TEACHING THE TEACHERS - July 2003

NORTH AYRSHIRE TEACHERS - CHESS WORKSHOPS

(Project Preview, March 2003)

INTRODUCTION

The purpose of this document is to record the salient facts surrounding the recently completed pilot chess course run jointly by Chess Scotland (CS) and North Ayrshire Council (NAC). The initiative arose out of discussions between Lesley Owens, Head of Service, Educational Services, NAC and John Glendinning, President, CS. In summary form, the objectives of the course were: -

·        To give teachers an opportunity to learn how to play chess.

·        To summarise the history of chess playing.

·        To explain the practical implications of running chess clubs in schools.

·        To explore the wider educational benefits of chess playing.

 

The course was well received and can be considered a clear success. CS wishes to record formally, their sincere thanks to Lesley Owens and her team for setting up and running the course and to Irene Gilmour of NAC who undertook so much of the administration workload.

STRUCTURE AND FUNDING

The course was funded by NAC under the recently introduced Continuing Professional Development (CPD) initiative. It took the form of a series of workshops led by experienced CS chess coaches. CS also supplied the course materials and handouts. To supplement the papers booklets, each school represented at the workshops received a CS prepared CD ROM to enable interactive working through a number of exercises.

Although other venues were used, most of the workshops were held at Greenwood Teachers Centre, Irvine, on Wednesday afternoons immediately after the school day. Each workshop lasted in the region of 1hour 30minutes. A visit to Glebe Primary School enabled attendees to see a school chess club in action and to discuss related practical issues.

Two streams of workshops were established. A ten-workshop course for non-chess players commenced on 12 March and completed on 4 June. In parallel, a five-workshop course for existing players ran from 7 May to 4 June. Both courses concluded with a simultaneous given by IM John Shaw. Two players, RJ O'Brien and JI MacLaggan, held the IM to a draw but the main achievement was that everyone was able to participate.

A special feature of the course was a keynote address on 30 April given by Dr B Boyd to a wider audience on chess in the educational environment. IM Craig Pritchett's summary of Dr Boyd's talk can be accessed through the CS website.

ATTENDEES - NUMBERS AND ASSESSMENTS

19 teachers enrolled for the beginners' course and six for the existing players course (although some of the existing players "switched" to the beginners' course). Taking account of the workload etc. difficulties experienced by teachers in travelling from their individual schools to Greenwood, attendance was very good indeed. Each teacher was awarded a CPD certificate awarded by NAC (and incorporating the CS logo) recording their numbers of hours of participation.

Each attendee was given the opportunity to complete a CPD Chess Training Evaluation form. 21 completed forms were received up to the end of last term. The forms have been reviewed in detail. The tick box results were: - 

	Excellent	Good	Fair	Poor	Very Poor
Content	7	13	1
Handouts	8	13
Presentation	6	15
Length & timing	7	14
Venue & catering	11	10

In the free-format fields, a range of comments was offered. The most consistently occurring suggestion was to allow more time for actual playing amongst workshop attendees to reinforce the training. Some attendees found some explanations rather too complicated, especially in the earlier stages. Warm praise was extended to the CS representatives; teachers were impressed by the knowledge and enthusiasm throughout the range of workshop leaders. The catering provision was welcomed in making the workshops a more pleasant experience.

A number of teachers have expressed a desire to establish a chess club in their schools. NAC are utilising an external consultant, Ian Barr, to measure the educational impact of the CPD course. A recall was requested; this coincided with the CS/NAC plans to hold a review session during the autumn term. Current thinking is to arrange a question and answer event. Stephen Taylor of CS offered to be a first point of contact to support workshop attendees with any post course questions.

STARTER PACKS

Each of the 17 schools represented at the workshops received a "starter pack" at the conclusion of the course. A starter pack contained: -

• Six boards and sets
• 100 loose score sheets
• Clockwork chess clock
• Book, Simple Chess Tactics and Checkmates, AJ Gillam, Batsford

WORKSHOP LEADERS

A variety of CS representatives led the workshops in various roles. In the interests of brevity, the list is simply repeated here in alphabetical order without identifying the precise nature of the various individual roles.

G Bonner	D Leslie	A McFarlane
S Mannion (Senior)	M Mathie	N Mathie
IM C Pritchett	IM J Shaw	S Taylor

In addition to attending the pre-course meetings, A McFarlane also pulled together the beginners' course structure, handouts and CD ROM. R Heathwood acted as CS Project Manager agreeing contract terms with NAC and generally assisting with administration. J Glendinning led the pre-course discussions and represented CS at the final certificate presentation. Mention should also be made of the significant extra workload imposed on M McKenzie, CS Finance Director.

FURTHER COURSES

NAC and CS envisage holding courses on Arran and in Largs during the autumn term. As at the date of writing this report, invitations have been sent out to teachers in the relevant catchment areas but dates etc. have not yet been finalised.

Within CS, a small working group is considering how to build on the North Ayrshire success by extending out to other local authorities. Discussion of those issues is outwith the scope of this report. Further briefing will be provided to CS Council when a recommended way forward has been identified.

R Heathwood 11 July 2003