In this account the inspector notes they have “two classrooms” and uses “one for the infants and one for the juniors”. This also shows he is inspecting a Primary school. He also notes the size which is “long square rooms with high beamed ceilings.” The inspector also comments on the classrooms. He says that “the classroom was neat and tidy”. This shows they work in a tidy environment and it would make the inspector think they are a good school.
He comments on the setting which he would look at when inspecting any school. It is on a “cold bleak moor” which was “strange and desolate”. Also it had a “grey mist” which “hung low”. The setting shows this is based in the North. This is emphasised by the pupils’ dialect; “Miss t’watter in t’hen coops froz up last neight. It were as ‘ard as Brimham rocks”.
Phinn is also told by a child, Joseph Richard Barclay, that the moor was the scene of a famous battle which took place “over four hundred years ago, between the round heads and cavaliers. A lot of men perished on that moor. They say the ground was red with blood.” This interest in local history is repeated later when another child, Emily, talks about an object her mum found. “It’s a sort of buckle. It’s maybe from a belt or bag. It’s all rusted up with a silver rose in the middle.” Other old objects were also discovered but the most humorous is that of a “dead cat” These examples show the pupils’ enthusiasm for learning and engaging with their teacher.
The inspector is impressed by the school’s historical research and another example of this is when he is invited to “have a look at the school log books” which go back over a hundred years. The log book contains information on the past headmasters of the school. He takes particular interest into the recount of a past inspector. The subjects the headmaster used to teach compared. The interest in the past report is it is negative. “ill-managed by a committee of languid, inept amateurs”. Phinn comments on how harsh inspectors could be.
But mainly the inspector would look at the quality of the pupils’ work. In The Other Side Of The Dale the write notes the work of the pupil’s which he sums up by saying “I spent the remainder of the morning listening to the children read confidently and clearly and examined their written work.”
The structure of the poem relates to the theme which is about the school inspector. The structure of the piece is one of the inspector inspecting something then commenting on Joseph Barclay.
