 year old Sana who attends my centre would put it, whether it’s a ‘Harry Potter’ school or the local Comprehensive, children have very genuine concerns about the size of their new school.  “Lots of corridors to negotiate, staircases and perhaps tunnels too”. The school day is structured differently with bells ringing at regular intervals and movement around the building.  They worry that if they don’t get to the next class on time, the teacher might be cross and yell at them and even give them detention.  As a teacher, the most tears I had to dry up during the first few days were those of poor little lost souls looking for the music department but ending up goodness knows where instead!  What a state they could get themselves into!

Angela’s Kip Tip

Most schools have excellent transition programmes and your child should have had a visit to the High School already.  If they haven’t or you are still worried, phone the school and ask if you can pop back in again.  Chances are that Admin staff or Senior Management will be around in last week of the holidays and it may be possible to take a quick trip round again.  If not, drive past it or go into the car park a couple of times so that the building doesn’t look quite so threatening.

Make sure they know their right from their left. It’s amazing how many children have difficulty with this and it doesn’t help when they are trying to follow directions or to read a map of the school.  If they get lost, encourage them to ask a teacher or senior pupil to help them.  The younger pupils make a great game out of sending new pupils in the wrong direction deliberately! You’ve been warned!

Help them to understand the timetable. Explain that the school day will be structured differently and that it is important to move quickly from one lesson to another and not waste time.  Advise them to write the name of the teacher and the classroom number next to the subject.  It makes it impossible to help a child if they don’t know who their teacher is or what classroom they should be in.

Try to familiarise them with the day ahead.  Talk to them about it. For example discuss that tomorrow they will do a period of English, then Maths, then French then PE etc.  Then of course prepare that school bag full of all the things they will need and don’t forget the PE kit!

Try to avoid going to the toilet in between lessons and encourage them to follow the majority of the class to the next period.  There is safety in numbers!

If they get badly lost, rather than wander around the school, advise them to report to the school office immediately where a member of staff will make sure they get to class.

Lack of Confidence

Your child becomes anxious and starts to worry a lot.

Angela’s Kip Tip

Acknowledge the fact that your child might feel nervous but reassure them that it is normal to feel slightly anxious and that the chances are that everyone else is feeling a bit worried too.  Keep telling them that everything will be fine.

If they can’t get to sleep at night, try to discuss all the good things that have happened at school and praise them for all the things they have managed to do so far.

We all know that a drink of chamomile tea before bedtime can help us to sleep.  A recent report I read suggests
that it also alleviates anxiety so why not give it a try?

If after a few days they are still unhappy and you begin to worry and wonder about whether you should contact the school, then you should contact the school.  The Guidance teacher or Year Head is the person to discuss any worries with and the sooner you sort it out the better, especially if you suspect bullying.

Feeling lonely or doesn’t know anyone

At first it can be difficult to make the right friends.  Chances are that there are plenty of clubs on offer at school either at lunchtime or after school finishes.  If your child is a lone child, then encourage them to join some clubs in order to get to know other children and make friends.   Guidance staff can also play a useful role here.  Eventually they will make lots of friends but it is important in the first few weeks to be there for them.  If you can make arrangements to leave work a little earlier during the first week, that could make the world of difference to an anxious child.  If you have time, consider getting involved in the PTA so that you also get to know some of the other mums and their children.

Getting into Trouble because they forget things

One of the biggest changes your child will probably face is having to take more responsibility for themselves and become more independent.  They may have to look after a bus-pass, lunch money, musical instrument, library books, sports kit, mobile phone, keys etc, etc.  It’s usually best not to take things into school that you don’t need or would be sorry to lose.  Help your child devise strategies for emergencies so that they know what to do if something goes wrong.  Make sure that timetables are checked and school bags packed the night before to avoid the whole family getting stressed in the rush to set off in the morning. Make sure you regularly look in the school bag for notes and newsletters from the school.  Do you need to fill in a form or sign some homework? Bag-mail hardly every makes it home.

