I’ve been working as an exam invigilator for the past week at Thomas Lord Audley school in Monkwick this past week.
Words cannot describe how shocked I was.
16 Year olds telling you to “fuck off” and inviting you to “bend over and lick my arse” when they’re in a frikkin’ exam is something of an eye opener.
Being threatened with having my ‘fucking skull cracked open’ during a breaktime by a student who I had removed from an exam wasn’t terribly enjoyable either, nor was being called a “cunt” repeatedly by his 11 (!) year old brother when the little brat managed to pick me out as I was walking down the steps from the VI Unit office.
I don’t know, in all the other 10+ schools I’ve gone to, invigilators were just a formality - no one talked during Exams, let alone made farting noises, twanged rulers, threw paper or whistled surreptitiously. For pities sakes! These kids are about to take their GCSEs!
The bad apples were either stupid or shameless, every staff-member I questioned suggested that it was probably both. Have they never heard of peripheral vision? I was able to catch dozens of them talking or throwing pens, flicking paper or rubbers simply by not looking directly at them but by keeping my attention on them through my peripheral vision and hearing.
It was crazy but now it’s over. I relish the prospect of more study and research - Invigilating an exam should be a matter of standing around/patrolling the aisles till your feet ache and you’re bored out of your mind, not a job akin to being a Community Support officer.
I met so many great kids there but the fact was that if I had a child I’d home school them or move if they were in the TLA catchment area. I hope the recently announced Special Measures from Ofsted (the public education auditors) will make a difference but I personally think too much of that school is too far gone.
Monkwick has serious social issues to deal with; neglectful parents, benefit fraud and welfare-addiction. These kids deserve a better life at school. As much as the horrendous home life so many of them suffer through influences their behavior at school, we can still do better.
Perhaps a letter to Bernard Jenkins is in order. He’s a Lib Dem in very Tory seat, with David Cameron’s latest revivification of the Conservative party he’s got to be interested having an impact in the community. Maybe our horrendous Lib Dem borough council could help out too.
Later
John
Posted by John Swaine at December 12, 2005 04:17 PM