Thank you to #NetGalley for allowing me to read #LetThatBeALesson by #RyanWilson.
All Ryan Wilson wanted was to be a teacher but we should be careful what we wish for. Teaching was not exactly what he expected. Laugh out loud funny but deeply moving you will love this book.

If you’ve ever wondered what the life of a teacher is like, then this is the perfect book for you. In this warts and all account, Wilson traces his journey from PGCE student and enthusiastic, nervous newbie taking his first class, to his transformation into the respected, mature, competent and experienced member of the teaching profession he becomes.

Parts of the book are laugh out loud hilarious, while others are tender and sensitive, and will reduce you to tears. Especially as he relates the loss of two greatly esteemed colleagues he was privileged to work with. There’s no doubt about it, teaching is tough and not for the fainthearted, as parents will have discovered while trying to homeschool their children for the first time during the pandemic.

School life throws up several conundrums and challenges to solve, turning teachers into counsellors and pastoral carers as well as educators, especially for pupils who have difficult home circumstances or are slow learners. Most of us wouldn’t envy them their job, despite the long holidays they have, which are actually anything but because of the enormous amount of preparation work they have to undertake at home.

Sadly, the author is forced to leave the profession he loves because of the intractable bureaucratic knots it’s tied up in. Teachers are at the mercy of ever-changing governmental diktats, which push them to breaking point as they try to implement the changes being asked of them, over and over again. I loved this humorous, engaging, anecdotal glimpse into teaching because it has opened my eyes to the daily challenges teachers contend with. It’s also a really great read I highly recommend.

I received a copy of the book by NetGalley but the opinions in this review are my own.

In this autobiography Ryan Wilson puts on paper his years as a teacher. I really enjoyed reading his experience, how the kids also taught him important life lessons, how honest he was in his approach to the autobiography. It really read as a love letter to teaching. My only negative comment is on the structure itself of the book, and of course it’s down to personal taste. I’m not the biggest fan of short chapters that cut the narration.

**listened to the audio book as well as kindle copy**

I really loved this book. As a secondary school teacher myself I could relate to a lot in this book. I liked that the chapters were really short and focussed on different things in each chapter. It kept the pace up, and also allowed Wilson to tell a wide range of anecdotes.
The book had a lot of heart, and got me quite emotional in places. I wish it would have had a little more humour - but the amount of heart makes up for it.

Ryan Wilson narrates the audiobook himself, something that I love with non-fiction books. Because of this I think I enjoyed listening to the audio version more than the kindle version.

I'm not sure if non-teachers would get as much out of this book as teachers, but nevertheless it was a super enjoyable read.

This is the second book I have read recently about teachers & this was equally as enjoyable. Thanks for the ARC.

An insightful look at life as a teacher. It’s funny at times and describes the pressures teachers face. Short chapters make this a quick read.

Thank you to Random House UK for this advanced copy.

Ryan Wilson the author of this book wants to be a teacher from the age of 8 and he fulfils his ambition starting off in a Cambridgeshire school and then moving to an inner city one. He writes about his first school and some of the dramas they happen and then the story of an overworked teacher gives an insight to how difficult life becomes. I have friends who are teachers and they have become less enamored with the teaching profession for all the faults etc that Ryan Wilson mentions. He is very scathing about Michael Gove and the way the Government changes the school rules and finance depending on who is in power at the time. As is usually the case the changes made by one bureaucrat usually makes the difference when he or she has left office. The book also talks about his personal life, the people he has met whilst teaching especially Liz who was the mentor of the new teachers and Zoe who was a new teacher with him. There stories are written with great fondness. He also talks about some of his students and I felt from the book that these students really faced up to their struggles by having a teacher like Ryan who put his heart and soul into teaching. One particular story is about a student called Zofia who talks about her sexual orientation with an issue which Ryan finds stimulating as he himself has suffered with his own feelings. This is a book every politician should read as well as the people who think that teachers finish at 3 and have 13 weeks holiday a year so why do they complain. I think if politicians and Ofsted read this amazing book they would learn that there is more to life that stats and the students welfare could be far more important. Ryan has now left teaching and I think this is a great shame although he did what he could and did it well.

