A FORMER teacher at a Blackburn high school has written a novel about the experiences and challenges he faced during his career.

Paul Jenkins, 37, who taught at Our Lady and St John's Catholic College for 10 years has taken a step away from education to get back to his roots of working as an actor and writing.

The former head of drama, who lives in Ramsbottom, has compiled his affairs into a book entitled 'Requires Improvement' which follows the trials and tribulations of drama teacher 'Jim Tovey' through a year at the fictional college 'Lancashire Academy'.

Mr Jenkins has set up a kickstarter page and has raised £1,000 of a £1,700 target to get the book published.

The writer said he originally had the idea to write a blog and then it grew into something much bigger.

He said: "The idea started out as a blog and began writing from a point of view of a fictional character.

"It got some good responses online and a friend told me I needed to develop it into a full story.

"I then took the blog down and over time it developed into a story with lots of characters and different situations.

"It took about a year to write overall, it was tricky to keep an eye on the characters and what year all the pupils were in as the academy had more than 1,000 students, but it was never a chore to do."

The story drops in on lessons and class assemblies while also following the teacher's struggle to cope with the pressure of working within a large school, dealing with reports and day-to-day classroom problems.

Mr Jenkins said the book would relate to a lot of people who will be able to identify with the situations the characters get into.

He said: "It will be great for parents as they don't know what happens in classrooms after they get to the school gates each morning.

"Teachers will be able to relate to book and others will get to understand what teachers have to experience with and deal with.

"We have all been children and we have all been in a classroom like this so everyone will find a connection to the book."

To donate to Mr Jenkins' kickstarter, visit www.kickstarter.com/projects/1278043998/requires-improvement.