22nd December 2019

It was my first year of teaching. I was at a huge girls’ school in Tooting, South London. My first term’s experience was beyond awful.

Naomi used to sit directly in front of my table. At the beginning of the lesson she would take out her beauty products and arrange them on her desk. Her face would then disappear behind a mirror while she applied make-up.

Lorraine sat at the back of the class on the right-hand-side. About ten minutes into the lesson she would get up and shout I AM SO BORED! and start banging her head on a metal filing cabinet.

The head of department used to glide past the door about five minutes in and observe how I was getting on. Classes were graded by ability. This class was eight of eight. I taught them last lesson on a Friday...

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