Staff/Common Room

[Jane Secker Participant]

Hi Folks

I’m Jane, Chair of the CILIP Information Literacy Group and a Senior Lecturer in Educational Development at City, University of London. The group are delighted to support this development, which we see as an important step in more closely aligning the learning culture of school with the learning culture of university and the demands of living and working in the digital age.

Evidence of the effectiveness of FOSIL in enabling inquiry learning can be found in the success of students from Oakham School in the TeenTech Awards, specifically the Research and Information Literacy Award (Years 7-11), which ILG sponsors, and the Best Research Project Award (Years 12-13). We are particularly pleased to see that the impressive resources being collaboratively developed by educators from classroom and library are being made freely available under Creative Commons, which will be of great benefit to the broader educational community.

I look forward to chatting with you, all the best

Jane

 

[Cathal Coyle Participant]

Hello everyone!

My name is Cathal Coyle, and I’ve been a school librarian for over 20 years at St. Patrick’s College Dungannon. I’m currently the publications co-ordinator of the School Library Association and know Darryl through his excellent work with FOSIL. Over the past three years I have delivered a Critical Media Literacy project in our school library in partnership with The Irish News and St. Mary’s University College Belfast: https://www.irishnews.com/ynr

My interest in the area of Critical Media Literacy and other areas of literacy has led me to write a Guidelines publication for the S.L.A. entitled ‘Identifying Fake News: Critical Literacy and the School Library’ and this is scheduled for September 2019.

I look forward to interacting on the forum…and learning!

Cathal

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[Ruth Participant]

Hi all,

What a great community and an opportunity to take part in such collaborative work focused in the same direction as my professional interest. I’m Ruth and I’m the Librarian at Tonbridge Grammar School, Kent. We are an IB school working with the MYP, breaking for GCSEs and returning for to the DP. I have been here 2 years and since I joined I have been collaborating with staff to integrate Information Literacy into the curriculum. I don’t teach any ‘Library lessons’ aside from a general introduction to the catalgoue etc for years 7 and 12 (we take external students into the 6th form)

I am enjoying the challenge of integrating FOSIL with the ATL skills framework (IB attitudes to learning) and then matching this with our curriculum and trying to encourage staff to embrace the results into their planning and assessments.

I am grateful to have this group to share thought and ideas with.

Ruth

[Katrin Participant]

Hello,

My name is Katrin and I am teaching information literacy and study skills to a group of mixed aged home educated children (currently aged between 9 and 12 years old) and at postgraduate level at university. My journey with FOSIL started two years ago when Darryl asked me whether the group of home educated children (at the time between 7 and 10 years old) would like to co-operate with a team from Oakham School for Teen Tech Awards. I am a social pedagogue by heart and by training so the premise of teaching children (and adults) the skills needed to independently answer their questions and find out for themselves appealed instantly.

I am really exited about the website and this community who shares their projects and experiences so freely and I hope that I can contribute to the discussions.

Katrin

[David Harrow Participant]

Great to see so many people on the forum!

I am David, currently (and for a few more weeks only) the Deputy Head Academic at Oakham School and, occasionally, a teacher of Mathematics.

I have worked with Darryl and many others to promote FOSIL within Oakham and beyond it and, in particular, to help realise the vision of the FOSIL Group. Our work on IB MYP has reminded me of the importance of collaboration within and between schools: as we grapple with a challenging world, providing our young people with the skills to negotiate an unruly information landscape has never been more important, and it is task that is best faced together.

From September, I will be taking on new role as Head at AKS Lytham up in Lancashire, and will continue to look to the FOSIL Group for inspiration, and challenge, on how best we can develop inquiry learning in a way that makes a practical and tangible difference for everyone.

[Jon Andrews Participant]

Greetings! I’m Jon Andrews and have been Oakham School’s Director of Teaching & Learning over the past four years. I am leaving Oakham this summer to take up the post of Deputy Head Academic at Merchant Taylors’ Boys’ School in Crosby, Liverpool. My areas of interest are self-regulated learning and staff development. The inquiry approach, as supported by FOSIL, can really help develop practice in both these areas. For too long the debate in education has focused, misguidedly, on a skills vs knowledge approach and directed vs discovery pedagogies. Such binary divisions do not reflect the nuances of the learning process and render the discussion in schools rather limited. At Oakham, much great work has taken place using FOSIL, and not just for ‘project’ type learning. If you have not already discussed with Jenny Toerien and Joe Sanders the work they have been doing together for A Level Politics then you certainly should enquire! More can be found here: https://academic.oakham.rutland.sch.uk/2019/06/20/broccoli-by-jenny-toerien-and-joe-sanders/

[Sarah Pritchard Participant]

Hello all

I’m Sarah Pritchard, Senior Librarian and IBDP EE Coordinator at Charterhouse school. I have been in role for 4 years and my main focus has been on introducing a research skills programme and creating resources to support the Extended Essay. In September we are introducing the EPQ and so there is a greater opportunity to look at how and what we are teaching.

