Allow me a spot of self indulgence if you would. Excuse the unapologetically selfish tone of this entry – and pardon me if I offend. But I am royally annoyed today.I teach a lot of pupils. Hundreds of the little blighters. And every one of them is unique – for better or for worse. In an average class of about thirty children I will have about thirty personalities, about thirty different ability levels, about thirty different learning styles. And I do my best for each and every one of them. But sometimes you have favourites. The ones who will brighten your day by popping a piece of work in front of you that will make the day a good one. I may have to look a bit harder to find them this year.
I’m happy for them – really I am. It’s in their best educational interests I’m sure – they will benefit greatly. It’s just I can’t help feeling a bit…
Today I learned that my year 10 class will be four pupils smaller than it was last year. Actually that’s not true – I have lost four pupils but they will be replaced by others so it won’t be any smaller – it just feels like it will.
My four best students have been headhunted.
Last year I really struggled with that class. They were hard work, there were times I was pulling out my hair in handfuls and I nearly always had to have a sit down to recover after the lesson – but we got there. Better than that we actually did pretty well. Four girls in particular did extremely well.
Over the summer another school contacted their parents and offered them places there. A grammar school. Of course the parents jumped at the opportunity – I would probably have done the same.
But the underhandedness of the whole thing makes me feel a bit uneasy. Usually where this happens it’s because the existing school recommended the move and arranged it with the other school. In this instance the new school found they were slightly undersubscribed for year 10 - obtained the pupils’ grades, contacted and arranged the move before we knew anything about it. In footballing terms it’s called ‘tapping up’ and it leads to things like Chelsea being banned from the next three transfer windows.
I don’t blame the parents or the pupils. In their situation I would find it hard to do any different. There is an argument that they have clearly thrived in our school so there is a risk that the change might not be completely advantageous, that their progress may actually not be as good in a different setup – but honestly I think these particular pupils have the ability to do extremely well in the grammar school.
I am, however, far from happy with the other school. It’s not even in the same town as us. Could they not have carried out their little cream skimming exercise closer to their own backyard?
I’ll miss them dreadfully. In a class of thirty pupils they stood out. They enjoyed English class and I loved reading what they would come up with
I know I should be happy for my ex pupils; be proud even that I played a part in their advancement. But right now I feel a little dejected. Yes they will go on to do well. And all the credit for their success will go to their new English teacher and all that hard work I put in won’t be given a thought. Instead I get to struggle with the rest of the class without the benefit of those occasional moments of inspired writing.
Hey, even teachers are allowed to be self absorbed and selfish sometimes.
I’m happy for them – really I am. It’s in their best educational interests I’m sure – they will benefit greatly. It’s just I can’t help feeling a bit…
Today I learned that my year 10 class will be four pupils smaller than it was last year. Actually that’s not true – I have lost four pupils but they will be replaced by others so it won’t be any smaller – it just feels like it will.
My four best students have been headhunted.
Last year I really struggled with that class. They were hard work, there were times I was pulling out my hair in handfuls and I nearly always had to have a sit down to recover after the lesson – but we got there. Better than that we actually did pretty well. Four girls in particular did extremely well.
Over the summer another school contacted their parents and offered them places there. A grammar school. Of course the parents jumped at the opportunity – I would probably have done the same.
But the underhandedness of the whole thing makes me feel a bit uneasy. Usually where this happens it’s because the existing school recommended the move and arranged it with the other school. In this instance the new school found they were slightly undersubscribed for year 10 - obtained the pupils’ grades, contacted and arranged the move before we knew anything about it. In footballing terms it’s called ‘tapping up’ and it leads to things like Chelsea being banned from the next three transfer windows.
I don’t blame the parents or the pupils. In their situation I would find it hard to do any different. There is an argument that they have clearly thrived in our school so there is a risk that the change might not be completely advantageous, that their progress may actually not be as good in a different setup – but honestly I think these particular pupils have the ability to do extremely well in the grammar school.
I am, however, far from happy with the other school. It’s not even in the same town as us. Could they not have carried out their little cream skimming exercise closer to their own backyard?
I’ll miss them dreadfully. In a class of thirty pupils they stood out. They enjoyed English class and I loved reading what they would come up with
I know I should be happy for my ex pupils; be proud even that I played a part in their advancement. But right now I feel a little dejected. Yes they will go on to do well. And all the credit for their success will go to their new English teacher and all that hard work I put in won’t be given a thought. Instead I get to struggle with the rest of the class without the benefit of those occasional moments of inspired writing.
Hey, even teachers are allowed to be self absorbed and selfish sometimes.
No comments:
Post a Comment