Run down of the students

The headmistress’ speech is nothing special, just a greeting and a rundown on the new school year. You’re officially introduced as the new history teacher, the only new teacher this year. She also congratulates Spencer on her recent marriage. The rest is the usual pep talk and confidence boost. You’ve heard similar at the university at the start of the year.

After the speech, Mrs Oversight grabs you and Abigail and takes you back to her office.

“We need to run through the students. Get you up to date on the Upper Sixth, and both on what to expect with the Lower Sixth. Mrs Oversight takes a while after seating before she speaks.

“There’s no easy way of saying this, Kelly Golden’s back.”

“What? She did her exams last year,” Abigail states in exasperation.

“And to the surprise of absolutely no-one, she failed them all. Her father has decided she must retake the entire year, and he’s paying good money for her to do so. The headmistress could not turn down the money.”

“But she didn’t pay attention in class the first time. What makes you think she’ll pay attention this time? And it’s not like she just doesn’t pay attention. I could cope if she just didn’t pay attention and didn’t do her work. She’s a disruptive influence. She makes it impossible to teach.”

“I understand, Mrs Sorgood. And I do realise that she might have a personal vendetta against you. But the headmistress has decided we can’t turn down her father’s money. He’s paying more than normal for her to repeat the year. And he’s given her explicit direction that she’s repeating the year until she has passed. Hopefully she’s learnt her lesson.”

“She won’t. Money doesn’t mean anything to her. She’s a Golden.” The Goldens are the richest family in town. One of the richest in the country. As a child growing up, they were a mythical family, based in a sprawling estate at the edge of town that should really be called a palace. Abigail turns to you with a serious expression. “Kelly Golden is a spoilt young girl who’s used to getting her way. She didn’t want to be here last year and so decided expulsion was a better option. Except we’re not allowed to expel her, because her father paid to make certain we didn’t.”

“And he’s paid even more this time.”

“Oh, fantastic. Maybe I should have let her cheat in her exams.”

“Mrs Sorgood, no. We’re here to teach.”

“And if the girls don’t want to learn.”

“Then we find a way to teach them, just the same. All Miss Golden’s partners-in-crime have left. She’ll be on her own. She’ll be humiliated having to repeat the year. Maybe she’ll be different this time.”

It’s clear Abigail doesn’t believe so. “You think,” and she lists of several names, “won’t help her? There’s a reason we call the ‘C’-Stream the reprobates. They were bad enough last year. With Kelly Golden among them they’ll become unteachable.”

“Mrs Sorgood. I’ve told you before. We do not use that name. And we don’t give up on students. However much we want to. They’re paying for an education. We’re giving them an education. You just need to find a way to get through to them. No-one is unteachable.”

Abigail nods, but it’s clear she isn’t happy.

“Now that that’s out of the way, we might as well go through the rest of the ‘C’-Stream.”

The ‘C’-Stream is the worst of the students, the unruly, and the not so bright. You listen to a litany of shame, wondering whether you’ve made the wrong decision moving into teaching.

“Don’t worry,” Mrs Oversight says when she sees your worry, “we’ve had worse years than this. It would be worse in the state system.”

She then moves on to the ‘B’-Stream. {if Brianna=1} She only briefly mentions Brianna, passing her over as one of the hardworking good girls in the stream. {endif}

“And finally on a more positive outlook, the A-Stream. These are good girls. You won’t have any problems with these.”

“Except maybe Ellie Jones,” Abigail states.

“Miss Jones is a good girl, intelligent, hard working. Mr Smith won’t have any problems with her.”

“I agree with that. Just that the girl draws trouble to her. She needs protection.”

“She’s a year older. She’s now the eldest girl in school, apart from Miss Golden of course.”

“As if that will help her. She’s too quiet.” Abigail turns to you. “Look, the only time you’ll have problems with Ellie Jones, is if you try and make her speak in class. Won’t do it. Her essays are among the best you’ll read. She always hands her work in on time. No problem there. Just everything else. She has no friends. She comes to school. Sits on her own. Barely talks to anyone. Goes home. She won’t stand up for herself. She won’t seek help. And the other girls know it. And some of them, exploit it. I’ve caught her in my classroom during break crying. She’s covered in bruises. I’ve a fair idea who’s doing it, but without evidence, or at least Ellie telling us, we can’t do anything about it.”

“We just need to keep an eye out.”

“We need to do more than that. We need to protect her. How many times did she ‘fall’ down the stairs last year.” When Abigail says fall, she uses her fingers as quotation marks.

“We can’t do anything, if the girl is unwilling to help herself. We need to catch them in the act.”

“Her bullies are too clever for that. At least the clever ones are. Yes, we caught a few last year, but even then, it’s not like she helps us. She’s more embarrassed us trying to protect her, than her being bullied.”

After that there’s a rundown of the other students in the ‘A’-Stream.