The Big O...

OFSTED… The official body for inspecting state schools in the UK.

Courtesy of Google images

Wish me luck!

Racing again.... S4S

Sunday arrived and Gaynor had another race. Not a ‘race for life’ this time but Scalextric4Schools (S4S).

Tim manages the schools program for PTC a US software company. Each year he sets up the S4S competition, the finals of which were held at RAF Cosford, near Wolverhampton. Pupils use Creo/ProEngineer software to design, build and race their cars and prepare a presentation of their design and developments which they present to a team of five judges. The same software is used to design at Ferrari and Audi. Tim has his mid life crisis Audi  but is still waiting for the Ferrari...

A terrific amount of planning goes into the event which is sponsored by Hornby and a number of other companies. Tim is also fortunate to know some retired teachers (from his previus life as an OFSTED inspector) who are who are happy to lend a hand. Many of you involved in education will be wondering whether it is possible to be an OFSTED inspector and still have friends! This year Tom and I were also roped in to help.

I was given the job of race controller - a very grand title for someone who registered the teams, allocated  time slots for their races and presentations, and gave out the goodie bags. Tom was the official photographer/ gopher and Tim the Bernie Eccleston of the event!

The commitment of the pupils and teachers was tremendous. Some teams had come from Scotland and a couple of teams had even travelled from St Petersburg in Russia

The day was busy but very worthwhile. The RAF museum staff at Cosford were superb hosts and the standards set by the pupils extremely high. Every one of them was a credit to their schools and to themselves. The passion and the technical knowledge of the students was excellent with the Russian pupils able to present to the five judges in near fluent English.

The overall winners with their teacher Bob ...

Amidst all of the Government talk about falling standards these kids were doing stuff that I couldn't have done at their age, although like Mr Gove, I might possibly have been better at rote learning ...

Busy, busy....

Life at la petite presse is hectic at the moment, hence a lack of time to either blog or even keep up with the reading of my favourite blogs!

Tim and I are both really busy at work. For me it’s exam time, report time, visit time and generally a time where we try to fit ‘a quart into a pint pot’. There are also the external pressures of a possible OFSTED visit early in the next school year and an inspection in June for the award of Advanced Dyslexia Friendly status. Tim is also preparing for a work related trip to the US next week. Our internet connection has also nearly ground to a halt. Orange, in their usual customer friendly premium rate call way, are like chocolate teapots!

However the main thing keeping us busy are the preparations for the return of the prodigal son from his year studying in Colorado.

I’ve yet to kill the fatted calf, but we have completely redecorated and carpeted  upstairs and nearly finished installing Tom’s ‘junk’ in his new bedroom. In hindsight it was a mammoth task to empty the whole of the upstairs so that the carpet could be fitted, and an even more mammoth task to put it all back together again!!

Tim will meet up with Tom at Heathrow as they both return from the US on the same day, but to different terminals on different flights, Tom from Denver and Tim from Chicago. If all goes to plan it will be wonderful - and a miracle!

Meanwhile, a photograph taken from my bedroom window just before I set out for work this morning.

A brief moment of peace in a busy, busy day …