What is MORE STRESSFUL than supervising school children eating in a cafeteria? Making sure that they get home safely at the end of the day! When you are dealing with children in Kindergarten to Grade 2, who leave earlier than their older classmates, that dismissal time can be pure BEDLAM!!!
Witness an absolutely adorable Grade Three class in a French school, that I taught this week. The students all left at the 1:45, some on buses, some being picked up and some going to various daycare establishments. Five minutes later you-know-what HIT THE FAN!
Case in point #1- Nicholas. He had gone home on the bus, but his aunt was waiting to pick him up. Students can only be picked up once the buses have left. Is that such a good idea? What if the child isn't SUPPOSED to be on that bus? Too late!!! Such was the case with Nick. There had been no note in his agenda. I had checked. The aunt (who was a little put out!) said the mother had called in the change. I checked with the secretary. NO, she never got a call. Turns out the mother LEFT a voice mail message. Now, for all parents out there who think THAT is a good idea, think again. School secretaries are the BUSIEST people, a-l-l d-a-y LONG! They are constantly being interrupted by administrators, staff, students, parents, phones ringing, deliveries... YOU NAME IT. They don't have t-i-m-e to check messages. We are talking your MOST precious beings here, your children. Don't trust their safe delivery home to a MACHINE!
The bus driver saw there was no one home, so he dropped the child off at his second option, daycare. This we all found out (the VP, myself, the secretary) more than half an hour later, as we all made numerous phone calls trying to contact the aunt again, the bus driver, and the mother at work. Total chaos! I tracked the mother down a second time, to tell her where Nick ended up. I was trying to nicely explain to her to NEVER leave a message, when another teacher popped her head in. Where was another student of mine? She was supposed to be in her dismissal group. Quick goodbyes to mother number one.
That brings me to Case #2 - Mylène. Well, Mylène was supposed to be tutored after school, but her tutor canceled. I made Mylène aware of that, but never thought anything further. Mea culpa! Mylène doesn't TAKE THE BUS; she is picked up. Well, her parents won't pick her up until later when she is being tutored. So, I brought her back to class, and called the mother, who was very sweet about the fact that I had goofed. She quickly came to get her daughter. However, had Mylène been tutored, then she would have been in the dismissal group of the teacher who had JUST come to my door looking for her an hour later. GOOD to have these checks and balances in place, I know, but by this time, I am getting frazzled.
Case #3 - Annabelle. Backtrack forty minutes and add an intercom call from the secretary, asking on behalf of the school daycare staff, who want to know where Annabelle is. I try to place the child in my mind, quickly, so I can give the right answer. It was, after all, only my FIRST day with these children. Turns out she had gone home sick at 1:00, which I told them. They wanted the details, which I didn't know, because the VP had handled it. I was too busy trying to teach the other 16 in the class. Gee whiz! :)
At one point, when I was running around tracking down these children, I tried to take a child back to class, thinking it was Mylène. The supervising dismissal teacher says, "No, that one is mine." They all look the same to me, those sweet faces, when they have tuques on!! Turns out it was hers, all right - HER CHILD. I had to laugh when I found that out later.
So more than an hour after dismissal, I finally know that ALL 17 of those precious children are safe and sound, where they are supposed to be! By now, I am a nervous wreck! WHY I don't have high blood pressure baffles me...
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