Noel turned and noticed a group of staff grinning at him. "My daughter," he said in a slightly embarrassed tone. "She's used to a country school where she just bounded into the staffroom whenever she felt like it. I hope she doesn't appear precocious."
"Far from it." Glenda chuckled. "I can see her dad's enthusiasm coming through, though."
The other teachers smiled and Noel felt somehow accepted for more than just being the boss. It was a warm feeling inside and his apprehension from earlier in the day when he had to step in with the senior children, dissipated. George, he noticed, had returned promptly back to his children.
It was going to be hard work but Noel felt quietly confident Kent Drive School would become a place to be proud of.
THE FIRST MONTH SLIPPED by and staff began to meld. Methods of organization were discussed with many suggestions put forward, senior teachers met and a new plan was formatted and presented to the staff.
It was decided to have two parallel upper school syndicates and one junior one under Kate's care.
"It means," George, who had been given the job of explaining the final details to the staff, said. "The hundred Form One and Twos won't be concentrated in one block but divided between two. Also, one of the prefab classrooms can be attached to A Block so B Block syndicate won't be over large. If you agree, we can call them East and West Blocks.
"It's called 'Schools within Schools'," Noel added later. "I visualize the children will become quite loyal to their syndicate and could even design shields etcetera for their block."
Except for a couple of middle school teachers, who were a little apprehensive at having the older pupils under their immediate care, the plan was greeted enthusiastically. Later, the children themselves were given a chance to discuss the proposed change and several parent meetings held for further discussion. After a few refinements, the change was made the day before Easter so everyone would return after the holiday to their new syndicate.
Though nothing was commented on, many of the more troublesome seniors ended up in West Block under Glenda's care. She had proved to be an excellent teacher who stood for no nonsense and handled the older children without problem.
On the more personal level, Alexia stayed with Caroline Bolton and Wendy's class remained almost unchanged. Though still the syndicate leader, George on his own suggestion, was given a Standard Three and Four home class while June Sadler, another teacher older than Noel, took most over the East Syndicate's senior pupils. Of course, by being in open plans, the teachers were all in contact with the older children for different subjects and found the change not as daunting as some of them expected.
One amusing outcome was in the small coat bay between the two prefabricated classrooms. Here, one of the senior pupils had erected a neat sign exactly in the middle that stated Achtung! You are leaving West Berlin.
The next day another sign appeared next to it that read. Welcome to the East. Deserters will be shot.
Noel chuckled when he saw the signs and allowed them to stay. It was all friendly rivalry and the children became enthusiastic about supporting their own syndicate. Discussions were held and symbols decided upon. The East Syndicate chose a massive dragon and sort permission to paint one on a blank outside wall of their building. The children, guided by three Chinese pupils, did an excellent painting that even included Chinese characters.
"My dad suggested it," one of the Chinese boys proudly told Noel. "It means, 'The power of education.' "
Not to be outdone, West Block chose an equally large sized brown kiwi and their sign read "Kiwi West, New Zealand's Best" in three languages, English, Maori and Dutch, a home language spoken by many of the children at Kent Drive School.
To keep with the spirit, Kate renamed the Junior Syndicate, North Block and the junior teachers painted a massive polar bear trying to catch a fish on the wall outside their building. "We're little but strong," read a bubble coming from the fish's mouth.
Every night Alexia had to tell her parents and grandmother all the exciting things that were going on and ignored the fact that they were all there, too.
"Our dragon is bigger than your polar bear, Mum," she said to Kate. "Did you know, I helped paint the fire coming out of his mouth? We had a contest on who could help and I won a turn."
"Did you?" Kate chuckled. "Weren't you lucky?"
"I only did a little bit but had to climb the step ladder to reach," Alexia admitted. "Tomorrow, we're all going to write dragon stories and read about dragons. Mrs. Bolton got a whole box full of books from the library in town but we aren't allowed to look at them until tomorrow..."
