Pupils take over school for the day

Pupils took control of their school for the day '“ and discovered just how much is involved in being head teacher.
Benjamin Waterer, 11, was head teacher and Zoe Miles, ten, was deputy head teacher for the day at Thomas A'Becket Junior School. Picture: Derek Martin DM17734312aBenjamin Waterer, 11, was head teacher and Zoe Miles, ten, was deputy head teacher for the day at Thomas A'Becket Junior School. Picture: Derek Martin DM17734312a
Benjamin Waterer, 11, was head teacher and Zoe Miles, ten, was deputy head teacher for the day at Thomas A'Becket Junior School. Picture: Derek Martin DM17734312a

Benjamin Waterer, 11, and Zoe Miles, ten, as chairman and vice-chairman of the school council, took control at Thomas A’Becket Junior School in Tarring on Monday.

They said they had no idea when they were elected by fellow pupils that it would mean them being head teacher and deputy head teacher and running the whole school for one day.

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They arrived into school at 8.15am and had a five-minute briefing with assistant head teacher Charlotte Bull before going up to the staff room for ‘The Shout’, where the plans for the week are announced.

At 8.30am, they were at the front of the school to meet and greet students as they arrived.

Latecomers were rushed in and sent off to class before Benjamin and Zoe went inside to give Jane Evea, co-chairman of governors, a tour of the school.

They said: “This tested our skills of answering different questions as she was very curious about what we did at the school, which we thought was nice, as we liked that she wanted to know more about what we do as a community.

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“Then two lovely people called Chris and David talked to us about their jobs and what it is like doing them. Chris is an aerospace engineer and David is a computer engineer. They make instruments to go up to space and act like a satellite.”

Later in the morning, Benjamin and Zoe had to discuss the shelter and a lockdown procedure due to take place the next afternoon.

Lunch duty was spent in the playground, where they were available to help and solve problems for 45 minutes.

Benjamin and Zoe then had time for their own lunch before the next job, writing an article for TAB News, the weekly school newsletter.

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They said: “Observing some year-three lessons was next on the agenda for our day and it didn’t disappoint. We saw some great behaviour and were impressed with the teaching methods in class.”

They finished the school day back in the playground, waving goodbye to pupils, but the work did not end there, as there were lesson observation notes to type up before heading to the piano to practice for upcoming events.