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Parents’ evening is never my favourite date in my diary, but I was dreading this one especially. The headmistress had told me in my annual appraisal that, in no uncertain terms, they had made a mistake in hiring me based on one spectacularly misleading interview and the fact I look pretty good in a suit. Control, she said, was my problem, or lack of it. If I couldn’t keep my kids in line, they were hardly likely to sit down and get the grades they needed.
‘This isn’t some rowdy state school where the children rule the roost and people are happy if they scrape a C,’ she told me, with the heavy inference that that was the sort of place I belonged. ‘With the amounts parents pay for St Michael’s, they expect the crème de la crème.’
I had nodded and bowed and scraped. It was true that I didn’t know how to keep the stronger personalities in order, especially those in the sixth form. They were only about six years younger than I was: the bolder girls were a right laugh, and I sometimes egged them on rather than turn to the less pleasurable matters of the maths syllabus. I wanted to go and smoke with them behind the bike sheds, and find out all the details of their heady teenage lives.
That sort of mentality was no good for anybody.
‘Your subject area is the only weak point of my whole establishment,’ the head had told me. ‘Look at Cassie Gardner. She ought to be coasting toward triple A’s. You can’t tell her mother and father she’s failing because of bad behaviour. They’ll hit the roof.’
‘She is extremely disruptive…’
‘Only because of a lack of firmness from you,’ she replied. ‘I hope you’re not distracted by her looks, Mr Hammond.’
I blushed. ‘Absolutely not,’ I said, unable to look her in the eye. She certainly hadn’t got to know me at all during my three terms at St Michael’s.
‘You’ll just have to tell them she’s started seeing a boy,’ said the Head casually, flicking through her papers. ‘It’s the classic reason for distraction in the classroom. They won’t challenge her on it, and even if they do, she’ll do anything to get off the subject.’
‘Right,’ I had said. ‘What about the others?’
‘Good heavens.’ She fixed with her a frozen blue stare. ‘Do I have to do all your work for you? Get creative, Mr Hammond. And I expect to see a change in your attitude from now on, or you might find yourself up the job market without a job reference.’
I didn’t doubt she would do it. She’d expelled a boy the previous term for whistling in the corridor. She knew how to wield power. I only wished I did.
I had my interview suit dry cleaned and pressed to within an inch of its life, and I went to a Soho barber’s to make sure I looked sharp as a set-square for the big night. I knew I had to impress. I had to look like I could crack the whip where appropriate, and even where it wasn’t appropriate: I was a whip in human form, a Newly Qualified Teacher maybe, but one with the confident prowess of a veteran cage fighter.
I was doing alright until Cassie’s parents came across to my table. I’d never met them before but it was unmistakably them: Cassie was, as the Head had hinted, an attractive young woman, and Mr and Mrs Gardner displayed all the beauty and grace they had distilled into their eighteen-year-old daughter. Mrs Gardner had dancing eyes and amazing cheekbones. Mr Gardner had a square jaw, emphasised by short hair and a fine beard. His well-fitting suit suggested he had a sportsman’s physique too. Now I knew where Cassie’s champion hockey talents were inherited from.
Mr Gardner grabbed my hand and shook it vigorously. ‘Evening,’ he said familiarly and, to my relief, smiling warmly. ‘How are you doing?’
Some of my military brusqueness melted. ‘Great, thanks,’ I said.
Mrs Gardner, when I forced my head to look at her, appeared more serious. ‘Good to meet you,’ she said, taking a seat. ‘Cassie always speaks very highly of you. Unfortunately, it seems –’
‘Sorry,’ said Mr Gardner, cutting across his wife. ‘Surely we’ve met before?’
I was about to say, ‘Yes,’ because that’s the way I am. I’m eager to please, especially if it means smoothing over some awkward conversation, particularly if the other option is suggesting that someone might be wrong. If it’s a parent, I really don’t want them to think they’ve made a mistake, and if they’re hot, even if I stand less chance with them than an ice cube stands of getting intimate with a pan of boiling water, I’ll happily nod and smile and even pretend to vote Conservative.
But I had been spending all evening practising my authoritative manner in a bid to impress everybody and show the Headmistress wrong. In addition to which, I felt the need to show some backbone to Cassie’s mother, after that ‘Unfortunately’ she was about to speak of.
I frowned, considered and shook my head. ‘No, I’m afraid that’s unlikely. I’ve only been working at St Michael’s since September.’
‘What about before that?’
‘I graduated the previous summer,’ I said. ‘Brighthelmstone University, in Sussex.’
Mr Gardner didn’t look convinced, but he knew when to drop a subject. Unfortunately, his wife had seized on my words to use in her own ‘Unfortunately’ line. ‘So you’re a recent graduate.’
‘Well, it feels ages ago now.’
‘Do you have prior teaching experience?’ she asked.
‘Absolutely,’ I said. ‘Teaching experience is built into our graduation programme.’
‘I thought you sounded rather young,’ she said, ‘from the way Cassie talks about you. And then there’s the matter of her A-Level mock exam grades.’
‘Ah yes,’ I said, trying to instil some gravitas in my tone, ‘that’s what I was hoping to talk to you about.’
‘They’re hardly shining,’ said Mrs Gardner. ‘We were discussing them on our way in tonight.’
She looked across at her husband, obviously cueing him into some particular line of attack they’d prepared between them earlier. Or at the very least, something to back her up. Mr Gardner didn’t seem to be entirely present. He was staring at me, lips slightly parted in his gorgeous beard, dabs of colour in his cheeks. He had the look of someone who’s just been reminded of something outrageous they did when they were drunk the night before.
