Life Lessons

With Barry Whitmore High School head teacher, Innes Robinson.

There is a mouse that lives in my kitchen. Around 6pm every night (interestingly coinciding with me returning from work), he goes into the cupboard and eats all the snacks meant for my children. A big fan of Pombears, he delights in nibbling Mini Cheddars and has no control if there happens to be any Freddo’s knocking about.

My kids have got quite used to sharing the snack cupboard with the mouse and spend many a happy hour searching for him in the garden, using chunks of cheese to try and lure him out. My wife, on the other hand, is appalled. She argues, quite fairly, that a grown man should have more self-control than to eat all of his children’s food.

So, what has this story got to do with Whitmore? Well, I don’t think I’m the only one who can’t wait to come home and eat everything in sight. This is a problem when in response to the pandemic, we aim to have an optional extended day from September. Pupils are unlikely to stay late if they are hungry and they have no access to food.

To solve this issue, there will be snacks made available by our fantastic canteen for pupils who stay late. This will encourage children to stay on for more learning and activities, helping them catch up on what they missed this year. Lots will be staying to do their homework in Prep Time, others will be in small groups getting booster sessions for their Maths and English whilst we aim to have a full programme of extracurricular activities taking place every night.

And if there are any snacks left at the end, I’m sure there will be a very interested little mouse.