It was a bit of a shock to discover that a world exists before 6am. Voluntary redundancy in the summer, with no position to go to due to scheduled major surgery and a need for recovery, means that I’ve had a whopping five months (+ a little bit) of getting up at a time to suit me, with the sole intention of doing things just to please me (visits to benefits office are not included in the ‘please me’ list of activities.)
I feel a trifle odd right now; I should be in work, working. I shouldn’t, of course. I’m only part-time and only working MTW (< that’s a throwback to haemoD days) but I feel as though I’m being naughty by not going into work.
It is a HUGE place. It takes me five minutes just to walk from the main reception area to the shared desk in the departmental staff-room. For someone who is used to being able to chase teenagers around a whole building in a matter of seconds, this is an amazingly awe-inspiring thing. The novelty will wear off, I’m sure.
My role is a supportive one, and I’m going to have to get my head round that because I’m used to being a bit more proactive and taking on a bit more responsibility in my past positions. I’m part of the support team which covers the entire college, but I’m also working within two separate departments so I feel as though I have three hats, which is likely to give me a headache.
My colleagues are friendly and approachable, although it’s clear from the training day that there are ripples amongst and between certain folk. I thought that Further Education might be hugely different to working in the KS4 PRU but actually, it isn’t. Lessons are slightly more relaxed, but the nature of the students is very much the same. They are still bolshy, still needy and still wanting to get away with doing as little work as possible! They are slightly taller, but it seems that between leaving school at the age of 16 and starting FE college three months later very little actually changes, mentally. And to be fair, those students who are 18 or 19 still tend to act like the 16 year olds.
It makes them seem so very young! I must be getting old.
Good Thing/s: Student who said thank you for the support I gave him; student who said, Hello katieF! In the corridor when I’d never even spoken to him before (I’d been introduced to the whole class a couple of hours earlier); finishing early on a Wednesday!
Bad Thing/s: Boring lessons; student who got irked with me; the paperwork.
I *think* I’m going to like it.
I know how you feel (a little bit, at least) because my job has recently become part-time too, and I also feel strange for not being at work when I should be (even though I shouldn’t be).
I hope you settle into your new job soon, and that you do like it. :)
It sounds like a good challenge to me. I’ve never worked in FE, but I remember thinking that 6th formers were always baffling – no change in attitude from the compulsory days but they were choosing to do their ALevels. Weird, very weird.
I hope it’s continuing to go well!