The job of a teacher is a heroic one. Ryan's journey from being a newbie to a head of department is inspiring, and a counterpoint to anyone dismissing this most essential of jobs. Ryan is a likeable chap and I appreciated his love and respect for his colleagues Liz and Zoe. It definitely didn't make me want to be a teacher but made me very grateful to those that do. My only criticism is that his writing is a little flat.

This book is an absolute joy to read, with several laugh-out-loud moments, but the underlying message is, that teaching is so much more than 9-5 days with long, relaxing holidays, it requires real stamina, endurance, a grip of chaotic Governmental rules, inspections, Department of Education interference, exams, students and even worse, the parents!! The dreaded parent’s evening where you have to remember one child out of the 120 you teach and are personally responsible for, that’s enough to make a teetotaller drunk!!
I taught in an Institute of Higher and Further Education back in the 1980’s and really, the word Institute should have warned me!! Like Ryan, it was humorous, so stressful, but those moments when a student had that breakthrough moment of clarity and understanding, made it worthwhile for a least 5mins, before the next battles began.
The word battle is appropriate, there were always funding issues, teachers off sick, so you had to teach subjects you knew nothing about, you just prayed you had enough confidence to throw the students off the scent, and got out of that class alive! I also had visits in work settings, in my case it was looking after NNEB students in nurseries, schools, private homes and hospitals, that included doing practical demonstrations, pastoral care, safeguarding issues, and many new guidelines introduced at that time.
My daughter is now a teacher of English in a failing school in S. Yorkshire, and she loves it. She has been hospitalised twice, knife wound and an airborne chair, but still adores her charges. I keep asking her, why not teach in a private school, better discipline and resources, but she argues that children from poorer environments need good teachers as much, if not more, than the better schools. I do agree, but think her levels of stress and burn out would be greatly reduced.
This book should be compulsory for the many Education Secretaries that teachers are forced to tangle with, to show them exactly what life is like in classrooms today. Teachers should be shown the greatest respect and admiration. I believe that the social lockdown policies that came about due to the COVID-19 pandemic, made us all appreciate how difficult it is to teach children, especially if they belong to you. Teachers deserve their holidays, I spent many Christmas holidays writing lesson plans, marking assignments and the dreaded coursework folders, they haunt me still.
Well done Ryan for telling it like it is! I’m sure many will agree, but will still continue to brave the classroom on a daily basis.
My thanks to Random House UK and Vintage publishers and Netgalley for my advance copy, in exchange for my honest, unbiased review. I give this a five star rating, and will leave reviews to Goodreads and other outlets. I feel that my daughter will get a copy of this for the staff room at her school.

Thought I’d try this book as something different to read. It was ok, but not my cup of tea. Maybe you need to be a teacher to find it funny, but wasn’t for me.
It’s written well and probably just wasn’t the right genre for me, hence the 4 stars.
Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for letting me review it.

As a teacher myself I found this account of Ryan's teaching career entertaining, relatable and at times sad. There are so many highs and lows. Hopefully everyone will see how underpaid, overworked and unappreciated we are. Teachers are in the profession out of love for the job and their pupils. His honesty is refreshing.

As a 2nd level teacher this book both resonated and jarred with me. The author described very well the tribulations of teaching and questioned with integrity the futility of excessive marking and a system prone to reducing education and student’s progress to statistics. His sense of frustration with it all would suggest his decision to leave the profession was the right one. I recognised a lot of the students and situations they managed to create as I guess teenagers are teenagers the world over but failed to find the humour in these stories. If these really are the stand out moments for the author it is no wonder he changed careers.
The book often reads like end of the day diary entries or ramblings. Some begged to be teased out some more while others left one wondering what exactly is the point. The most disappointing aspect of this book for me was being left with the feeling that teaching is not a good career choice, in total contrast to my own, almost 40 year, experience of a fulfilling and worthwhile profession.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for an ARC

Ryan Wilson beautifully describes some of the pitfalls and pleasures of teaching.

