Inquiry #2!

This week we were fortunate enough to be able to go to some local schools in Plymouth to interact with the teachers and students. It was very interesting to see how different the schools are from American schools because I honestly did not think they would be much different. The first two days I went to the a high school, which is called a community college in England. I have always had my heart set on teaching high school so I was glad I got to see this age group. The first thing that really shocked me was their attendance policy. They are really strict about making sure their students come to class, they call home to every child who isn’t in school to see where they are and if their parents know they aren’t in school. But, if the parent doesn’t care, a student can miss months at a time and not be held back a year. This was amazing to me because I knew many parents in high school that could care less if their kid went to school or not, and if my high school didn’t have an attendance policy (you could only miss 10 days a semester before you failed) then many of those kids would have never come to school. Also, I was really surprised that the teachers kept saying the school was "inner city," had drug problems and many teenage mothers. At first glace of this school and the students that attend it, I would have never thought to consider it an inner city school. From the impression I received, it is known for hosting the "tough" kids of Plymouth. Even though there are differences, there were also many similarities. They incorporated technology into many of their lessons such as smart boards, pod casts and computers. They also have vocational classes like my high school did. The students can take other classes besides academic ones such as cosmetology, construction and art. I am glad I experienced a school in a other country because it was my first, but hopefully not my last!