LATER THAT NIGHT, NOEL sat sipping coffee and smiled at Kate. "It's working, Sweetheart," he said. "George never lost face and is actually quite a good teacher. The younger children love being in his room and the other teachers all seem enthusiastic."
"And the parents are keen, too," Kate replied. "I've had several who came in to say how their children enjoy school this year." She chucked. "Did you hear about Richard Green over at Summerhill Heights?"
"No but I'm sure you'll tell me.
"Their parents are having a protest meeting to try to get rid of his card system. It seems our parents who transferred children from his school are boasting about all the good things going on here and he's getting a backlash. He's got empty classrooms, too."
"Well, with a new school in the area, that's expected," Noel cautioned.
"Two more than was expected," Kate said. "His roll is fifty less than they predicted for this year."
"About the same number we're above our original planned size," Noel said. "I'm amazed the Board brought in that extra block for us. Poor Richard must be spitting sparks."
"Serves him right," Kate retorted. "He gets no sympathy from me." She reached for a biscuit. "God I'm exhausted, though. It's like having three Kimbolton Schools all on one site and there are so many little ones. Have you tried doing up forty shoelaces after school every night?"
"Or dealing with a similar number of frustrated parents looking for their children's lost clothes," Noel added.
"It's different but I'm glad we're here." Kate sighed. She reached across and hugged Noel. "Let's go to bed," she whispered and kissed him on the lips.
"To sleep?" Noel teased.
"I'm not that tired but if you can't stand the pace..."
"I might just manage." Noel gathered the coffee mugs up and left them in the sink.
Things other than the school were now on his mind.
CHAPTER 16
"Bye, Dad," Alexia cried and clung on to Noel's neck as he lifted her up and kissed her cheek.
"I'm only going away for three nights," he said." I'll see you on Thursday."
"And don't go upstairs," Kate warned.
"Upstairs?" Noel queried.
"Remember the last residential course you went to?" Kate said. "It was way after midnight if I remember correctly."
Noel's mind's eye flashed back to Rosehedge House in Dunedin and the night he retreated from Kate's bedroom. "Don't worry," he said. "All the accommodation at this course is on the ground floor. There are no stairs to climb."
"Noel!" Kate snorted. "If you as much as..." She saw Alexia staring at her with wide eyes and taking in every syllable..."You know!"
"Was Dad naughty?" the little girl asked.
"No, Mummy was," Noel laughed and avoided Kate's eyes. He cuddled his daughter once again and reached across to kiss his wife. "Bye Sweetheart," he whispered and held her close.
It was June but, compared with even Manawatu, the weather was mild with a barest suggestion of a frost as he drove away with Alexia's frantic waves visible in his rear vision mirror.
This course for principals was going to be different. A couple of overseas experts were going to lecture on the latest trends in education and Noel himself had been invited by his local inspector to present a paper on how he had set up his new school. He was quite nervous about speaking to fifty or more senior principals from all over the coun
try and had spent hours preparing notes. He selected colour slides of Kent Drive from the day he arrived to one from last week.
The venue was at a motel complex in Hamilton, a hundred and forty kilometres to the south. Noel smiled around the interior of their recently purchased Toyota Corolla, fiddled with the modern controls and glanced at the speedometer as he headed out. It was far too easy to travel fast. He switched to one of the commercial radio stations and hummed along with the song being played. It seemed strange to be driving away from Kent Drive School at this hour of the day...
The Knight's Sword Motel was a two-story structure but looked somehow sterile compared with Noel's memories of Rosehedge House but proved to be large and well suited for this type of conference. He was allocated a room of his own that was self-sufficient with no walking up corridors to bathrooms necessary. Noel had a brief wash to freshen up and walked over to where other principals were gathering in a large conference room.
"Hello, Noel," a voice said from behind Noel and he turned to see Richard Green by the door.
