Paul Nicholls Stuff

Musings on my first week of work...

As of Tuesday I am now officially employed by Rainham Mark Grammar School, and will be for at least the next thirteen months. Its really happening!

I can't begin to express how odd it is to work for the school - to be a member of staff. There are the obvious differences between staff and students (I get paid to be there, for one), but then there's the things you might not think of; like using the staff toilets (I don't even know where most of them are), parking inside the gates (saving me at least 50m on my walk from the car to school), and ... weirdest of all - calling people by their first names! There's also a feeling that I'm being treated differently, I can't identify quite what it is, but I think its that we're now talking on a level, rather than me being looked down on for being "just a student".

Obviously at the moment things are a little different because there are very few teachers in, mainly support staff. the hours are shorter and everything is a little more relaxed. However, once everyone comes back in September and the existing technicians leave me and Sam behind it'll be interesting to see how I cope with the "weirdness".

All of this does open an interesting moral question too. With the rest of my year group heading off into the Big Wide World (or Uni...) my friendships in year 12 are ever more important. But is that "allowed"? Arguably I'm not in a considerable "position of authority" over the students, but theoretically I could be - and I've been Police checked for that very reason. So do I continue seeing these people out of school as after all they were my friends before I became an employee of the school, or distance myself? The former does carry with it risks, but the latter is unfair on both parties. Hmmmmmm