A wonderful peep at school and village life that has all but disappeared. Andy Seed went to a remote Yorkshire Dale to take up a post at the local Primary School some twenty five years ago. He records school and village life, both little changed since the war. It’s warm, funny and packed with incident with wonderful portraits of the children and villagers he comes to know and love.
Dear Mr Seed, I am sorry that are Jack was not at school yesterday. He put on such a groth spurt in the night that nun of his clowthes fitted im next morning so I had to take him to the shops. Mrs R. Twenty-five years ago, newly qualified teacher Andy Seed moved to a remote village in the Yorkshire Dales with his wife Barbara, anticipating breathtaking views and the gentle simplicity of the countryside. The picturesque scenery did not disappoint. But life as a primary school teacher was anything but simple. With a classroom full of colourful characters whose capacity for misunderstanding was exceeded only by their enthusiasm and their ability to leave him incredulous, Andy fell in love with teaching and with village life. ALL TEACHERS GREAT AND SMALL tells the true story of Andy's first year at Cragthwaite Primary School - how he bravely negotiated the vagaries of the local dialect, made disastrous bids to provide a family home, naively and hilariously tried out new-fangled ideas in a school stuck in a 1950s time warp, and ultimately discovered a little part of England he was proud to call home. Warm, touching and very funny, All Teachers Great and Small transports you to a time that may be gone but has never been forgotten.
Andy Seed worked for many years as a primary school teacher in the Yorkshire Dales before setting up as a freelance writer in 2000. He now splits his work time between writing and travelling around schools running workshops and enthusing children about books and reading, as well as giving talks about his days as a young teacher in the Dales. Andy is married with three children and lives in the wilds of North Yorkshire where he finds inspiration while battling against the overgrowth of his vast, rambling garden.
