7learning January/February 2009
PRIMARYwww.cumberland-news.co.uk/learning
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Who do you think you are kidding, banking
whizzkids, if you think you're fit to teach?
W
ell, 2009 is here and the Rutter
household has woken up to the
fact that two festive weeks of
excessive consumption has done
wonders in reducing our bank balances
while also increasing our girths. So the
festive season as usual, then!
Christmas and New Year are usually a
quiet time for education news but one
small bit of news that did catch my eye,
however, was a report from the Teacher
Training Agency that there has been a
significant rise in applications for
teacher training places.
This was put down, in some part, to
staff displaced from the finance sector
suddenly getting the desire to teach.
One paper even went so far as to
suggest that they were doing it to get
into a `safer career' away from the
`turbulence' of their current posts.
Forgive me my cynicism but if they
think teaching is some easy option then
they are in for a big shock. I hold a very
old-fashioned view about teaching � that
it is as much a vocation as it is a job of
work.
The very best teachers are often those
that see it as a career for life. They
develop their skills over long periods and
provide continuity and stability in a
profession that gives great satisfaction
and rewards (but not necessarily
financially).
The thought of waves of ex `financial
wizards' coming into the profession
because they can't find work in their
chosen field fills me with concern.
I do know of a number of teachers who
have entered the profession after
spending some time in other jobs and
they are usually very good and
successful teachers. Indeed, there is a
school of thought that says that having
experience outside teaching is a good
thing � and I would go along with that.
The point is, however, that those
teachers took the decision to enter the
profession, having had experience in
other areas, as a positive career move.
How many of the current crop of
teacher training applicants are in that
position as opposed to having the
decision forced upon them by the current
lack of jobs in the finance industry
because of the credit crunch?
I would also have a suspicion that as
soon as the financial situation improves
many of these new recruits will be up
and off chasing the best salary they can
get back in the sector where they came
from.
It looks as if the number of applicants
for teacher training will outstrip places
available next year and it would be a
very poor state of affairs if genuine
career teachers were unable to get a
place on a course because they are filled
by refugees from the embattled financial
sector.
As I was pondering these issues over
the holiday I watched an old episode of
Dad's Army (isn't it worrying that the
funniest programmes on TV over the
break have all been old repeats) and was
struck by the parallels with my thoughts.
We had Mainwaring, Wilson and Pike,
three bankers volunteering for a career
in the Home Guard, showing that the
skills they display in their day job have
no bearing on the skills necessary to be a
soldier.
The comedy of the situation is in the
fact that they do not realise that they are
bad at being soldiers and the natural
arrogance of Mainwaring thinking that
he is good `officer material' purely
because he is the bank manager as
opposed to the Pike and Wilson who have
more prosaic jobs in the bank.
Will we be getting ex `city slickers' in
the teaching profession who will have
the Mainwaring view of life? If we do, I
can only quote another character, Frazer
the undertaker, and his view that "we're
all doomed...".
`I suspect that as soon as
the crunch recedes, many
of these new recruits will
be running back to finance'
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ALAN RUTTERHeadteacher, Robert Ferguson School
PRIMARY POINTS
looking at and whether those plans are
sufficiently flexible for those working in
schools."
The transitional phases for primary
pupils have been key areas of discussion.
"There have been issues with children
going from reception into year one
where has been a big jump in the
curriculum of what they had before and
then in primary school," Sam said.
"As a result there has been a move
towards more play-based learning in the
early stages of key stage one so it is
similar to what they have done and it is
not so much of a jump."
The University of Cumbria was invited
to play a part in the primary curriculum
review by the Qualifications and
Curriculum Authority (QCA), the body
supporting Sir Jim during the review.
Sam said: "We were pleased to be
asked by the QCA to take part. We have a
good relationship and have worked
together in the past on a redesign of the
key stage three curriculum.
"We have got expertise in curriculum
design and we've had the potential to
influence some of it."
On the primary review, Sam said: "It
has been absolutely fascinating being on
the inside of such a political issue. What
will be interesting is how it will be
received. It is one thing to get the head
teachers enthused and engrossed about
it but it is another to think how it will be
received by others."
The National Association of Head
Teachers (NAHT) union has welcomed
Sir Jim's long-awaited interim report.
A spokesman for the union, which
represents a large majority of primary
head teachers, said: "We congratulate Sir
Jim Rose for recognising `excellence' and
`commendable' work endemic
throughout the primary learning
community.
"Such praise and recognition is rare in
an environment that tends to focus more
on failure than recognise the wealth of
talent and opportunity that exists in
abundance."
They added: "The role of play and
drama in enhancing communication
skills, with the potential of harnessing
the power of visual and performing arts,
will strike a chord with those who
believe that education should be driven
far more by values and experiences than
by data and tables.
"The recommendations regarding ICT
do well to recognise the emergence of the
`digital native' where young children
may well have a greater aptitude and
ability in ICT than their teachers. It
recognises that the limits of the primary
ICT curriculum are left in the wake of
the extraordinary skills possessed by
children."
`It has been fascinating
being on the inside of
such a political issue'
Managing
the pro-
cess: Peter
Batty, from
the Univer-
sity of
Cumbria,
has been
a facilitator
on the 0-14
group, the
only body
of profes-
sionals in
primary ed-
ucation
providing
continuous
direct feed-
back to Sir
Jim

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