‘I’m a secondary school geography teacher from Cardiff. I’ve taken a year out to travel and broaden my teaching experience. As you’ve probably guessed, I’m mainly teenagers too. And I’m a big film buff.’
Thanassis turned to face her.
‘And last, but by no means least…’
‘Hi, I’m Grace. I’m a former primary school deputy head and a tutor. Like Daniel, I also fancied a complete change. I’m comfortable with all ages, but love the seven- to eleven-year-olds. I’ve taught in a higher education college too, so adults don’t scare me either. I love to dance when I get the chance.’
That was probably enough for now.
‘Thank you, Grace. As you can see, we have a wide range of experiences and interests. You will stick mainly with one or two age groups, but you’ll be expected to muck in if we have any gaps or illness on the staff. Any questions?’
Daniel put up his hand.
There was a snigger from Charlie.
‘You don’t have to put up your hand, Daniel.’
‘Sorry, just a bit nervous.’
His honesty endeared him to Grace even more, and she could see Rose looking over at him and smiling. The two of them looked like something from a train company ad for a day out in the countryside. From the little she’d seen, they both seemed shy and a little awkward. But she wasn’t here to matchmake for her colleagues, or, if she listened to Sofia, for herself. She was here to work.
Daniel cleared his throat.
‘I was just wondering when we’ll have the information about which classes and times?’
Grace zoned back in to what Thanassis was saying and dismissed a vision of Daniel and Rose walking hand in hand in a meadow. Sofia always accused her of being an old romantic at heart.
‘You’ll get given your timetables a week in advance, usually on a Friday. So please come and pick up your timetables for what’s left of this week, and there’ll be a new one tomorrow. Information packs on lessons are on the desks. Anything else?’
Rose raised her voice a notch.
‘How much leeway will we have on the content of classes? I know we’re all following the Cambridge curriculum, but do we have some space for personal expression?’
Without having to look, Grace could tell Charlie and Anna were raising their eyebrows at each other. They’d obviously labelled themselves the naughty kids. She turned to give them both a hard stare and they looked away too quickly to be completely innocent.
‘That’s a good question, Rose.’
Rose coloured as soon as Thanassis turned his gaze on her. Grace hoped that the woman didn’t get Charlie’s teenagers any time soon. They’d eat her for breakfast.
‘You do have some leeway, as long as you stick to the set exercises. If you’re planning anything really way out, then please check with me first.’
‘Oh, no, nothing like that.’
Grace gave Rose an encouraging smile. In her opinion, young teachers relied too much on PowerPoint presentations and interactive whiteboards. They had their place, of course, but sometimes it was good to think outside the box. It looked like Rose would be her sort of teacher.
‘If that’s all, please pick up your timetables with the room numbers and familiarise yourself with the layout of the building. All the books you might need are in the room opposite this one. Introductory lessons start in half an hour! Good luck everyone.’
Rose and Daniel filed out with her to explore as instructed. As they headed for the upstairs classrooms, she glimpsed Anna and Charlie smoking outside the back door. Grace had already discovered that smoking was a lot more popular in Greece than it was in England. The Greeks didn’t seem to have got the memo that it wasn’t a great idea. Not that it was any of her business. Charlie blew out a series of smoke rings and gave her a cheery wave.
ChapterFour
It had been a tiring but rewarding ten days. As the Greek schools didn’t break up for another week, Grace had taught adults– businessmen and women from the town– in the mornings and kids in the afternoons. The businesspeople were eager to learn, and Grace had used several of the ideas in her arsenal of tricks to push them.
She’d been determined that they weren’t going to be sitting there staring at a screen all morning. One of her most successful lessons was when she’d handed out photocopies with pictures and information on some of the country’s top tourist attractions, such as the Acropolis and the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens, plus the ruins at Delphi, and asked them to get into pairs.
One of the students got to be the tourist and the other a tour guide. Grace asked the tour guide to explain in English why the tourist should go to these places, how they could get there, and why they were culturally significant. The tourist had to ask lots of relevant questions. Then they had to swap over and do it the other way round.
It had seemed to go down well, if the buzz and noise was anything to go by. Thanassis had popped his head in for five minutes and given her an approving nod. She’d not seen anything of the bosses, Giannis and Elena, but she supposed they’d appear at some point.
