by A. E. Radley
Adrian entered the room and looked at the boiling kettle. “Yes, please.”
Hannah got another mug out of the cupboard.
“Will you be able to go up to London on the twenty-ninth?” he asked. “There’s a course for that new range of gels and waxes the rep has been trying to sell us for the last three months. I’m thinking of taking a few and then getting some money off the course.”
Hannah smiled to herself as she made the tea. Adrian was always helping her keep her training up to date. Of course, he pretended it was because he couldn’t be bothered going himself, but she knew that he was really doing it to help her career and make her the best stylist she could be.
“Depends on the times,” she admitted. “I’d need to be back in time to pick Rosie up from school.”
“I think it’s in the morning, so you should get back in time. If not, then I’ll go and pick her up,” he offered.
“Is there really a course, or do you just want to spend more time with your favourite person?” Hannah joked.
He pulled out a chair and sat down. “You got me. I just want you out of the way so we can get some more colouring in done.”
“You know Rosie hasn’t really enjoyed colouring in for about a year. She’s just doing it because you like it,” Hannah told him.
“And that’s why I like spending time with her. She’s kind and thoughtful, unlike her mother.”
Hannah turned and smiled sweetly at him. “Remind me how much crushed glass you want in your tea?”
“Just the usual two spoons.”
She made the tea, placed the two mugs on the table, and sat down. Her eyes drifted to the third chair at the table. Rosie spent so much time in the staff room at the salon that she had her own dedicated seat. Seeing it made Hannah miss Rosie and wonder how her first day was going.
“She’ll be fine,” Adrian said, seemingly reading her mind.
“I know, I know. I can’t help but worry.” She sipped her tea. “My time at school wasn’t exactly blissful.”
“Yeah, but your hair was terrible, so you were asking for it,” Adrian said in an attempt to make light of the deep emotional scars which he knew Hannah suffered.
“True,” she agreed. “I needed a perm, like you.”
“My hair is naturally curly,” Adrian argued with a grin. “But, back to the point, Rosie will be fine.”
“She’s so shy, I worry she won’t speak to anyone. She only really speaks to you, me, and two of her friends. What if she doesn’t say anything?”
“She’ll speak eventually,” Adrian reassured her. “And when she does, everyone will love her. She’s so bright, she’ll be running the place by the end of the week.”
Panic raced through Hannah. She shook her head. “I hope not. I want her to have a normal school experience. Make friends, get good grades, the end.”
Adrian looked at her sceptically.
“What?” she asked.
“You know that’s not likely to happen. Well, the good grades bit will most definitely happen. But a normal school experience? Doubtful. Rosie is special.”
Hannah sagged forward. It was the last thing she wanted to hear. She’d spent weeks convincing herself that Rosie would have a normal, happy school life. Not stand out from the crowd.
“I just want her to be happy,” Hannah said softly.
“She will be. She’ll be prime minister when she grows up. Of the world.” Adrian nodded emphatically.
Hannah put her head in her hands. She didn’t want to hold Rosie back, but she also didn’t want her to be treated differently because of her abilities, especially in the first year of school. Maybe she’d be ready for Rosie to shine in a few more years, but right now, she wanted her little girl to blend in and remain a happy little girl.
“Hey, don’t worry. It will all be fine,” Adrian said.
She sat up and offered him a smile before taking a sip of her tea. She didn’t believe that for a second.
4 FIRST IMPRESSIONS
The children settled quickly, and Alice stood in front of the class. Twelve eager but nervous faces stared back at her.
“Good morning, class,” she said.
Three quarters of the children replied with a singsong “Good morning, Miss Spencer.” The remaining children looked confused.
“I can see that some of you have attended Reception classes,” Alice said. “For those of you who didn’t, when I say good morning to you, you say good morning to me. Shall we try that again?” A flurry of agreeing nods met her. “Good morning, class.”
“Good morning, Miss Spencer!” all of the children greeted her loudly.
She took a step back and laughed, covering her ears. “That was very good, class, but I think we should tone it down just a little in the future. Otherwise we might get complaints from the other students.”
She walked over to her desk and picked up a marker pen.
“Now, I want to welcome you all to year one, and my class. I know some of you have been to Reception, but this year will be a little different.”
Less painting with potatoes and playing snakes and ladders, she told herself.
“Firstly, I’m your form tutor. You are welcome to talk to me about anything. If you need anything, if you’re worried about anything, I’m always here for you. If you can’t find me, then you can always speak to one of the other teachers. No question is silly or wrong. We’re here to help you. Does that make sense?”
She held the children’s gaze until the nods came, wanting to ensure that they all understood. She knew that the first day of school was daunting, and she was about to launch into the rules of school which were enough to leave any child shell-shocked.
She pulled the lid from the marker pen and approached the whiteboard.
“Now, because there are a lot of us, it’s important that we make some rules to ensure that everything runs smoothly in the classroom. Can anyone think of some rules that we should put on the whiteboard?”
