I taught them to cook vidya4 - Flipbook - Page 31
Autumn Term
29
folded and packed away again. Then sweep and clean the room
before the cleaners turn up – they won’t do it if it’s too messy. I
check that the ovens and gas rings are turned off, and that the
rubbish is ready for collection.
‘Bye’ teachers call as they scurry past my room, off to the pub
or home to a cosy family and a cooked dinner.
Much later I collect my marking and list the food to buy for
the next day. And all with no help.
In my first week, a lad brings over a pile of muddy football
shirts, socks and shorts.
‘Sir says can you wash and dry these? The last teacher did it.’
Of course, I will find time to prepare the Governor’s tea and
wash the bloody football shirts. I’m new here and want to get on
with people, but somehow, sometime things must change. Unless
they’d like me to sleep in the school flat.
On my drive back to Hampstead I plan my argument.
In this school, does the Art department paint the school walls?
Do English students write the school brochures?
Will Maths present the school accounts?
And does Science manage the school grounds and dig the
gardens as part of their biology studies? No.
SO WHY SHOULD I PREPARE A LITTLE GOVERNOR’S
TEA FOR UP TO 20 PEOPLE AND WASH THE BLOODY
FOOTBALL KIT.
My grandmother told me that one good turn deserves another.
And it is my turn.
Carol and Vicky are a natural choice for the tea task. This pair
of school scallywags never bring ingredients to my lessons, and
instead sprawl heads down on the worktables, comparing their
latest boyfriends, picking their split ends and flicking bits onto
my floor. They’ve cooked their way through the cheap ingredients
in my storeroom and are bored with making jam tarts and scones.
Any reprimand from me gets a tornado reply.
‘Miss, we’re leaving at Easter, you can’t make us do nothing.’