Return of the Chav · Mon Jul 3, 22:12 by Eleri Straker
My Chav princess reared her head again the other day. Of late, she’s been keeping her head down – I’d like to say she’s been working, but this isn’t fantasy, so I won’t! Anyway, I’ve just started reading Lord of the Flies with my year 10 class. Normally, with a high ability group, I would tell the class to read a few chapters for homework and we’d discuss it in the lesson. This group isn’t a high ability group and even though there are some very bright kids in it, there are a lot who really struggle. So I’ve had to turn this great novel into a class reader. This isn’t a problem as nearly all of my lessons with this group are the last period of the day (a brilliant piece of timetabling that!), so they really don’t feel like working – particularly over the last few days when the weather has been so hot. (No air conditioning, no fans and too much glass.) Reading the novel in class has actually worked quite well as all the kids have to do is listen, then argue with me about what certain events in the book mean. (We’re only five chapters in and they’re already having heated arguments about what the Beast is.)
Last week, we were reading the book and everyone was actually listening. Everyone except the Princess, who was doing her usual thing of putting on her makeup and chatting incessantly at the back of the class. So I told her that if she couldn’t stop her chatting which was stopping the others from enjoying the book, then she was free to leave. She sank into her usual sulk, so I carried on reading. But I happened to glance up and there was Princess, leaning over the metre wide gap between her desk and the next, attempting to draw on the face of the boy at that desk with a large, heavy duty, permanent black ink marker! I put down my book and asked her to leave. She stared at me in total disbelief then shouted at me, “But I wasn’t talking! You said I’d have to go out if I was talking!” I explained that drawing on someone was probably not a good idea and that she’d disturbed the lesson yet again…
The response was quite dramatic. She got to her feet, threw back her hair in a wonderfully dramatic gesture and yelled, “You’re mad you are!” There was a stunned silence from the rest of the class (who, according to my class room helper, were horrified at the girl’s rudeness) so I just replied, “Quite possibly. But you can leave anyway.” Her mouth dropped open and she flounced out. The moment the door slammed shut behind her, the rest of the students applauded, with one of the tougher boys giving me the thumbs up sign and saying, “Nice one, Miss.” I carried on reading.
Some ten minutes later, there was a knock on the door and Princess came in. She looked quite contrite and actually begged to be let back in… I decided to be magnanimous!
That was last week and so far, peace has reigned in the lessons. Princess may not listen, but she hasn’t stopped anyone else from doing so.
I know this bit of calm is only temporary, Princess will be back to her old tricks very soon, but while it lasts, I’m going to make the most of it, and enjoy it.
