Matthew Godfrey's Education Blog

Curiosity and just a touch of envy prompted Matthew Godfrey to sit in on a colleague's lessons   This article appeared in The Daily Telegraph on 17 January 2006 I had a lively debate with one of my English classes recently about what their ideal school would be like. The pupils, who were in Year 8 (ages 12 and 13), had some predictable requests, such as more free time, less homework and no uniform. There were some radical suggestions, too: one girl wanted no teachers at all and one of the boys was adamant that corporal punishment should be restored immediately. Then one pupil demanded: "We want more lessons like Mr Orme's." This provoked a collective gasp of approval. I was not surprised; our pupils have long revered Mr Orme, who has taught history at the school for nearly 40 years. Nevertheless, curiosity and mild envy provoked me to ask why they so enjoyed his lessons. "We learn so much", "They're fun!" and "I don'...