An Ordinary Day At School

An Ordinary Day At School  

by Paul McCann

I remember the days I’d come home from St Gabriel’s and Mammy would look at me and say

“So tell me son , what was school like today . Was it  good  ?

Then I’d try to explain a normal day at school .

In the front office when I got to school today I saw the front office window was broken .
There was a line-up of kids outside the principals office .It looked like one of those suspect  line up’s in a police station , in front of  the head masters glare . 

Then as the day went on no one owned up to breaking the window so the whole school was called for an assembly with all the wrath of the teaching staff demanding that the culprit would step forward . 
Nobody did though , so the person who broke the window,  got off lightly .Then other stuff happened today at school like  in the playground somebody brought in a football and the whole school joined in for a game of one touch football . As soon as the ball was sent up in the air it was on for young and old . There must have been at least two hundred playing this crazy mixed up free for all game where anything goes . Some boys got a bleeding nose and others got black eyes and scuffed knees before the school bell rang then every one would disappear into the school corridors where they would have to sit at their desks inside at classroom until the bell rang for lunch break . After lunch I went to the 

because there’s was a lecture for everyone about keeping silent in the classroom  ,
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oday instructions were given on silence and everyone had to write down 20 times in their notebook Please Keep Silent , in very small writing but some of the boys had written ,

No School at the weekend  and were sent to the head masters office .
Sometimes the head master wasn’t in and the boys had to sit outside and wait for him to return 

Today we started a project about red Indians .  The class split up into 3 groups of 10 tribes and everyone had to make sounds like war chants which upset the head master who came into the class room .  I was asked to go to go to his office and explain exactly what ball the screaming was about

I tried pretending that it was part of a research on tribal life in an indian village but he said that as a school teacher he though it was more like  playing games with the students and if it continued I would be in danger of loosing my job as a school teacher at St Gabriel’s and I would have to find a position elsewhere .

I spoke with some of the other staff and they showed some empathy for what had happened and
offered advice and comfort during the rest of the  day. When the school bell rang part of me was happy to see some one had broken another window .

Mammy gave me a big hug and said

“ You’re a good teacher  son , so tell that principal you can get another job in any school in Belfast and if he’s not happy with you and your research on indian tribal life he can get another history teacher “

Next day I did what Mammy said and spoke to the principal but he had no answer  ,except to send  me outside for ten minutes . 

When I returned he  burst out giggling and then he stretched out his bottom lip and made

a funny face and began to make this indian war chant sound .

I joined in and we had a laugh .Sometimes I think teaching at St Gabriel’s is boring but then
other times it was just the best place in the world to be and I got paid for what I did .

The End

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