Finding the work too hard

This is one of the major causes of unhappiness at school.  Children attending High School can come from up to 20 different feeder Primary Schools in some areas.  The mix of academic ability in one class is likely to be very wide ranging and there may be gaps in your child’s basic numeracy and literacy causing difficulty across the whole curriculum.  Perhaps they are studying a foreign language and others have started earlier than them at Primary school.   Some schools may broadband  classes and some may set based on information sent up from Primary School.

There may also be some sort of assessment within the first few weeks of term.   Your child may feel out of their depth and have gaps which need to be plugged. Likewise they might find that they are not being stretched enough due to the level of the class and are beginning to lose interest. 

Angela’s Kip Tip

Don’t wait until the first parent’s evening. That could be a whole year away or longer! You will need to act quickly.  If  your child is in a class where the work is too difficult he/she will struggle and the situation is likely to get worse rather than better.  If they have been placed in a good set and you are reluctant for them to be moved down, then you must get extra support and the sooner you act the better.

Ask to speak to the Learning Support Dept. or Year Head if you fear your child may have a specific learning difficulty. If your child has special requirements that teachers should be aware of (eg needs overlays because of dyslexia or should wear glasses in class) check that the information has indeed been passed on to all the teachers.  Schools are busy places and teachers are bombarded with information.  Things do get overlooked so take steps to check that arrangements are in place.

Make sure your child can see the board and that there is not a problem with eyesight.  Book an eye test if necessary.  If the class is noisy, suggest that they sit as near the front as possible so that they can hear the teacher.

Still Have Concerns?

If you continue to be worried, phone Kip McGrath for a no-obligation discussion and free assessment.   At our Musselburgh Tutoring Centre in Edinburgh we have a team of fully qualified and experienced teachers who use their skills and expertise every day to help children achieve their full potential.  We are always happy to help and peace of mind is only a phone call away. Subjects such as maths and foreign languages are linear and it is best to nip problems in the bud as soon as possible.  It’s amazing what can be achieved with just a few months on the Kip Programmes.

The October break will soon arrive and your child will have settled in well to their new school.  Making the transition to secondary school is a big step for the entire family but one to be embraced and celebrated.  A whole new future is opening up.  Exciting subjects to learn, foreign trips to go on, lots of new people to meet and talents to be uncovered.  Enjoy Secondary school everyone and the very best of luck!

Angela Giglio is an experienced teacher, former Head of Department and mum.  Angela runs the Kip McGrath Education Centre in Musselburgh, Edinburgh., the trusted tutors in Edinburgh.

SQA Exam Results 2011 – The best results ever!

Best ever SQA Exam Results for 2011 – Congratulations to everyone at Kip McGrath Livingston and Balerno, the trusted Edinburgh Tutors

I am Pip Watt and I am the Centre Director of the Kip McGrath Education Centres in Balerno, Edinburgh South and Livingston.

I am very overcome with emotion having spoken to parents and exam students today.  Every single exam student got the result they were looking for.  It has been our best results’ year ever.  Congratulations to every single student.  I and my tutors are as proud of you all as your parents must be.

I wanted to share some of the comments I have received today.

A happy father said “OMG.  Graham got a credit 2 and Craig got an A! Thanks,thanks,thanks!  I can’t begin to tell you what you have done for my sons who both hated English.  Craig was told he was going to fail Higher English by the school and thanks to you he got an A!  Graham got a Credit 2 and now English is his favourite subject.  I have no qualms about recommending your services to the school.”

Sam was part of the SQA exam results’ blunder and received a text message the day before saying he had passed all five Highers with an A pass!  Convinced it was a spam email or hoax he didn’t tell me until today. “Thank you Pip.  I must have pulled a blinder on the day. Without your help with Higher English it would have been 4 A passes and a fail!

“S” failed her prelim in Intermediate English and came to Kip McGrath.  She got a B and is coming back this term to do Higher English.

Barbara’s daughter has been coming to Kip McGrath for extra tuition in Higher English and Maths.  She got an “A” for both.  “I would like to thank you Pip and all your outstanding team of tutors for the excellent service you provide.  It was worth every single penny!”