Although I teach in Scotland, many of the pressures he illustrates are equally valid north of the border.

However it's also obvious, like so many of us out there, that he's in it for the 'love of it'.

The world of teaching is a sometimes scary one but our children and young people are always at the front of our minds.

A lovely memoir that made me guffaw, grieve and gasp... Just a typical school day!

This book had me in literal tears of laughter at various point. A true homage to all teachers, those traditionalists and those that seek to improve teaching. Honest, always balanced but above all, utterly entertaining.

This was an ode to teachers everywhere. Thoroughly enjoyed it and despite the humour, the underlying serious message for all to hear.

Having spent many years being a secondary school librarian, it was very interesting to me to see the other side of the coin. A great insight into how to deal with the disaffected students and the minefield of dealing with teenagers. Someone who wants to be a teacher throughout their whole life has got to be a great teacher.
A very interesting read and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Let That Be a Lesson is a frank, funny and extremely honest memoir about teaching in the English state school system.
Ryan Wilson always wanted to be a teacher and the book follows his journey from wide eyed graduate in his first job to Assistant Head in his last. He is an engaging writer and some of his stories of pupils and events are laugh out loud funny. It is also a very moving book as colleagues face serious illness.
The most fascinating, and horrifying, part of the book for me was its frighteningly honest look at the state system today, how Education Secretaries can make enormous changes, almost at will, which can cause huge damage, often long after they have left the post. Ryan is particularly damning in his assessment of Michael Gove. There is also much on the hideous workload and expectations of every teacher, it was very eye opening. Frankly, by the end of this I just wanted to go out and give every teacher a big hug and say thank you! I hope this book is pool side reading for every member of our current parliament this summer and gives them serious pause before they look at education funding again.
Thank you to #netgalley and #randomhouse for allowing me to review this ARC

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book. So funny and entertaining, giving great insights into the teacher’s side of the system. Highly enjoyable!

I’d like to thank Random House UK, Vintage and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read ‘Let That Be a Lesson’ by Ryan Wilson in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.

When Ryan Wilson is eight he asks for a blackboard and thereafter dreams of being a teacher when he’s grown-up. We follow his career from when he starts teacher-training in September 2005 to when he gets his first permanent position in a leafy Essex market town a year later, and relive his experiences during his teaching career as he tells about the highs and lows of his chosen profession.

‘Let That Be A Lesson’ is the story of a teacher’s life in the classroom, his colleagues who’ve had a hand in moulding his career, the students who’ve brought him joy and angst, this book tells it all. A novel such as this is necessary for those of us not involved in education to understand how much of a teacher’s day is taken up with lesson plans, student data spreadsheets as well as everyday teaching. It’s written in diary form with short chapters which although a bit disjointed at times puts over the author’s thoughts regarding the difficulty of recruiting new teachers, Ofsted demands, Government funding cuts when savings have to be made including redundancies. But it has also given me moments of mirth when reading about his experiences of organising the 6th Form Ball and upholding the rule of no alcohol. While it’s good to read his final and heartfelt comment that there’s no other work that comes near to teaching for job satisfaction, it’s just a pity teachers aren’t appreciated and get the recognition they deserve.

If Adam Kay was a teacher – this is the book he would have written. Ryan Wilson is the Gervaise Phinn of secondary schools. I laughed, I cried and I got angry. As a primary school teacher, I hadn’t realised there would be so many funny incidences in secondary school classrooms, but I really was howling with laughter at times. This book takes us from Ryan starting his teacher training and struggling to contain his nerves, as he walked down the corridor with his good friend Zoe, to parading around an Inner London school in a hi-vis jacket as assistant head teacher. With touching stories of how every child can achieve with the right teachers, and anger at how systems can beat down the best teachers, this is a must read for anyone who works in a school, as well anyone who doesn’t - this is a must-read for everyone!