"Hi Richard," Noel replied. His relationship with his neighbour had been cordial over the last few months without going beyond that. Considering their two schools were only a few blocks from each other, it was amazing how little they crossed paths. "It's good to see one familiar face," he added.
"Yes," Richard replied. "I know a few but most are also strangers to me."
Everyone appeared to be taking seats so the two sat next to each other while the speaker; a local principal introduced himself and a row of speakers behind him.
"We also have guest speakers so could these ladies and gentlemen stand when their names are called." He smiled. "If you're like me, you'll forget every name that is uttered but we'll be issuing name tags on the way out to morning tea..." His voice droned on until Noel realized that his name was called out. He grinned at Richard and stood to polite applause and sat again.
"You're a speaker?" Richard leaned across and whispered.
"Yes," Noel replied with a grin. "My topic is All the things one shouldn't do when opening a new school."
"You're too modest," Green said in a serious voice. "I've heard nothing except praise about Kent Drive School."
Noel studied his colleague. This was something he didn't expect. A polite or neutral comment or even a slight taunt was more his expectation but the older man seemed to be completely sincere in his praise.
"Why, thank you, Richard," he replied.
After that morning session, the pair stayed together for most of the day and Noel found himself looking at Richard in a different light. The pomposity and slight arrogance was absent and, for perhaps the first time, he realized he quite enjoyed the man's company. They sat together for their evening meal and afterwards had a drink in a small bar down the road away from the complex. The conversation naturally enough turned to something they were both familiar with, their two schools.
"I hear you gave George a Standard Four class and he's doing quite well," Richard slid in the conversation.
"Yes," Noel replied. "Do you know him well?"
"He was my deputy principal until four years ago," Richard explained. "Then he shifted across to Devonport before he came to you." He gave an almost sad grin as sipped his beer. "I found him difficult to motivate but better the devil you know..."
"Meaning?" Noel asked.
"I admit I was glad when he left but his successor was the complete opposite."
"You mean John Ancell?" Noel pushed, referring to Summerhill Drive's DP.
"No, John's fine. He's only been there a year. Before him we had Mary Shafter and was she a tyrant, ran the place like a sergeant major and wanted to change everything." He sighed. "I went along with her ideas, banning corporeal punishment and having the positive reinforcement cards was one. Anyway she moved to Auckland Teachers' College so a whole new generation of students will be filled with her radical ideas. You're too young to notice, I guess, but schools have certainly changed doing my career. " He stopped and ordered another jug of beer before continuing. "Look at the ideas we had today. I reckon if you put some of those so-called experts in front of forty children with their great ideas they wouldn't last an hour." He sighed and sounded a little of the bitter man Noel knew back on the North Shore.
"I heard you'd stopped using the cards," Noel said.
"Yes," Richard said. "You know our area, sixty percent good solid middle class families, thirty percent working class and ten percent children from families of business men or academics?"
"Kent Drive is about the same," Noel said.
"Yes, and I'd rather have the state house kids than those from the flash houses overlooking the beach. At least the working class parents leave you alone. The other lot try to run the place." He gulped down his glass and refilled it. "Can I top yours up?"
"Sure," Noel replied. He'd drunk one glass to Richard's four or was it five? The man was becoming talkative but the conversation was interesting. In fact, though he'd never mentioned it to anyone except Kate but he found the parents similar at Kent Drive.
"Anyhow," Green continued. "The academics and high class families wanted to continue the cards while just about everyone else hated them. They even had a protest meeting." He grinned. "It got a bit heated. I said I'd go by the popular decision and the meeting decided to have a postal vote. Seventy one percent voted to discard the cards, so I did. I think the staff is finding it easier now."
"Yes, it was a bit rigid," Noel admitted. "I had a few families trying to enrol at my school after the May Holidays but I turned them away."
"My nobs," Richard replied and gulped down another half glass of frothy beer. "They don't like being outvoted by the commoners."
