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Part 1
~pim~
Have reposted the recent bits with a new bit added on! Posted in more than one part for readability
In the days that followed, Kathie pondered the scene in the study and her feelings towards the two Heads. She realised that Hilda was correct and if she were to make a real success of the post, she would have to overcome the habits of old and inform people of her decisions rather than ask them for permission to carry them through or for their approval. She made no mention of the banter between Hilda and Nell to Anne, realising that it had been for her eyes and ears only but she did mention Hilda’s comment over her need for approval and although they discussed it between themselves, it took a discussion with Gillian Culver, Peggy Burnett and Rosalind Yolland, who had all come over for the evening.
“What’s troubling you, Kathie?” Gillian demanded, an hour or so after their arrival. “You’re wearing a worried air, yet you both say all is well with your little lot.”
“It is,” Kathie assured her quickly. “I was just thinking about the ease with which you speak about Hilda and Nell and well, wondering if I ever can. I just can’t seem to get out of the habit of addressing them as Miss Annersley and Miss Wilson and feeling that I need to ask them for their approval all the time!”
“It is hard at first,” Rosalind Yolland admitted, it being her first term as well. “But when you hear everybody else address them as Hilda and Nell and chatter informally with them, you can’t help but do the same. It feels odd to start with but then you don’t realise you’re doing it and it becomes habit. As for asking their approval, well I discuss the syllabus with them but the methods and techniques I use to deliver that teaching are entirely my decision. They employed me to teach Art and thus to use whichever methods and controls I felt necessary to enable me to do that – within reason, naturally. If I feel I need to give out extra prep, dock order marks, put them in silence, give them a punishment lesson or whatever, then I do it. I’ll communicate my decision to the rest of the staff, so that they may know what has happened in case it affects their lessons, but I won’t ask permission. After all, if they don’t consider that I should be able to use my own judgement without deference to them or anybody else, then they should not have employed me.”
“I can see though, that it is easier for you to think and feel that way than Kathie and Anne,” Gillian remarked. “You see Hilda every day and Nell is over that way a fair amount as well. What’s more, you’re only one of a crowd of people who address them informally and generally, when you see them to speak to, it’s in the less formal setting of the staffroom. Again, I was one of a few people who addressed Nell as Nell – when I didn’t call her Bill,” she added, with a grin. “But it was more difficult to do it with Hilda because I saw far less of her and usually only in the more formal setting of Nell’s study. It’s the same for Kathie and Anne – they don’t have the free time to meander along to the main Chalet and ensconce themselves in the staffroom for a friendly chat – whenever they see Hilda and Nell, it’s in the confines of the study or Hilda’s sitting room, or over here. There, you are on your own with her – or them - and unless you’re one of a crowd, you are very much more aware of their status. All the same, not making decisions without their approval is madness, Kathie! You’re a Headmistress now for heaven’s sake!”
“Think about it this way, Kathie: Hilda employed you to be Headmistress of St. Nicholas House. She interviewed people in the knowledge that it would not be on the same site as the main School and that the appointee would have to be able to make their own decisions and see them through without deference to anybody else.”
“But Kathie does!” Anne protested loyally, interrupting Peggy.
“Oh I do so far as the kids and the every day running of things are concerned,” Kathie agreed. “I don’t run to her with every little thing – I think she was just saying I need to be more confident in talking to her.”
“In other words, instead of telling her about something and waiting for her approval, inform her of your decision,” Peggy said firmly. “Treat her as an interested spectator. She is very interested in how you are all getting on and wants it to be successful but she has no say in how you run things. She employed someone else to run things and only expects to be consulted over big decisions or changes. Just remember that you are Headmistress of the Kindergarten and if you wish to do something, do it. If your little darlings announce their intention of giving a concert or the like to the rest of us and you are agreeable, consult with Hilda regarding arrangements etc. but don’t ask her permission! Ask her whether she thinks the girls would be a willing audience or some such thing but discuss it with her rather than lay it all before her and await her verdict!”
“It’s an easy thing to do though,” Rosalind admitted thoughtfully. “I admit that during my first two or three chats with them, I did find myself almost waiting for their approval. It was only when they asked me one or two things about the syllabus and I discovered that they didn’t actually know very much about art – no more than the average schoolgirl, really, that I recognised that asking for their approval would be pointless because they wouldn’t know enough to know whether I was right or not. After that, I realised that if approval was what I wanted, the only way I would get it would be to show them why they were right to choose me to replace Herr Laubach. The day Hilda came to me and told me how well she thought I was doing and congratulated me because she’d heard so many girls say how much they were enjoying their Art lessons, was worth far more to me than any statement of approval would have been. It should be the same for you, Kathie. Hilda and Nell haven’t much of an idea about teaching and managing very small children and although they are interested in their welfare and development, they have no wish to take over those tasks. They have therefore appointed someone who does have the necessary knowledge and capability and have made you Headmistress of your own department. In that way, they do not expect you to feel you should ask their permission to do something; you organise things the way you want to organise them, consulting with them only where necessary.”
