Thursday Aug 23rd: My school!

A 10 minute walk to the main bus terminal, a 10 minute wait for the bus, a 7 minute ride, and 5 minute walk down the long driveway to the school.  The commute isn't bad, although it might suck in the rain.

GCSE (standardized testing system) results came out today and year 11 students were in to pick up their results.  The Bradford Schools are celebrating with their success, having met the targets.  For a school to pass the year and not be at risk of shutting down, something like 32% of their year 10-11 students must achieve an A-C mark in at least 5 of their courses.  There is a lot of pressure on schools in low-income areas because the current system is ridiculous and does not consider issues of socio-economic inequity.  Lots of political issues in the educational system.

Anyway, Grange Tech got an upgrade to its building last year and is the last of the Bradford schools to get such an upgrade.  Bradford Academy itself was a $5 million (or was it £5 million?) project.  It's good that the City is taking its students seriously and believes that improving educational facilities for its students will improve its community.

The school has a number of really cool design features, at least, to me.  I forgot to take a picture of the entrance hall but it opens up to the skylight and there are banners hanging down from the top with famous quotes by Mother Theresa, Ghandi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Anne Frank.  Classrooms circle the open area on three floors (sort of like at the mall or the Metro Library).  Each floor is painted brightly.  I'm on the Lower Ground floor, which is yellow, and is home to Math and Science.  All the rooms, including the staff rooms, have glass windows, so that you can pretty much see everyone at all times.  No privacy, but more community accountability.  An example of how physical environment affects the development of a community or society.  There is also a multi-faith prayer room with washing stations for Muslim students (which is 98% of the students).

Southfield is the sister school for students with "special needs", that is, needing physical, emotional, and learning supports (in Canada we have moved away from the term "special needs" and we call them "exceptionalities" now).

The teachers are nice and seem to be gentle folk, unlike Bradford Academy (where we had our training) which seemed more bold and competitive.  There is a bit of a primary school feel to the school but perhaps it is just that close knit sense of community and care.  There is attention to the social and emotional needs of the students in their greater socio-cultural and economic contexts.