Present your ideas to Dr Stricture

Your meeting with Dr Stricture is at lunchtime. It looms over you all morning.

You head there straight after the last lesson of the morning. The door is open. Dr Stricture is waiting. She peers at you over her glasses as you sit, an intimidating presence; bigger in every way than you, taller, weightier, more commanding, her red hair so fluffed out it appears to fill the room. You feel like a schoolboy summoned for punishment, not a teacher here to help the school.

“We both know why you’re here. Mrs Oversight wants you to give an assembly. She believes you’re not taking assemblies seriously enough and that forcing you to give one will make you appreciate them. I understand the instinct. Assemblies are an integral part of this school’s curriculum. All the girls must attend, and it helps if the staff follow the same rules. We don’t make it compulsory. We understand you’re not religious, we understand that sometimes you won’t be able to make it. But it gives a bad impression when staff don’t attend.”

“On the other hand, I view assemblies as integral to the education of the girls. We are not here just to teach them academic skills. We’re also teaching them life skills, and assemblies are part of that education. For that reason, I insist that all assemblies are properly vetted by myself before given. The girls are at a very impressionable age. The wrong influence could lead from a happy and constructive life to one of disappointment, to them, to their families, to society at large.”

“I understand.”

“Good. I wanted to impress on you how important I view assemblies. I am the ultimate gatekeeper. I expect to have a transcript of what you will say at least a day before the assembly is given. I don’t expect it now. But I do expect to hear your ideas. If I like them, I will accept it and we will pencil in a date for you. If I find your ideas inappropriate, you’ll have to go back to the drawing board. Do you understand?”

You nod.

“So, what do you wish to talk to the girls about?”