Monday, December 17, 2007

A varied occupation!

Ever short of money and always willing to try my hand at something new, I decided to take the advice of Meredic who suggested to me earlier this year, that as a qualified teacher, I might do some supply* teaching. I thought about it. I looked at the state of our bank accounts. Again.

And then I decided that it was actually a very good idea.

And so when the fourth CRB** check for me this year finally popped through the letter box I ventured forth into a school to do my stuff.

Yes. Well......

They are not likely to send you to Roedean now are they? THEIR teachers don't have days off sick...... They work full time.

Only the schools with, shall we say "challenging" individuals require plenty of supply teaching.

And so it is that for much of the last four weeks I have been teaching in a school with boys who seems to think that detentions and homework are virtually synonymous, and whose teachers frequently look as if they might need a gin and tonic by 10 a.m.

In fact, as I walked out of the staffroom the other day, with a cup of black tea in my hand (tea being my preferred beverage, and in particular black tea) I bumped into the head. She looked into my cup. I smiled and went on my way. It was only afterwards though that I thought that perhaps I should have reassured her that it was in fact black tea and not whisky.....

Thankfully, my really crazy moments in the classroom do seem to be diminishing as I actually get to know the students. They are nice kids really. A little rough around the edges, and good training for any would be teacher. Keeps you on your toes.

And..... thanks to Sarah who is willing to have Gymnast and Tinkerbell Mushroom at some unearthly hour in the morning... I have been able to leave the house in time to get to the schools on time.

I got confused last week though.

A different school asked me to go in.

The kids sat down when asked.

They got on with their work.

They didn't throw anything across the room.

And no-one got a detention all day.

Teaching is a varied occupation.



*Substitute Teaching
**Criminal Records Bureau - Used to check people when working with vulnerable types. I now have four of these, as you need to have one for each different situation that you are checked for, even though the information comes from the same place. I have one for my stage school, one for the fostering team, one for the supply teaching agency and one for the local primary school, so that I can go on school trips with my youngest two. It keeps a Government department in full time employment, so we are all doing them a big favour really.

31 comments:

Anonymous said...

Wow, that crazy Lomax woman is updating her blog again; how spiffing!

CRB checks are fun aren't they? I remember when I got my first one back, being mildly surprised that I'd not been convicted of anything, which is odd as I would of course know if it were otherwise.

I did my entire GCSE Chemistry coursework in detention. Can I go to your school?

sallywrites said...

Ig - How did you do your entire GCSE chemistry courseweork in dentention?!!!!

Ailsa said...

Welcome back Sally, you have been missed!

Best wishes for Christmas.
Ailsa

sallywrites said...

Thank you Ailsa!

sallywrites said...

Happy Christmas to you two too!

Alice Band said...

Sally - I worked at a school, where, on gently asking a young rascal to get on with his work he replied, rather rudely, "Fuck of miss you boring c*nt". There's no need for that now is there?!!

Unknown said...

Welcome back, Mrs. Lomax!! xx

sallywrites said...

Alice - Nice school!

sallywrites said...

John - Thank you!

ChrisB said...

It's so good to see you back writing~ now I know what has kept you so busy!
Ah the dreaded CRB forms I've checked a few of those in the past!

Anonymous said...

nice to see you back sally! and wow, that sounds like hard work. enidd thinks children should be buried until they're 21, or perhaps older, if they're boys.

Pamela said...

my good friend Kim is a "Guest Teacher"... which is apparently the PC term now for substitute.

She's a tiny little thing, but she sure knows how to get the students whipped into shape. Especially the little ones. I think she bribes them. (:

Anonymous said...

I refused to do any work whenever it was set and everytime I missed a deadline I was given a detention in order to do the work. I didn't ever learn my lesson and in the end I did the whole thing in those detentions. I often think that if they had detentions at uni, I'd get a hell of a lot more done.

P.S What is this stupid new identity thing for comments? None of those options allow me to enter my site URL!

sallywrites said...

Hi Ig!

What you need is a good friend who makes you sit down and work and then takes you out for a nice coffee or beer or something when you have completed it!

The identity thing is a new blogger thing, and it's so you can use a different id if you want to. If you just ignore it and press publish after writing your comment, it should work as normal!

