One of the great pleasures of my job is when the opportunity arises to visit other schools, and I managed to fit two such visits in on Wednesday. 

Firstly, I was invited over to Tideway School in Newhaven to discuss teacher appraisal.  It is a fascinating school to visit as it has recently been rebuilt, the entire school having been razed to the ground by arsonists some years ago.  As a catchment area it is not without its challenges, but I was made to feel very welcome by all the staff and pupils I met and had a number of interesting conversations.  There was a real bonus at the end when I was asked to help with the judging of the Year 11 masterchef competition, this involved tucking into paella and rack of lamb at 10:00am! 

Like us, and many other schools, Tideway are on the verge of working out what next for IT in education, and it was really useful to share experience and ideas.  It was this theme that took me on to my next visit, Honywood School in Essex.  This has a special place in my heart as it was the school where I started my teaching career some 18 years ago, but nostalgia was not the reason I was there.  Honywood is one of the first schools in the country to give every pupil an iPad.  I was very well looked after by Mark Williams, Deputy Head, who showed me around and talked me through the project, discussing very candidly some of the issues they had faced, but also the many positive outcomes. 

What was really refreshing was that we spent far more time talking about learning than we did about technology.  I believe this is key to the next phase of education in this country, when we can move beyond the practicalities and problems with technology and put it in its rightful place, as only part of the arsenal of the successful learner.