A boy called—she checked her roster—James thrust his hand into the air.
Alice gestured to him. “Yes, James?”
“Be nice!” James shouted.
“That’s a very good idea, James,” she said. She wrote the words on the whiteboard. “But can you think of examples of that? What kinds of things can we do to be nice?”
“Say ‘thank you’!” a girl named Simone called out.
“That’s a great suggestion, Simone,” she said, “but when you have something to say, you need to remember to put your hand up and answer when I call on you, okay? Just in case there are lots of people who have suggestions. Does that make sense?”
“Yes, Miss Spencer,” Simone replied happily.
She carried on questioning the children about what rules they should have for the next thirty minutes. All the usual suspects came up. Saying please, thank you, and excuse me. Putting your hand up to answer questions. No shouting. No running. Be polite. Do as you are asked to do, right away.
Alice enjoyed making rules with the class. In their hearts, the children already knew what they should and should not be doing. In reality, it was made up of behaviours they already understood, but by getting the children to make the list, she ensured that they felt like they were making, setting, and adhering to their own rules, not the rules of a stuck-in-the-mud teacher.
It was also a very quick way to find out the troublemakers, those who thought any suggestion would make it onto the board, like all-day playtime and going home early. Colin was one such troublemaker whom she’d already made a mental note to keep an eye on.
One of her key jobs early on in meeting the new intakes was to figure out their personalities and levels of education. At such a young age, the differences in children in the same class could be startling.
“So, what does everyone think about the form room?” Alice asked, gesturing around the empty space. Before they had a chance to answer she made a face. “It’s a bit boring, isn’t it?”
The children looked
around the room and nodded.
“Don’t worry, we’ll have this room bursting with fun and colour in no time at all,” she reassured them. “Because we’ll be putting some of your work on the walls. Won’t that be exciting?”
“My mummy says we can’t draw on the walls,” James said.
“And she’s right,” Alice agreed. “But we can put pieces of paper on the walls. If we’re working on a special project, then we can use it to decorate. Once it’s been marked, of course.”
James looked thoughtful. She hoped she hadn’t caused his mother any problems.
The chatty girl next to James, Sarah, started to tell him about all the things she put on her bedroom wall at home. Clearly, Sarah’s mum wasn’t as concerned about the state of her walls.
As the children started to chip in on the subject, Alice glanced at the rest of the class, already feeling as if she had a good idea about most of them. One, however, had remained very quiet. She crossed over to her desk and glanced at the register, quickly finding the name of the silent student.
Rose Hall.
She wasn’t about to push Rose too much on her first day, but she made a mental note to keep an eye on her. Most shy children would start to speak after a day or two. Some of the noisiest children she had taught had initially been very quiet.
She looked at her watch and noted that ten o’clock was fast approaching.
“Class, class,” she said to get their attention.
They quickly quietened down.
“It’s nearly time for break, so I think it would be a good idea if we started to get our coats on. It’s a little chilly today.”
She’d barely finished speaking before the sound of chairs scraping on the wooden floor filled the room. One wall had a row of clothes pegs where an assortment of coats were hung. Alice regarded them, wondering how much effort it would be to put name cards above them and maybe a small storage box below, so the children had somewhere for scarves and gloves.
James was circling himself, trying to put his arm in his jacket. Alice quickly stepped forward and held the coat steady for him.
“Thank you,” he said. He turned around and looked up at her expectantly.
She crouched down and took his hands in hers, guiding his small fingers to the buttons. As she helped him to do his coat up, she looked at the other children. Many were struggling to either put their coats on or do them up.
School was often one of the first experiences where children had to fend for themselves with certain aspects of life. At home, a parent may be so keen to hurry up and get out of the house that they assisted the child with basic tasks, which meant that the children often struggled to perform those tasks on their own.
It was a stark reminder how young the children were, despite starting full-time education, and that it was her job to make the transition from child to student as seamless as possible.
She finished helping James with his coat and found that a line had formed behind him. Sarah was next, needing assistance with her zip.
“Zips are tricky,” Alice reassured her upon noticing embarrassed eyes.
She looked up and saw that Rose had her coat on, zipped up, and was putting on her gloves.
“I don’t like zips,” Sarah said. “I got my finger stuck and it bleeded.”
“It bled,” Alice corrected. “I’ve done that, too, it can be quite painful. You need to keep your fingers out of the way and then you’ll not have any problems.”
She did the zip up and smiled at Sarah.
“Thank you, miss,” Sarah answered and hurried away before the next child stepped up.
Alice decided she’d give them all this first week. After that they would have to be able to get themselves ready alone. It was hard because she wanted to help, but she knew she wasn’t really helping them if she didn’t make them independent.
It was a fine balance, one she had to get right.
* * *
Alice stood in the playground, watching the children. There were considerably fewer here than she was used to. At her previous schools, there had been hundreds, sometimes even over a thousand students. But Willows was a small school serving a few local villages, and she estimated there were only around sixty children in total.
That didn’t make playtime any less daunting.