John’s son Liam was advised by his school that he wouldn’t pass Higher English but he was determined and came to our Livingston.  He passed with a C.  He also got an A in Intermediate 2 maths.  “Thank you for all your help.  He couldn’t have passed without your support and guidance.  The whole family are absolutely delighted!”

“Thank you so much!  Cara got a ‘B’.  I will definitely be sending my son next term!”

Vicki got an A in Intermediate 1 Maths.  Vicki’s mum said “Thank you for all your help and encouragement.  Vicki will be back next term!”

I have a bottle of champagne on ice!  There are a lot of happy people in Balerno and Livingston tonight!

Next term will be starting on 17th August and we look forward to the return of our students!  For those students who are going on to College and University, we wish you every success and expect to hear regular updates on your progress!

There are still places available for next term although word is spreading fast!  We also offer tuition in English and maths to primary students from age 5.  If you have any concerns regarding your child’s education, please contact Pip Watt on either 0131 449 9101 or 01506 418191. Alternatively, you can arrange a free educational assessment by clicking on the links for Livingston or Balerno, Edinburgh South

If you would like to join us on Facebook, please like our Livingston and Balerno Pages.

Helping Children Deal with Disappointing Exam Results

Our guest blogger this week is Angela Giglio, Centre Director of Kip McGrath Education Centres in Musselburgh, Edinburgh East

After many years of thinking about it, I have finally taken the plunge and am writing my very first blog!  Like many novices, I am dipping my toes into this unknown ocean with a certain amount of trepidation. One wonders what to write about and whether indeed anyone will be interested enough to read on. There are so many “experts” out there and it seems that the whole world and his dog know all there is to know about mostly everything. What if my work isn’t as good as others? What if after all the hours of research and effort I don’t get the results I want or perhaps deserve? What if I am disappointed?  What if I have poor results?

This got me thinking about all the teenagers who will shortly receive that long-awaited envelope containing their SQA exam results and how they might be feeling. Inside, a piece of A4 card from the Scottish Exam Board will make a judgement about their academic ability and announce its findings to the world Young hopefuls will be admitted or not to Higher or Advanced level courses. Dreams of gaining a university place and pursuing life-long ambitions will become reality or end up crushed. Doors will be opened and others firmly shut.

The more self-confident will no doubt rip the envelope open straight away and face the music whilst others might hold it in their hands for hours, just staring at it, in the hope perhaps that prayers or sheer will power might somehow make the print say what they want it to say. What an anxious time this is for parents and teachers too. Everyone has had a part to play in the preparation stages and we desperately want our youngsters to do well. If I can make one suggestion to parents, no matter how much you are itching to do so, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE do not open the envelope for your child! Unless specifically asked to do so, let them do that for themselves. One of the worst feelings in the world is trying your hardest at something but still falling short. How much worse is all of this in the modern world when not only do you have to share bad news with your parents but perhaps broadcast it on Facebook or tweet about it too?

Sometimes, when things don’t quite go our way we realise that we could have done things differently. But life isn’t always fair and we might have deserved better. This can make the bitter pill of disappointment even more difficult to swallow and cope with. In the case of school work, studying for months on end yet bringing in disappointing grades may make many students feel hopeless or helpless even though this is far from true. Everyone responds to disappointment in different ways. Identifying how we respond when the going gets tough helps us identify our strengths and weaknesses and equips us to face the future. Parents too may find it difficult to hide disappointment or anxieties but now more than ever, it is important to be strong and show support, encouragement and unconditional love.

The crucial thing is to act fast. If the results haven’t gone completely as we hoped, it is important to step back a bit and see the wider picture. What has happened has happened and we can’t change the past. What we can and must do is concentrate on the positive, learn from our mistakes and plan a future course of action. Look not just at the overall mark. Have we passed part of the paper or passed some of the internal assessments? We must be rightly proud of ourselves for the elements that we have passed but be determined to identify where we went wrong and make amends in future. Consider how much of what has happened was within our control and how much beyond it. Many Heads of Department or careers staff will be in school when the exam results come out and will probably be happy to give advice. If not, go and see them as soon as school starts up again. Overcoming the initial disappointment might seem tricky but the sooner you start focusing on your next steps the sooner you will start to quickly move forward and feel better.

