Tuesday 24th of November 2009
At first glance, you might be forgiven for thinking that the worlds of bingo games and secondary education have little in common.
But one teacher begs to differ after noting some unlikely parallels between her day job and her voluntary work in an article for Leader, a magazine published by the Association of School and College Leaders.
Gill Pyatt, a maths tutor at Barnwood Park Arts College in Gloucester, doubles as bingo caller at a local homeless shelter on Friday nights.
And she realised that getting your favourite spot for bingo games is every bit as important as at school.
"This group is as territorial about their chairs and tables as classes are about their desks in classrooms," she said. "There is pushing and shoving to ensure they secure the right seat."
And the same sort of characters seems to inhabit both worlds, not least a young homeless shelter guest called Mike who "likes to be the class prefect".
Every week, Ms Pyatt gives him the privilege of handing out bingo pens with the same instruction she uses in the classroom: "Count them out and then count them back again at the end".
Finally, there are strong echoes when a player called Frank wins and earns himself the right to pick first from the bingo bonus prize table.
Instead of choosing a Bristol Rovers scarf, chocolate or biscuits, Frank opts for a pink goody bag intended just for female gamers - featuring face cream, a bath puff and a nail file.
This prompts a roar of laughter from his mates who begin whistling, stamping the floor and yelling things out.
She explained: "This has a similar feeling to being in a playground before a fight breaks out."
Thankfully, the tension is diffused when Frank jokes that he'll give everything to his girlfriend and the rest of the bingo game night passes without incident.
Of course, bingo is no stranger to the voluntary sector. Last month, Watford Disability Forum staged a charity session at a prominent bingo club in the city centre.
The bingo games raised somewhere in the region of £1,000, which will be put towards the cost of audio accessibility kits and future social events.