FH said...

Good to see you back too Sally!

Have a very merry Christmas with your family!:)

thefoodsnob said...

Sally- So glad you're back!
Terrible that we have to actually have money for the holidays, look what it makes us do!
Sorry it was so rough, but glad you got a handle on them, eventually.


Lisa

Mary Alice said...

I've missed your blogging. I used to work as a teacher's aid and I can safely say the only other times I was more exhausted than when I did that, was when I had just given birth and was up nursing 12 times a night!

Anonymous said...

You are a very brave woman! I've heard that being a "substitute" teacher is the hardest job out there.

Dreaming What Ifs...

Akelamalu said...

Good to have you back Sally.

Ummm, yes, we have challenging kids at our school!

Akelamalu said...

Just popped over to wish you and your family a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, may they be everything you're hoping for.

Much Love and Reiki Blessings
Akelamalu
x

~ej said...

hurray, she's back :)
you're brave teaching...well done!!
have a great and wonderful christmas holiday :-)

pierre l said...

As others have said, it is very nice to read you again. Have a very good Christmas.

Anonymous said...

In Scotland, they're called Disclosure!

Happy Christmas and enjoy

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=vPaGQEskSKM

meredic said...

Happy Christmas Sally.
And all the rest of you there as well of course.
XXX

Beccy said...

Funny as ever Sally.

I hope you all had a nice Christmas.

Anonymous said...

I'm practising the 'publish' button to see what happens ... OK, am rejected and get message in red 'OpenID url is missing' ... what does that mean?

OK, now I have added my URL as I have signed in using WordPress and put belle as my nickname ....

Anonymous said...

see ... the blogger thing still calls me rosneath which is the name of my blog, not me!

How strange ...

Sorry to use your blog Sally for experimenting with this but I read Ig's note and thought I would try ... !

All the best for 2008
belle

sallywrites said...

Experiment away.....

Happy Christmas everyone!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Good day !.
might , perhaps curious to know how one can collect a huge starting capital .
There is no initial capital needed You may start earning with as small sum of money as 20-100 dollars.

AimTrust is what you thought of all the time
AimTrust represents an offshore structure with advanced asset management technologies in production and delivery of pipes for oil and gas.

It is based in Panama with affiliates everywhere: In USA, Canada, Cyprus.
Do you want to become an affluent person?
That`s your chance That`s what you wish in the long run!

I`m happy and lucky, I began to get real money with the help of this company,
and I invite you to do the same. It`s all about how to select a correct companion utilizes your savings in a right way - that`s the AimTrust!.
I take now up to 2G every day, and my first investment was 500 dollars only!
It`s easy to get involved , just click this link http://tujegujo.virtue.nu/ilywizih.html
and go! Let`s take this option together to become rich

Anonymous said...

Hi !.
might , perhaps curious to know how one can collect a huge starting capital .
There is no need to invest much at first. You may begin to receive yields with as small sum of money as 20-100 dollars.

AimTrust is what you haven`t ever dreamt of such a chance to become rich
AimTrust incorporates an offshore structure with advanced asset management technologies in production and delivery of pipes for oil and gas.

It is based in Panama with structures around the world.
Do you want to become really rich in short time?
That`s your chance That`s what you desire!

I feel good, I began to take up real money with the help of this company,
and I invite you to do the same. It`s all about how to choose a correct partner utilizes your money in a right way - that`s AimTrust!.
I earn US$2,000 per day, and my first investment was 500 dollars only!
It`s easy to get involved , just click this link http://ysociryjyg.bigheadhosting.net/xujyryb.html
and lucky you`re! Let`s take this option together to feel the smell of real money

Anonymous said...

Hello!
You may probably be very interested to know how one can make real money on investments.
There is no need to invest much at first.
You may commense to get income with a sum that usually goes
for daily food, that's 20-100 dollars.
I have been participating in one project for several years,
and I'll be glad to share my secrets at my blog.

Please visit blog and send me private message to get the info.

P.S. I make 1000-2000 per day now.

http://theinvestblog.com [url=http://theinvestblog.com]Online Investment Blog[/url]