If your child is feeling very low, try and help them to identify all the things that they have achieved in life so far. It sometimes helps to list these things and display them somewhere visible. Success is a mixture of many things and academic qualifications are just a small part of our worth as human beings. Is your child sporty, hard working, polite, kind, generous, tidy, fun to be around? Did they put effort into their exams, try their best and listen (even if was later rather than sooner) to advice? You could make up a family award for them so that they feel loved, valued and hopeful about the next steps. If you have more than one child taking exams, make sure to celebrate every child’s achievements to the same extent. Self-esteem may be very fragile at this time and it is important to boost it.

Okay, the results are what they are, we have celebrated or shed some tears, so what do we do now?

Worried about exam results? Childline can help.

In my experience successful students are those who strike a good balance between optimism and reality. To achieve your dreams it is important to make changes to what you do and how you challenge yourself. As the saying goes, if you always do what you have always done, you will always get the same results. The good news is that there is a great deal that you can do to turn your dreams into reality. They key to changing the future lies in planning for future success and then following through. Act fast and act now. If you found the subject difficult, get help.

At Kip McGrath we help thousands of children all over the world every day to achieve success in exams and we see first hand how easy it can be, given the correct support, to turn things around. If you didn’t really know how to prepare for your exams consider enrolling on a Study Skills course and learning how to learn effectively. Organise your space, make sure that you start your revision as soon as the new academic year starts – don’t let the work pile up and overwhelm you. Use the last few weeks of the summer holidays to start preparing for the next level. The leap can be huge! Go seek help the very moment you begin to struggle and don’t leave it until the first internal assessment or mock exam. Perhaps a gap year would give you a chance to research your options and take a breather. Just think of all the new and exciting pathways that may be open to you as you start again on a wonderful learning adventure.

But what if the exams have gone exactly to plan and you’ve got brilliant grades? First of all celebrate your success! Congratulations! You have achieved your objectives and should be rightly very proud. However, once you’ve done that, here’s a wee word of warning. Don’t rest on your laurels. My advice on planning applies to everyone. Start preparing for your next success now and like our Kip students make sure you get the new academic year off to a great start.

As I come to the end of my first blog, dipping my toes into the cyberspace wasn’t quite as scary as I first thought. The hardest thing was taking that first step and luckily, I know who and where to turn to for expert advice and support when I need it. As I continue my own learning journey, I will no doubt get feedback on my efforts and take action to learn from any mistakes. Learning is fun and even though occasionally there may be disappointments or setbacks along the way, the rewards we reap for persevering far out way any pitfalls.

At Kip McGrath our philosophy is that anyone can learn given the correct expertise and resources and I would like to wish all the young people out there, the very best of luck. Learning is a life-long journey and one that I hope you will travel long and successfully no matter what comes out of those little brown envelopes.

Angela Giglio
Centre Director at Kip McGrath Musselburgh

Americanisms – 50 of your most noted Examples

I came across this article from the BBC http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14201796 about the 50 most hated “Americanisms” and I have to say this is something that irritates me somewhat.

I have a very close friend who uses the phrase “24/7″ every time we meet.  I have no idea why but that particular phrase really annoys me.  I also watch America’s Next Top Model (only because my daughter loves it and it is something we watch together).  That’s my story anyway!  I hate the way they use the word critique as a verb instead of criticise.  I understand from reading online elsewhere that this is becoming acceptable but to me it just sounds wrong.

Due to the amount of American TV we all watch I suppose this is inevitable. I know that the English language is continuing to evolve as it has over  hundreds of years with the influence of other languages so I suppose I am just being a bit of a snob here.

Anyway, please read the list and let me know if there are any Americanisms that annoy you.

Blog written by Kirsty McHugh, Scotland Administrator at Kip McGrath Education Centres Scotland

The Apprentice Final 2011 – What does this say about our education system?

