I AM leaving the teaching profession at the end of next week, after nine years as an English teacher at Marshalls Park school in Romford, Essex. This is what I will be telling my Year 10 pupils: Listen to your teachers, you can learn from them.
Get involved with activities.
Support West Ham.
Don’t sell merits.
Apply make-up thoughtfully.
Be different - wear seven stripes.
Act your age, not your Year.
Walk on the left.
Realise that the Beatles are the greatest group that ever existed.
Eat broccoli, start earlier than I did. Eat asparagus.
Invent a computer game.
Continue to use sunscreen, but don’t worry all the time about the sun, it does give us life.
Pressure the Government into providing more toilets for females.
Oppose the use of well-known songs in commercials.
See The Wizard of Oz more than once; it’s like peeling layer after layer off an onion.
Keep a diary.
Learn a magic trick, juggle - entertain people.
Get plenty of sleep and remember your dreams for a few minutes.
Be quiet during registration.
Bring your notes back in time.
Be responsible; be someone who is trusted and respected.
Support Manchester United.
Cut your hair six times a year.
Enunciate your consonants so that your ideas are clear and crisp.
Collect stamps or rocks or anything; they may lead you to places you hadn’t planned to go.
Go further than your own shadow each day.
Don’t smoke cigarettes.
Listen to your Walkman, but listen to people more.
Watch TV, but watch people more.
Enjoy your computer, but go out more.
Don’t lie; you’re just being untrue to yourself.
Follow your ideas, not just what’s in fashion.
Be yourself, but be kind to others.
Write one of these, they’re fun and easy.
Learn how to fix and build things, as well as how to get good marks.
Don’t interrupt. Good listeners are rare and valued.
Stand up for what you think is right, but don’t be rude about it.
Learn from your mistakes, but don’t worry about them.
Don’t believe in astrology.
Don’t believe in ghosts.
Write poetry.
Keep lists.
Cry.
Try not to pollute the environment.
Trust doctors.
Walk in the Lake District.
Don’t rub your eyes.
Check your work for full stops.
See autumn leaves in full colour.
Stop to smell the roses.
Keep your hair out of your eyes.
Live in hope, but remember the greater the expectation, the greater the disappointment.
Raise your hand.
Be part of your community; you’re lucky if you have one.
Don’t be embarrassed to use an umbrella.
The more you put into life, the more you get out of it.
Be happy with yourself; if you don’t feel good about yourself, you won’t feel good about much else.
Good luck.
Jeff Probst
Address supplied
