INNER CITY TEACHING
A year in the life…
Oenone Crossley-
Holland’s
compelling
account of a
year in the life of a teacher
at an inner city school is
a must read for all NQTs.
Emma Lee-Potter spoke
to the teacher about her
experiences and why she
decided to put pen to paper
ROM HER early ambitions to be “a
F
super young super-head” to dealing
with students who disrupt lessons,
chat constantly and never bring
pens to classes, Oenone Crossley-
Holland’s book Hands Up! vividly
portrays the highs and lows of life as say ‘this has got to stop’, and come up with some action
a secondary teacher. plan to turn it round.
A year after graduating from Oxford University with “I’d decide to absolutely tackle that difficult class
an English degree, Oenone signed up to Teach First, the and plan a lesson that didn’t give them a second to start
educational charity which aims to address educational messing about. Then you’d have the most amazing
disadvantage by transforming high achieving graduates lesson, build on that and start going up the graph rather
into “effective, inspirational teachers”. than down.”
Following six weeks of intensive teacher training, After three years at the school, Oenone decided
Teach First graduates are placed in challenging schools to move to a co-ed academy, also in south London.
to teach for a minimum of two years. After that, some She began work as a lead English teacher there this
stay in the profession, while others move on. September and while her principal has asked her not
When she was first assigned to work as an English to talk or write about the school, she says that “what
teacher at a tough all-girls academy in south London in underlines its ethos and philosophy is incredibly high
2006, Oenone had no idea what to expect. expectations of their students in all areas”.
She had taught English to five to 12-year-olds in After the ups and downs she has experienced in the
India during her gap year and swore she would never last three years, she still remains “very engaged” by
teach again. But in her mid-20s the challenge of doing teaching. At one stage, her husband Will, an English
“something with social value” appealed to her and she teacher at a London prep school, suggested she move to
changed her mind. the private sector, but she has not been tempted.
“Teaching is clearly the hardest job there is,” she told “I have been very influenced by Teach First’s ideal
SecEd over coffee at London’s Young Vic Theatre. that a really good quality education is possible for
“When I first started, I hadn’t yet been left on my everyone,” she said.
own in a classroom. I remember sitting in my first “I want to do something to make sure that every
department meeting and not having any idea of what child can achieve an education that allows them to
everyone was talking about. I was given my timetable make real progress, meet their potential, and have the
and schemes of work, but there was very much a sense kind of opportunities that create a level playing field in
that you as a classroom teacher would figure out what Another particularly successful unit began with year either go or become less of an issue. The key is the terms of access to careers.”
would work for your class and then teach that.” 7s studying Michael Morpurgo’s Private Peaceful and really good planning and delivery of the lesson. She also has wise advice for new graduates
Oenone, the 27-year-old daughter of award-winning led to them reciting Siegfried Sassoon’s Suicide in the You have to make it challenging, but not too considering a career in teaching. “I would tell them to
children’s author Kevin Crossley-Holland, has changed Trenches from memory to their 1,000 fellow pupils in challenging, stretching for the top students, but also go into their nearest school and watch some lessons.
the names and identities of everyone mentioned in her a school assembly. very approachable for the weakest in the class. It Make yourself useful, get involved when there is group
book. But one member of staff who shines out is her As she admits in the book: “Theirs were the lessons is very hard to find that exact point, and very often work and if you find it is something you enjoy doing,
tutor “Julia”, who was a huge influence and support at I most looked forward to – they were the class it seemed after lessons, even now, I go ‘damn, that was too then give it a whirl.
the start of her teaching career. most magic to teach, and in the minutes preceding their hard’. “The other practical tips I have learned are to mark
“She was a lead practitioner and an outstanding lessons I didn’t get a sinking feeling in the pit of my “But I’ve only come across one or two students in work on the day it is created and take every opportunity
teacher. It must have been desperate for her sitting stomach.” three and a bit years of teaching who seemed not to you can to watch other teachers. Don’t be afraid to tell
in my first term of lessons and watching the kids not people that your last lesson was absolute rubbish and
behaving as she knew they should be. She would bring ask how they would have done it differently. Talk to the
me a cup of tea and tell me in pretty certain terms what kids in the playground, always smile at them around the
the problems were and give me ideas about what I school and on Fridays say ‘have a really good weekend’
should do. – it makes them feel bad about misbehaving too much
“One of the main things she said was that I had a in your class because they can see you like them’.
very soft voice. So much of teaching is about gaining Her publisher approached her to write the book
that certainty that when you say ‘silence’ you actually
‘
There were parts that were awful. When
you are working in a school in a challenging area
after reading a series of columns she wrote for The
mean it, you must have it and you aren’t going to
there are no quick-fix solutions. You have to have
Guardian. She is not planning a follow-up though – she
move on until you have it. It wasn’t until the end is more interested in concentrating on her teaching.
of my first year of teaching that I felt I was holding a whole toolbox of different methods you use As for her early goal to be a headteacher one day,
court in the classroom, that the students were all really she is uncertain.
carefully listening to what I was saying, and we had an
every single day, every single lesson, and every
“I don’t know if it’s something I’d be good at or
environment in which they could learn and make huge would like to explore,” she said. “I’d only want to do
progress.” it if it was genuinely a position where I could lead.
Looking back on this time, Oenone admits that it
single minute
It sounds like a textbook, but if I’m not made of that
takes time for a teacher “to get on their feet”. But as tougher metal then I am perfectly happy to play a
she entered her second year of teaching, she grew in supportive role.”
confidence and began to enjoy her role more. She led But despite relishing the challenges and the want to learn. Even with the most difficult student, If And she added: “Even now I feel on the bad days
a creative writing course after school, organised theatre moments of “inspiration and fun”, Oenone found the you can get them hooked with something, their natural that teaching is the worst job in the world and on the
trips, and even asked her father to run a workshop with job incredibly stressful, particularly when it came to curiosity takes
’
over.” good days it really is the best job. It sounds clichéd but
her year 7s. managing students’ behaviour. Even so, she “frequently” felt drained by the stresses it is absolutely true.” SecEd
To inspire a group of year 11 girls writing about “There were parts that were awful,” she said. “When and strains of teaching.
Charles Dickens’ Great Expectations she used the you are working in a school in a challenging area there “The emotional and physical effort that goes into a • Emma Lee-Potter is a freelance education journalist.
metaphor of comparing an essay to a pizza, with are no quick-fix solutions. You have to have a whole day of teaching can totally run you into the ground,”
quotations as the pepperoni on top. She got hold of a toolbox of different methods you use every single day, she said.
Further information
batch of 25 pizza boxes, put the students’ essay writing every single lesson, and every single minute. “Sometimes I found that things would get worse and Hands Up! A Year in the Life of an Inner-City School
packs inside and placed them on their desks ready for “The main thing is that when you get students worse and I would feel more and more disheartened Teacher by Oenone Crossley-Holland is published by
them to start work. learning and interested, the behaviour problems and overworked. Then it would get to a point where I’d John Murray at £12.99.
SecEd • November 19 2009 15
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