Up next in 10
As a follow up to the chats with head of Xabia International College Richard Wijeratne, Moody was joined by Mike and Gaynor from the Secondary School about how they coped during the first half of 2020, and the exciting times ahead for the second half. May contains mentions of Manchester City.
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[Music]
0:00
this is bay radio we've just gone 25 to
0:03
11 mainland spain 25 to 10 the uk and
0:05
the canaries
0:06
and joined by mike mills and gainer
0:09
laporte from xic the jabia international
0:11
college of course
0:13
um now we've spoken to richard about the
0:16
lockdown period we spoke to him during
0:17
it while
0:18
the school was still in um how did you
0:20
see it from your point of view
0:21
how did how were you involved in so what
0:24
coordinating things
0:25
um i know it was challenging at times
0:27
challenge is the right word but but the
0:29
uh
0:30
the school the school and i mean not
0:32
just the teachers i mean the students
0:33
and the parents
0:34
face up to the challenge and we we met
0:35
it and we beat that challenge i mean it
0:37
was a
0:38
a really strange series of affairs
0:40
everyone knows of course
0:41
everyone knows this but uh what happened
0:43
was we were basically we were closed on
0:45
the
0:45
on the friday the next few days of the
0:48
school week it was before we had fiestas
0:50
i think as i recall
0:52
was that what it was okay that says that
0:54
says it all so that we had
0:56
a few days where where we decided how
0:58
can we get this
0:59
this education going for the students
1:00
because that's what we're here for at
1:01
the end of the day
1:02
um and we started off having uh sessions
1:05
where the teachers would go on
1:06
just to be there during the day for the
1:08
first few days just to be there if the
1:09
students wanted anything we'd set work
1:11
so
1:11
pretty much like like most of the
1:13
schools did we we had work prepared
1:15
we'd send them out we actually used
1:16
google classroom which which we
1:17
developed and we're
1:18
we were lucky because we're already
1:19
quite ahead of the game on google
1:21
classroom because again the the board
1:22
had
1:23
had the foresight to give all the
1:24
students tablets and the staff uh the
1:26
the ability to use their tablets and we
1:28
got encore and then we got chromebooks
1:30
so we were slightly ahead of the game so
1:32
so we uh we got all that set up already
1:34
and the staff worked very hard to get
1:35
resources ready
1:36
and we did the three days two or three
1:38
days and we decided
1:40
as a staff really that even though we
1:42
were doing it quite effectively and
1:44
still doing more than
1:45
other schools in the across the world uh
1:47
really we knew we were already doing
1:49
more than them
1:50
but we thought it's still not quite
1:51
right we we're xic and we're about
1:53
giving this student attention
1:55
so what we did then at the end of that
1:57
week and joined the during the the
1:58
fiesta times we were we were training
2:01
basically and we were we were training
2:02
we had help from some of the staff some
2:04
of the staff stepped forward to
2:05
train some of the staff that were less
2:06
confident so we had a really good um
2:09
communal approach to it all and for the
2:11
week that weekend
2:12
we trained and we trained and using you
2:14
know google meet and how it all works
2:16
and how to display work and how to
2:18
control this that and the other
2:20
and different ways of teaching while
2:21
using this uh this google me we had to
2:23
train on it we hadn't done it before
2:25
yeah we just literally hadn't and some
2:26
some uh staff just like the students
2:28
were more confident confident with it
2:30
than
2:30
than others um but we did it and then by
2:33
the monday we had a full timetable
2:35
um and since that week you know since
2:38
that in in march we have taught
2:40
every single lesson so every lesson at
2:42
xic has been taught with a teacher in
2:44
front of
2:44
in front of the uh the students they're
2:46
in their in their living rooms or their
2:48
studies wherever they were and we have
2:49
to make sure we have our rooms
2:50
our living rooms are tidy yeah that's it
2:53
it's all about the set dressing what's
2:54
behind you here yeah
2:55
it was it was important so make sure
2:58
there's a
2:58
your rooms are all tidy um but uh yes we
3:01
were there online teach them all
3:03
