Sandhill View Academy has been celebrating 70 years of teaching Sunderland's youngsters.
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00:00How deep is it?
00:07No, a bit more.
00:09A tiny bit, not much more. That'll be perfect.
00:11Right.
00:13Changing the oars.
00:15We'll tease the roots away.
00:17Yep.
00:20It's a good job I didn't manicure my nails.
00:30I declare this rose tree planted.
00:32Thank you.
00:34Thank you.
00:36Thank you.
00:38Thank you.
00:40Thank you.
00:42Thank you.
00:44Thank you.
00:46Thank you.
00:48I declare this rose tree planted.
00:54OK, so how does it feel to be invited back into the school for the 70th anniversary celebration?
01:00It's a real privilege to come back and see how the school's progressed.
01:04I left here five years ago, I retired.
01:08And it's lovely seeing the progress made, the journey the school's gone on.
01:13I very much remember the old school where, if it'd been raining today, there'd be buckets of water all over.
01:19I'm sure there's probably a few kicking around in the heavy rain.
01:23Things have moved on considerably.
01:25Young people have got far more complex challenges to face.
01:28And the school helps them do that.
01:31And every child counts in this school.
01:35And yourself, Harry, how does it feel to be back in the school today?
01:38Yeah, I'm very excited to be here.
01:40I'm very excited to be considered to be part of the family of this school, I think.
01:45And that's how I've always felt about being at Sandhill View, that I was part of a family.
01:51Certainly with the staff, we were a very tight unit as a staff.
01:58And it felt good to be part of that community.
02:02And I think that feeling is obviously still going on now in the new Sandhill View.
02:08But, as I said to you before, in the old school, the motto was, Sandhill View, small, caring and friendly.
02:16Which it was. It certainly was.
02:20And I'm sure that that still applies to Sandhill View today.
02:25I know you've both taught in the old school building as well.
02:28So, just coming into the new building here, how much change has taken place in the time you were at the school?
02:34Technology is amazing.
02:35I mean, in the old school, there were no computers.
02:37You had the blackboards, the ones that rolled round.
02:41You had it where there was no boiler some days.
02:44If you came into school and the smoke wasn't coming out of the boiler chimney, you knew that you were going to be sent home.
02:50Which the kids thought was great.
02:52But it's modern, it's clean, the toilets are lovely.
02:57And it's safe. There's no places where children can get lost.
03:03I think you were saying, Harry, as well, about changes in terms of the curriculum.
03:06You had a lot more freedom when you started.
03:07Oh, yes.
03:09We were told by our, as two new English teachers, my colleague Helen and I were told by our then head, Glyn Askell,
03:16to teach whatever we thought the children needed to learn.
03:21Which gave us carte blanche, really, to educate the children.
03:26Because the national curriculum really wasn't up and running.
03:31But we had to see what our children needed.
03:34And we talked to their needs.
03:36Did you all enjoy your time here?
03:38Oh, definitely.
03:39Absolutely.
03:40Staff were so friendly and supportive as new teachers.
03:45Because you are green when you're a new teacher.
03:47Yeah.
03:48And the kids are lovely. They always have been.
03:51The head, Richard Burns, said to me once, this must be about 2012,
03:58he said, why haven't you moved on from this school?
04:02Why aren't you somewhere else?
04:05I said, because I love being here. I love teaching here.
04:08He said, well, to get on as a teacher, you should be having different experiences in different schools.
04:14I said, no, I love being here. Thanks very much.
04:18If that means staying here and being a teacher in front of the class, well, fine.
04:21That's what I want to do.
04:24How do you do?
04:32I've done this before.
04:34Jewel is an expert.
04:36Look at this, Jewel.
04:43There you go.
04:44Well done.
04:45Well done.
04:52Good luck.
04:58Well done, Jewel.
04:59Well done.