Matthew Godfrey's Education Blog

Don't confine teachers to the classroom, says Matthew Godfrey – it's good for the pupils to see them involved in extra-curricular activities This article appeared in The Daily Telegraph on 16 September 2004 One day this summer, while rock-climbing in Snowdonia with a group of pupils from my school, I became very jittery when I reached the top of a crag. I needed to lean back from the rock face and start "walking" down it, but, try as I might, I could not bring myself to release my grip and lean back. The 14-year-old boy who had the job of releasing slack rope to me soon spotted I was nervous. He called up from below: "Don't worry, sir, you're fine. Simply let go, lean back and walk down slowly - I'll feed you the rope." His reassuring tones did the job: before I knew it, I was safely down. I launched into a rush of thanks for the way he had guided me with such calm confidence. He shrugged off the praise and laughed about how odd ...