And so, I take my leave…

 

A leaving gift from a cherished friend and colleague.

Yesterday, I left Park View, the school in Tottenham where I’ve worked for the past 14.5 years. At the end of each term, once the students have gone home, the staff gather to eat a farewell meal together and to say goodbye to colleagues that are leaving. I was lucky enough to have four of my former students come to say goodbye, and was the recipient of some beautiful farewell speeches on my behalf. Some of my friends have asked to see the speech I gave at the end of the event, so here it is…

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The Chelsea Macbeth

I’m teaching Macbeth to Year 9 this term. We were exploring the Captain’s speech, which describes the brute power of Macbeth, and I suggested that Macbeth is like Chelsea’s Diego Costa, who had been instrumental in Chelsea’s victory over Arsenal last weekend. A number of the boys got it completely with that analogy, so I started exploring it further. This is just a bit of fun, and I don’t want anyone to take it seriously in any way, but here’s the Chelsea Macbeth…

Jose Mourinho is King Duncan, presiding over the Champions of England.

Teaching’s Magic Moments

My magic teaching moment happened backstage in December 2001 after an end-of-term Performing Arts showcase at Park View School in West Green Road, Tottenham. I was a newly qualified teacher and had chosen to work in a school where the 5 A*-C GCSE results were just 14% because I wanted to make a difference where it was needed most. 14 year old Fiston Barekabavuge, a looked after child who always had a smile on his face, came up to me after our performance of Scrooge looking very serious.