- Paperback: 80 pages
- Publisher: Athena Press (28 Mar 2008)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1847481825
- ISBN-13: 978-1847481825
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.4 x 0.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
534,888 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #47 in Books > Children's Books > Humour > Humorous Verse
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
No doubt you remember your life at school as a pupil - the long lessons, stringent rules and chaotic classrooms - but what was it like from the teacher's perspective? Did they savour the experience of setting and marking our homework? Did they get a kick out of writing our reports? And, most intriguingly, what did they get up to in the staffroom? If you've never been there yourself, you need to follow Helena Harper into this alternative school world of coffee addiction, frantic marking, lesson-planning and inspections. She answers all of your questions and more, and her insightful, evocative and often sardonic descriptions leave you more appreciative of the trials and tribulations (and the occasional pleasures) of being the dragon in front of the whiteboard. It's a Teacher's Life.! will open the eyes of the pupils who always thought that teachers didn't exist outside of school hours. On the other hand, with such a long roll-call of meetings, assessments and after-hours activities, perhaps they were right all along!
About the Author
Helena Harper was born in 1960 and, after attending grammar school, went to university, where she graduated in languages and International Relations in 1984. She spent two years in banking before deciding to train as a teacher and did a PGCE in modern languages at Exeter University. She has spent nineteen years working in several girls' private schools and, besides writing, enjoys reading, walking, tennis, Pilates, dancing and spending time with her niece and nephew.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This very readable and amusing collection of poems gives a teacher's perspective of life and work in a girls' private school, including the key helpers, the backbone of the school, without whom it could not function. The author offers a cynical and satirical view of school rules and regulations, duties and formal occasions and provides a witty, if ironic insight into the running of such an establishment. There are digs at league tables and the whole rigid system of assessment and inspection and the author wonders what has become of the true process of education and learning.
I thoroughly recommend this book and look forward to future publications
I thoroughly recommend this book and look forward to future publications
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
After working in a girls' school for many years, I thought this an excellent book. It made me laugh so much, I couldn't put it down. I felt like I had worked with every character in the book, and don't we all need an Amy. I liked it so much I ordered another copy to give to my daugther.
Well done Helena, look forward to book no.2
Well done Helena, look forward to book no.2
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I really enjoyed this book, although I am not a great poetry reader in general. But there's something different about these poems - they're fun, down-to-earth and easy to read, and the whole style is most attractive. I've found myself going back to the poems more than once. In fact, the second or third time around, you appreciate them even more. You get a good insight into the trials and tribulations of being a teacher, whether it's in a private girls' school or not - and even in a private school nothing is perfect! The uniform is still untidy, the classrooms are a mess, the girls perform pranks right, left and centre and, if given an inch, will take a mile - like children anywhere! The poem 'The Lessons' had me laughing out loud (even on my worst days at school I never thought Cornwall was in Wales or that 3 x 6 was 36!) and I like the author's tongue-in-cheek way of expressing herself - for example in 'The School Ethos' poem, where the parents like the fact that the school has an apparently caring environment because their 'little darlings won't be allowed to go astray' and you really get a good picture of all the characters described, such as Joy (the cook), matron, Amy (queen of resources) and Emilio (the caretaker). I think anyone can enjoy this book and relate to it - after all, we've all been to school!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
What a revelation! Non-rhyming poetry that really entertains!
If I am completely honest, I began reading this book simply because I had been asked to, and I should point out that I wasn't wholly looking forward to the prospect as I have never... Read more
Published 7 months ago by Bill @TheEduCast
Thoroughly enjoyable read
Amusing, entertaining with some unexpected surpises and insights along the way. Would not hesitate to recommend the book to anyone who has ever been to school or worked in a... Read more
Published 21 months ago by Housewife Surrey
Excellently written, succint, a really good insight into the life of a...
Most enjoyable! The poems are excellently written and easy to read. They portray succintly and amusingly what life is like for a teacher and I was reminded of my own school days as... Read more
Published on 25 May 2009 by Mr. Rag Wilson
It's A Teacher's Life...! Will Undoubtedly Amuse Teachers!
Writer and poet Helena Harper, was a teacher in several girls' private schools for twenty years and has written an insightful, often witty and sarcastic collection of poems about... Read more
Published on 12 April 2009 by Christine Bode
What a lovely book!
This book consists of a lovely collection of poems about a teacher's life at a private girl's school. Read more
Published on 30 Mar 2009 by A. Davey
Entertaining poetry about school
The author began her career in the banking industry but took the brave (at the time) decision to train as a teacher and her subsequent career inspired her to write poetry about... Read more
Published on 29 Mar 2009 by Peter Durward Harris
The Other Side of the Front Desk
Teachers are lauded by parents, former pupils, and have become icons of what just may be our diminishing educational system. Read more
Published on 14 Feb 2009 by Grady Harp
Humour and truthfulness about school life
The one thing we all have in common is experience as a school pupil. Private or state, prep or primary, boarding or day school, experiences of classrooms and teachers, of... Read more
Published on 10 Feb 2009 by ex-teacher-trainer
"The meager morsels of gratitude/becom[e] rarer each year,/ yet...
This delightful collection of poems by a teacher in a private girls' school in England captures the highs and lows of teaching in a "caring environment/ where pupils are looked... Read more
Published on 10 Feb 2009 by Mary Whipple
A Teacher's Eye View
This slight volume of poetry about life in a school would make a lovely gift for a teacher. Written by a woman who has taught in a private girl's school for many years, it shows a... Read more
Published on 28 Jan 2009 by Mrs. K. A. Wheatley
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