Last Days at Looe Community School

I wanted to have the full school experience before I commented on teaching in England and Looe Community School. So, ironically, one of the last blog postings I am doing is about the very thing this teaching exchange is about - teaching!

I remember the first day at Looe School being picked up in the freezing cold by Martin Ollerenshaw and driving through the Cornish countryside. We arrived at the school which looked to be all car park and concrete to me. We walked in through the door to the Science Prep Room and I remember the unmistakable smell of labs everywhere: chemicals, washing up liquid and plant material.

"Hello, hello," Martin greeted Eunice the lab technician in his upbeat, happy manner.

"Helloo Martin," Eunice replied in a happy but busy way. This set up the scene for the year as Martin was always upbeat and Eunice was always happy but busy. Eunice looked every part the lab technician with her white lab coat on.

"Eunice, this is Wayne," said Martin.

We shook hands and Eunice said "Helloo Wayne. Welcome, welcome. Lovely to have you here. Come through and meet the others."

The Prep Room looked like organised chaos as many prep rooms do. Stuff on shelves, stuff on top of display cabinets, stuff in display cabinets, a huge rack of tray drawers, boxes of worksheets, bunsens and electrical equipment on top of workbenches. We went through into a small staffroom area with sink, microwave, table, chairs and filing cabinets. Max Chippett was there making a cup of tea.

"Alright, O?" Max inquired of Martin in the Cornish manner. It was to be later revealed that Martin was generally known as Dr. O around the school.

"Yes, very good, very good," Martin replied.

"Cup of tea?" Max inquired.

"Yes, please," Martin said, "Max, this is Wayne." We shook hands.

"Alright, mate?" Max greeted me, "cup of tea?"

"Yes, please," I said.

Then from their various rooms Karen Meakin appeared and greeted me warmly and then Adrian Chapman.

"This must be all a bit of a shock for you, eh?" Adrian said. It was. It was cold, dark, the accents were strange and it felt a bit like walking on to the set of the TV program, Teachers. But it was a warm welcome and I instantly saw that the Science staff at Looe were a lovely group of people.

That first day was a training day. I was welcomed to the school by the Head Teacher, Heather Jenkins and I looked around at a staff who looked happy enough despite the fact that it was the middle of winter, there was the prospect of snow and they had just had Christmas holidays. The training day began with half a day on something called FFT(D) and the implications for something called the GCSE's and the grades of current Year 11's. Of course, I had done some research before leaving Australia and I knew that the GCSE's were basically the equivalent of the NSW School Certificate but I wasn't entirely sure how it all worked. A year on, I have a fair handle on it but it is still quite a complicated system. The second part of the day was given over to department preparation time. Max took me under his wing and tried to explain what was what, where things were and how things worked. I went home with a headache.

The next day, the snow came and the school was closed. It was the best thing that could have happened. The one thing I lacked was time and preparation for teaching lessons. The two days we had gave me just the chance I needed to get my head around what Max had told me, the syllabuses and what the heck to teach the students.

The third day we were into it. Things started off well. I slipped into teacher mode automatically and the students seemed quite stunned by this strange Australian who was standing before them. Then it got tougher. As the students realised I was as human as a teacher in their eyes is after all, some 'difficult' behaviours started to appear. Not all the classes were like it and it seemed to be concentrated with the Year 10 and 11 students but they just wouldn't listen! I seemed to have to project my voice over them nearly constantly and wait, wait, wait for them to settle. Everything took sooo loooong. I tried every trick I had over the next several weeks: changed the seating plan, strict use of the disciplinary system, food rewards, highly structured work, combinations of everything. Most things worked for a bit but I could see quite quickly that I wasn't going to make these students into more motivated and more independent learners in the short time I had with them. It became simply a matter of being on their case, encouraging, cajoling and always having high expectations of their behaviour despite the fact that they would rarely meet it. I was helped a lot by the Science Teachers' Aide, Mark Deakin who commented to the senior management that he thought that the new Australian Science teacher was a bit shocked by the students at Looe School. Mostly, he wasn't wrong!

What I did learn over time was that these kids were great. What some of them lacked in literacy, numeracy and learning skills they made up for in social skills. They were very interested in life in Australia and they happily bantered about sporting events: the football world cup, the rugby and at the end of the year, the Ashes. These kids loved to chat, and chat they did.

Over time, particularly after the summer holidays when I took on my own new classes, I had become more a part of Looe School and things did get better. The students understood more about how I operated and I had a better understanding of their abilities and interests. It is the same with small community schools the world over it seems, you have to be a part of the community and be able to talk about who knows who before you are accepted and respected.

So, what do I think of the English education system? It is overly complicated (the modular GCSE system), it is demoralising and unmotivating to quite a few students (setting GCSE target grades that are below the award of a GCSE in a subject but still expecting the student to work), it is highly stressful for teachers (performance management stresses and Ofsted stresses.) I find the government mantra of 'ever increasing student achievement' a noble educational pursuit, but the adversarial way the government have gone about it is wrong! It is highly teacher-centred. Despite the fact that most of the Quality Teaching and Learning research I have been looking at over the years has come from England, I have found that much of the pedagogical focus in England is on the song and dance of the teacher. Less emphasis is on looking at how students are learning, and putting the responsibility of learning on to the students. There is still a big focus on teaching content rather than teaching students how to learn. I think this is occurring because teachers are under such scrutiny to 'perform' that they are safest adopting an authoritarian, traditional approach.

What do I think of Looe Community School?

It is a lovely school filled to the brim with wonderful, generous people. The staff are dedicated, hardworking and friendly and the students are generally lovely kids. There is a terrific sense of community at the school. I remember going to my first Free (Singing) Assembly and just being amazed. Four hundred students, some staff, Mr. Tom Saddler up on stage - all singing their lungs out with wonderful enthusiasm. It caught in my throat and I had to swallow back a tear it was such a terrific thing to see. Even though starting at a new school, in the middle of the school year, in winter, when it should be warm, summer holidays was really difficult, I always felt very welcome, happy and supported at the school. It has been a terrific experience.

The last days of school were special. There were many opportunities to say farewell. The Christmas Reflection and Farewells Assembly was really special. I got up to say a few words of goodbye and thanks and to give the school a gift to acknowledge the teaching exchange - the whole school community gave me a warm and lengthy round of applause. It was quite overwhelming. I'll never forget it. It all goes back to what I said before, quite a number of the students were not the best learners I have ever taught but they are some of the loveliest people and they are extremely generous. I am quite sad to be leaving Looe School just when I'm starting to feel like I am more a part of the Looe School community.

What about the Science staff?

They are a terrific bunch. They welcomed me into the team enthusiastically. They put up with my moaning on occasion despite the fact that I promised myself I wouldn't moan during my exchange year. They supported me and we became friends. Saying goodbye to them was really difficult. And then there is Eunice the lab tech. Eunice saved my teaching life on more than one occasion this year. She went above and beyond the call of duty, has a wonderful scientific knowledge, an incredible memory and brain and worked just so hard to keep the department running smoothly day to day. I cannot praise her or thank her enough for the support she has given me this year.

I wrote to Helen Gregory the exchange organiser the other day and one of the questions I answered for her was 'could I live and work in England?'. The answer to this is 'yes'. But would I want to once I've got back to Australia, smelt the Eucalyptus, felt the warm sun, looked at the big, blue sky and had a swim in the sea? Probably not, but I will certainly miss the staff and students of Looe School.

Here is a link to some of the Christmas festivities at Looe School. It was great to end the year on such a high http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y9JoYzmxBg