Terry Pritchard is an experienced, popular and respected teacher at Brindle Public School. When a relief Principal arrives at the beginning of the new school year and starts changing things to conform to her own rule-bound and rigid way, a clash with Terry is inevitable and watching the conflict escalate is like watching a car crash in slow motion. There’s a lot to admire in this page-turner of a book. There are perhaps too many sub-plots and minor characters, but in a way these add to the portrait of a small Australian community and I could go along with them. But what I really enjoyed was the examination of political correctness, child protection, appropriate behaviour and duty of care, all of which issues have come to dominate our lives and which often lead to misunderstandings, inappropriate reactions and sometimes plain injustices. All of this is handled in a thought-provoking and intelligent way and made for some very unsettling reading at times. This is definitely a must-read for teachers and others involved in child care, especially given the general air of suspicion often aroused by quite innocuous acts. Engaging, compelling and a very enjoyable read indeed.

The Teacher's Secret tells of a school year in a small Australian coastal school. Terry has been assistant principal for years,but when the principal takes a sabbatical he opts to stay in the classroom - & soon wishes he hadn't! From the beginning Laurie, the temporary principal ruffles feathers. She has very rigid ideas and makes it clear that it is her way or no way.

Terry is very tactile person.If a child needs a hug or to be taken somewhere urgently after school, he doesn't think twice as to how such actions could be misconstrued. Laurie on the other hand seems incapable of viewing this sort of behaviour as anything other than suspicious.The clash is inevitable.

Told through the perspective of many people in the community, this is an engaging read that I really enjoyed. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for giving me the chance to read it.

I found this a confusing book in the beginning. The story covered four terms in the life of a schools, and combined Terry's story, the main character, with all different characters stories from the school and the community. As the stories unfold.ed and I could piece together the connections I found I was enjoying the book. I was so pleased that I stuck with it and would recommend this book as a good read.

Terry Pritchard has worked at Brindle public school for years until the principal takes a year out and in comes the relief principal, Laurie who has set rules for everything that must be adhered to! Laurie and Terry clash from day one and Laurie finds things out that has a big impact on Terry's life and all who know him. There are other characters in this book that are intricately woven into one big story through being friends, neighbours and work colleagues.
I liked how there wasn't any chapter numbers just the name of which character this section would be about, although at the beginning I did find it hard to remember who was who but this became easier the more you got to know about their lives and especially when they stated to link together. I did find it quite slow going at the beginning but was glad I kept with it as it was a very different but likeable story, with likeable characters.
I would like to thank netgalley and legend press for this ARC I received in exchange for an honest review.

May 15, 2017 · edit
liked it

I felt the title of this book did not really reflect the content. The secret actually seemed to have only a minor part in the story and seemed merely a device. That said, I did enjoy thus book. The different threads took some time to fully pull together but they did and that worked well. As a British teacher myself, the differences and similarities between our and the Australian systems also made for interesting reading.

Being a soon-to-be teacher I enjoyed every second of this book

I thought at first all the different characters were never going to link up but gradually and cleverly they did and I loved it.
Gentle twists kept me guessing and so glad to be proved wrong on one... but can't say more or will reveal the plot.
Fabulous book for when you are on holiday & have time to get totally taken up with it. I know because that's when I read it!

As a teacher myself I found the story a little far fetched in places. But a nice read and generally nice characters.

This book really made me think at the beginning I was not sure how it all connected but I am pleased I persevered. Does a mistake we make as a youngster really define us an an adult. You really get to know the characters in the book and each have a story to be told.

Terry Pritchard is Deputy Principal at Brindle Public School but also teaches a class of year six students in a class known as 6P. He adores his job and is a talented, creative and warm hearted teacher, the sort of man you would want to be your own child’s teacher. He is well liked by his colleagues, the surrounding community and his pupils respect and love him. At the beginning of the new school year a relief principal arrives in school, a temporary position for only one year after which the permanent Principal will once again return to her duties at school. From the word go Laurie, the caretaker principal, dislikes Terry and over the four terms she works in the school their relationship sadly deteriorates. They are as different as chalk and cheese and Laurie cannot tolerate Terry, his philosophies and his practices at all. This is the main story in the novel; a story told in four parts, one part covering each term.
Within the community live other people whose story threads merge and impact on each other. One by one their stories are told and each of these stories is interesting in their own way. All of these characters have their own social circles, opinions and perspectives and their stories merge in the most unexpected ways to bring the novel to a heart-warming finale.
I enjoyed reading this story but thought it was very slow moving at the beginning. However I was invested in the story and I’m very glad that I continued reading on because the pace escalated as the story was further developed. I hated Laurie, the relief Principal. She was stiff, humourless and single-minded – not the type of person to be trusted in the care of children at all. I did not care for Nina’s husband either. He was selfish and cold hearted. My favourite character by far was Terry. I admired his integrity and the empathy he had for his pupils. I was a primary school teacher all of my working life, now happily retired. I worked with teachers like Terry, devoted to their work and their pupil’s welfare. I never met anyone less suited to the job than Laurie. I thought the school scenes were very well informed and realistic, as was the portrayal of Terry’s pupils, their attitudes and worries. Suzanne Leal is a lawyer who has experience with child protection issues and this was reflected in her knowledge of protocols. This greatly added authority and realism to her novel
I would like to thank NetGalley and Legend Press for my copy of 'The Teacher's Secret', sent to me in return for an honest review. I have thought a lot about this novel and would like to award it 3.5*. I really liked the carefully rounded off conclusion to the novel, leaving no loose ends. The issues within the novel were well represented and thought provoking and I will still be thinking about it in the future.

In the beginning, this felt more like a collection of short stories than a novel, with only a vague connection to link them together, except for Terry, who was a constant refrain throughout.
It wasn't until I was over half way through that the various strands began to weave together to create the fabric of t the story. This isn't a criticism, because I enjoyed the way the author took her time. I also enjoyed the gentility portrayed by each character.
This book isn't the typical boy meets girl read. It was more of s snapshot of the lives of the characters and how connections are forged. And running in the background was Terry's secret.
The reveal, when it comes, is not what we assume it is going to be - I certainly didn't guess.
Slow, thoughtful, detailed - don't expect much in the way of action (I thought the author missed a dramatic trick when skipping over what happened to Rebecca), this is quite a gentle book in many ways.
My one concern was the story's resolution. I'm not quite sure how Terry's problem is resolved, because it is only alluded to in passing at the end, and I felt it detracted from the story and weakened the plot somewhat.

Nothing much happened till half way but was still very readable as you learnt about the different characters and how they end up all together in Brindle. Characters were interesting and realistic. I enjoyed it but ending left me feeling unsatisfied.

Thanks Netgalley and the publisher. Three and a half stars.. Good read

I really wanted to love the book, and whilst I really did enjoy it I felt it didn't reach its full potential.
In the beginning it was difficult to grasp so many different strands and keep track of which character was where, and when the Teachers Secret was finally revealed it didn't feel worthy of the story. I know that to maintain the story & Terry's integrity it couldn't have been seedy or off the scale, but it did feel a bit of a let down as it was the main focus from the title. However i loved Jean/Joan and her story, it was so lovely and gentle - I think she was my favourite.

Excellent book with great characters. Very well written. I would recommend this book.