2011 M A R C H FREE

INTERVIEW WITH MR. PORTER EMA, GOOD OR BAD? A DAY TO REMEMBER

SIXTH VIEWStaff Vs Sixth Form Hockey was a success

The winning team for the Valentine’s Quiz

The successful Valentine’s Quiz

Raising money for Little Bridge House

Interview with Mr PorterHe’s analytical, passionate and most horrifically Welsh. Now in his second year as Head of Sixth Form, Chris Moss and Robin Liquorice wanted to find out who the real Mr Porter is.

Tell us about your most memorable teaching moment.I have so many, but they’re often linked to exam performances – watching a student grow and achieve after teaching them for

two, three or four years. One springs to mind…teaching a student who I didn’t have a good relationship with to start off with, I thought it’d be a real battle to get him to C grade. Eventually we built up a strong relationship and to see this big tough guy

with tears of joy in his eyes when he only achieved one C in business was possibly my favourite moment ever. It’s not always about the A* grades, but about watching students grow.

Aww isn’t that just a pull on the heart strings!

What is your biggest flaw?

I’ve always been someone who pays a lot of attention to detail. I’m quite meticulous. In some ways it’s a weakness because when I started teaching and someone let me down I took it very personally. I found it very hard to switch off from thinking

about school once the weekend came along. I’ve been accused of being a perfectionist and as a result of being ultra- organised I can’t cope in a disorganised environment. It completely freaks me out. When I was at university I used to get teased for

having my ties in a completely straight row, I would always hoover every night because my room was my sanctuary. You can not be a perfectionist because nothing is ever perfect and you will become very unhappy very quickly.

Ties straight eh, you may call it perfectionism Stewie but I call that OCD ; )

What are your favourite past-times?

They’ve changed. It used to be playing sport, especially football and cricket, but once I had my children I must say that nothing is better than doing something with them, especially watching the pleasure they get out of sport. I’m coaching my sons

under 10s football team and I get such a buzz watching them play. It may be corny, but it’s true.Now, after hearing that, who wants to see Mr Porter crack on the old school football kit?

Tell us about your most embarrassing moment.

There are many, but I think it goes back to my first year in teaching. I walked in as a fresh-faced 24 year old, thinking I was quite cool. I was teaching a year 13 class and about half way through the lesson I was sitting back thinking, “yeah I like this

job, I’m the man”. I was sipping a glass of water and rocking back on my chair and you can imagine what happened next, I’m sure. I went head over heels and ended up with water pouring down my face. The students were in such hysterics that I even

had to abandon the lesson. Water running down your face, that’d make a good profile picture…

Which teacher inspires you the most?

It has to be someone who isn’t all singing, all dancing; someone who delivers good lessons day in and day out. Someone like Mr Walker to me, he’s an absolute professional. He’s very consistent and delivers excellent grades.

Where is your favourite holiday destination?

Well now it’s down on the south coast near Lyme Regis because I recently bought a caravan. The children love it and can’t wait to go again – the summer we had was absolutely fantastic. Before the children it was Antigua where I got married with

my wife, who I met when I was in sixth form. When we decided to get married my father-in-law gave us a decent sum of money to get married abroad and we did.

We’ve all heard of Psycho Porter. What’s the most psychotic thing you’ve done?

I don’t know, I’ve scared a few people over the years but I’ve changed a lot. I used to be absolutely religious on getting homework in on time. I remember setting year 12 work and one person failed to hand it in so to make a point I called the

student at home on a Friday afternoon, went over to their house, knocked on the door and told their parents I wasn’t prepared to leave until they handed me the homework. I literally sat and waited in my car for them to hand it to me. I wouldn’t say

that’s psychotic, but it definitely demonstrates the attention to detail I have. Oh my, so that’s how Mr Porter likes to start his weekend, must’ve been an exciting one.

If you weren’t a teacher, what would you like to be?

When I was young, I was ambitious to be a footballer, but was never good enough. I then had ambitions to become a police officer and I did actually go for the accelerated promotion scheme (which means you rise through the ranks quickly) and got through the medical and physical to the final interview in London – it was the most gruelling experience of my life. I didn’t

get the job, but I now realise they made the right choice; I was young and not mature enough. I then became a teacher; it was always between the two.

Aww man, we could’ve seen Mr Porter on Street Crime UK!

If you were locked in a room for 24 hours, which teacher would you bring with you?

Wow, good question. It’s got to be someone I’m comfortable and who I’d like to get to know more about. I would see this as a useful time to get to know someone not just to get through the 24 hours. I think probably Mr Humphrey. I used teach him 15

years ago and he was very bright, he got 3 As. I’d like to get to know him a bit more, why he came into teaching from his previous job. Another person would be Mr Tuke. I’ve always had good conversations with him but I’d want to get to know

him a little bit more.

Interview with Mr Porter.What would you describe as your ideal date?

