The Staffroom
The staffroom occupies a special place within any school building, or at least it should do. It should, at its very least be a place of refuge away from the classroom and one of refreshment. It should contain a fridge, a toaster, a sink, a decent kettle or water heater, cutlery, a tea towel that no one knows where it came from, some crappy lounge chairs and/or sofas, some plastic chairs, a microwave and a pin board for notices from whichever teaching union are active inside the school. If any school does not have the latter then leave as soon as you can. It just isn’t a good place to work in. The other objects can be purchased or borrowed or stolen from other locations but the union board is something that just cannot be exchanged for money or favours. It is a fundamental part of the health of the school because the staffroom is for the staff and not an extension of management meeting areas. And it should be for all of the staff, not just the teaching staff. Some