‘Giving up on Them’: A Tale of Despair

Geoff had been working at Thornbridge Comprehensive School for nearly 30 years. He had been a PE teacher for most of that time but a few years ago had decided to apply for the position of SENCO and was duly appointed the same year. He felt that this was necessary career move, not an untypical one for a PE teacher who was beginning to find the job too physically demanding with age. He thought he was ‘good with all kinds of kids’, particularly those who were ‘a bloody nuisance’ in most other lessons and who were ‘at the wrong end of the school’. At the time of his appointment he knew the school had just received an unfavourable report from the inspectorate, OFSTED, and was judged to have ‘serious weaknesses’. He had thought of taking up an appointment in another school but in the end had decided he did not want to leave Thornbridge. Having been a pupil in the school himself many years ago, he felt he had an affinity with the pupils’ social cultural background and could make a useful contribution to raising their self-esteem and improving their motivation.