and with anything we couldn't do easily
3:04
was teach pe lessons
3:07
of course because no obviously their
3:09
tuition but we still had we had a
3:11
a member of our staff zoe batson that's
3:14
that kindly gave two two lunchtimes a
3:16
week
3:17
and they beamed into her home in calpe
3:20
and the students and parents could join
3:22
in do a fitness session
3:24
with her so she did that right from the
3:25
start as well so even though he couldn't
3:26
offer the peer lessons
3:27
we offered two sessions per week where
3:30
for anybody can go and just
3:31
try and get fit mm-hmm well that's a lot
3:34
down yeah
3:35
well that was that was a big part of it
3:36
especially if you weren't allowed
3:37
outside uh
3:38
for that first period and uh you need to
3:40
be doing something
3:41
but again i guess it was one of those
3:42
things where you know it's like these
3:44
days the teenagers were showing you how
3:45
to do the technology bit
3:46
oh absolutely and i have to say i was
3:48
blown away by the kindness
3:50
of students during these sessions
3:51
because a lot of us were on a very steep
3:53
learning curve
3:55
and myself not particularly confident
3:57
and the students actually interacted
3:59
with each other
4:00
on on the classroom and they offered to
4:02
present
4:03
and share um tips with each other and we
4:06
have the chat of course in in the class
4:08
um which was a lovely way to communicate
4:10
because of course one of the downsides
4:11
of
4:12
lockdown was the lack of socialization
4:14
for the students which are very aware of
4:16
and
4:16
it was actually quite lovely at the
4:18
start of lessons to have a little
4:19
interrupt
4:20
introductory chat where we could
4:22
familiarize ourselves with what we've
4:23
been doing meeting pets all sorts of
4:25
things with students in in their in
4:27
their homes of course
4:28
um but an absolute joy to see how so
4:31
many of our students rose to the
4:33
challenge
4:33
and was so dedicated and attending
4:36
lessons
4:37
producing work helping each other
4:39
supporting staff supporting us and it
4:41
was
4:42
actually so lovely to see a new
4:44
dimension to a lot of our students
4:46
um i'm very very positive mm-hmm oh
4:49
sorry come on sorry i think the thing
4:51
that's that we
4:52
we do sometimes miss it's not just how
4:54
great the the uh
4:56
the students were and they really were
4:57
and the staff were fantastic
5:00
equally but also the the fact that um we
5:03
knew
5:03
and we knew because xrc community we
5:05
knew that there were there were people
5:07
in our parent and families that were ill
5:09
as well with the current virus it wasn't
5:11
it wasn't just about
5:12
the the teaching we had we had people
5:14
that were we had staff that had
5:16
family that were ill and that was a real
5:18
a real challenge for us because we knew
5:20
this
5:20
yet you're trying to teach and trying to
5:21
keep going and some of that some of the
5:22
staff um
5:24
especially with young children you know
5:26
they were of course they were teaching
5:29
whilst looking after their children yeah
5:30
and some of the staff
5:32
what they did was amazing we arranged
5:34
sometimes the timetable so
5:36
you know we had some math lessons that
5:37
we had started eight o'clock because
5:39
uh one of the members of staff her
5:40
husband was also working so they had to
5:42
do it in
5:43
doing shifts so people's the teacher's
5:46
home life was also just completely
5:49
changed and
5:49
and people giving up far more of their
5:52
time
5:52
you know outside of what you call normal
5:55
school hours and their
5:56
but also their families are giving up so
5:58
so we could keep going to xyc
5:59
and providing the the education that we
6:02
we aim to provide
6:03
their partners their husbands they also
6:06
changed what they were doing so
6:08
we know we don't ever sort of like think
6:10
about that but they but
6:11
forced to keep teaching in the way that
6:13
we did people gave up gave up a lot of
6:14
sacrifice a lot of
6:16
time just keep it going and we're yeah
6:17
we're really grateful for that massive
6:19
team effort yeah it really was
6:20
extraordinary
6:21
really extraordinary they all helped
6:22
each other you were saying that the
6:24
students were
6:24
were great and it's with humor because
6:26
you know sometimes when you're using
6:28
these technologies and sharing things it
6:29
goes wrong
6:30
yeah as long as you can laugh at
6:31
yourself and that thing and the students