Like water spilt from a glass, the children were everywhere and potentially getting themselves into trouble. Some were running, some were on the old play equipment which had seen better days. Some were sitting on the grass in groups, and some were alone.
Keeping an adequate eye on all of them was a difficult task, especially when she was surrounded by some members of the new intake who found the playground overwhelming.
“Sarah, why don’t you go and play with Simone?” Alice suggested kindly. While she was happy that Sarah felt comfortable around her, she couldn’t be her safety blanket forever. The sooner the children learnt to mix and mingle, the better all around.
Sarah looked into the distance where Simone was swinging from the monkey bars.
“Maybe,” she said thoughtfully.
“Thomas Lassiter!” Alice turned to see her co-worker Lucy Gibson bellowing from the school entrance, having just arrived for playground duty. “Get down!”
Alice followed Lucy’s gaze to a boy climbing the perimeter fence. She wanted to kick herself for not noticing.
Reluctantly, Thomas jumped down. “Sorry, Miss Gibson.”
Lucy joined Alice. She pulled on her gloves and looked around the playground with an eagle eye.
“Sorry, I didn’t even notice that,” Alice apologised.
“No problem, he literally just jumped up,” Lucy explained. “You can’t have eyes in the back of your head here.”
The approach of the shouty teacher caused Alice’s group of nervous students to take their chances with the playground.
“There were so many more of us on duty in my old school,” Alice explained.
“You’ll get used to it,” Lucy reassured her, her eyes sweeping around the playground as she spoke.
Alice got the impression that Lucy was one of those teachers that even the naughtiest of children refused to mess with. Her volume was as impressive as her ability to notice the tiniest details.
“How’s things with your new class?” Lucy asked.
“Good.” Alice looked over the children, seeking out her own. “I’ve had a little pushback from a couple, but most are settling in well.”
“There’s always one or two who want to test your limits,” Lucy agreed.
“That’s true. Hopefully, we’ll iron that out quickly. On another note, I wanted to ask, what are my chances of getting some money to decorate my form room?” Alice asked.
Lucy snorted a laugh. “Absolute zero, I’m afraid.”
Alice felt herself deflate. She knew that school budgets were tight everywhere, but the room was barely fit for habitation.
“The whole building is falling apart.” Lucy nodded at the school behind them. “All the money we do have is going to maintenance to keep things running. The heating only works half the time, and when it does it’s at about twenty percent capacity. And the lights flicker all the time. It’s not so bad on sunny days, but when it’s dark it can be a real pain.”
“I see.” Alice suddenly longed for her ultra-modern, inner-city school in Manchester.
“Bet Hardaker never told you any of this when you came for the interview.”
“Indeed, he didn’t,” Alice agreed. She glanced at the old building, realising she should have known it was falling apart when she first saw it.
“He’s a little economical with the truth sometimes,” Lucy confessed, “but on the bright side, he lets us do whatever we want. So, if you did want to decorate, he certainly wouldn’t stop you, but he’d not be able to finance it.”
Alice thought about her form room. It was in serious need of some maintenance and then some decorating. She had no idea how much time or money it would take, but she didn’t r
elish the idea of spending her own funds on either.
“Colin Whittaker!” Lucy bellowed.
Alice jumped at the sudden sound. For a small woman, Lucy had an impressive set of lungs.
Colin instantly dropped the small branch he was holding as he chased some girls.
“You know Colin?” Alice asked.
“Yes, his older brother, Matthew, is in my class. If Colin is anything like his brother, and it seems he is, he’ll be trouble.” Lucy continued to glare at Colin, warning him with her eyes.
“He has tried to push my authority a couple of times,” Alice confessed.
“Same as his brother then,” Lucy said. “Matthew is a bully; that often runs in the family. Their parents are the landlords of the Flower Pot Pub up on the A Road into town.”
Alice wasn’t surprised that Lucy knew that. In fact, she imagined that Lucy knew everyone in town.
“Do you know Rose Hall?” Alice asked, her thoughts fading back to the shy youngster.
“Rosie, yes, that’s Hannah’s daughter,” Lucy explained. “Hannah Hall was in my younger sister’s class. She had a bit of a rough time in school, but she didn’t make it any easier on herself. Nowadays, she’s a single mum and works at one of the hairdressers in town. I don’t know much about Rosie; Hannah kind of keeps to herself.”
“She’s been very quiet in class,” Alice said, wondering if the lack of desire for social interaction was a family trait.
“Hannah’s always been… interesting,” Lucy said, her gaze still firmly fixed on the playground. “She never had any friends at school, a bit of a loner. Then there was this thing with her mum, now that was a day!”
Alice shifted uncomfortably as Lucy drifted into what she considered speculative gossip. Before Lucy had the chance to say any more, Alice caught sight of Colin tiptoeing towards a girl with a handful of soil in his cupped hands.
“Colin Whittaker!” Alice shouted.
“Colin, go to Mr Hardaker’s office, now!” Lucy commanded.