Taking the lid off the Jar at Brockmoor Primary School, Brierley Hill, West Midlands... Again!! (PART 2.)

On the 5th of May i wrote the first article about Brockmoor Primary School, Brad Jones, his team and the amazing children at this Primary School located just outside of Dudley. To date, I have had over 4000 views and some great commentary from people not only praising the work that I had seen but also wanting to know more. Questions like "Is this true?" and "Surely this was stage managed?" were asked and, to be honest, I'm not surprised as the article was full of praise.

So, having revisited the school yesterday to spend most of the day with the children themselves, interacting, taking part in lessons, eating in the school canteen with them and then meeting the teachers I am proud and pleased to report that the experience was even better. Brockmoor Primary School, make no mistake is an outstanding school and if I had young children I would have no hesitation in sending them to Brad and his team as they are not only trying to get children to achieve academically, they are placing a massive stall on giving them the life skills to be the best that they can be in their future lives. These foundations are critical and this is exactly the right time to be doing this.

Let me tell you more about my day, which will reinforce my previous article and perhaps encourage others to either visit Brad and have the tour (go if you can) or help others to get involved with a school near to you.

Brad had set up "Enterprise Week" whereby people from industry and the outside world visit the school to tell the children, mainly Year 6, what it's like being in business, the qualities needed and the journey along your career path. This is extremely innovative for 10 and 11 year old children and even more so bearing in mind that the catchment area for the school faces some stark economic challenges.

I arrived and was met by Brad, who yet again was a cross between Santa on Christmas Eve and Tigger. Within a short space of time I was in the queue for lunch and Katie, a year 5 pupil, was appointed to look after me. Now, my memories of my school canteen were of disorder, food fights and fayre that was extremely unpalatable. I looked around and there was a lot of chatter but everyone was sat talking to their friends. There were no flying bread rolls or chips. The children before me, some as young as 5 or 6, waited to be served and then said please and thank you. The canteen staff were equally as polite (something again that is at odds with my childhood memories) and the place was full of smiles. The food (Roast Pork) was excellent and I sat with children who were happy to talk to me. What was great was that this reinforced my previous visit as the children spoke with confidence (again 5, 6 and 7 year olds) and told me about the assembly they had, the good things about the school and also what wanted to know about me. They waited their turn to speak and articulated themselves very clearly. Katie took me back to Mr Jones after lunch, various doors in the corridors were held open for me and it's natural to then say thank you. Good manners displayed yet again.

Brad then took me on the lunchtime walk. It was raining so the children were in classrooms. 'Queue chaos' I thought as their pent up energy had no where to go and surely this time the standards would fall. No, the fallback strategy was in place, well implemented by the staff and children themselves and no one was frustrated by not being outside. 

Teaching is in Brad's DNA and this was evident when one young man, aged no more than five I believe, proudly showed Brad his collection of four coins. Brad asked him how much he had and the boy didn't know. Brad then sat him down and patiently carried out a counting lesson. As we walked away Brad's words were "Never miss an opportunity to teach Andrew, never miss an opportunity to teach."

I could devote all of this article to just the school's atmosphere and ethos again. Right from the young man who at eight years old told me the best thing about the school is that he can challenge himself with his maths (he's eight and learning his thirteen times table), through to Katie who over lunch quietly said how proud she is of the school. The colouring sessions with relaxing music for ten minutes just for calming down are another innovative way of helping create the right temperature for learning. It' s consistent, it's stable and infectious.

My main purpose was to lead a discussion around qualities, skills, behaviours and life learning to think about the future for year six pupils who are ten and eleven years old. Whilst leading the session with thirty or so children I did reflect on who actually was learning the most here. I think it's a close call as to whether it was me or the kids. They knew what empathy meant, described what social skills are and already understood the interpretation of a unique selling point (U.S.P.). I guess I was able to help bring all of the words and phrases to life with real time examples and make it feel more relevant but they were already over 50% of the way there.

I then heard some work in progress "Dragons Den" style pitches for business ideas and listened as the youngsters talked about profit margins and setting up costs. Again, impressive at their age.

The big wow moment for me though was when we returned to the subject of what makes you different and employable. "How have you helped someone or made a difference?" was my question. Many children were involved in other activities including leading the way with sport and art. One young man nervously put his hand up and said that he had helped a homeless man who he felt sorry for and had bought him a sausage sandwich. His eyes told me just how big a moment that had been for him in his awareness of the world. I can honestly say that there was a moment when I had to swallow hard to then carry on. It was that powerful to hear someone so young and, in a school which to the outside world would be perceived as being in a tough area, have the confidence to admit that he had done something for someone because he wanted to and I also believe he hadn't told many people, if any, that he had done it before. This is what Brockmoor is about, it's preparing people for the world, giving them manners, grounding, compassion, empathy, life skills and a good education. I'm not naive enough to think its all sunshine and roses but my goodness it is surely a jewel in the crown of Dudley's education system. I told all of the children that they should be proud and particularly to have someone in amongst them with such compassion.

Afterwards I sat with the staff and told them face to face what I have told you in this article. I hope that they believe me as it's genuine from my observations and I hope that any parent reading this article continues to reflect on how they can support their child's education and development in collaboration with the teaching staff. That unity and consistency is so important whether it be practising times tables, spellings or reading, through to recognising the need for good manners and life skills.

I also picked up that the children want to talk and know about the world. Let's put down the computers and phones and talk with them about the world. In Brad's words: "Never miss an opportunity to teach."

I have said before that there should be no ceiling to a young person's aspirations and everyone should be encouraged to be the best that they can be. The Enterprise Week at Brockmoor is another part of trying to give children that chance and opportunity. I, and those who have visited this week, may have just said that one phrase or set off a spark in a young person that means they realise that they can achieve and their future is not predestined.

If you are in Dudley, go and see Brad. I can guarantee that a warm welcome awaits, as does a tour of the school that will show you all of what I have described. I can also guarantee that you will think of what else that you can do for these amazing children to give them the best chance possible. It's a debt that we owe from our own upbringing, no matter what that was like, to give future generations a better life than our own. That is true progress and it's within touching distance at Brockmoor Primary School.

Thanks again to Brad, the staff and above all else the wonderful children at Brockmoor for giving me the chance to be a part of their week and for teaching me so much about myself & the world around me as I continue to have the privilege of being Dudley's first Business Connector.