FROM SUMMER 2010.....
what had i gotten myself into?
All is not as it seems, i think im having a mid life crisis early. a half mid life crisis or something.
I arrived at bath on sunday, not completely looking forward to it, but still with a spring in my step looking forward to meeting new people etc.
First impressions were not good, all the staff were shot to bits working 20 hour days because there werent enough of them and things hadnt been planned properly.
After hanging around for 2 hours i finally get shown to my room, there is no bed.
I meet a guy in the corridor, hello i say, im the new teacher. Hello he says, ive just been fired.
Well, they dont have any staff and theyve just fired the activities manager, he had no staff no budget, no chance and to appease the foreign leaders that were shocked by the state of the place they fired this guy, who was geniunely decent and pretty shell shocked by his whole experience. Turns out all the staff liked him, he was a great guy.. so away he went, you're fired!
1 down within the first hour.
the school had been on a trip to london that sunday, they arrived back on the sunday night minus another two members of staff who decided going back to the school was not in the best interests of preserving their mental health.
boom, 3 down within 4 hours.
already im calling other schools looking for an escape route, greenwich london, but not till thursday. shit, stay till then?
It turns out the centre manager of this school had been fired 3 hours before i arrived on the sunday, so there is no centre manager or activites manager, just some woman from head office who thinks she is alan sugar.
the kids are running riot all night, no sleep for anyone except me, i decided to just leave them all to to it and sink a few cans wondering where the fuck my life is heading.
MONDAY MORNING
we're in the teachers room preparing lessons the teachers are all fucked, theyve had no sleep they've been preparing lessons all night
The new centre manager arrives, a very weird american guy, he has quite severe and very noticable mental problems, hes not just the biggest cunt youve ever met, hes a maddest one too. The staff are busy preparing lessons, he walks in to give us a pep talk "you guys need to get your acts together, youre late for lessons, late for duties and you arent dressed properly" a teacher responds, "get your own act together first you prick". silence. the new manager walks off. mission accomplished Mr Trump.
The director of studies (a man woman I was very hasty to critise, who is deeply unpleasant to everyone, but under far too much stress)walks in and tells us that we need to cancel everything and do lessons according to a new syllabus that the school use, lessons start in less than 3 minutes. An arguement ensues, she bursts into tears and runs out.
the new centre manager is walking around the school talking about mangement techniques to the woman from head office. Is this place real? can i wake up please, im getting scared. Have i lost my mind?
lessons go ok, the kids are great. An emergency meeting is called by the new centre manager who is taking great pleasure in calling such urgent meetings and resitricting the kids from playing on the football pitches, swimming pool and gym. the things they have paid to use.
we arrive at the meeting, "i want this place on lock down, there is an emergency" he refuses to tell us what it is. He fires another teacher for not wearing a shirt in the classroom. I cannot believe what im witnessing. 4 down
by now the foreign leaders have taken the kids to the dining room and have 'gone on strike' at the managers bizarre behaviour.
that night i get speaking to a french guy who has co-incidentally just done his town planning masters and is accompanying these kids, we ask if this is really happening.
TUESDAY MORNING
Lessons go ok, the afternoon activites are cancelled as there is no one to arrange them. we all go into bath with the kids to go shopping. an 18 yr old girl who has been working 20 hour days walks away from it all she cant handle it anymore, they had told her she was the activities manager from now on. she walks. 5 down.
Another teacher goes awol. 6 down.
Me and the french guy get smashed to bits and go swimming in the fish pond at 4 in the morning.
wedneday, all activities cancelled. foreign leaders ask to go home, "we cant stand it here"
facebook group 'prison break - bath' gains 15% of the students within 1 hour.
WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON
i just dont know what the fuck to do anymore, apart from 2 quite funny nights with this french guy im quite seriously depressed about the whole thing, the french guy leaves in 2 days as well, leaving me alone with these nutters.
I pack my bags, i wait for everyone to go into the sports hall as there is another emergency meeting. Head down i make a 100 yard dash with all my gear across the school forecourt and off the premises. Some kids see me and start cheering, i hear the head office woman shouting "where are you going". i dont turn round, i might turn into salt, i keep on running, its a mile to bath train station, i ran all the way.
I came out the other side clean.
got on the last train to london and stayed with a friend on brick lane. cant stand london, its awfull, people living in shoeboxes. going to head down to the other school in greenwich now, may take a while to get there. i really just dont know anymore. i dont think i can handle the teaching, im not enjoying it one bit. although my bath experience hasnt helped my mood.
Ill see how it goes i suppose. its all experience.
ill look back on it and laugh, its a mad mad tale, i feel sorry for the staff ive left behind, but i couldnt do it any longer. self preservation kicks in. on wards and upwards. or so it goes.
EDIT: I didnt go to the other school in the end. I went home to regroup
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