"We are in the magic-weaving business" announced Sir John Jones, when he visited Shiplake College to present to the staff as part of their INSET training.
Standing at the front of the brand new Lecture Theatre, Sir John went on to provide an entertaining, thought-provoking, enlightening, educational, inspiring and even emotional two-hour talk about the vital role that the teachers at Shiplake play in the lives of our pupils. A role that involves preparing our children for a world that doesn't exist yet and for jobs that haven't been invented. More importantly, a role that involves "eliciting the inner greatness in the pupils - because they are all great".
Knighted in 2003 for Services to Education, Sir John worked for most of his professional life in challenging schools across the north west of England. He has also been invited on to a number of panels and think-tanks. Drawing on his own experiences of teaching and leading, or providing stories and observations from his time visiting other schools, Sir John illustrated how a single teacher can 'make the difference' to a pupil - often landing that staff member either in the list of three people that changed a person's life, or on the list of those that damaged them.
Sir John's talk looked at the qualities of a good teacher and took the staff through theories that looked at the way someone thinks, how perceptions can be damaging to a child and how to encourage a growth mindset where 'anything is possible' instead of fixed mindset. Providing the staff with 'power phrases' to change their habits of speaking, Sir John illustrated how children may forget how a staff member made them think, but will never forget how they made them feel.
With September the month of New Year resolutions for those that work in schools, there is no doubt that many of the staff went away with lots of new ideas that they will be implementing in the classroom and around the school this academic year. Many staff may also be getting in touch with the 'magic weavers' that influenced them whilst at school and letting these former teachers know the positive impact they had on their own lives.
