Hornby High School

Hornby High is near Lancaster, click here to see the school


First time out in the real world of schools and workshops. Very nervous beforehand but really looking forward to it too. I was very glad that this was the first workshop as I know the surrounding areas. I drive over from Manchester and Debbie (pictured) joins me, takes the car to see her parents and collects me afterwards. I'm surprised by how ordinary I find the staff room experience, but then again, it's work for them isn't it? I'm still judging it all by my school experience. The school is quite small, which is another bonus from our points of view. Jane, Shirley and I are attending along with Mandy running the sessions. We have 2 classes of 13yr olds for an hour at a time. We are looked after by an English teacher, Mary Winter, and various classroom assistants. We work in the school library, which as you can see is a great place to work [click on the image above for a better idea].

Kaye Tew is also there in an observational capacity as part of her Outreach Co-ordinator role. The first session is great. I make a concerted effort to sit with a table of girls with the intention of sitting with a table of boys in the second session. We move from table to table to get a feel for the writing and the kids, looking for anyone who may be struggling or in need of help as we go. I'm amazed that three children need to be removed from the room during the first session and at what I perceive to be a general lack of respect for the teachers and visitors.
Mandy is cool as a cucumber and dodges awkward questions with ease. The main thing for me here today is to watch and learn. I know we talked about how to handle the kids and any situations that arise prior to coming here today, but, talking about and doing are quite different things. The first session goes better than the second in my view. I judge this by what is produced by the students I'm working with. I learn later that one of the boys in the second session has self esteem issues and that changes drastically my view of 'success' in relation to the output. I enjoy it a lot and feel I've got over some of the first day nerves I'd knew I'd experience.