Episode 3

It was a Tuesday afternoon. I quite like Tuesdays. I hate Fridays because there are far too many kids who don’t get on, or who get on far too well for much productive work to be done, and Mondays, well I don’t like Mondays because you’re picking up the pieces after the weekend. But Tuesdays are usually ok, a good mix of kids but not too quiet, or I’d have time to think and that’s not good for anyone in these troubled times. It’s Erik Bloodaxe in with me today; he’s the head of year who spends most time in here and we make a good team. The kids are usually a bit wary of him because he’s known to have a temper, but they know he’s on their side so long as they play by his rules. So not your usual bad day.
So, we have the usual mix of sad kids (bereavement a speciality), kids nobody wants in their classroom (disruptive, aggressive), kids who don’t know what day it is, so have come to school instead of going to their placement. Dylan is either permanently stoned or has serious memory problems. Violet is a looked after child who seems to spend her time crying or telling teachers to fuck off. I have a soft spot for her because she’s really funny and she has a strong sense of justice, so she won’t let anyone bully our more fragile kids. We’re a real community in the bungalow; people who don’t have anything in common except that they spend time with me, really look out for each other. Usually. We also have two girls who go to a drama group in the morning and come into the bungalow in the afternoon. One of them, Beth, has been with me for ages, after it was decided that this is the last resort before permanent exclusion. You never know how she’ll be, but she just leaves you exhausted and having a headache when she goes (and sometimes she won’t go- her record is staying till 5pm.) So she’s a challenge, but not awful. The other girl has been here a month now, while she has anger management. She attacked another girl, but SMT have not felt it necessary to tell me any details, just that she can’t go onsite. Except when they want her to.
So this girl, we’ll call her Naomi, she’s a bit angry because a boy at her drama group laughed at her spots, so she walked out in a huff and came here with Beth. We’ve phoned the tutor at drama and I’ve agreed to take the girls back in tomorrow to try to resolve the problem with the whole group. So now they’re both doing some coursework on the computers and everything seems quite calm. Tears and tantrums over, so I make everyone a nice cup of tea, just to reward the good behaviour. Erik gets a call that one of his parents has come in on the bounce; he checks that I’m quite ok about him going to deal with it, and of course I am. What can possibly go wrong? So we’re all having a quiet time when the ginger ninja arrives. He’s come to pick up some work he did here earlier. As he walks up to the front door, Naomi rushes and locks it. She seems to think it’s funny, so calmly I tell her we can’t stop people coming in, even if they do have funny accents. The ginger ninja just laughs. He really has improved- at one time he said he had anger problems but not now. Then I go to get the work we printed out earlier and arrive back to see Naomi throwing her hot tea all over him. It must have been seconds that I’ve been out the room and I could hear them. Nothing sounded wrong, just a bit of banter. He leaps up and rushes into the kitchen, obviously shocked by the hot tea all over his face. Naomi shrieks and runs away as I turn to see GN running towards her with a boiling kettle in his hands. She shoots out and over the wall slamming the front door on her way, while I try to follow, shouting all the time. Luckily she’s too quick for him and can’t be caught. Erik arrives back to see GN in the front garden still brandishing a kettle of boiling water, and me screaming like a banshee.
So I don’t really like Tuesdays as much as I used to.
Footnote: 2 days later our esteemed Assistant Head brings Naomi into the bungalow, says nothing to me but puts her in the office. Ginger Ninja is due in for a lesson, but we’re not consulted. Naomi tells me she’s there all day cos she’s got an exam. I phone her head of year who had told me we wouldn’t be seeing her again to see if he knows what the plan might be. He explodes and goes off in search of Esteemed Assistant Headteacher, returning quietly to say she’ll probably be gone after she’s done her exam, but can I make other arrangements for GN? Er, like what exactly? Well, I don’t know but you’ll think of something won’t you.
And then Britney walks in, looking shaken. She’s pregnant, but that’s another story.