VIEW FROM THE CLASSROOM
View from the classroom T
his month, Education Today hears from Alex Derbyshire, Maths Teacher and Rugby Tour Manager at Pate’s Grammar School in Cheltenham. Alex is a staunch advocate of school trips. He believes they play a vital role in broadening the minds of his students, developing important character skills such as persistence, resilience, self- discipline and the ability to work with and show consideration for others.
Every other year the school arranges a much- loved international rugby tour from Edwin Doran Sports Tours to the southern hemisphere for seniors and one to Ireland for juniors - a job which takes Alex and the school administrator approximately one full working month spread over an 18-month period to complete. A fellow teacher is responsible for organising a hockey trip with a similar itinerary for the girls. Here Alex talks about the significant educational benefits such
tours present, the organisational and workload challenges he faces, and how he and the school administrator are now saving time using a new personal online trip portal.
Tell us about your school
Pate's Grammar School is an outstanding grammar school with academy status, located in the Hesters Way area of Cheltenham, Gloucestershire, England. It caters for 1,100 pupils - 605 boys and 495 girls - aged 11 to 18 and is a Beacon school. Students achieve the highest academic standards whilst also benefitting from broad extra-curricular activities, exceptional pastoral care and first-class facilities.
What challenges did you face? I joined the school in 2008 as a Teacher of Mathematics and was soon appointed Tour Manager responsible for the coordination of the school’s international rugby tour for seniors and a trip to Ireland for juniors during October half term.
As a lover of sport and a keen rugby fan I seized the opportunity and organised the school’s first junior rugby tour to Ireland in 2010 and the first international rugby tour in 2014. In addition to matches with competitor schools, the itinerary for the international rugby tour included a number of cultural experiences to show students a different side to the world. Each trip takes me roughly one full month over an 18-month period to complete, and at times puts me under considerable pressure, increasing my workload significantly.
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www.education-today.co.uk June 2017
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