Must Try Harder

Eight years after the events described in his previous book, Bog Standard, the old Technology College has been demolished and in its place is the brand new £150million William Edward Arnott Learning Village, complete with primary-colored open-plan learning areas, glossy wall-photographs of radiant children and an 'integrated e-learning package'. Problem is, while the name may have changed, and the walls are now made of plasterboard rather than asbestos, the students are still as crazy as ever, the paperwork, exam-scams and Ofsted-obsessions have multiplied on a geometric scale, the Wunderkind Deputy Head has introduced a whole new teaching system, and the school is now run by a new generation of Stepford teachers.And if teaching is becoming ever-more arcane and confusing, his cosy work-life balance is threatened by wife Merlene's not-unreasonable demands that they start a family. Daniel Ken, former blogger and committed classroom teacher finds that, if he is even to survive in this brand new teaching arena, he Must Try Harder.