Noel smiled. He'd heard it was a little better at Summerhill Heights but there were still rumblings about the place. Now, though, he could see Richard's point of view. Perhaps it was a little over generalized but there was a ring of truth in his opinions. At Kent Drive the three most opinionated parents were those who drove BMWs and spoiled their children rotten. Of course, the gossipy clan of women with nothing to do except moan about the school were every bit as bad.
As the evening continued, Richard Green became more under the influence of the vast amount of alcohol he had consumed and his mood changed to become melancholy.
"Tell me," he said just before Noel was about to suggest they head back to the motel. "I heard your first wife died during childbirth. How did you cope?"
Noel felt a surge of anger. This was not anybody's business and how did Richard Green know about Lisa anyhow? He scowled and stood partially up.
Richard though put a hand up and gently guided Noel back in the chair. "I'm sorry," he said, his voice without the slur that had developed over the evening. "It's just that I can't."
Noel emotion changed. The man somehow looked sad. He knew nothing of Richard's private life and, as far as he could remember, nobody had mentioned anything about this side of the man.
"Did your wife die?" he asked,
Richard just nodded and sipped yet another glass of beer. "We were married twenty-seven years," he replied. "Five years ago Anne was diagnosed as having colon cancer. She lasted another two. Hell Noel, I'd never wish those two years on my worst enemy. To see this delightful cheerful woman reduced to a mere skeleton..." He stopped and his eyes turned up to Noel. "Every night I think of her. The nights are the worst. I just wondered how you coped."
"I didn't," Noel whispered. "Those around carried me through. I had my baby daughter Alexia. Remember you had her at your school last year?
Richard nodded.
"Kate was my assistant teacher. She filled the massive vacuum in my life." Noel's mind reflected back and a smiling face flooded his mind. "I'll never forget Lisa, though," he added in a sombre voice and, for the first time in years, talked about that terrible night when Lisa died. The words flowed out without malice or recrimination but his emotions were stirred and he found he was close to tears. "I think you love a type of person
, Richard," he added. "Kate is physically nothing like Lisa but their personalities are so similar I often get them muddled in my dreams."
"So you still dream of Lisa?"
"Occasionally. Usually, though, it is just an incident that brings back the memories; seeing a snowstorm on television, for example. I think the grief gradually becomes blurred. Without Kate, Alexia and even Lisa's mother Sarah, who is still with us, I doubt if I could handled Lisa's death as well as I did. "
"After Anne died I switched to my school but it is not an answer," the older man said. "Instead of gathering a group of friends, the opposite happened." He stared at his empty glass. "I turned everyone aside, instead. That ruthless deputy didn't help but she's gone now, thank God," he continued and told Noel more of his life, marriage and school."
Noel listened with intense interest. Richard was fifty-eight and had been teaching since his graduation from teacher's college when he was nineteen. Now, retirement loomed and there was nothing ahead for him.
"Now, I'm feeling sorry for myself," Richard said as closing time approached and the publican began to put up chairs. "Thanks for listening, Noel."
"No problem," Noel replied. "I've also talked about things I haven't mentioned in years. I love Kate so much; I don't like to talk about Lisa."
"I heard she's a top notch infant mistress, too," Richard said, using the old name for Kate's position.
"Yes she is," Noel replied "Top notch in every way."
"My Anne was a nurse," Richard said. "In some ways I was glad she wasn't a teacher." He stood up on shaky feet. "I guess we'd better head back. Damned lucky we don't have to drive, isn't it?"
"It is," Noel said. He felt light-headed and couldn't remember the last time he'd drunk so much. Not to worry, he could sleep in tomorrow. The conference didn't start until nine thirty.
AND SLEEP HE DID BUT in the morning he regretted his evening. God, his head thumped and the shaving mirror appeared to vibrate as he attempted to shave. He met Richard at breakfast and the other man looked embarrassing bright.
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