My little baby left school today, dear Reader, Well he is sixteen and 6 foot 3 so it is to be expected really. So Mr L has finished his schooling years... well until he returns to school for the sixth form in September.
It does not seem all that long ago that I left school myself and I could not wait to leave school at sixteen. I wish now I had stayed on, but back then in 1990 I could not wait to leave. I should have tried harder with my exams too. I did really well up until the age of fifteen and I just gave up. Silly really I did resit my exams and passed so all worked out in the end. But back then in 1990 all that awaited me was a YTS...
My first job placement was working in a nursery. It was before I resat my exams so it was a YTS placement. Only it was not a nursery it was a house and the lady in charge was basically a child minder. She was not the warmest of people. There was something a touch Victorian about her. At sixteen I was terrified of her. It made me really unhappy at work. She would talk to me like I was something she had stepped in. She would shout and basically I was there to learn as a Nursery Assistant but in truth I was just cheap labour and worked like a mule. Apart from circle time, this woman would not do anything with the children. She never taught me anything. I learnt myself many times by when I had made a mistake and she yelled at me.
I remember she was only suppose to have a certain number of children and when we were inspected she told me to take six children on my own to a theme park. So that she would not be over the numbers. So I just did it. Then there was the nursery-nurse there who you would have thought was helpful and a friend but it turned out she was two-faced running to the boss telling tales. She would talk about the boss behind her back and it made me uncomfortable so I would just smile politely and then she would say things about the boss and then run to the boss saying us young ones had said it. When it was her alone that was saying things.
I lasted a full year there. It all came to an end when I was off sick with suspected glandular fever. When I returned she was having another shouting match at me for having time off ( I had not ever had any time off and I even had all my holiday entitlement). When I had to have an operation she made me work up until it was fifteen minuites until my operation, just giving me enough time to get there. Something just snapped inside of me. I had put up with twelve months of her bullying and not said a word.I answered her back and stood up for myself and then I walked out. I never returned.
I did find another nursery, but it went from bad to worse when none of the staff talked to me there. I thought maybe I had been branded a trouble maker for walking out on my last job. But it turns out the horrid woman had said I had "Special needs" out of spite. she was no more than a bully. But I was glad to be out but I was in a nursery where no one spoke to me. They treated me like some kind of freak all because of what that woman said. Shocking really when they worked in a caring enviroment and they were doing a caring job and if I had special needs you would have thought I would have been with the best kind of people. I think too that it was down to being on the YTS and that did not get you any respect. A Spanish exchange student worked there at the same time as me and the staff did not speak to her either. so we made friends. It turned out she was in my night school class where I was resitting my GCSE English. I was very surprised when the woman who ran that nursery did actually offer me a full time job when my YTS finished. It was the only time she talked to me. Mind you she was never there. She just use to pop in every now and again.
Looking back now. it is shocking how such horrid people can ever work with children, but they do. I was lucky enough to pass my exams and I got a place at college full-time doing the NNEB nursery course. Which was like a holiday after the last couple of years I had; but I think my bad experience had put me off and I no longer wanted to work in this field. Not a great start into working life. I have told my children if they are unhappy not to stay like I did, but to look for something else. I have also taught them that they do not have to put up with bullies and must not take it like I did. I have always encouraged them to get the best from their education and to work hard. I would hate to think of them going through what I did for those two years.
I don't think YTS exisst any more now... I wonder why?
What about you, dear Reader, any work disasters?
Evening all x x x
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