If I’m absolutely honest, after 25 years, I look forward to spending my Friday evenings with my wife where we can chill out and chat and drink some real ale. I would say it is probably to go to a hotel with my wife and have a really nice meal with a bottle of red. Then a nice walk somewhere and then a great breakfast in the morning maybe use the sauna or jacuzzi in the

morning as well. All followed by a pub lunch on the way back. Ah just like us, it’s all about the food. Let’s be honest nothing beats some beer and a curry.

With Kingdown considering academy status, what would this mean for the Sixth Form?

I suppose at the moment I don’t know. I don’t think it would change very much if I’m honest. It will give us the opportunity to be more independent and not be dictated to by what the government says; into what we do, what we have to buy in to. It will mean we can prioritise by looking at how we should spend our money. I think it could make us more profitable and enable us to build a new Sixth Form block. It’s a key target for the school, but would obviously be expensive. At the moment I feel the change from year 11 to year 12 doesn’t show the difference from the rest of the school and at the moment we don’t have that.

How do you like your eggs?

I like omelettes. My wife makes an amazing omelette and if you throw in some cheese and ham, yeah, now we’re talking.

Shoe size?

8 ½

If you had one wish, what would it be?

That my children and wife live long happy lives. It has to be.

In 5 words, what is the meaning of life?

Strive for balance, be happy.

When you receive your £10, £20 or £30 a week do you feel privileged? Privileged in knowing that you can hold something that has not been wrangled by a smarmy MP left waning for a free late bottled vintage port? Well that soon may change with the scrapping of the EMA system.

Now personally, I find it difficult to comprehend the use of EMA as a lot of my fortunate fellow students seemed to be more concerned about buying another overpriced and reckless Xbox game rather than spending the money on books or research. However after all, it is a free

handout – we would all like to receive evidence of our parents ‘tax being put to some use.- Is this then fair that the rest of us do not receive EMA? Or is this yet another prime example of the Governments naive acceptance that in the British society ‘one size does not fit all’. The conservative chairman of the Education Select Committee, Graham Stuart stated that it was ‘ hard to see that EMA is a sensible use of a scarce resource’ One on first hearing this grunt some bitter abuse towards this member of Parliament, However, it was revealed that the scheme costs Britain £560 million a year with £36 million in

administrative costs. At first glance this is ridiculous. However, quiet like benefits, If EMA were to be fairly distributed with the guarantee of helping to educate, individual cases would need to be considered- this would not work in our ever bulging population. And as far as I am concerned, if scrapped entirely, those who are not able to cope with the demands of continued higher education (let us not also forget university fees!) I’m sure that the cost on the future of Britain and the future economy would be a lot greater than £560 million a year. Anna Clarke

Should the Government scrap EMA?

Quiz Master Morgan

The silicon spoon team, aka losers

Quiz In My Pants, What a Joker!

“Are you ready?!” screamed a

voice not unlike that of a

wrestling announcer, fitting in

with the stage’s setting of giant

punch bags, echoes around the

darkened venue...And judging by

the response from the crowd,

they clearly were. The band

provided a rather dramatic

entrance using a combination or

strode lighting, sirens, smoke and

confetti cannons whilst delving

into their first song from their

latest album, ‘2nd Sucks’, which

really got the room going.

Following the fairly disappointing

support acts, Pierce The Veil and

(although slightly better than the

first) Bayside, whose efforts to

warm the crowd up were slightly

pitiful (with the exception of one

or two songs, including a cover of

‘Like A G6’), A Day To Remember

certainly managed to pick the

atmosphere right up. For a band

dubbed as ‘pop-core’, there is

quite a range of song styles - from

the heavier ‘Mr Highway Is

Thinking About The End’ which

created mass mosh pits, and

contrasted with the more

energetic, pop-punk ‘All I Want’ -

though whatever it is, it was sure

to get the crowd going.

After a phenomenal set which

ended with the classic crowd

pleaser ‘You Should’ve Killed Me

When You Had The Chance’, A

Day To Remember left the stage,

However after overwhelming

demand, they returned for an

encore - opening with a much

softer, acoustic ‘If It Means A Lot

To You’, which the audience

listened to in somewhat stunned

silence, joining in with the

chorus. This was followed by the

louder, more upbeat tones of

“Downfall Of Us All’, which had

the whole room chanting to the

intro and sparked huge amounts

of energy.

A Day To Remember w/Bayside & Pierce The Veil

O2 Academy, Bristol 03.02.11

THE PHOTOS

To top it all off they finished on a high

note - ‘The Plot To Bomb The

Panhandle’ - an original favourite for all

ADTR fans which resulted in a

spectacular end to the show.

All in all, Ocala five piece A Day To

Remember put on a fantastic set.

They keep getting bigger and

better, and are definitely a band to

look out for in the future.

Ella Mae Walker

The O2 in Bristol A Day To Remember, I think so.

I am singing for you!