Back to School
Post PhD, I moved back to my hometown for a bit. One day, I happened to bump into one of my old English teachers, and we got chatting.
He tipped me off that Mr G, who taught politics and philosophy A-level, was about to leave. Noting that my PhD was in philosophy, he suggested that, if I wanted work, I might do worse than to write and offer my services. It being a temporary gig in an independent school, there'd be no need to have a proper interview or anything like that. Nor would the fact that I had no teacher formal training qualifications.

So it was that, in 2004, I found myself a member of the teaching staff at the school I'd left nine years earlier.

In the meantime, they'd appointed a new Principal - a man whom all hated. He had come in from the diplomatic service, so knew next-to-nothing about education; he was an authoritarian God-botherer. Worse, he was a matey, supercilious authoritarian God-botherer.

The night before the Upper VI stood down to go on study leave, there had been a break in. All over one of the buildings slogans had been painted. The slogans were directed at the Principal. None of them was enormously friendly.

Obviously, this caused a minor scandal in the morning - and although CCTV showed who had done it, none of the staff was in any great hurry to punish the perpetrators: they were popular, nice kids - to this extent, the exact opposites to the Principal - and it would be a shame to sabotage their A-levels by taking action at that moment, especially on behalf of such a wanker.

I happened to be standing close to the Principal at the leavers-v-staff football match. He made some comment about the disgusting behaviour of the night before. I tried to be reassuring.
"Well," I said. "At least they used a nice shade of pink."
I'm not sure that that was the response he'd wanted. But it was indubitably true. It was a nice shade of pink, all rich and bright.
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Fri 30 Jan 2009, 10:54, 8 replies)

I bet they wrote something along the lines of:
"THE PRINCIPAL IS A BOUNDER AND A CAD AND HIS CONTINUED EMPLOYMENT IN THIS ROLE SIMPLY WILL NOT DO!".
( crackhouseceilidhband Fuck off back to Mumsnet, Fri 30 Jan 2009, 10:59, closed)

Almost exactly.
They added "my dear chap" at the end.
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Fri 30 Jan 2009, 11:01, closed)

I weep
for your middle class existence.

*incites class warfare*
( crackhouseceilidhband Fuck off back to Mumsnet, Fri 30 Jan 2009, 11:02, closed)

Yeah,
Little miss olive bread...
:)
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Fri 30 Jan 2009, 11:04, closed)

it's peasant food
in Italy
( crackhouseceilidhband Fuck off back to Mumsnet, Fri 30 Jan 2009, 11:05, closed)

Also,
do you know how gay this post makes you sound?
( crackhouseceilidhband Fuck off back to Mumsnet, Fri 30 Jan 2009, 11:08, closed)

Aw, feck off
It was the shade of pink I'd like to dye my hair. I would do so, except with the frizziness, it'd look remarkably stupid.
( Enzyme is powered by sunlight, Fri 30 Jan 2009, 11:13, closed)

See my accusation directly above this ^
and give me back my Wizard of Oz DVD.
( crackhouseceilidhband Fuck off back to Mumsnet, Fri 30 Jan 2009, 11:14, closed)