- Publisher: Michael O'Mara
- Year: 2022
- Format: Hardback
- Pages: 304pp
- Illustrated: No
- Dimensions: 222x142mm
- Condition: New
- Weight: 0.4kg
- ISBN: 9781789293692
- Product code: 535189
Head Trauma
The Bruising Diary of a Headteacher
Nick Smith New Hardback
Postscript summary
After 18 months as a junior doctor Nick Smith quit the NHS to qualify as a teacher. In this humorous memoir he recounts his time as a penguin keeper at London Zoo while training, his first steps into an unruly classroom, and his gradual ascent to head teachership. Along the way he recalls staffroom politics, parents’ evenings, Ofsted visits and the pressures and joys of educating generations of children.
Product information
Full publisher description
Welcome to the world of teaching: polyester suits, well-polished shoes, endless marking and a stream of embarrassing moments at the coalface of the classroom.
Follow Nick Smith as he charts his journey from trainee teacher to inspiring head. Now, thirty years on, Nick has seen - and heard - it all, and in this book, he shares extraordinary stories from his time in the education system. Follow Nick from his early trainee years, as he faces a daily battle to make it home without having his classroom set on fire (yes, really) and watch as he climbs the greasy pole to headship, navigating everything from Ofsted visits to mission statements, parents' evenings and much more.
At turns heart-breaking and hilarious, Head Trauma is a rousing call to arms for parents, teachers and pupils alike. Above all else, this is the story of the students that kept Nick returning to the school gates every morning: the brave, the bolshie and the downright determined kids who helped shape him into the headteacher he went on to become.
'As I began my teacher training, little did I know of what awaited me. Almost three decades and seven schools later, I am head of a state secondary school. On the wall in my office is a children's toy, a plastic monster's head which, if pressed, emits a pre-recorded message: 'It beggars belief!'. I press the monster whenever I, pupils, parents, staff, or the Department for Education do something that is notable, ludicrous, odd, bewildering or unreasonable. It is pressed so often that I am forever having to replace the batteries.'
Follow Nick Smith as he charts his journey from trainee teacher to inspiring head. Now, thirty years on, Nick has seen - and heard - it all, and in this book, he shares extraordinary stories from his time in the education system. Follow Nick from his early trainee years, as he faces a daily battle to make it home without having his classroom set on fire (yes, really) and watch as he climbs the greasy pole to headship, navigating everything from Ofsted visits to mission statements, parents' evenings and much more.
At turns heart-breaking and hilarious, Head Trauma is a rousing call to arms for parents, teachers and pupils alike. Above all else, this is the story of the students that kept Nick returning to the school gates every morning: the brave, the bolshie and the downright determined kids who helped shape him into the headteacher he went on to become.
'As I began my teacher training, little did I know of what awaited me. Almost three decades and seven schools later, I am head of a state secondary school. On the wall in my office is a children's toy, a plastic monster's head which, if pressed, emits a pre-recorded message: 'It beggars belief!'. I press the monster whenever I, pupils, parents, staff, or the Department for Education do something that is notable, ludicrous, odd, bewildering or unreasonable. It is pressed so often that I am forever having to replace the batteries.'
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535189
Head Trauma
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After 18 months as a junior doctor Nick Smith quit the NHS to qualify as a teacher. In this humorous memoir he recounts his time as a penguin keeper at London Zoo while training, his first steps into an unruly classroom, and his gradual ascent to head teachership. Along the way he recalls staffroom politics, parents’ evenings, Ofsted visits and the pressures and joys of educating generations of children.
Hardback
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Nick Smith
General
222x142mm
Michael O'Mara
No
Hardback
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