Teacher Lucy Ivison discovered that being head of year 9 is seen as a poisoned chalice. When she investigated why,pupils described a time of harrowing changeHow can we support year 9 students? Share your thoughts in the comments
Should people collect paid more to be head of year 9? That was the hot topic of conversation in my staff room before Christmas after someone mentioned that no one had applied for the head of year 9 job, which was advertised internally at a nearby school. In the end, or someone took the job but only after negotiating a lot more money than was originally advertised. Is year 9 such a poisoned chalice? I teach at a girls’ school and the general consensus seems to be yes,though opinions vary as to why. One music teacher offered an explanation, which was echoed by other staff: year 9 pupils know that “unless they possess chosen [a course like music] as an option, and they never possess to do it again. They switch off and it’s almost impossible to preserve them”.
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Source: theguardian.com