Showing the other side of education

The life and loves of a Yorkshire schools' inspector are warmly recounted in Over Hill and Dale, the latest book by Gervase Phinn.

In this sequel to The Other Side of the Dale, Phinn, often described as the "James Herriot of schools", continues his stories of life in the tiny infant schools tucked away in the Yorkshire Dales and the large inner-city comprehensives of the north of England. Phinn's tales have been collected from over a decade of inspecting and advising schools throughout the area. He hopes the books are "a light-hearted and amusing account" of his experiences, however, they have another purpose.

"There is very low morale in schools throughout Britain and teachers feel very undervalued," he says. "TV programmes and media reports always focus on low standards and bad schools, however, through my work, I've found that this is a far from accurate picture."

Phinn says he was inspired to put his experiences down on paper to show the other side of the story: "There are sad stories in the book and tales of underprivileged schools, but there are also wonderful characters, dedicated teachers, bright happy children and well-run schools."