 

[Kevin Heppell Participant]

Hello

My aim is to help schools make their mission and values become more of a reality.

I work as an Education Identity Adviser at a company called Sequential. In this role, I work with Headteachers and school leaders in a wide range of schools and try to contribute to the progression of their mission and values in the areas of dynamic curriculum planning, holistic personal development and Education Identity and tracking and monitoring.

What I’ve found is that as important as any framework used by a school, it is the quality and depth of the application of the framework that makes a difference.

There are 5.5 things I like about FOSIL:

• 1) It is grounded on education principles that I can relate to and that I believe are important
• 2) It promotes and positions the library concept as something that belongs at the heart of each school
• 3) It is comprehensive
• 4) It has withstood tests of intellectual analysis, pedagogical coherence and real-world application
• 5) It empowers librarians, teachers or school leaders with academic and philosophical tools to make a more powerful argument for inquiry based learning and in turn to promote importance of the school library
• 5.5) It is being promoted and cultivated by educationalists I like and trust (academically and morally)

It is for these reasons (paticularly 5.5) that I believe supporting FOSIL will contribute to my aim to helps schools progress their mission and values. I think FOSIL and this website has the potential to make a real difference and I’m looking forward to learning from everyone in this group.

[Merrilibrarian Participant]

My name is Susan Merrick.  I have been the upper school teacher-librarian at ACS Egham International School, in Egham, Surrey for the last 11 years.  I was intrigued this morning to find mention of FOSIL on a Twitter post and my investigations led me here.  I look forward to learning from the other members and hopefully, also contributing.

[Ruth Carlyle Participant]

Hello,

My name is Ruth Carlyle. I am the lead for NHS library and knowledge services across the East of England and the Midlands. I am also the England-wide lead for NHS libraries on patient and public information, including health literacy.

I am a great believer in the value of school librarianship for developing life skills: specifically, information literacy enables health literacy. I look forward to conversations here and with school librarians in other forums.

Let’s talk!

Best wishes,

Ruth

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[Henry Price Participant]

It seems only appropriate to mention our School Motto when introducing myself, as Oakham’s new Headmaster, in this Forum. Et quasi cursores vitai lampada tradunt – And like runners, they pass on the torch of life – derives from the Roman poet Lucretius, and in the previous line he speaks of the cycles of life changing in a short time. How relevant this sentiment remains to this day, especially when one of our goals as educators is to prepare children to grow, flourish and learn in an ever-changing world.  The ability and desire to keep learning has never been more important and so too, therefore, the tools to help us do this. The Framework Of Skills for Inquiry Learning (FOSIL) can provide this not only whilst children are learning in school, but also as a guide and framework to their future learning in the world beyond. This, again, is particularly important at the moment when information is becoming overwhelming and confusing – so it is vital that all pupils know how to ask the right questions and seek the truth, rather than simply wish for the right answer.

Sharing knowledge, sharing ideas and sharing resources has always been at the heart of education (again, passing on the torch) and so I am delighted to witness the collaborative power of The FOSIL Group working towards providing all pupils with the opportunities and resources to learn how to find things out for themselves. I look forward to watching The FOSIL Group’s progress over the coming months and years ahead in this important challenge.

Henry

[KayO Participant]

Hello everyone!

My name is Kay, and it seems as though I am the first Aussie to join this group :).

Currently I am the lecturer and subject area co-ordinator for the Master of Education (Teacher Librarianship) at Queensland University of Technology. I took on this role at the beginning of the year, after completing my PhD, which explored the way teachers are using social media in the form of personal learning networks to enhance their professional learning.

Prior to my studies, I worked for Brisbane Catholic Education for 20 years. I started as a primary school classroom teacher, specialising in the early years, before I took on the role of Assistant Principal at a different primary school in inner city Brisbane. While I was in this position, I completed my Master of Education in Teacher Librarianship, and then worked for two years as a primary school teacher librarian. After this I was appointed as Education Officer (Digital Learning) and later combined this with the role of Librarian for the Brisbane Catholic Education system. This meant I worked in the head office, but supported the teacher librarians of the 113 schools in the Archdiocese, and also managed the head office library which supplied resources to all of the schools.