6:33
were great and said you pressed the
6:34
phone button sir i was like
6:35
so sorry the biggest challenge we had
6:37
actually in the end of it was was the
6:38
internet wasn't it it's
6:40
the internet different providers go down
6:42
of course yeah that was the hardest and
6:44
the biggest challenge we had
6:45
yeah we have no control over that and
6:47
let's talk about actually the
6:48
exciting times ahead because of course
6:50
you're in school holidays now you
6:51
finished a
6:52
couple of days earlier because that had
6:53
been a tough old uh a tough old term
6:56
and probably seemed like a very long
6:57
term as well but it's not completely
7:00
off duty for you because you're looking
7:01
ahead to the new secondary school of
7:03
course
7:04
for both of you yes uh fantastic times
7:06
ahead we've had a couple of site
7:08
meetings and
7:09
as you know richard is a driving force
7:10
at the moment working with the
7:11
architects and
7:12
looking at plans um and with the amazing
7:15
support of the board we're
7:16
able to proceed and we're hoping uh very
7:19
positively for september
7:20
um we've been to the site with some
7:22
staff haven't we had a look
7:24
um and compared to where we are now it's
7:26
like christmas
7:27
uh we have wonderful facilities
7:30
all purpose made we have labs we're
7:34
food technology lab we have a gym
7:38
we have an outdoor sports area teaching
7:41
blocks that are very well
7:43
situated so we still maintain the
7:44
intimacy of the school which is
7:46
something that we
7:47
want to keep because obviously we're a
7:50
very small site at the moment which
7:51
maintains the lovely intimacy
7:53
but one of the nice things going to the
7:55
news site is it still has that
7:57
so when we transfer we'll have the
7:59
luxury of space
8:00
but still that feeling of being a small
8:02
community within a working environment
8:05
and the most exciting thing for me is
8:06
the sports area
8:08
oh yeah it's just wonderful because
8:10
where we are
8:11
at currently we have to go off site for
8:13
our sports lessons
8:14
and obviously moving to the news sites
8:16
we're going to have everything
8:18
literally on our doorstep we have a
8:20
multi-sports
8:21
area and rather inspirationally we have
8:24
a running track going around
8:26
part of the buildings in and around so
8:29
we've managed to incorporate that with
8:30
the architects some of these so
8:32
and we have a lovely gym um and lots of
8:35
areas allocated like a volleyball area
8:38
there we're hoping to have little gym
8:40
areas around the
8:41
play sections for the students so there
8:43
will always be activities for them
8:45
i bet each different teacher has been
8:46
looking at their own sort of section
8:48
going oh yes i
8:49
have a bit of this is a bit of me they
8:50
certainly have i mean all the views
8:53
are amazing the classroom you have a
8:54
classroom that looks directly onto the
8:56
which is beautiful
8:58
or you have the classroom on the other
8:59
side that looks over cumbria the views
9:01
into the distance of the cumbres so
9:03
no matter where you are it's just the
9:04
views are amazing and it's getting the
9:06
same
9:06
we designed the the school and the site
9:09
at the school with with the students in
9:10
mind we spoke with the students what do
9:12
you want
9:12
what do you want as your as your your
9:14
colleagues moving forwards and it's all
9:16
about moving this
9:17
college the next into the next phase so
9:19
it's all about
9:20
outdoor spaces so every every space
9:23
we've got how can we use that for the
9:25
the students like games if we've got the
9:26
the running track we're gonna have
9:28
outdoor gym equipment like you see on
9:29
the beaches you know
9:30
yeah yeah there's this tough robust
9:32
stuff so a few areas of that so the
9:33
students can use that
9:35
at different times um we talked about
9:37
we're having a climbing wall
9:38
the students at xic they love the table
9:40
tennis and there's a cube to get on the
9:42
table tennis sale we've got at the
9:44
current site so we've got
9:45
four outdoor proper concrete table
9:48
tennis tables
9:49
at different parts just so they can they
9:51
can do it the students love they love
9:52
the sport
9:53
we want them to be active we're big on
9:55
on being active you know it's where we
9:57
come from with our
9:58
sport background too um and that's what
10:01
they want that's what we
10:02
want them to be to be fit and healthy