TV’s brightest and best but they know next to nothing

So The Apprentice is now finally over and Tom is the winner.  This is the candidate, along with fellow competitor Helen who in the previous fast food task thought that Byron wrote at the same time as Shakespeare and that Christopher Columbus was British and discovered the potato!  The other two candidates were no better.  They named their Mexican Restaurant Caraca’s.  This would have been an apt name if the restaurant in fact was Venezuelan and not Mexican.

I came across this article by Virginia Blackburn, Daily Express Columnist who was obviously as shocked as me at the total lack of the candidates’ knowledge of history, geography and culture.  As a teacher, I was very interested to read her comments about the “debasing of this country’s education system”

http://www.express.co.uk/ourcomments/view/258876/Virginia-Blackburn

Blackburn states that perhaps it would be better if we had an education system where the academic elite are filtered into a separate system so they are not held back by less academic and those who disrupt learning in class.  She believes we can then tailor the teaching and learning to suit all.  Firstly, society would not tolerate this and secondly the government would never fund it. Also, that is exactly what the Curriculum for Excellence in Scotland is meant to do.

It is a well known fact that individuals with a disposable income have the choice to employ tutors or send their children to private school if they feel this would help but those without such financial means can’t.  She also states that poor parenting is adding to our problems in schools.  She uses personal experience saying that our society is too child-centric where we let them set their own agenda and that schools bow to the pressure and bullying tactics of parents, stating that this attitude means that children disrupt classes, attack teachers and sue the school over trivial matters, such as being able to wear corn rows (a hairstyle).

However, we have laws that mean schools must involve parents in their child’s education and that children have a voice too.  It is difficult for schools to find a happy medium.  I have had parents demand that I move their child to the ‘top reading group’ or skip a whole section of reading books to push them on.  The child in question was a good technical reader but had poor comprehension skills and a distinct lack of understanding regarding what they were reading.  I tested the child to back up my professional judgement but despite this the Head Teacher demanded I move the child anyway.  I stuck to my guns because I wanted to do what was best for the child and gave the parents advice on how  they could support their child’s reading at home.  I was told by the parents that “they didn’t have time to read with them and that was what school was for”.

The writer points out that life is competitive and children should learn skills they need and told why they need to learn them.  This is an excellent point.  I am always totally honest with my classes and explain why they need to learn certain skills or about certain things, because without a purpose they see no point in it whatsoever.  Also they need to learn that they may not enjoy everything school has to offer but they owe it to themselves to try their very best at everything. The class teacher should be adapting tasks to suit all the children in the class and teaching the necessary skills.  One child in my P6 class used to play up every time I introduced a new maths concept basically because he perceived himself to be the ‘cool kid’ and did not want to look stupid or unintelligent to his class mates.  I had to come up with strategies to counteract this or he would literally wreck the classroom.  As all teachers know, some children have learning difficulties they have to overcome such as retention and it’s the teacher’s job to work with the child to do this.  Due to budget cuts, larger class sizes and the growing array of learning difficulties children have, this is extremely difficult for teachers.

An important point in the article is that despite large class sizes in Hong Kong discipline problems are zero.  Disruptive children are excluded immediately and their families feel deep shame with the result being such problems are extremely rare.  Over the years I have become acutely aware of the escalating behaviour problems within schools.  I am currently doing supply teaching in the primary sector for two local authorities.  Recently I have been in several schools where I have had to work hard to control behaviour which has seriously affected the teaching and learning.  I had a class of 13 children and could not believe the level of poor and disruptive behaviour from 8 of the children.  In addition, their skill levels for maths and English made me weep.  This is simply not good enough for our future generation and I worry about their future.

I don’t know what the answer is but I do know that the wheels of education turn extremely slowly.

The Curriculum of Excellence was born in 2004 with working groups and lots of excitement and discussion.  It is now 2011 and primary schools are struggling with some aspects of it and it is just taking off in our high schools with no one any the wiser on how the secondary exam system will work.

Thank you to our guest blogger, Angela Mitchell, one of our qualified teachers who runs the Kip McGrath Cambuslang/Burnside Tuition Centre .  If you would like to comment, please feel free to do so below.

Follow Kip McGrath Education Centres Cambuslang on Facebook.

