Mr Tony misses St. Lawrence's Primary School (and his flapjack & custard too!)

Hi my name is Tony Stephenson and I work at three amazing schools throughout my week as part of the PEAK Team.

I am going to start with talking about the first school I ever walked into which was St Lawrence’s Primary School, it is in the heart of Byker (central Newcastle) and I didn’t know what to expect. It was a little daunting to say the least! However, the good thing was all of my nerves and fears immediately disappeared when I met the head teacher Mr. Brown. What a nice warm chap, who straight away made me feel at ease, my initial reaction was he’s far too young to be a head teacher! Aren’t they supposed to be big and scary with a frighteningly loud voice?! But, obviously that is not the case.

I felt so relaxed straight away as we had so much in common, not only regards interests but also school life, and most importantly together we wanted to improve the physical education within the school and the activity levels of the children. Over the past 5 years, I have been involved in this fantastic school, Mr. Brown has continued to take me under his wing and I have learnt so many different skills because of this which I am so thankful for.

Now before I get on to the children, who are the most important people in all of this, I am going to talk a little about the staff. From the first day of stepping into St Lawrence’s Primary School everyone was so welcoming and helpful, if anyone could do something for you they would. So I would like to say a big thank you to all the teachers, teaching assistants and even the lunchtime staff (who know flapjack and custard has always been my favourite since I was at primary school and so they always let me know when it is on the menu!)

The children at St Lawrence’s, in a strange way, I kind of see as my own and I especially love how the ones who have moved on to high school still come back to visit and with Mr. Brown’s permission they sometimes help me out with my after school clubs which is lovely. Over the years I have watched these children blossom into mature, young adults and it makes me so proud, to have played a small part in their development and getting them ready for High school or team games in their out of school life. There has certainly been and still is a vast amount of talent here.

As for the children still with us at St Lawrence’s they are always trying to achieve their maximum potential and we at PEAK have never been so well equipped to do this. Last year we joined forces with IPEP. This online portal, which not only is one of the best resources for lesson plans out there but it also helps to monitor each and everyone of our children’s performances in every PE lesson. For me, as their teacher this has been helpful to assess and plan for each individual’s needs and consequently this has challenged the children and pushed them on further and I can already see vast improvements in the children as I clearly know the challenges and achievements they should be working towards. Long may this continue!

Last thing from me I hope everyone not just at this school but across the board are staying safe and hopefully I can be back with the wonderful staff and children at St Lawrence’s Primary School. For now I will be thinking of you all and continue to help in anyway I can.

Tony

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