Page 100 - She's One Crazy Lady!

You boy, w“
just one or two others that I would be Miss Trunchball, from Roald Dahl’s book and film, Matilda, and I had great fun getting the right outfit and makeup sorted. Des was leading the assembly, dressed in normal day-to-day attire in the build up to what was coming – which even he didn’t know, and I didn’t know! There was much making it up as I went along. Just at the exact point, when Des was being quite serious with the children, who had done themselves proud with their costumes, I chose my moment and marched in, swinging a mock-up chain and ball and carrying a whip. Not daring to look at the children or the staff, for fear I would dissolve into laughter, I bellowed at him:
“You boy, why aren’t you wearing the right uniform today?”
hy aren’t you wearing the right
Playing the part brilliantly, Des sauntered over and sheepishly stood before me, head down, looking forlorn and crestfallen – me standing with my hands on my hips, glaring at him, but bursting underneath. I told him he deserved a whipping. “Yes, please!” he whispered as he
caught my eye. By now the children were in hysterics, desperate to see what I would do. I got hold of Des, sat down on a chair and pulled him across my lap, pretending to whip him and exclaiming in true Miss Trunchball style, “Nobody defies me. Get it?” All I could hear was Des muttering to me: “Keep going, I like it!” How we laughed in the staffroom afterwards. Teaching is not all about what happens in the
classroom, is it?
Another member of the new team, who also
had a huge impact on my well-being and offered so much experience and support to the school, and to me, was Julie. Julie and I became really good friends and confidantes. We had met years before when she had a change of career and turned to teaching. As a mature student she did a teaching experience with us at Whitefriars and quickly rose through the ranks to become a very successful Headteacher at Ringstead Primary School. She was a gifted teacher, music and drama being her strengths and she had a splendid rapport with the children and parents – her standards were high. Like Des, Julie possessed a wonderful sense of humour and loved a challenge. Every day Julie and I would have a long chat about all kinds of things, putting the world to rights and putting things in perspective. To me, personally, Julie was so very supportive of my role, and I learned a great deal from her – we remain very good friends. We were so very lucky to get Julie as well as other very experienced members of staff
from other good schools who joined our new team.
The children, many of whom had become much happier and eager to learn, came up with a new school motto and logo: “At Highfields We Aim High”. We were aiming high and much progress was being made. Standards continued to rise, parents were
uniform toda”
y?
100