School’s out for Alistair Martin and Catherine Bell, who say goodbye to Cambridge Middle School after nearly a quarter of a century.
All the classroom’s a stage, and all the teachers merely players.
When Catherine Bell and Alistair Martin joined the teaching profession “many years ago” they quickly discovered how much of a theatrical element was involved.
“You’re an actress and an actor up in front of those kids and then you come to the end of the school year and you’re just like, phwoar!” Catherine said.
Now, after serving Cambridge Middle School for a combined total of 47 years, the two teachers are taking a break to recharge and explore new roles.
“After 23 years of doing something very similar, I just feel it’s time to do something different,” Alistair said.
He is thinking of doing “something with building or property, hopefully linking education with that as well”.
“But who knows,” he said. “The things I’m looking at might come to fruition and they might not and if they don’t I’m pretty comfortable with that. The world is completely open now.”
For Catherine, it is “an opportunity to re-evaluate”.
“I’m lucky enough to have some time now to just do something different,” she said. “For me it might just be with my grandies and my children. It might be travelling the world, it might be relieving. The world’s my oyster.”
The world’s my oyster.
It was the joy of watching students achieve, and working with “incredible” people, that kept the pair coming back to Cambridge Middle School year after year, for nearly quarter of a century.
“He tangata, he tangata, he tangata,” Catherine said. “It is the people, it is the people, it is the people.
“I think that’s what’s made the decision to leave so hard.”
Catherine, originally from Northland, discovered her love for sewing in form one (year 7) at school, decided she wanted to be a home economics teacher in form three, and trained to be a specialist teacher straight out of high school.
A desire to share her skills and help students achieve initially drew her to teaching, and kept her in the job.
“I love sharing my skills and witnessing those moments when the kids realise, ‘wow, I can do this!’ she said.
Since joining Cambridge Middle School in 1998 she has been a food technology, general classroom and fabric technology teacher, team leader, tutor teacher and associate teacher.
Alistair, a former businessman, arrived as a student teacher in 1999 and has been a general classroom teacher, team leader and assistant principal.
“I like people and I like getting on with people and learning what makes kids tick and what makes their parents tick and having that three-way relationship,” he said.
“It’s pretty special and it’s really important. That’s the thing you’ve got to make work and that’s what I think makes you a successful teacher.
“If you build those relationships you know what excites each different child in your room, be it that they’ve got a pet or they like this football club or they love horse riding or they have a goal in their life to be a farmer. It’s a teacher’s job to know their kids super well, and to go the extra mile for every child.”
The pair felt the biggest change in education over their time had been a move to tailor learning to individual students’ needs.
“Instead of having a classroom program for 30, you have 30 different programs,” Alistair said. “I think that’s been a good change. It’s crazy giving a child that’s naturally gifted the same work as a kid who can’t read.”
He and Catherine were overwhelmed by the outpouring of gratitude and kindness they received from past and present students, parents and colleagues during their last week of school.
Both said they would really miss their students and colleagues.
“All the people I work with – the staff, the IT guys, the caretaker, the senior leadership team – everybody I’ve had an interaction with I will miss, because they are a genuinely nice group of people,” Alistair said. “There’s not a person on the staff I wouldn’t have a coffee or a beer with.”
After more than two decades teaching middle school children, his and Catherine’s tip for parents is to “spend time with your child”.
“That is my tip for any parent at any level in any way,” Alistair said. “Spend quality time with them – talking to them, reading to them, walking with them – it’s your undivided attention that they need. I think that’s what makes the biggest difference to their outcomes in every way.”
My heart knows it’s the right thing
Now, the stage is set for some new adventures as he and Catherine leave the school they know so well.
“It’s strange,” said Catherine, who is excited about spending more time with her family and on her hobbies – travelling, waterskiing, scrapbooking, sewing and family heritage.
“I know it’s the right thing, though. My head knows it’s the right thing, the heart’s still getting there.”
“Whereas my heart knows it’s the right thing,” said Alistair, who plans to play more guitar and write more songs, poetry and comedy as a new act in his life begins.
