Ben Josse, OH 2003-11, is currently in his final year of ECT training in Secondary School Mathematics and as per the requirements of his ECT training programme, he contacted Hymers College to ask for a school visit.

I felt it best to go back to where it all began for me, as the high quality teaching I was fortunate enough to be exposed to, is a direct result of my chosen field of study. 

After leaving Hymers, Ben attended Leeds Beckett University to study accounting and finance, leading to a job at PwC as an auditor. However, lockdown came and it gave him an opportunity to reassess his career and as a result, he decided he would enjoy a change.

After chatting to my friend about it, who’s Head of History at a local school in Hull, he convinced me to give teaching a go and 3 short years later via Kelvin, St.Mary’s and Boulevard here I am! 

My afternoon visit to Hymers was glorious, a real trip down memory lane full of nostalgia at every turn. Mr Simpson was kind enough to devote his time to giving me a tour of the school while listening to me reflect on previous classrooms and teachers - some of which were still there, so I had to pay them a visit. 

As a fellow maths specialist, he was grateful to Mr. Simpson for giving him a tour of the maths classrooms that afternoon, especially as it allowed him the opportunity to sit in on 5 separate lessons to get a good feel of a typical day in the department. Follow-up conversations with each teacher were had as Ben drew comparisons between their styles while occasionally chipping in where he could.

I thanked each member for their time and as the day wound to a close, I asked Mr. Simpson if I could pay Dr. Denton a visit - my old form tutor. Fortunately he was free and after a quick catch up he asked how much of my last day I remembered. I confessed not a tremendous amount although I do recall our form tutor taking a photo together in front of the main hall from the quad side, which fortunately I still had access to. I showed this to Dr. Denton and I was impressed by how many former pupils he could remember considering we were his first ever form tutor during his time at Hymers College. We laughed about the day and it was at this point we both agreed it would be fun to recreate this photo, 13 years apart.