As I'm planning to become a primary school teacher, today I was observing a class in a school, near Bristol. Chris is the year 6 (kids aged 10 and 11 in their last year of primary) teacher and is himself a member of the spinally-cord-injured club. I wanted to see what kind of equipment he used and what facilities the school had provided. Definitely worth the visit, despite getting caught in gridlock traffic in Chippenham, being late and then getting pulled over by an unmarked police car on my way home. Luckily escaped with a verbal warning, lecture and a surprising well-made point: "Because I'm talking to you, you're now going to be late for whatever you were rushing for. So it wasn't worth it, was it?" Better than asking what unlikely excuse I had...
Anyway, the teaching. Normally, Chris uses a manual chair but for teaching, he has a very grand standing chair, £15,000 worth, that goes up and down at the push of a button. He uses it for assemblies and reaching stuff off shelves, but didn't stand at all during the day I was there. It's also pretty bulky, though it does have a useful horn for getting the kids to be quiet, and moves around the classroom fairly easily. It would do a lot of damage to a child's foot if it runs over it... So far, not so impressed. However, I did like Chris' Toshiba tablet pc. It's a clever beast that, with a projector, enables him to use the interactive whiteboard without having to stand. With the stylus he can write by hand, interact with programmes. I want one of those.
The school itself had made a number of adaptations (Chris was already teaching there when he had his accident). Ramps everywhere, push-button automatic doors, his own accessible toilet with a bench for changing (great idea), a covered car parking space (not something I'd have thought of, but again a good idea so you can stay dry as you transfer out of the car). All these adaptations and the equipment are largely funded by the government scheme Access to Work which forks out 80% of the cost with the school/employer making up the difference.
So, lots of useful information to absorb. Now I've just got to decide what level to teach (primary or secondary), what year and whether I'm sure I really do want to become a teacher. Not much to consider then. The other big issue to resolve is my exhaustion. The school day started at 9am and after lunch I could barely stay awake. I must build up my stamina. At the moment, there is absolutely no way I am going to manage to get through a full-time PGCE course.