10:04
and and that's the
10:06
the way to to move forward in life so uh
10:08
everything is geared towards them
10:10
ah but what's the flow of the new
10:11
building like this was a big part of
10:13
what we've been talking to richard about
10:14
they've got somebody in it's almost like
10:16
a feng shui
10:17
thing where it's got you know the the
10:19
flow through the building and the
10:20
corridors that sort of thing it's um
10:22
that's even that's been down to yeah you
10:24
know
10:26
going through and in terms of the the
10:28
air flow the light flow it's all been
10:30
looked at and gone through stuff you
10:31
wouldn't really think of but but we're
10:33
even even coming onto onto the site it's
10:35
all it's all
10:36
carefully planned out and it's a natural
10:38
transition between buildings so the
10:40
blocks are well
10:41
um positioned and we have like a main
10:44
classroom
10:44
block they're also a block with these
10:46
specialist subjects such as our ict
10:49
music they're all in one block
10:50
then we have the science block the sixth
10:52
form block so all the areas are very
10:54
specific
10:55
so then obviously the movement around
10:56
the school is is less congested
10:59
and it's well thought out so their
11:01
students will get directly to where they
11:03
need to be
11:04
with minimum fuss but obviously in a
11:06
positive way
11:07
yeah the six formers have got their
11:08
their own brand the block of themselves
11:10
is actually built originally for this
11:12
for the staff but we've given it to the
11:14
six formers
11:15
they need they need somewhere to go to
11:16
have their space so they've got their
11:17
own block with
11:18
with a you know kitchenette sort of area
11:20
the fastest wi-fi in the in the college
11:22
that six
11:23
six forms having in their little block
11:24
there yeah i bet it looks a bit
11:27
different from the old sixth form common
11:28
room when i was at school and
11:30
i bet the staff room's a little bit
11:31
different as well certainly
11:33
smoke free i know that's an old cliche
11:36
but it was like that wasn't it you
11:37
the staff room when you were at school
11:38
it was a complete mystery
11:40
but occasionally you got a bit of an
11:41
insight and it was just these clouds of
11:43
smoke coming out of the games
11:45
it was first like a teacher that was the
11:47
way yeah yeah and then they were moved
11:49
out and suddenly had to
11:50
find spaces if if they were silly enough
11:52
to smoke that's they had to go on
11:54
off-site and everything else yeah which
11:55
is the right thing
11:56
now the thing is here we're talking
11:58
about the javier area of course
12:00
but uh international college and we're
12:01
reaching people there's people listening
12:03
online
12:04
and you know you're welcoming people to
12:06
the area there'll be people moving to
12:07
the area all the time maybe looking for
12:09
somewhere like x i see
12:10
uh should we do the sort of the business
12:12
speak bit the ua usp
12:15
uh what would be the usp of the school
12:16
who wants to take this on
12:18
uh usp of the school the usp of xic
12:23
class is class sizes individual
12:25
attention you know
12:26
if your child comes to xic they will get
12:29
individual attention
12:30
academically with the class sizes they
12:33
are taught by specialist teachers so all
12:35
our teachers have actually
12:37
specialized and qualified to teach in
12:38
their subject which is which is really
12:40
important that was a
12:41
a big thing for me and i was an
12:42
inspector from the uk as i said earlier
12:44
coming over to here it was important for
12:46
me taking over as xic when i had my
12:47
interview i said
12:48
i need specialist teachers to be
12:50
teaching those subjects because that's
12:51
because your love for the subject comes
12:53
through you know if you're teaching
12:54
sport or geography
12:55
or science if it's your subject you've
12:58
passed that love of that subject onto
12:59
the students and that's vital you know
13:01
these students they they sit there for
13:03
six hours a day in lessons we want
13:04
lessons to be
13:05
as good as they can and having
13:07
specialist teachers teaching their
13:09
their specialism and to with high craft
13:13
that's so important so you get the
13:14
individual attention there the mentioned
13:16
earlier you get the
13:17
individual attention pastorally too we
13:19
look after them
13:20
we we get to know the students it's
