Village Teacher

Teacher #4

by Jack Sheffield

It's 1980: recession and unemployment has hit Britain, a royal wedding is on the way, and the whole country is wondering Who Shot JR.
Jack returns for his fourth year at Ragley-on-the Forest School, and there's a definite chill in the air. Village schools are being closed down all over the place - will his be one of them? As school life continues - Vera, the school secretary, has to grapple with a new-fangled electric typewriter, Ruby celebrates ten years as the school cleaner, and the village panto throws up some unusual problems - Jack wonders what the future holds...Village Teacher is another heartwarming, funny and moving tale from this classic series.

Genres: Fiction, British Literature, School, Humor, Historical, Adult

336 pages, Paperback

First published February 14, 2010

About the author

Jack Sheffield (born Jack Linley, 1945) is a British author who wrote a series of books of fiction about the headmaster of a village school in a fictional Yorkshire village. The stories are set from the late 1970s to the early 1980s and attempt to portray life in Yorkshire as it was at that time.

He was trained as a teacher at St John's College, York and later became head teacher of two schools in North Yorkshire and then senior lecturer in primary education at Bretton Hall.

He took up writing after retirement, and his first novel "Teacher, Teacher!" sold 100,000 copies

Reviews

[Sharon Bidwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this the least in the series so far, which isn’t a negative as this type of series can’t help but seem a little repetitive. Gentle anecdotes of village life creates an overall charming series for easy summer reading. I intend to read more.

[P.S. Winn · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a series about Jack as he returns for his fourth year at Ragley-on-the Forest School. Going back to the school, Jack finds village schools are being closed down all over the place. This is an interesting series with a behind the scenes look at a small school and those in it.

[Adele · Rating 2 out of 5]

Favourably comparable with Gervase Phinn, and with all the added nostalgia for all things (music, fashion, politics and social history) 80s I really enjoy the escapism of these village school tales. It was strangely serendipitous to read chapter 15, Agatha Christie and the missing vicar after only so recently finishing The Murder at the Vicarage myself as part of my quest to complete all the Miss Marple stories.

[Elvis Gregory-sayce · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

[Gill · Rating 3 out of 5]

First I have read of the series. A light read, which I enjoyed, partly because of nostalgia, partly because of the characters.

[MikeBy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pleasant story, although it's a bit episodic, apart from the possible school closure it is more a collection of incidents.

[Jill · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love these books. Love the characters and the village life portrayed by the Headmaster,
Jack Sheffield.

[Pauline Bicknell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Undemanding and gentle

[Georgette Goodwin]

more excellent reading

[June · Rating 5 out of 5]

The sequel to "Dear Teacher", this feel-good, escapist story follows the life of Jack Sheffield, the headteacher of a small village school in Yorkshire that is threatened with closure. It is now 1980, and the decade of electronic typewriters, pixie boots and shoulder pads has hit the small village. There are mishaps, new arrivals and a pantomime in this book, which again makes me think what a nice job the character Jack Sheffield has! However, the book finished on a "cliffhanger" - a will-he won't-he question.....

The character Beth, Jack's fiancee, is beginning to annoy me a bit if I have to be brutally honest; and I find the countless references to her "honey blonde hair tucked behind her ear" a bit tiresome every time she appears in a scene.

It's a nice book to read if you want to escape the humdrum of normal life, and I have now downloaded the next in the series. It's cruel finishing a book off on a cliffhanger!!

If you like books by Miss Read, Rebecca Shaw, Maeve Binchy, Eve Houston or Debbie Macomber, you will enjoy this.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favourite book so far. Again many aspects are funny or humorous or come to life because we are looking back. Comments about Charles and Di being in love and being happy are interesting because we know exactly what did happen. The men's shopping trip to Leeds is hilarious as they all queue up for Jilly Cooper's autograph books and one of them insists his wife will appreciate the tool he bought her. The books retains an air of nostalgia and as a teacher it would be lovely to go back to those days before a common curriculum where children learned the social skills they needed - although I suppose we are heading back in that direction again but with added pressure from OFSTED and targets these days, it harks back to a time we will probably never get back.

I also enjoyed reading about children playing in the fields - a time before games consoles and computers when children went in the fresh air and parents weren't afraid to let them. It actually made me a little sad too.

And then there is the unanswered question at the end that makes me want to go out and buy the next book :-)

[Juliana Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another book in the Village School series. Familiar characters, familiar storylines - heart warming and nostalgic as it harks back to 1980, which I can actually remember snippets from. As usual, there were the slightly too knowing references to events at the time with the benefit of the author's hindsight - for example comments on Charles and Di and speculation on how their relationship would turn out. I find these a bit irritating as it drags the reader away from the 'reality' of the book and highlights the fact that it's fictional and written years later.

However, still a nice easy read with a non-annoying main character. Another good cliffhanger too - so I'll definitely read the next one. I'll just need to leave a bit of a gap between them so the jokes don't wear too thin.

[Mike Singer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Real feel-good stuff, after reading the first one I read the rest in short order.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

Presumed this would be like the book The Playgroup. But it was a good read and have ordered the rest of the books from the library.

[Barry Lillie · Rating 2 out of 5]

By the time I'd finished reading the fourth book in the series I was exhausted and had enough. Well written humorous books but I've now tired of them and the repetition required.

[Sherry Gallagher · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not my cup of tea :)

[Shona Thomson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cliff hanger at the end should have been resolved.

[WF · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't quite like how the narrator is the main character, but often turns omniscient to fill out the story from other characters' point of view.

Still, a charming story about English village life years ago.