Duties. Teachers have to do them, sometimes paid sometimes for love ( which we do a lot): bus duty, playground duty, detention duty, dinner duty. Schools run these on rotas – in my time we did one break a week (no extra pay), we volunteered for detention, bus and others but were paid for lunch. I did all of these once a senior leader but I never took any pay. Duties matter to keep children safe and happy BUT can they help teachers too?

As a young teacher I disliked break duty

• I missed the break which I often really needed
• I missed the staffroom gossip and adult conversation for those short 15 min moments
• Playground duty often brought more work, behaviour referrals or someone’s quiet words needing a safeguard referral
• I needed max time to prep for my science lessons – setting up etc

But once mentored by an older colleague I started to see the value. For me this was most stark for bus duty. I did bus duty on and off irregularly when asked as a young teacher. Seven buses lined outside our school, staff saw children onto the bus and sent the bus on its way when everyone was on board. Some of our buses were the public bus ( N^o 76) which slightly diverted to collect our children, but wouldn’t hang around. 

How many times had I heard  – “let the children out promptly at 3.30pm or they might miss a bus” and then as a senior leader how often did I say the same. You try cajoling a local bus driver already stressed to “please hang on a moment”. BUT my big error came week one of being a new assistant head and now firmly on the bus duty rota. My teaching lab was close to the gate, I did not want my lessons finished ‘early’ even by a few minutes as other SLT did – mmmm my mistake.

So that first week as a new AHT I was busy and often stressed but on Friday worse was to come. An A-level group deep in conversation with me and each other about global warming, greenhouse gases comparisons to the Ozone hole ( yes we taught all that) and suddenly I realised it was gone 3.30pm I mean only 3.35pm BUT I WAS LATE – I flew out the lab and sprinted to the gate to see the first two buses departing and leaving a load of children running down from lower school “Sir, Sir that’s my bus”. Disaster and about 30 pupils missed their  bus or rather their bus left them. Some took other routes, but there were about 5 left and so it was to the school minibus…. I never did that again, my lessons finished early. 

Other days I dug in my pocket and lent the £1 OR £1.50 etc with a promise you’ll pay me back tomorrow – promises kept and unkept but favours done and won other favours. Other times I waited in the rain, snow and even nice summer days for 20 minutes for a bus  to show up, but I came to see it as a safeguard and a privilege. Initially I must admit I resented all this, as other colleagues had those moments to sort themselves out at the end of exhausting days or coffee with a colleague and opportunity to unwind, even a chance to escape quickly before a rush hour. Some staff ( maybe cover staff) still kept children behind who I had to arrange to get home. But like many aspects of the teacher role eventually I really enjoyed the duty.  I made it my place to wish the children well to ask those in the queue how their day went, ask if they had had any good lessons, what they had learnt. Had the chance to say to the odd youngster who was struggling, well done. To someone I had to sort out in the day, to say have a good evening, tomorrow is another day. And yes sometimes used the moment to create the bridge back for them. For others they might just call out on the way “Thanks Sir” or “ Can I chat to you tomorrow?”

Even better I watched children grow up – I remember many many like the little girl in Y7 who struggled with a violin, a school bag and once a week her basket of cooking, running, worried she might have to sleep at school if she missed her ride home. She told me she wanted to be a journalist one day when the bus was late and 7 years later having taught her in y10 and y11, I gave her that infamous brown envelope which took her to Leeds University to study broadcast journalism and start her now considerable career in the media

I talked to parents who occasionally intercepted their children to take them to the doctor or dentist, or who had news ( good or bad) to share, and news shared with me.

On a few odd occasions,  behaviour was awful and we always told the driver to return to the school. Children marched to the hall, and asked who did what. Rarely any confession but a sheet of paper each to write anonymously what happened , esp under the pressure of 5 mins or the bus leaves you here and we had all the names and info needed.

Apart from my lungs full of diesel fumes I grew to love those duties simply because I used them to help make me be a better teacher and halep develop an ethos and culture in a school.

And here are two special moments – one when Sheku Kanneh-Mason had a surprise as Nottingham City Transport generously named a bus after him when he won BBC Young musician – though he did on occasion slightly oversleep, run for (his) bus and miss it! Secondly the kind of letter you just love to see