In January I am taking up a new role, as Head of Libraries at the Australian International School (AIS) in Singapore. This will be my first time living overseas, and I am very excited! AIS has four libraries, each staffed with a teacher librarian and support staff. I will manage these libraries, as well as lead the senior school library. This will be the first time I will be working in an IB school, and although I am very familiar with Inquiry Learning, having lectured in it for several years at QUT, I know there will still be lots to learn about the IB – I’m so excited!

Thank you for allowing me to join your group. I look forward to learning with you all.

Kay.

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[Emily Participant]

Hi All,

I’m Emily Stannard and I’m the Head Librarian and (recent) IB Extended Essay Co-ordinator at Bradfield College. I’ve been at Bradfield for 5 years now but previous to that was working as the Copyright and Compliance Officer at the University of Reading. I qualified as a librarian in 2003 and became Chartered in 2006 and have a background in HE and FE libraries.

Since starting at Bradfield I have introduced a research skills programme throughout the school. I am fortunate to have 2 dedicated part time library assistants and 1 full time deputy so that frees me up to do a bit of teaching (although SMT won’t let me call it that officially!) and strategic stuff. I was very fortunate in that when I arrived here the IB was going well and we had recently introduced the EPQ. Now, the EPQ is compulsory for all Sixth Form students who are not doing the IB, and the IB has its own research component, the Extended Essay, which I now manage. This has been massively significant for research in the school and I have pretty much had carte blanche to do what I like with the programme, which in Y9 links closely to the topics and assignments that pupils are being taught in their Divisions programme. Our Y10 pupils have a research project to work on in the Summer Term so we teach them research and referencing as part of that.

I have recently been working more closely with teachers teaching A level and IB subjects and looking at how we can better support the curriculum. I am speaking at the JCS Digital Literacy conference 2019 about this project which has been really exciting and has already had an impact! I’m also the Vice-Chair of the SLA Central and East Berkshire branch.

I’m happy to chat about anything from EE to copyright to curriculum resources and working with teachers, and look forward to getting more involved! I’m on Twitter as @copyrightgirl under my maiden name – I don’t tweet as much as I used to (when it was a formal part of my job) but I try to keep my hand in the copyright arena as much as possible although it doesn’t form anywhere near as much a part of my job as it used to.

Emily

 

 

 

[Alice Visser-Furay Participant]

Hello!

My name is Alice and I am the Literacy Coordinator and Reading Intervention Specialist at King Alfred’s Academy in Wantage. I am currently working on three areas: building a reading culture; helping struggling readers; and developing academic reading (and the teaching of academic vocabulary) across the curriculum. I have created a website with numerous resources linked to these areas: http://www.readingforpleasureandprogress.com.

I am from the United States but have lived in Europe since 1991 (Netherlands, Sweden, Ireland, Germany, UK) with my Dutch husband. I have five children now aged 23-16; all have multiple nationalities (‘Where are you from?’ is a complicated question for them). My undergraduate degree is in History & International Relations and my first MA was in International Relations. I taught IB and IGCSE History for a few years before children. In 2005 we moved to the UK and I did an MA in Children’s Literature (Roehampton University); in 2013 I re-trained as an English teacher and have worked at a comprehensive ever since. Fifty percent of my timetable is allocated to improving literacy across the school. When I started at my multi-site school, two of three sites did not have a functional library, and the third site (for Years 7/8) had a library that was mostly used for detentions. We have since moved to two sites and the library for Year 7/8 in particular is dynamic as far as supporting reading for pleasure is concerned — but more work needs to be done on information literacy on both sites. We have also developed a rigorous programme to support and monitor struggling readers; one component of this is a community volunteer ‘Reading Partner’ programme which takes place in the library.

A significant part of my work at the moment is to encourage teachers to use complex (academic) texts from ‘real world’ sources in their lessons. Traditionally students have been ‘spoon-fed’ small chunks of information (usually in the form of worksheets or textbooks). This makes it difficult for them to see the connections between various things they learn, and it also means that their enthusiasm and stamina for longer complex texts is reduced. I have introduced pre-reading, during reading and after reading strategies across the school to support teaching of and learning from these texts and have led CPDs on effective teaching of academic vocabulary. I have also been involved in team-teaching to model good practice. My hope is that both students and teachers feel empowered to engage with and critically reflect on a wide range of texts from well-respected, informative, thought-provoking sources.

[Elizabeth Hutchinson Participant]

Hello to all the recent new members. It is lovey to ‘meet’ you and I hope to be enjoying fruitful discussions on how we can move our school libraries forward for our students.

[Author]

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