It turns out that today is the first day back at school after the two-week Easter Break. The whole of the school staff worked completely in sync with each other - it was an extraordinary sight to see. I start every week with a team meeting of 3 of us and still end up bumbling about. This school has 50 odd staff and 350+ children and slip into work seamlessly!
I had planned to arrive at 0830, but the weather was terrible and i'd forgotten about the extra distance i was travelling across town so i ended up being ten minutes late. Nothing like a good first impression (literally!)
I met the Head just coming out the staffroom; recalling a conversation with her before the Easter Holidays i quipped "You said that you're ALWAYS outside meeting the children for school yet at the first sign of rain your inside having a coffee". This was meant as light-hearted banter, I don't know if it was received that way. Nothing like a good second impression (!!)
0845
With zero clue what to do with my time i headed down the mostly empty corridor and quickly found my calling in life: the Door-holding Ministry. It was brilliant, with lots of friendly "hello"s and "thank you"s. Every single child (about 360) had either a sprouting sunflower plant or a gigantic homemade cardboard 'invention'…some had both.
The Head was also on door holding duty a little way up from me, and she was SO good at it, she really does have an incredible manner with the children (...I was a little envious).
0905
With every child in classrooms the school suddenly seemed empty again. I don't know what to do, or what role to fill and i'm scared of stepping on peoples toes. The school has existed quite happily without me for decades; I remind myself that i will take more than 25 minutes to find my niche!
I head to the staffroom and make friends with an ICT technician.
0910
I've forgotten the ICT technicians name already and feel guilty about this. Its occurred to me that actually i know nothing about the daily rhythm of the school so I check the white board for events of the day; Assembly is at 1015. Thats it. Nothing else - not much help.
I have discovered that loitering near the 'sports vouchers' boxes is a great place to meet and chat with children. A boy tells me that over his Easter he discovered a dead body, and took some pictures. Turns out he's not being imaginative, the police have deleted his pics and he's not allowed to tell other children. "Weren't you freaked out by that" I ask "No" is the response. "I've played loads of computer games"
No comments:
Post a Comment