Just finished work, really pi55ed off. Been working in a secondary school for the last 11 years (something I kind of fell into after being made redundant from another job and ended up staying with much longer than I ever expected). The place has been becoming more political over the last few years, with certain principal teachers and management driving their own agendas, but today really took the biscuit for me…
Army wanted to come in to the school to set up their careers stall one lunchtime soon. They weren’t asking to speak to kids at an assembly or take up their time in any other way. They weren’t (and never have been) on a recruitment drive to sign up school leavers. It was merely a request to set up their stall as they’ve done many times up until recent years, and kids who have an interest in the forces can pick up a leaflet or ask about the careers on offer. Then I saw the minutes of the senior school management meeting where they’d had a ‘debate about the ethics’ of allowing the services in to the school, and how after ‘lengthy discussion of the ethical issues’ it was decided that ‘the armed forces had no role to play in the school’.
This pi55ed me right off so I went to see the depute headteacher to complain. Pointed out to him that we quite happily work with the local businesses and factories and let them in to the school to recruit our leavers. Likewise the NHS who can set up a careers stall no problem. F**k, we even let the Lesbian Gay Bisexual and Transgender people in to the school for 2-3 months to take senior pupils for an ongoing course about tackling homophobic bullying, yet we can’t allow the Army a stall for one lunch break. We’ve got long-standing links with our local regiments, and have had many kids who weren’t particularly academic go on to make great careers for themselves in the military.
I suppose when we’ve got an anti-war Buddist pacifist for a depute head, and a couple of guidance teachers one of whom has a particular gay/lesbian agenda, and the other who broke down in tears when he was wound up a few years ago about conscription into the Army for the Gulf War, then that’s the kind of left-wing knobs who are providing kids with an education and career advice.
Fortunately I’ve got my full complement of vocational driving licences - PCV, HGV 1&2, ADR, HIAB, DQC etc etc, and I’ve been thinking for a while that it’s time for a change of scene. Time to quit the full time teaching and turn my current part-time driving work into a full-time career. I think the time has come to enjoy my last few months in teaching with some ****-stirring and winding up these types of people to the max 
