Nine Till Three and Summers Free by Mike Kent

Author:Mike Kent
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Troubador Publishing Ltd
Published: 2017-12-19T00:00:00+00:00

(iii)

It was my last day at Briar Road Primary.

The teaching practice had passed quickly and enjoyably and I was becoming very used to the routine of a school week. Since the class had visited the Tower of London, we’d filled a wall with writing, art work and models about it. Each day, the children had taken pieces of work home to finish and their extraordinary enthusiasm had impressed me enormously.

After showing their parents the postcards and booklets they had bought, the children had surrendered the pictures of the Crown Jewels, so that they could be incorporated into the display. Rouse and his friends had been to the local supermarket early in the morning, salvaging some large cardboard boxes to build a model of the White Tower. Susan Brennan and Susan Davis had painted a huge Beefeater each, one to put each side of the display, and Fred had made three crowns from pieces of cardboard and scraps of felt taken from the bag Julie’s mother had sent in. Adams and Badger had spent a day making a Tudor newspaper, filled with dark deeds and doubtful goings on that merited suitable punishments, which they described in authentic detail.

Mr Reed had hardly bothered me at all, although he’d found an excuse to come into the classroom after finding Rouse sneaking out of a stock cupboard carrying two large jars of paste. Although Rouse had explained that he’d done a great deal of work which would therefore need a great deal of paste, Mr Reed had informed him testily that two jars constituted an entire year’s paste allowance for one class.

‘Well, it all looks pretty impressive,’ said Dorothy, climbing down from a pair of steps and standing back to admire the work as the children filed out for lunch. ‘They’ve really enjoyed doing this. Do you want to take any of this back to college?’

‘I don’t think so,’ I replied. ‘It’s for the children’s benefit after all. I think I’d rather leave it all here.’

‘I agree. I know some colleges like their students to bring work back, though. I suppose it gives the lecturers something to talk about in education lectures. Mind you, Miss Bottle will probably find plenty to talk about anyway. Can’t you persuade her to pop back and see this display?’

‘She’d probably like to, but she’s one of the few who’s usually genuinely busy,’

‘Well, it’s nice that she was so satisfied, anyway. And Mr Reed certainly is. I think you’ve changed his opinion about students from St James’s not being much good. It’ll seem funny when I have the class to myself again on Monday. I’ve got quite used to putting my feet up in the staffroom. What do you want to do this afternoon?’

‘I hadn’t really thought about it, but I’d like to have them as it’s my last afternoon. It’ll probably be a bit quiet now all this is finished.’

After lunch, I went back to the classroom to mark some work and collect all the things I’d borrowed from various departments at the college.

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