100 Best First Lines from Novels

From the moment I picked up my first Enid Blyton book as a young girl I have been obsessed with reading.  I love books and have often been known to read through the night for that special book.  The satisfaction of coming across a great book that you just can’t put down is one of my greatest pleasures in life.  That will sound incredibly dull to many but I know there are many lovers of literature out there who feel the same as me.

That’s why I wanted to share this list of the 100 best first opening lines from Novels which was published by the American Book Rewiew in September 2010, although I only stumbled upon it today.

There are so many great books on this list including my favourite at number 65.

“You better not never tell nobody but God” – Alice Walker, The Colour Purple

I also realised from this list that there are so many books that I have not yet read and it has inspired me to head to the library tomorrow.  I wonder if I can manage to read all of the books on the list?

The top ten in the list are:

1. Call me Ishmael.  —Herman Melville, Moby-Dick (1851)

2. It is a truth  universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune,  must be in want of a wife. —Jane Austen, Pride and Prejudice (1813)

3. A screaming comes across  the sky. —Thomas Pynchon, Gravity’s Rainbow (1973)

4. Many years later, as he  faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant  afternoon when his father took him to discover ice. —Gabriel García  Márquez, One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967; trans. Gregory Rabassa)

5. Lolita, light of my  life, fire of my loins. —Vladimir Nabokov, Lolita (1955)

6. Happy families are all  alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way. —Leo Tolstoy,  Anna Karenina (1877;  trans. Constance Garnett)

7. riverrun, past Eve and  Adam’s, from swerve of shore to bend of bay, brings us by a commodius vicus of  recirculation back to Howth Castle and Environs. —James Joyce, Finnegans  Wake (1939)

8. It was a bright cold day  in April, and the clocks were striking thirteen. —George Orwell, 1984 (1949)

9. It was the best of  times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of  foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it  was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of  hope, it was the winter of despair. —Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two  Cities (1859)

10. I am an invisible man.  —Ralph Ellison, Invisible Man (1952)

To read the full list go to http://americanbookreview.org/100BestLines.asp

Is your favourite there?  Do you agree with their results and why are there only 2 entries in the last decade?  Surely there must be some recent books that merit a mention?  I think I may start my own list and ask friends and colleagues to participate.  Please feel free to add your own nomination in the comments below.

This article was written by our guest blogger, Kirsty McHugh who is PA to Margaret Carmichael at www.kipmcgrath.co.uk/scotland

5 Reasons why students fail exams

This article was originally written by a Kip McGrath colleague who runs the Luton and Stevenage Centres and we loved it so much we wanted to share.  To view other great education articles go to http://leaderinlearning.wordpress.com/

Your son or daughter  has just got a mock exam/test result and has failed miserably.  He/she did lots of revision, but said he/she had a complete blank when faced with the paper. So what went wrong?  Here are the top reasons why students fail.

1. Not Enough Revision

First things first, revision does not = reading.  Revising is an active process. Students really don’t understand what they are reading. They should know what every word means, be able to analyse every diagram, bullet point, graph and date.  Mind maps, mnemonics, highlighting key point and notes summaries on cards are all useful ways of doing active revision.

2. Starting Revision Too Late

The path to success lies in good planning.  Start revision early. Little and often is better than a mad panic at the end. Revision should be started so that there is enough time to understand, learn, memorise and to practice past papers.  Students should create a revision timetable and stick to it.  This will ensure that all the topics are covered and not just the ones the student likes.  They should go over work a day later and then a week  later.

3. Stressing Too Much

Students can put themselves under unnecessary pressure during exam season.  Parents can relieve the burden by making sure that they are eating regularly and getting enough sleep.  Tiredness makes revision ineffective and affects performance in exams.  Revise for maximum 30 minute intervals and then have a 5 minute break.

The exam should be treated as a normal school or college day, other than that they are doing an exam. Follow your normal routine will help you relax.

4.    Running out of time in the exam

Students should answer all the easy questions first and then go back to the ones they have missed out.  They should spend more time on high mark questions and only answer questions they are asked to.

