Diary of an NQT

Mr C’s Killer Bees

I WAS expecting to write about a return to normal teaching practice this week, following my ash- lengthened Easter break in Spain. However what with a Bank Holiday and an

afternoon out on a school trip, I really don’t feel like I have completed a proper week back at school so far this term – lucky me! The highlight of my week has been

my first proper school trip. I took a small group of my year 7 boys’ class to compete in The Times Spelling Bee. Although we didn’t make

it through to the final, my first experience of running a school trip has been a thoroughly positive one. We were pitted against many

other schools from the London area and although we held our own, I think we enjoyed it as an afternoon out rather than a serious competition. I had my boys’ class just before

we left and had to laugh when they suggested our team name should be “Mr C’s Killer Bees”. Very witty, although I doubt our sting will be requiring any antihistamines just yet! We returned to school after an

immaculate performance behaviourally and with the first aid box remaining closed for the duration, and so I count this first school trip experience as a success. Another strange experience this

week has seen me in the role of hunter rather than hunted as our SCITT (school-centred initial teacher trainee) has begun teaching my year 10 girls. It was quite bizarre sitting there watching a

Teach it like Torno!

Voice of an angel

“ALL GOD’S angels come to us disguised.” James

Russell Lowell. I never thought I would be saying this, but here

goes: this week I had the privilege of meeting a lovely Ofsted inspector! I know what you are thinking – Torno’s finally lost

it. The prospect of a Conservative government has finally got to him. But you’d be mistaken! I’m perfectly sane and

even thanked the inspector for coming in. I have given my fair share of stick to Ofsted in the past and it is only right that I present the other side of the picture when given the chance. So here goes. A few weeks ago,

the school was given notice that Ofsted was coming to inspect the provision of initial teacher training (ITT) at the University of East London (UEL), and as we were a partner school, they were going to spend a day with us. While I appreciate this is not

the same as a school Ofsted where the headteacher may get three days’ notice if they are lucky, and it was UEL who was under the spotlight, it was, nevertheless, an Ofsted inspector coming into our school and as I am responsible for ITT, I wanted things to go well for both ourselves and UEL. Therefore, over the past few

weeks, myself and my assistant, Kerry, ensured that the relevant paperwork was in place and the mentors and students were briefed with the type of questions they were possibly to be asked by the inspectors. Due to the fact that ITT is well

established in our school, and that we select many of our own students by way of the Graduate Teacher Programme we were fairly confident that things would turn out well. However, as you will know the very name of

Ofsted is enough to strike fear into the most prepared of schools! I had imaginings of the types of questions they

would ask me: “How do you know how well such and such is attaining? Where is your evidence? What do you do if you get a student teacher who is not quite up to the mark? Where is the paperwork to prove this?”

I had visions of a paper-hungry monster demanding

every piece of evidence for the last 40 years and wanting to interview every past student we had. Then reality kicked in. I realised that even if the

inspector did find things that were not up to scratch then that would be a good thing as it would provide us with areas to focus on. The next day started well. Not only was the

inspector late but, when she did turn up, she seemed very pleasant indeed. I thought here we go, another tactic to

try to relax you and then when you least suspect it the tables turn. But this was not the case. We had a quick discussion about the order of the day and then proceedings got underway. The star of the day was

Kay Gilbert, one of our ex-students, now training to be a French teacher. She took the brunt of the inspection by having her files scrutinised, being observed and then being subjected to a post-lesson

interview. We knew she would

come up trumps and she did

not let us down. This was followed with

interviews with other current trainees, ex-trainees, mentors and

finally myself and Kerry. By the time our interview came around we were quickly recognising that it had been a good day. The interview went very smoothly indeed and we were able to present the appropriate evidence as it was

required. The school itself was not graded because it was an inspection of UEL. However, we were left with no doubts that our provision is very

healthy indeed. Two main things were learnt from this visit. First, that the more evidence you actually do have the less stressful the experience is, and second, that

there are some nice inspectors out there. Though having said that – I haven’t met that

many!