13:22
really it's so vital because
13:24
knowing them if something's wrong we
13:26
pick up on it and it's
13:27
it's not we're being nosy we're being
13:30
anything like that
13:31
we want to help the child we're here to
13:32
help the child it's this total child
13:34
centered approach
13:35
and that's what you get that's what you
13:36
get with xic in terms of the
13:38
the teaching and the methods of teaching
13:40
which we vary the methods of teaching
13:43
we are way ahead on google classroom so
13:45
we have we have our atf we have our
13:46
tennis players that come in and
13:47
sometimes they're not there for lessons
13:49
because they're on tournament
13:50
we put our lessons we put our work we
13:52
put our resources onto google classroom
13:55
so it's basically they've got a whole
13:56
entire
13:57
online library so if you're not at
13:59
school if you're if you're delayed
14:00
because you
14:01
you're living some somewhere out of
14:02
spain and you can't get across
14:05
no worries the lessons are there for you
14:07
to do that and every child comes into
14:08
xic gets a tablet
14:10
yeah so we give them the technologies
14:12
they they keep it with them they take
14:13
those home with them
14:14
um and as a as a teacher if you want to
14:17
do some research or someone asked a
14:18
question and you think well you need to
14:19
find that out really
14:21
you say okay tablet's open you don't
14:22
have to in the old days you know when i
14:24
was at school in my old school in the uk
14:25
you don't have to book an ict room
14:27
when i see team room comes to you and
14:30
that's a really big
14:31
plus yeah and that technology side there
14:34
will have been one or two things that
14:35
you were throwing in at the deep end a
14:36
little bit with the lockdown period but
14:38
there'll be some things from that you
14:40
can you can take forward and
14:42
maybe utilize and certainly have on
14:43
standby should you need them again you
14:45
know
14:46
got it down yeah well it's it's it's not
14:48
even on standby anymore because we we
14:50
are using this technology
14:51
of everyone going forward we are all
14:53
going to be uh making sure that the
14:55
google classroom is there with
14:56
all the work we're using it as a tool
14:59
from next year to contact the parents
15:00
because they can get notifications so we
15:02
put anything on the classroom
15:03
it comes up as you know mr mills has set
15:05
this work
15:06
so they're aware of it if parents don't
15:08
want that so frequent
15:10
uh contact because sometimes they can
15:12
get quite annoying on your phone
15:13
counting when it comes out but you can
15:14
turn the notifications off
15:15
that one so we are we are moving forward
15:17
with it the the classrooms are all fully
15:19
um with their technology if we have you
15:22
know we've got 65-inch
15:23
screens going into the all the
15:25
classrooms the staff have all got their
15:27
chromebooks their resources the images
15:29
and imagery is so important
15:30
in in education you just plug that in
15:33
straight away to the screen
15:34
it's there you know and and with it also
15:37
being on the classroom for the students
15:38
it's there's just there's no excuses
15:40
anymore there's no excuses we've got
15:41
we've got everything that we need yeah
15:43
teachers and students
15:45
and that's the thing i mean great for
15:46
the the teachers in the school and most
15:48
of the students but there'll be one or
15:49
two we're saying you know i've heard
15:50
stories about when it snowed and all
15:52
there was floods and he got the day off
15:53
school it's not the same now they're
15:54
still not they'll be yeah still have to
15:56
do it
15:56
and as soon as if something does happen
15:58
and we have to have if we have a wave
16:00
too
16:01
it's also yeah we're there and there's
16:02
there we know okay
16:04
we stopped we stopped today we're on
16:06
tomorrow there's no there's no
16:08
no change over that what happens we
16:10
can't wait to see them all no
16:11
no it's it's so strange you miss the
16:13
students it's like
16:14
what's going on here yeah especially as
16:16
you say when it's when it's smaller
16:18
sizes and smaller groups then you know
16:20
them a little bit better
16:21
to talk to yeah so get everyone back
16:23
together hopefully
16:24
well i'm sure we'll be fine for for
16:26
september september
16:40
you
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