There was a commotion outside the room in which I was working. I heard the voice of a colleague in need so I went outside to see if I could help. A pupil, with whom I have had "dealings" shall we say, was causing my colleague grief, and she had asked him to stand outside her door. The pupil in question was not able to follow this request, and had repeatedly pushed her door open, poked his nose in through the gap and disrupted as much as he could from that position.
I took him into my little room, the Teachers' Resouce and Preparation Area, and called a member of SMT to take him away.
TwP: Liam*, sit down please.
Liam: No. it's boring.
TwP: Liam, please sit down. There's no-one in here, you can just wait for the end of the lesson.
Liam: No. I don't want to.
He sat down. I continued my work. I heard the door ping. I looked round. Liam was gone. I went to the door, and looked in the corridor. No sign of Liam. Then, I heard a stifled giggle, so I looked under the table. There he was, attempting to hide.
TwP: Liam, come out from under there and sit down.
Liam: No. It's boring. I'd rather stand in the corridor.
He came out from under the table, and started looking round the room.
Liam: What's this room called? Is it your room?
TwP: This is the Teachers' Resource and Preparation Area.
Liam: TRPA? Turpa?
TwP: We could call it the Teachers' Resource Area for Preparation if you prefer to make a real word out of the letters.
Liam: TR...AP. TRAP. But it's not a trap. I can get out of this room any time I like. I know how to do it. You just press this button here. And I know the code to get in. It's easy to work out. How does this work? (pointing to the exit button which releases the door)
TwP: I'm sure you can work that out as well. Please sit down.
Liam: I could break that easy. What's that doing up there? (pointing at a poster in the skylight well) What's the point of putting it up there? No-one will look up there.
TwP: You just did. Please sit down, Liam.
Thankfully, a member of SMT came to pick him up. It took three attempts to get him out of the room, but once he was gone, I became saddened by the notion that children like Liam are becoming commonplace; the norm, rather than the exception. Maybe once that does happen, that there are more disaffected children in schools than hard-working, well-behaved children, or just children who manage to accept what school is all about, then the so-called Mainstream children will finally be "Special" enough to have their educational needs addressed.
*not his real name
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