• David Torn is professional tutor and an advanced skills teacher at St Edward’s Comprehensive School in Essex. He is the London Secondary School Teacher of the Year 2007 and is passionate that the purpose of education is to change lives. He returns in two weeks.

trainee with the observation form on my lap, having spent so long in the opposite role. I’m sure if I’d been given this group on my

training year I would have run for the hills, so I have been impressed with her resilience thus far, although I have been dusting off my running shoes should she bolt! This scenario has been another

benchmark in my NQT year and it has proved to be one of those moments where you are forced to reflect on how far you have come and what developments you have made. I know this class has helped

me open up to the realities of the job and has knocked a little of the naïve idealism out of me and it was interesting to see how I had so many ideas, some now even from experience, running through my head as I sat and watched from my

“observation” chair. In this job, sometimes out of necessity,

you learn fast and I think the key to success is to be adaptable and creative in your approach. I think I have these qualities and

have been reassured recently that after I spend some time gathering some much needed experience, I may be able to get to the level of quality teaching I remember observing in awe during my stint as the

“trainee” just this time last year. Whatever I may or may not have been learning or reflecting on recently, as I realise

there are just nine weeks of my NQT year remaining, I know one thing for sure “that after a while, you realise time flies”.

• Matt Connett is a newly qualified teacher of English at Shenfield High, a training school in Brentwood in Essex. He returns next week.

SCHOOL THEATRES

The future o

What does the future hold for school theatres and what

should a modern school theatre look like in the 21st century? Susan Elkin finds some inspiration during a visit to the Bridge Academy in London

I

ONCE WORKED for a head who insisted that school plays were just, well, school plays and that no school needs a purpose-built theatre because there is nothing wrong with the school hall for work at this level. If you pushed her she would add that pupils can get all the team work and bonding

which drama teachers claim for their subject outside on the sports field. How times have changed and I wished she could

have been with me when I visited the Bridge Academy in Hackney, east London, recently to see its breath- taking theatre and to meet its dynamic head of drama Natasha Coccia-Clark. The school opened in a new building in September

2009. Its integral theatre is spacious, light and airy with views over the nearby canal when it is not blacked out. It has up to 428 tiered seats but can be reduced in size at the push of a button by closing off the gallery – a sort of optional “dress circle”. Also in the gallery is a square block of seating which

can be retracted to create an additional small studio space so making it a very flexible design. Of course the acoustics are outstanding and there is

an A/V system, isolated sound and lighting engineers’ suites, performance lighting and stage curtain arrangements and a sprung floor. So what is it used for? “At present we have only key stage 3 with our first

year 10 starting this September,” Ms Coccia-Clark explained. “All pupils have an hour’s drama each week and it

is all taught in the theatre so it is a drama classroom as well as a performance space.” Ms Coccia-Clark directed a pantomime, Dick

Whittington, in the theatre at Christmas, She wrote the script and ran it as an inclusive project without auditions for anyone in years 7, 8 and 9 who wanted to join in. “We did a matinee for feeder primary schools and evening performances for everyone else,” she explained. She is currently rehearsing The Whizz – a musical

version of The Wizard of Oz – with an auditioned cast of 40 singers, actors and dancers and a 15-strong school band for performance in July. But these are early days and this is just the beginning. Ms Coccia-Clark, who began work at Bridge

Academy this academic year, has ambitious plans for future productions including summer work in the delightful outdoor amphitheatre which is next to the indoor theatre and built over the ground floor car park. Ms Coccia-Clark’s syllabus is impressive too.

Among other things year 7 studies Greek theatre with textual work on Oedipus Rex as well as British contemporary theatre. In year 8 the focus is on expressionism and docu-drama with work on Eugene O’Neill’s The Emperor Jones. In year 9 they look at Harold Pinter’s The Dumb Waiter and study theatre of the absurd, Victorian melodrama and restoration comedy. “I am determined to have no dumbing down

and to lay good foundations for both theatre studies and practical drama later,” Ms Coccia-Clark added, explaining that students do practical mini-performances at the end of each six-week module to consolidate their learning on that topic. In the autumn, year 10 students opting for drama

will be offered GCSE drama or a BTEC in performing arts in musical theatre to tie in with the school’s music (and maths) specialism. “Eventually we shall run A level drama and theatre studies,” Ms Coccia-Clark said, adding that partnerships are crucial to everything her department does. “We already have links with local theatre and arts

organisations such as Graeae, Theatre Centre Hackney, Arcola, London Symphony Orchestra St Luke’s, and

8

‘

Drama is all taught in the theatre so it is a

drama classroom as well as a performance space. I am determined to lay good foundations for

both theatre studies and practical drama

SecEd • May 13 2010

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