I’m still having fun in the special school. And I’ve found a great friend in my line manager, who has exactly the same opinions as me:

• filthy sense of humour – check
• inflexible fundamentalist approach to tea breaks – check
• pity for people with neurotic attention to detail – check
• daily reference to basic principles of job – check
• ruthless adherence to belief that fun makes education easier – check.

But there is a price to pay.

First, there was our agreement that special school kids aren’t stupid – so why shouldn’t they get qualifications? The answer, I have discovered, is obvious: no-one wanted the workload. But my boss and I didn’t like that answer.

One of the hurdles was our lack of ‘Examination Entry Status’ as a school: “Do we have an Examinations Officer?” I asked, dimly aware of my colleagues taking two steps backwards as I spoke, volunteering me for the job. Note to self: keep gob shut, and buy more midnight oil.

The perk of this “development of responsibilities” (LEA code for an increase in workload? without a payrise) was? a new laptop. And because there is a policy of subsidiarity of responsibility (LEA code for making you order your own hardware so they don’t have to) I was given a checklist of options to choose from.

I chose a wireless-enabled laptop that was compatible with my home network.

The LEA decided to “optimise efficiency” and upgraded my choice…

…so my new laptop isn’t compatible with my home network…

?

***Edited to add***

A local fast food delivery firm has just arrived and tried? to deliver pizzas that we hadn’t ordered.

He saw the house number on the order form and didn’t bother reading the rest – he just headed for our house.

I think there’s a message in there somewhere…