After three weeks of mentioning buses (which are marginally better, by the way) I thought I’d dive straight into a much more controversial topic. Screen Time.

The issue of whether too much screen time on phones and tablets is bad for children has been debated for well over a decade. It’s a logical evolution of the discussions with previous generations over TV and video games. More recently, this issue was back in the news with some emerging research that too much time flicking through social media and video clips does indeed hinder a child’s ability to concentrate. However, it’s not hard to find arguments for both sides of the divide.

What is interesting is to look at how the people in charge of big tech firms handle screen time in their own families. Famously the inventors of the ipad Steve Jobs and Jonny Ives both said that they don’t let their own children use them, despite designing them to be easy enough for a toddler to operate. That always raises an eyebrow for me, but of course there’s always more to a story. If you’re interested in what a range of tech leaders do or did do with screen time with their children then I’ve posted a link to what I hope is a fairly balanced article below.

Screen time v play time: what tech leaders won’t let their own kids do | Technology | The Guardian

Have a great weekend,

Joe Barker

It’s the Friday morning after year 9 Options and parents evening last night. Options and parents’ evening is one of the busiest of the year, as our Year 9 cohort and their parents/carers get to come and speak to staff about the options subjects on offer for next year. It’s one of the milestone events in a child’s secondary school career, and a moment when they can really start to picture the second half of secondary education. Not only that, but we combine the event with a formal sit down parents’ evening for the core subjects of English and Maths alongside Science and MFL. Needless to say, it’s always busy and last night was no exception! It was great to see so many people taking such an interest in the future of our class of 2027, not least the students themselves, and I loved taking part in some of the conversations. Huge thanks to everyone and of course to our staff, taking part in the second evening event in an many weeks.

Just to confirm that the online options form is open now and closes on 6th February. The process is NOT first come first served.

For the past two blogs I have mentioned the ongoing issues with the Bee Network’s bus service. It continues to be very poor, with buses late every morning and afternoon. I’m not sure if this makes it better or worse, but at a meeting with Secondary Headteachers yesterday from across the Borough it was clear that we are not alone. The issues are common to most schools, and as a result we will be making representations to TfGM collectively as a group. In the meantime please continue to log your concerns with the Bee Network here hello@beenetwork.com and by all means copy us in so that we’re aware.

Have a great weekend,

Joe Barker

Being a headteacher can be a strange existence at time. We have this amazing, huge, complicated job with many moving parts, and we spend a lot of time and effort trying to clarify complex situations and steer our schools on a steady and sensible path. But on other days we get obsessed by small things. Often with me it’s toilets, a subject I never dreamed I would spend so much of my working life thinking about. Sometimes it’s the weather that takes over, but this term it’s the buses. I mentioned this briefly last week, but if your child catches a school bus there is a chance that something has gone wrong at least once since we came back in January. The Bee Network took over the school bus services this term and it’s an understatement to say that they are having some teething issues. I am sure they are working hard to fix them, but the service so far has not been good enough. We have had:

1. Many late buses, often over 30 minutes late both in the morning and the afternoon. In particular the 844 in the morning has been very badly impacted, as have the 806 and 808 in the afternoon.
2. Buses not turning up at all, despite appearing to be on their way on the apps and then vanishing without trace. Or, as happened this week, school being informed that an afternoon bus was not going to arrive at all and then turning up 10 minutes after the poor kids had all left to walk home.
3. Buses getting lost on the way to and from school, and relying on our students to direct them. Some have stayed on the bus well past their stops on the way home to help the drivers work out where to go.

I don’t underestimate how complicated it must be to run a bus network and I am sure that colleagues at the network are working flat out. But, the service at the moment is not good enough. As a school we have raised numerous complaints, and you can see a copy of the response here. I’m glad that they acknowledge the issue, but I’m not sure there’s a recognition about how much this is disrupting children’s education. If you’d like, then parents and carers are welcome to also complain via this email address: hello@beenetwork.com

As you know I’m proud of our school and all the staff and students in it, and the hard work and effort that so many put into doing their best every day. School isn’t always easy and we’re good at overcoming challenges where we need to, but being able to get here and then home again shouldn’t be one of them.

Have a great weekend when it comes,

Joe Barker

Ok, not so warm!

Before I start, this is a fairly long blog mainly about the weather. However, if you have been bothered this week by poor bus services then do please skip to the end!

Headteachers famously don’t like snow, or ice for that matter. Even the threat of a solitary flake is enough to get people excited about the fabled ‘snow day’, and there are a lot of factors to consider when deciding whether to open or not. Health and safety comes first, but it is closely followed by the moral duty to keep educating young people. I’ve been a headteacher long enough now to have pretty much seen it all, but this week has been unique for the variety of challenges we have faced. Monday was the day of the doomsday forecast but actually not that much snow on the ground. Tuesday saw more snowfall, but also lots of rain that threatened to flood parts of the site. Wednesday was the hardest day of the lot, with Tuesday’s water freezing across the site, and yesterday (although colder) wasn’t as bad given that the ground was largely dry. Today looks to be more of the same. Every day was different, but every day also showed the very best of Marple Hall School.

Firstly, huge thanks go to Mr Hutchinson, Mr Day, Mr Gilmore, Mr Christie and Mr Archer of the site team. They have worked absolute wonders this week, clearing snow on Monday and then gritting the whole site over and over again on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. With 5.15am starts some days, the team have made our site safe to attend and they have worked tirelessly to keep our school open. Nothing happens in school if we don’t open, and so education starts with the site team. We are all very grateful!

Secondly, every member of staff has tackled the week with enthusiasm and determination. Break duty at -6 degrees isn’t the best gig, but the challenge has been met with a can-do spirit and a smile. Not only that, but they have been covering for colleagues stuck in traffic across Greater Manchester, Cheshire and Derbyshire, and generally giving the students a brilliant deal this week.

And finally, the students and their families themselves. It would be very easy for some students to not fancy coming to school when it is cold and dark, and when some other schools have closed, but we have hit over 91% attendance on some days this week. This is above the national average on a normal sunny dry day! As well as proving that our students and families really do value school, that’s the Marple Hall Spirit in action and I couldn’t be prouder.

Now, usually, I’d stop there. But I cannot leave today’s blog without a mention of school buses. This week of all weeks, with sub zero temperatures, the bus services has been incredibly unreliable. Our buses used to be provided by a number of companies, but as of the start of 2025 they are all being managed by the new Bee Network. This may well end up being a better service (no political opinion here!!), but I am fully aware of how poor it has been this week. No-shows, massive lateness, drivers getting lost (and students directing the buses themselves) – it’s not been good enough. I feel for the poor students waiting in the cold each morning for late buses or buses that never showed up. Rest assured we have been making our voice heard at the Bee Network, but if you have a concern to raise then do please email them directly. The email address is hello@beenetwork.com, and please make sure you clearly reference Marple Hall School.

Have a warm weekend, and thanks for the many messages of support this week!

Joe Barker