The discipline in the school is something to be desired. The headteacher sacked four teachers during my second week there and then resigned on the last day before half-term.
Things have got better since his departure and, with the support of many LEA staff, issues such as stamping down on uniform and bad behaviour are finally being looked into and solutions are beginning to be put into place.
Although the vast majority of pupils are pleasant, there are some extremely rude ones and I have already been a victim of the abusive, foul-mouthed attitudes of one pupil in the classroom.
In the Year 10 class that I have observed many times, a quarter of the pupils have a serious attitude problem and are out to disrupt the class from the word go. They refute any detentions given to them and make things worse for themselves when they start swearing, moaning and continuing to disrupt the class.
Most teachers smiled sweetly at the PGCE students and didn’t make enough effort initially to welcome us into the school life. However, having said all this, I really enjoyed my experience in the school and loved teaching classes. Despite the problems, it has confirmed that this is definitely the career route for me.
24-year-old PGCE student on a languages placement in the Midlands