I wondered if perhaps we had met somewhere before, but my memory for faces is pretty solid, particularly when a man like him is involved.
Then with a jolt I realised what had happened.
‘This isn’t some rowdy state school where the children rule the roost and people are happy if they scrape a C,’ she told me, with the heavy inference that that was the sort of place I belonged. ‘With the amounts parents pay for St Michael’s, they expect the crème de la crème.’
I had nodded and bowed and scraped. It was true that I didn’t know how to keep the stronger personalities in order, especially those in the sixth form. They were only about six years younger than I was: the bolder girls were a right laugh, and I sometimes egged them on rather than turn to the less pleasurable matters of the maths syllabus. I wanted to go and smoke with them behind the bike sheds, and find out all the details of their heady teenage lives.
That sort of mentality was no good for anybody.
‘Your subject area is the only weak point of my whole establishment,’ the head had told me. ‘Look at Cassie Gardner. She ought to be coasting toward triple A’s. You can’t tell her mother and father she’s failing because of bad behaviour. They’ll hit the roof.’
‘She is extremely disruptive…’
‘Only because of a lack of firmness from you,’ she replied. ‘I hope you’re not distracted by her looks, Mr Hammond.’
I blushed. ‘Absolutely not,’ I said, unable to look her in the eye. She certainly hadn’t got to know me at all during my three terms at St Michael’s.
‘You’ll just have to tell them she’s started seeing a boy,’ said the Head casually, flicking through her papers. ‘It’s the classic reason for distraction in the classroom. They won’t challenge her on it, and even if they do, she’ll do anything to get off the subject.’
‘Right,’ I had said. ‘What about the others?’
‘Good heavens.’ She fixed with her a frozen blue stare. ‘Do I have to do all your work for you? Get creative, Mr Hammond. And I expect to see a change in your attitude from now on, or you might find yourself up the job market without a job reference.’
I didn’t doubt she would do it. She’d expelled a boy the previous term for whistling in the corridor. She knew how to wield power. I only wished I did.
I had my interview suit dry cleaned and pressed to within an inch of its life, and I went to a Soho barber’s to make sure I looked sharp as a set-square for the big night. I knew I had to impress. I had to look like I could crack the whip where appropriate, and even where it wasn’t appropriate: I was a whip in human form, a Newly Qualified Teacher maybe, but one with the confident prowess of a veteran cage fighter.
I was doing alright until Cassie’s parents came across to my table. I’d never met them before but it was unmistakably them: Cassie was, as the Head had hinted, an attractive young woman, and Mr and Mrs Gardner displayed all the beauty and grace they had distilled into their eighteen-year-old daughter. Mrs Gardner had dancing eyes and amazing cheekbones. Mr Gardner had a square jaw, emphasised by short hair and a fine beard. His well-fitting suit suggested he had a sportsman’s physique too. Now I knew where Cassie’s champion hockey talents were inherited from.
Mr Gardner grabbed my hand and shook it vigorously. ‘Evening,’ he said familiarly and, to my relief, smiling warmly. ‘How are you doing?’
Some of my military brusqueness melted. ‘Great, thanks,’ I said.
Mrs Gardner, when I forced my head to look at her, appeared more serious. ‘Good to meet you,’ she said, taking a seat. ‘Cassie always speaks very highly of you. Unfortunately, it seems –’
‘Sorry,’ said Mr Gardner, cutting across his wife. ‘Surely we’ve met before?’
I was about to say, ‘Yes,’ because that’s the way I am. I’m eager to please, especially if it means smoothing over some awkward conversation, particularly if the other option is suggesting that someone might be wrong. If it’s a parent, I really don’t want them to think they’ve made a mistake, and if they’re hot, even if I stand less chance with them than an ice cube stands of getting intimate with a pan of boiling water, I’ll happily nod and smile and even pretend to vote Conservative.
But I had been spending all evening practising my authoritative manner in a bid to impress everybody and show the Headmistress wrong. In addition to which, I felt the need to show some backbone to Cassie’s mother, after that ‘Unfortunately’ she was about to speak of.
I frowned, considered and shook my head. ‘No, I’m afraid that’s unlikely. I’ve only been working at St Michael’s since September.’
‘What about before that?’
‘I graduated the previous summer,’ I said. ‘Brighthelmstone University, in Sussex.’
Mr Gardner didn’t look convinced, but he knew when to drop a subject. Unfortunately, his wife had seized on my words to use in her own ‘Unfortunately’ line. ‘So you’re a recent graduate.’
‘Well, it feels ages ago now.’
‘Do you have prior teaching experience?’ she asked.
‘Absolutely,’ I said. ‘Teaching experience is built into our graduation programme.’
‘I thought you sounded rather young,’ she said, ‘from the way Cassie talks about you. And then there’s the matter of her A-Level mock exam grades.’
‘Ah yes,’ I said, trying to instil some gravitas in my tone, ‘that’s what I was hoping to talk to you about.’
‘They’re hardly shining,’ said Mrs Gardner. ‘We were discussing them on our way in tonight.’
She looked across at her husband, obviously cueing him into some particular line of attack they’d prepared between them earlier. Or at the very least, something to back her up. Mr Gardner didn’t seem to be entirely present. He was staring at me, lips slightly parted in his gorgeous beard, dabs of colour in his cheeks. He had the look of someone who’s just been reminded of something outrageous they did when they were drunk the night before.
I wondered if perhaps we had met somewhere before, but my memory for faces is pretty solid, particularly when a man like him is involved.
Then with a jolt I realised what had happened.