“Obviously, if you feel unsure about your position then …,” the wicked Peggy Burnett got no further as Kathie, throwing off her worries, reached for a handy cushion and heaved it at her friend, with a sure and accurate aim.
“Any more comments like that, Miss Burnett, and I shall ensure you are removed from the premises and what’s more, I shall refuse to allow you to return!” she retorted and Peggy Burnett chuckled.
“Any more cushion throwing and I shall advise your superiors that you are not fit to be in charge of a Kindergarten!” she capped.
“And admit that they’ve employed a PT mistress who can’t move quickly enough to dodge a cushion when it’s thrown at her?” Kathie teased her.
“Enough squabbling, you two!” Gillian put in, laughing. “Honestly! Talk of KG babies, you two are as bad as any of them!”
“Speaking of KG babies, what delights do they have in store for us?” Rosalind demanded. “You’re all being very secretive about it! Not even Sharlie, Joan or Beth will tell us anything!”
“I should hope not!” Kathie said severely.
“You’ll just have to wait and see!” Anne added, her eyes dancing wickedly.
Fortunately for the patience of the staff at the main Chalet, they did not have to ‘wait and see’ for long. At the end of the week after the conversation between the five friends, there was great excitement at St. Nicholas.
“It’s today!” Kevin jumped up and down on his bed in excitement.
“What’s today?” Martin Graham demanded, eyeing this behaviour in surprise. “Is it your birthdays today?”
“No, silly!” Kester laughed, having joined his twin and started to jump on his bed. “Today’s when we do our concert! It’s our birthday soon though,” he added, as an afterthought.
“Boys who jump on beds don’t have birthdays!” a stern voice said from the doorway and the twins hastily jumped off their beds for Matron Allen was becoming a force to be reckoned with and they had no desire to get on her wrong side today. “If I catch you two doing that again, I shall leave you standing on them for the rest of the day,” she warned them.
“We’ll be good,” Kester promised hurriedly. “But Matron, isn’t it exciting? We can give our concert today!”
“Children who don’t hurry up and wash and dress, won’t be giving any concert at all,” was all Matron vouchsafed. A moment later, however, she found herself at risk of being knocked over as there was a concerted rush to the bathroom.
“Wait!” Kathie came to the rescue, having been to quell a similar disturbance in the girls’ dormitory. “Go back to your cubicles, boys, please,” she sent them back and when they were all looking at her, albeit with disgruntled and impatient expressions, she spoke again. “You know the rules by now. Only two people at a time are allowed in the bathroom and the first two people today are Christopher and Kester, so there was no reason for you all to rush out the room like that. Say sorry to Matron please, for she was almost knocked over by you all.” The boys murmured their apologies and then she let Christopher and Kester go to the bathroom. “Well I think we can say today has well and truly started!” Kathie chuckled to Matron.
“And it’s only going to get worse!” that lady informed her.
“Such pessimism!” Kathie shook her head, amused.
“Why are you shaking your head, Miss Robertson?” a voice asked from behind her and Kathie swung round to find Louise gazing up at her, wide-eyed.
“Matron thinks you’re all going to be very naughty today because you’re all very excited,” she explained, stooping down to tie the cord of Louise’s dressing gown, which was dangling to the ground. “I think she’s wrong so I was shaking my head.”
“I think she’s silly,” Louise said, after gazing at Matron for a moment. “We can’t be naughty cos then you wouldn’t let us do a concert. But I think I need to go and wash now cos otherwise the others will all be cross cos we’ll be taking too long,” she added anxiously.
“Off you go then,” Kathie straightened up, sending her off with a smile. “There you are! Out of the mouths of babes!” she turned to Sally Allen, who laughed.
“Have it your own way!” she retorted. “What a difference in that child though! She’s become independent much more quickly than I thought she would.”
“She’s struck up a friendship with Felicity, Jean, Lucy and Carlotta,” Kathie replied. “Those four are all quite independent and through them Louise is learning to fend for herself rather than hang onto Alice. Alice is improving in leaps and bounds because of it and she and Susan Dickie are becoming nice little leaders.”
I only attended about two of my PGCE PE lessons and I can't say the few I taught were exactly successful, so this is a bit sketchy ... (and for anyone wondering, I've not forgotten about Amy, I just haven't had a chance to write anymore!)
