‘Yes, there hasn’t been any interviews taking place. I’ve not even seen an advert for the job. Is that even legal to just fill a position without advertising?’ Lydia picked up her mug, tutting before she took a sip of her drink.
‘If they’ve not even stepped foot inside the school before, what could they possibly bring to the job that you couldn’t, Bertie?’ Helen, who had always secretly – or not so secretly – admired Bertie, curtly shook her head, clearly upset that the trust had overlooked him for the promotion.
Shifting on his feet, Bertie glanced towards the conference room door. ‘Rest assured the trust have supplied us with someone more than qualified.’
‘Hmph.’ Helen crossed her arms, a look of disdain etched on her face.
After giving Helen a tight-lipped smile, Bertie strode across to the door of the conference room and disappeared outside.
Frowning, Gemma glanced around the room as people began to whisper, their voices rising with each minute Bertie was gone.
‘So, come on, Gemma, who do you think it’ll be?’ Annie nudged her arm. ‘There were five of them who have been interrogating pupils and staff alike today, so out of the five, which one would you guess?’
Turning, Gemma shrugged, trying her best not to smile. Imagine if it were that cute guy from the group of visitors who had been wandering around. She’d only been subjected to two of the suits watching her teach numeracy and one had been him, although he had kept his distance, watching from the side-lines rather than walking around the tables and talking to the children like the man he’d been with, but he had definitely caught her eye. ‘I’ve no idea. I just hope they were happy with my assembly.’
‘Aw, they would have been. You always manage to keep all the kids engaged.’
Gemma nodded. They’d certainly been engaged. They’d been standing and stomping in time to the music. ‘They were. And all the kids looked as though they were enjoying themselves.’
‘There you go then. You’ll have blown them away.’ Annie grinned before whistling towards Adam and trying to get his attention. ‘Oi! Adam. Which one of the suits do you think will be taking on the headteacher role here?’
‘Does it matter? They most probably won’t have had any experience of working in an actual school. Most of them are from business roles, aren’t they?’ Adam crossed his arms, his thick eyebrows knitted together as he dove into his usual rant about how the academy trust was run. ‘Thinking because they can understand spreadsheets or some policy worked at a school in Timbuktu, it’ll work everywhere regardless of size, cohort or…’
The door to the conference room swung open again, and Bertie reappeared, one of the men who had visited joining him a moment later. ‘I’d like to introduce you to Mr Higgs.’
Stepping forward, Mr Higgs straightened his navy tie, which almost perfectly matched the navy suit he was wearing. ‘Thank you, Mr Simmons. Jonathan, please. Good afternoon, everyone.’
The quiet reply of ‘Good afternoon, Mr Higgs’ rumbled around the room, a habit not many teachers could successfully drop on a whim.
Gemma could also feel the faint heat of a blush creeping across her skin as she felt the nudge of Annie’s elbow to her side. Yep, she’d clocked it too, their new headteacher was indeed the man she’d thought of as cute. Great. She’d never hear the end of it when Tania found out in the morning.
‘As you are aware, myself and a few of my colleagues from the academy trust have spent the day here to get a feel of the school, the community and how things are run.’ He pulled a notebook from the crook of his arm and began flicking through it. Having found the desired page, he looked back towards the group in front of him, ready to speak again just as Bertie spoke up.
‘I’m sure you found we run a tight ship around here.’ Bertie crossed his arms confidently.
Turning towards him, Jonathan raised his eyebrows. ‘I was going to say we found things lacking.’
‘Lacking?’ Bertie coughed, clearly surprised by Jonathan’s answer.
Nodding curtly, Jonathan turned back to the teachers in front of him. ‘Certainly, the way Woodland Primary conducts its business offers many positives, but a few issues require addressing.’
‘Woodland PrimarySchool. It’s not a business. Our children’s welfare, education and happiness are paramount in every decision we make.’ Bertie mumbled as he slunk into a chair.
‘And so they should be, but my role here is to improve on what is already being achieved.’ Jonathan shifted position, slightly widening his stance. ‘Much of what you do here is good, but some things do need improvement, and it’s those aspects I’ll be focusing on.’
Annie muttered under her breath, ‘And what does he know about teaching? I bet he’s never taught a lesson in his life.’
Gemma scrunched up her nose. She was beginning to form the exact same impression. Surely coming in here, onto their patch, as an outsider, Jonathan shouldn’t be criticising them? Not straight away. One day of mooching around the school, hovering over teachers and pupils alike as they worked and flicking through hundreds of books could not truly reflect how the school operated.
‘…and that brings me onto what I witnessed in the school hall this morning.’ Jonathan looked around the group, his eyes resting on Gemma.
Clasping her hands in her lap, Gemma felt the flutter in her chest still. Yes, he’d watched the assembly she’d taken; he must have seen how on task and captivated the kids had been. At least that was something she could be proud of. She chewed the inside of her cheek to stop herself from grinning. Yep, she’d take all the praise she could.
‘I have no idea what was going on in there, but the noise, the utter chaos of the children…’
As he continued, Gemma gripped her hands together, lacing her fingers tightly around one another. She felt as though the world had stopped spinning, the blood running from her face. She’d been so sure he’d have seen that all the children had been focused, on task, and had been enjoying themselves.
‘… the ratio of three members of staff to the entire child population of the school…’
