Off Topic Back to School

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Kempton said:
Best days of my life? Really, Balkan, they weren't.

They stunted my growth something rotten. Not all of them, but the most influential ones.

Trust me. If you didn't come to school on a bus and if you didn't wear a uniform, if you had your own ideas, your own hair cut.

You were Orchard Park scum to most of them.
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First of all I thank my mother for often working two jobs so she could pay for me and my brother to go on all the available school trips. Some of the things I got to do and see in the 1970's were beyond my wildest dreams and that was down to teachers going far beyond their remit.

On the education side of things I certainly don't envy teachers, it was tough for them back in my days and it looks to be even worse for them today. I guess you're a bit younger than me but at the time I left school at 16 there were jobs for everyone, many going into apprenticeships and learning a trade. Now with less of that type of work available many are encouraged to go into higher education, collect debt, and still end up with no job at the end of it.
 
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Help! said:
My assumed timescale’s wrong if you did GCSEs - that was after I’d finished so maybe he got more stressed and started getting closer to the kids with his outbursts.

Stan Cholewa I think came in as a new teacher when I was there though. Never dealt with him, but he obviously made some impression on me for me to remember his name (Maybe taught my 6th form mates physics?). And my head was Mr Laws - strict but fair Geordie bloke
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I was at the closing event of Cooper and they’d said that Stan Chowela had worked at the school from opening to closing (he retired when it closed).

Sherman left probably 5 years before it closed (he left whilst my brother was at that school so late 2000s).
 
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Cortez91 said:
I was at the closing event of Cooper and they’d said that Stan Chowela had worked at the school from opening to closing (he retired when it closed).

Sherman left probably 5 years before it closed (he left whilst my brother was at that school so late 2000s).
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Fair enough - it was quite a while ago that I was there! He can’t have made much impression then did for some reason then. I think he was higher up, maybe Deputy Head, when my father in law taught there in the 00s. As I said I had thought my mates in sixth form had him, but thinking about it again, was he an art teacher? If so they wouldn’t have, but I did art and didn’t have him either.

And PE was Sherman and Metcalfe when I was there in the 80s.
 
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Help! said:
Fair enough - it was quite a while ago that I was there! He can’t have made much impression then did for some reason then. I think he was higher up, maybe Deputy Head, when my father in law taught there in the 00s. As I said I had thought my mates in sixth form had him, but thinking about it again, was he an art teacher? If so they wouldn’t have, but I did art and didn’t have him either.

And PE was Sherman and Metcalfe when I was there in the 80s.
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I’d have been there early 2000s. What did your father in law teach?

Yeah he taught art. Think he became like Head of Arts overseeing music, drama and PE too.
 
Cortez91 said:
I’d have been there early 2000s. What did your father in law teach?

Yeah he taught art. Think he became like Head of Arts overseeing music, drama and PE too.
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Dutch clearly never went to Cooper. It was mainly kids, but then a few you’d probably be less sure of.

And he taught them Chemistry. It was after he’d been made redundant and retrained when Capper Pass closed.
 
Chazz Rheinhold said:
Maybe one of the teachers can explain what all staff were doing?
If a school of say 400 have 25 teachers, during Covid how many kids in school? 50 ?
Why would you need all 25 teachers in? Put some meat on them bones??!
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Realise I’m a bit late to this but we had 13 teachers. 3 were isolating. 1 was leaving in March anyway (to move to China of all places and the other 9 were all in school with vulnerable kids and children of key workers.

That said, I know of schools near us that closed on the 22nd/23rd and didn’t reopen until June, with little or no communication to their communities.
 
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Help! said:
Dutch clearly never went to Cooper. It was mainly kids, but then a few you’d probably be less sure of.

And he taught them Chemistry. It was after he’d been made redundant and retrained when Capper Pass closed.
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I don’t remember there been a chemistry teacher there whilst I was. Always seem to be in demand. We seemed to have two physics teachers and everybody else taught biology.

Ironically, I then did chemistry for my degree at uni.
 
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Cortez91 said:
I don’t remember there been a chemistry teacher there whilst I was. Always seem to be in demand. We seemed to have two physics teachers and everybody else taught biology.

Ironically, I then did chemistry for my degree at uni.
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Could have been a slightly different time then, or he could have been one of the Physics teachers you refer to as I think he taught both, and Maths. His degree is in Chemistry though and he’d spent 30 years as an Industrial Chemist before doing his PGCE.
 
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Help! said:
Could have been a slightly different time then, or he could have been one of the Physics teachers you refer to as I think he taught both, and Maths. His degree is in Chemistry though and he’d spent 30 years as an Industrial Chemist before doing his PGCE.
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Not sure. There were a few science teachers that left after my first year that didn’t teach me so may have been one of those.
 
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originallambrettaman said:
My kids school never closed due to weather, they always said if you can get the kids here, then we'll make sure there's someone ready to teach them.
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My secondary used to close for a few days each year it seemed. Burst water pipes when it was cold, roof panels loose when it was windy and central heating didn’t work when it was snowing.
 
balkan tiger said:
Ok a question for the teachers, where do you stand on the idea of kids of all abilities being taught in the same class? In my day there were 3 or 4 classes of each subject the brightest in class one middle of the road in 2 and 3 and those who just didn't understand in level 4. Each class got taught to their own level of ability with an incentive to go up a level. From what i have heard now (from a teacher) everyone is lumped in together so a class of 30 may have 10 bright kids who get bored because it's too easy, 10 kids who don't understand so disrupt the class, and 10 who have to mumble along.
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We’re streaming by ability this year but I prefer a mixed group in the class.
 
Kempton said:
What's our opinion on home education?

My 12 year old nephew is home educated, he's never been to school, but he's so bright, his maths and English are excellent and he's just such a well rounded young man.

He's fit and healthy and until Covid reared its ugly head, he was involved in all sorts of activities. Gymnastics, football (obvs), swimming, drama, he's starred in a few plays. He has plenty of friends, he's very well spoken, reads exceptionally well.

Next year I think he does his GCSE's and we're very confident he'll do very well indeed.

I really wasn't keen on the idea of home Ed, but my nephew seems way ahead of many kids in his age group.
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I had a conversation with a parent the other day who said they thought their child is good at English and Maths. When we broke it down, they knew their times tables (but struggled with basic calculation) and could read well (but didn’t understand what they had read).

Somebody else said x is a good writer. They actually meant their handwriting was nice.

These will be a problem in some homes where home education has taken place. Not knowing what the expectations are of an age group.


I’m not denying what you’ve posted by the way, Kemp. Your post just reminded me of those conversations.
 
Cortez91 said:
I had a conversation with a parent the other day who said they thought their child is good at English and Maths. When we broke it down, they knew their times tables (but struggled with basic calculation) and could read well (but didn’t understand what they had read).

Somebody else said x is a good writer. They actually meant their handwriting was nice.

These will be a problem in some homes where home education has taken place. Not knowing what the expectations are of an age group.


I’m not denying what you’ve posted by the way, Kemp. Your post just reminded me of those conversations.
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Aren't home-schooled kids subject to some sort of regular assessment by authorities. You'd imagine these sort of shortcomings would be picked up that way, no?
 
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