A new kind of playground duty expectation!

Before I came to work in Spain, I worked in a fairly large school consisting of two playgrounds. During playtimes there were roughly 180-240 on each of the two playgrounds, as it was a two-form entry school. And, on each playground, there would be 5-6 adults on duty.

However, in Spain, being in a slightly smaller school with slightly smaller class sizes, the whole primary phase plays on the same playground. And each playtime there are two adults out on duty. Which I found quite daunting, even frightening, when I first realised it was the norm here!

We each do one duty a week. I did mine with the upper primary English teacher. Even though only having two of us was quite a daunting thought, playtimes were usually fine with children choosing to play football, see who could climb the highest on the climbing frame, or play chase around the swimming pool (thankfully, it is fenced off and locked!). So, pretty normal despite seeming a bit scary with there only being the two of us being on duty! My colleague even takes her coffee out, as you normally would anywhere in the world being on playground duty I’m sure, only in a mug! There doesn’t seem to be the safety worry of umpteen primary-age children running around you to warrant a safety flask! Thinking about it, I don’t think I can recall a time I saw a teacher drinking from a mug and not a flask in England!

One particular week I was standing on the playground as usual after bringing my class out first to make sure I was out and ready for my duty. My duty partner colleague is usually out a few minutes after me after she has made her coffee. So, I don’t worry when she’s not out there when I am. When she does make her appearance she does the usual same thing of swaying her hips as she slowly makes her way across the playground, with heels on, mug in hand and shades on!

Anyway, this particular playtime the 5 minutes it usually takes to come out after me seems to be a rather long 5 minutes this week! Playtime is about 30 minutes. But, it’s a very long 30 minutes when you realise that you have been left to do duty on your own! We get 10 minutes in, then 15 and I’m aware by this point that for whatever reason, she will not be joining me on duty this morning! That bit is ok, sometimes things crop up. However, there doesn’t seem to be anyone coming out in her place!

Now, in England, and I would assume the same would be done here, that if someone is absent or has a meeting, or can’t do their duty for whatever reason, then someone in management would arrange for their cover. Surely, it’s just common sense so that everything in school is running as it should be, is safe and no colleagues are left in the sh#t! But, it would seem that it is not the case here!

I had to keep going over the hall and looking in the window at the clock. It’s sod’s law that the battery in my watch has gone and for the past couple of weeks, I have been relying on my colleague to tell me when the 30 minutes are up! And there aren’t any bells to indicate certain times of the day, like the end of playtime. And, in a situation like this, the time goes painfully slow! But, everyone seems happy. No one’s fallen over and grazed their knee and there’s been no scrapes on the football pitch! I am, however, thoroughly annoyed! I can’t help thinking of what could go wrong and having a child hurting themselves on my conscious. Thankfully, all goes well, all the children are happy and we go back inside for the second half of the morning.

We get to lunchtime and my duty partner colleague stops me in the dining hall. ‘Sorry about playtime, I got called into the office to take a call from a parent.’ At least she acknowledged it and apologised I thought. I decide to be polite and professional about it. Even if it was a potentially dangerous situation! I am still really annoyed as I reply, ‘It’s ok, these things happen sometimes.’ Then I make my exit from the dining hall hoping that this scary situation was just a one-off!

Two weeks later, I am again standing on the playground having brought my class out first thinking that my duty partner colleague will be out shortly with her coffee, swaying hips in heels, shades on across the playground. After a few minutes, I realise that I have yet again been left with the entire primary phase and no cover has been arranged for her playground duty!

I send two older children in to find or at least find out why my duty partner colleague has not joined me for her duty. Failing that, I ask them to ask one of the heads to find someone to come out on the playground as there is only one adult! They came back out informing me that they did not find my duty partner colleague or either of the two heads and that the staffroom was empty! Pretty much the same as the last time I sent children in to ask for assistance. I can only think that no one has answered the door to the office to them! Where the hell was everybody? Why is there no one in the staffroom?

And, it’s sod’s law that this week things don’t run so smoothly! There is a fallout between two year 4 boys resulting in one pushing and the other retaliating by scratching his face quite nastily causing it to bleed. I immediately send them to the heads’ office. They can deal with them, I have 298 other children to supervise! Hopefully, both heads are extremely busy and it’s a huge inconvenience for them. Maybe then they’ll find someone else to come out, and arrange the cover needed!

Then, in true football style, there is a knee injury and the boy in question is in the middle of the pitch, flat on his back with knee up to his chest moaning and groaning. Honestly, their talent is wasted on the pitch, they should be in acting school! None the less, I go over to check his limb isn’t actually hanging off! It’s a bit red, but he’s fine. And after being given the all-clear is up on his feet and back in the game.

Then, as I turn around a small white ball comes bouncing past and up over the fence into the swimming pool area. Great! I think to myself. This is sure to cause some upset now! Beforehand the group of year 5’s were playing a game quite happily. Instinctively, they all run to the swimming pool fence. To be honest, it’s quite a pathetic fence. Most of the middle and upper primary could cock their leg over it! One such upper primary child cocks one leg over in an attempt to retrieve the ball. If it had been the fenced off flower bed I might have turned a blind eye, but certainly not to the swimming pool!

I react instinctively by bellowing at her to stop and get back over. I’m not cross with her, it was just an instant reaction to stop her from cocking the other leg over and running around the swimming pool! The poor girl jumps back over the fence with a look of shock and throws her hands up in the air like she’s in some American police show! She apologises thinking she is in trouble. ‘Sorry, sorry Miss!’ I feel guilty. I didn’t mean to shout, and it’s certainly not their fault that there are not enough adults out on the playground. I go over and explain that they can’t go over and get the ball because it is too dangerous and that playtime will be finished in 5 minutes anyway.

This results in glum faces and the group of children hovering around the fence. I know that I daren’t turn around, as one of them would probably chance it and hop over to retrieve the ball!

Then, almost quite predictably, a few minutes later, they’d concocted a plan between them! One came running over to me ‘frantic and concerned’ because one of their friends had fallen and seriously hurt their leg and I must go around the corner immediately to check it out. Bless them, can’t blame them for trying! Then, with that, I blow the whistle for everyone to line up ready to head back inside.

At the end of school, I go into the office to speak with English head. I explained that it had happened twice now and that no member of staff should be left in such a vulnerable, potentially dangerous situation. And, with no one seemingly being in the staffroom or available, I would just blow the whistle and send the children back to their classes if I was left in a similar situation for a third time. Thankfully, I wasn’t again, and neither were my colleagues!