My Desert Island Discs

On Sunday, it was a treat to listen to Bruce Springsteen on an extended Desert Island Discs (You missed it?! Find it <here>). His choices absolutely summed up the man: nothing obscure, pretentious or showy. With one eye on the holidays, trying to forget I still had school on Monday morning, I set about writing my own eight tracks to take to a desert island.  

After much deliberation, these are my picks:

1. The Day We Caught The Train - Ocean Colour Scene
• The day I started to discover my own musical taste after flirting with the Top 40 and odd songs I thought I liked (my first single that I owned was none other than Chesney Hawkes). This was the start of my love of all things BritPop and a 20 year plus love of Ocean Colour Scene. Still a great tune to sing along to with your mates after a few beers. Well worth going to see live still too.
2. Last Stop: This Town - Eels
• I owned Beautiful Freak, but it was this track that begun my 20 year plus obsession with all things Eels. We had "I Like The Way This Is Going" as our first dance. It backed up my theory that E has written a song for every possible eventuality in life. Rarely does an artist transform the band / setlist / theme of each tour as much as E. His autobiography is worth a read.
3. Like A Rolling Stone - Bob Dylan
• One of my picks that Bruce had on his list, "the first time I really heard him with this song, it just instantly started to change my life". I bought as many Dylan albums as I could when I was in my second hand CD buying stage; every time I found a new one in Golden Discs there was great excitement.
4. Madame George - Van Morrison
• Another of Bruce's choices. Astral Weeks is one of the best albums out there, and I agree with the spiritual nature that is identified on Desert Island Discs, "It made me trust in beauty, it gave me a sense of the divine. The divine just seems to run through the veins of that entire album."
5. Thunder Road - Bruce Springsteen
• If you don't 'get' Thunder Road, I'd highly recommend reading Nick Hornby's joyful chapter in 31 songs. There is no other song that I have come close to listening to as much as this one. We also walked down the aisle to this after getting married. 
6. A New England - Billy Bragg
• The 'Bard of Barking' has written some of the best British political songs of the last twenty years, as well as some of the best love songs. This was one of the first songs of Billy's that I got to know. His gigs are part political rally, part music, but often all the better for that.   
7. End of the World News - Tom McRae
• "The son of two vicars.." as most write ups begin. I have made some great friends from going to Tom's gigs, beginning in the old days of 'the forum'. Tom deserves far more recognition that he gets, I'm sure you can buy his back catalogue cheaply - do it. This song was from the early days when we headed off to obscure venues around the country, drank lots of beer and JD and sang along. Actually I still try and do that as often as I can!
8. Ennio Morricone - Gabriel's Oboe
• Morricone's western scores are some of the best pieces of music ever composed. The theme to Once Upon A Time in the West is perhaps the greatest film music ever (Coincidentally, there Springsteen cover <here>). This choice is also wedding related... I had suggested Emily listen to some Morricone tracks for her arrival music, she dismissed it, but then came back a few weeks later with Gabriel's Oboe - a truly stunning piece of music, absolutely fitting for the moment.

As part of the Desert Island Discs format, you can take a book and a luxury item. My book has to be The Grapes of Wrath... Steinbeck is my favourite author, who somehow seems to see inside the human soul and condition in a way few other authors can. My item would probably be a guitar, so I can 'learn how to make it talk' to keep me busy.

What would your Desert Island Discs be and why?

I realised when I had finished that there were so many tracks missing. These are some that have also been pivotal in my life: Ben Folds Five - Best Imitation of Myself, Pulp - A Little Soul, Counting Crows - Mr Jones, Country Feedback - R.E.M., Neil Diamond - America, Amy McDonald - This Is The Life, The Avett Brothers - Murder in the City, Gaslight Anthem - '59 Sound, Joe Purdy - I Love the Rain Most, Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms, Crowded House - Private Universe, Taylor Swift - Teardrops on my Guitar, David Ford - State of the Union... 

Image: Courtesy of the Telegraph

All The Small Things

"All the small things

True care, truth brings"

Blink 182

Blink 182 sum up their whole song in the first two lines. Their 1999 hit was written for guitarist Tom DeLonge's wife (as apparently she moaned about him always writing songs about other women!), and it clearly explains the importance of caring about others, and showing them how important they are. Sometimes the "smallest way" can make all the difference in the world to someone. In schools, it is often the small things, that make a big difference too.

Noticing the small things

Some people are solely preoccupied with their teaching. Perhaps they should be; that is our core purpose.

I've heard teachers say, "It is not my responsibility to check uniform." which is unhelpful from a whole school point of view. It's worth remembering that students rarely have too much loyalty and will frequently point out, "Mr X didn't say anything about my nose-stud". Brilliant.

I'd argue that it is the responsibility of all staff to notice the small things, and those who don't, should be challenged. 

Picking up on the small things

It is really hard work constantly picking up on the small things, and carrying them through.

• What do you do when a student is 5 mins late, but your lesson isn't followed by break or lunch?
• How do you record who hasn't got a pen or their exercise book, especially when you want to get the lesson started?
• To what extent do you chase up uniform, especially if they don't have their uniform cards to sign?
• When do you find the time to chase every piece of missing homework?
• Do you challenge a student who has an extra earring in, hidden by her hair, if she is behaving well in your lesson (for once!)?
• You ask a student to see you at lunch for 5mins over a minor issue. They don't turn up. What do you do?

I think, if you do pick up on these small things, you will only need to do it for a while. The greatest thing I had a student say to me was, "You're strict, but at least you are strict all the time... with everyone". However it really is hard work - it is a relentless and tiresome battle, and one that potentially starts again every September.

Yet many would suggest if we allow the small things to persist, unchallenged, then all of a sudden, sometimes without warning, the bigger things will follow. When things slip, and keep slipping, it can be really hard to turn around. This can happen on a small scale, in an individual classroom, or on a much larger scale, whole-school.

My recommendation, is to be organised and put in place systems anticipating the problems. Some staff write down everything in their planner or on SIMs (which is so handy if and when the issues escalate with the student). Schools need systems that are workable for teachers. Rules need to be as clear as possible, with sanctions easy enough to implement, and are followed through. Always. All the small things, true care, truth brings.

Image courtesy of Gigwise

*APPEAL* Unused Musical Instruments?

Image courtesy of 3 Business Ideas

Do you have a musical instrument gathering dust in a drawer or cupboard, once used by you or your children, but no more? At St Teresa’s, Basildon, children are working with classical musician James Rhodes to form a school orchestra. Could you donate your instrument? Please contact Fr Dominic Howarth on 01268 281732, or email frdominic@basildoncatholics.org. We will pay postage or arrange a pick up, and your instrument will be put to very good use – it could truly transform the life of one of our children, as they discover new talents. Thank you.

See local news story <here>

Fr Dominic is an old friend of mine and someone who works tirelessly to improve the lives of those around him. Rarely do you meet such a hardworking and dedicated individual. If you can help, or know of anyone else who can, please forward this on!