Thursday was a bad day. Gabel and I had been planning on having a relaxing day and then going to Stonehenge on Friday. We were anticipating starting teaching on Monday.
But of course life doesn't care about your plans. Thursday I received a call from my employer, Alex and she said she had work for me and that it literally started the next day. On top of that it would be in Ryde on the Isle of Wight and it was every single Monday, Thursday and Friday from now until Christmas at least. She also informed me that instead of supplying, I'd be the actual teacher but she was unable to tell me what grades I'd be teaching. Then she hung up.
This sent me into a huge panic. My contract that I signed is a GPS contract which means that I am to be supplying only and guaranteed supply work. It also states that I am to have a choice as to whether or not I want an assignment. Gabel and I had both been offered full time work from a city called Brighton and we turned it down because we want to supply. Lesson planning and marking is very extensive and this trip is already overwhelming we didn't want to stress ourselves out too much in the very beginning. We also want the freedom to travel and not have to bring work home with us. So we chose Southampton because they guaranteed us a lifestyle where we could travel and supply only. With my assignment being on Mondays and Fridays, that ensures that we are very limited in the travelling we do on weekends. And then there's the issue of us not knowing the British curriculum at all. That is why we wanted to supply first as well. It would give us an opportunity to learn the curriculum first.
Things went from bad to worse when I realized how difficult Ryde was to get to. The Isle of Wight is easily accessible enough from Southampton but only the west side of the island. The east side is significantly more difficult to get to. And of course Ryde is on the east side. The problem lies in the fact that at the centre of the island there is a river that cuts the island. The Southampton passenger ferry only goes to the west side of the island and therefore that would leave me needing to cross the river somehow to get to Ryde or going all the way around which is extremely difficult without a car. My agency was very unhelpful in suggesting ways for me to get there. I was basically thrown to the wolves and left on my own to figure it out. In the end I decided that the most direct way of getting to Ryde would be to take a train from Southampton to another city called Portsmouth which has ferries going directly to Ryde.
Things worsened still when I realized the cost of doing this and the length of time it would take. It looked like it would cost me over 40 pounds in travelling costs and in total be 4 hours of commuting. And that would be expected of me 3 times a week. With no travel reimbursements from my company or the school.
It was frustrating because when choosing a place to live, Gabel and I considered living on the Isle of Wight and our employer told us that we should stay in Southampton. In reality, living on the Isle of Wight would have been much more beneficial. Especially since Alex called up Gabel this same day and told her she was signing her up for a three month contract at Ryde Academy as well but in November.
We went into full on stress mode realizing that we still only had one set of keys and now that we were starting teaching this posed a real problem. We also needed to set up our payroll information which is a task that involved needing a printer and scanner. Which we didnt have.
We called our rental agency to get keys and they were unhelpful. Next, we ran to ASDA to buy a printer. Luckily it was only 25 pounds and had to printer and scanner function as well. When we got home to set it up, it didn't work so we had to run back to ASDA to buy a cable for it and printer paper. Usually Matthew sets up electronics for me so it was quite a struggle to get the stupid thing to work. It took me a good hour once I had the proper cable but in the end I was victorious.
Before going to bed, I debated doing lesson planning for the next day but I don't know the curriculum and I didn't know the grade level even. So I went to bed feeling very anxious for the next day.
Meanwhile, while I was sleeping, Gabel Skyped our head employer in Australia and she was appalled to learn of what we were being forced to due and the lack of help we had. She said we could fight it and that after Friday I could tell Alex that I didn't want permanent work on the Isle of Wight. We were so relieved to talk to Rebecca and learn that she had our backs in this situation.
But first I would have to brave one day at Ryde....
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