5. Misreading the question

It’s one of the first lessons our teachers teach us, but it is one of the most common reasons why students fail.  They did not understand what was required from the examiners and therefore didn’t answer the question. Students should get hold of a stash of past papers and make sure they also have the answers to check their understanding.  Then familiarise themselves with exam questions and the language used and always ask themselves “What do they want me to write?”.  They will be less likely to misunderstand if they have come across similar questions before and being confronted with an exam paper won’t freak them out.

If your child is about to start an exam year at school, please contact Kip McGrath to discuss additional tuition in exam preparation including study techniques.

Thank you to Dr Samina Rashid of Kip McGrath Luton who wrote this article.  To view the full article go to http://www.thebestof.co.uk/local/luton/blog/top-5-reasons-why-students-fail-exams/article019982.htm

What kind of learner is your child?

Understanding your learning style can help you to learn your spellings!

This article was blogged about by a colleague of mine in Lisburn, Northern Ireland and I thought I would share.  To read the original blog go to http://kipmcgrathlisburn.wordpress.com/2010/11/06/what-kind-of-learner-are-you/

Learning to spell can be very difficult for some people.  Time, patience and practice all help!  There are many ways of practising spellings and what works for one person might not work as well for another.    Many children rely heavily on one strategy to learn their weekly spellings as a list and use them in their own writing.  Some children learn effectively in this way, but for many children one way of learning is not enough because they memorise words for the test and then forget them later or struggle to learn the words in the first place.  Most people will find that a multi-sensory method works best, i.e. using senses like eyes, ears, voice and hands.

Look at the following learning styles and see if you recognise your own or the one that best describes your child.

Visual learners:

• Neat and orderly
• Speak quickly
• Are good long range planners
• Good spellers and can see words in their minds
• Remember what was seen, rather than heard
• Are not distracted by noise
• May forget verbal instructions unless written down
• Are strong fast readers
• Would rather read than be read to
• Doodle during conversations
• Forget to relay verbal messages to others

Auditory learners:

• Learn by listening and remember what was     discussed rather than seen
• Talk to themselves while working
• Are easily distracted by noise
• Find writing difficult, but are better at telling
• Move their lips and pronounce the words as they read
• Enjoy reading aloud and listening
• Are talkative, love discussions and go into lengthy descriptions
• Can spell better out loud than in writing

Kinaesthetic learners:

• Learn by manipulating and doing
• Want to act things out
• Speak slowly
• Touch people to get their attention
• Stand close when talking to someone
• Are physically orientated and move a lot, gesture a lot
• Memorise by walking and seeing
• Can’t remember geography unless they’ve actually been there
• Use action words
• May have messy handwriting
• Like involved games

It is highly likely that the majority of children will exhibit some aspects of more than one learning style.  However, if you feel that your child shows a particular learning style, try the activities in the appropriate section below.  If no one style is obvious, try a few activities from each section and see which is most successful.

Suggested activities for the different learning styles:

Visual learners will want to learn by:

• Looking at words and noticing patterns
• Saying or repeating words
• Listening to syllables
• Copying or tracing words
• Look Say Cover Write and Check words
• Writing a word in the air using a finger or a wand
• Writing a word on your back
• Writing in large felt tip pens
• Posting notes around the house
• How many words can you find in this word?
• Flash cards of spellings

Auditory learners will want to learn by:

• Speaking aloud or saying it strangely e.g. weather becomes we-at-her
• Singing spellings
• Breaking words down in parts
• Recording their spellings onto tape
• Rhythms and tapping to spellings
• Follow me – you say it, they say it
• Saying spellings as a ‘rap’

Kinaesthetic learners will want to learn by:

• Writing in sand or sugar
• Feeling you spell the words on their backs
• Making words with pipe cleaners
• Making words with play dough or clay
• Visualising letters as picture clues that link into a story
• Mnemonic – make a silly sentence/draw pictures e.g. SAID becomes:  Sad  Ants  In  Dustbins
• Writing using different colours

Whatever you choose to do, learning spellings can seem a boring process when it requires so much effort from a child.  Make it as much FUN as possible by using a variety of materials and activities.

By Clare Rimmer, Centre Director, Kip McGrath Education Centre – Lisburn