Charlie Barker
Departments
Bruce House
Economics
Games Coaching
Politics
Qualifications
BA Loughborough
Contact information
Telephone: +44 (0)1280 818013/818005
Email: cbarker@stowe.co.uk
Life before Stowe
I studied Politics with French at Loughborough University.
What do you enjoy most about Stowe?
The fusion of academic life, pastoral life and sporting activity all into one. I love how my day is non-stop from academic work into afternoon sport and then straight into duties in House as an under-housemaster. You can have a massive impact on students' development, whether through formal teaching, activities and games or taking a group running or playing touch rugby in the evening as an under-housemaster. Putting in that level of commitment helps to create an element of respect in the classroom!
What is your favourite Lesson?
I remember a French lesson with 4B: they were so focused throughout the lesson, from speaking to listening to writing, with an active game to finish. It was all in French and the level of grammar covered in the lesson evolved organically to a level far above GCSE: we even found a grammatical error in the textbook where a past participle had not been agreed correctly with the direct object - it all just flowed perfectly and was my most satisfying lesson yet (although as I have only been teaching for 2 years I'm hoping the best is yet to come.)
What do others say about you?
I think I am seen as energetic, enthusiastic and totally obsessive about fitness, conditioning and diet. In any area, especially rugby, if a Stoic can't hone a new skill, I demonstrate it myself whether it be a 20 metre flat spin pass off my left hand or exploiting space in an open situation: the students expect me to be able to do it as well as coach it.
Other hats
I am under housemaster in Bruce House, which is hugely rewarding. I am a performance team coach for rugby in both of the 2 first terms and I coach the Yearlings C team for cricket. I also run extra touch rugby session and weights sessions for any who are keen to improve every day of the week.
Passions
Anything that involves going to France and speaking French. I love fitness and conditioning and I am a big fan of Mixed Martial Arts. Playing rugby is possibly my favourite thing in the world but I also get very obsessive for 3 or 4 months at a time about various things. An example of this would be a craze on diet about a year ago where I wrote everything I ate down in a book for 3 months. Got my body fat down to 7% while maintaining muscle mass of over 80kg.