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Professor Plumpton had gone home shortly before lunch as he’d felt too ill to continue with the detailed discussions. His wife had come to collect him and he’d told Erin that hopefully if he rested for the rest of the day he might be able to return tomorrow. On hearing this remark his wife had admonished him saying that he was being too optimistic and he might not be in for a few days, they would let the department know.
Erin felt so sorry for him, he was a lovely man and to see someone so clever and enthusiastic about their research being reduced to this shuffling wreck was heartbreaking. She wished him well and told him she’d look after the visitors who were just taking a break. Next they had a meeting with the chemists on the project to discuss their immediate plans which the professor had cast his eye over cursorily before leaving. Despite feeling sorry for Derek it was an opportunity for her to find out more about what was happening, although she doubted she would understand it fully. She hoped to get and idea about what the plans were for the compound which was furthest advanced.
During the meeting which had just taken place she’d noticed one of the business guys, Brett, everyone called him, having a good look at her cleavage. Dirty sod, she thought to herself, but inwardly she was quite pleased. It was good to know she could still turn heads. She fully believed that if you had it you should flaunt it. Besides she’d been eyeing up her admirer in the same vein. He was extremely fit in her eyes. Probably about ten years older than herself but what did that matter. She wouldn’t have minded a bit of fun with him sometime but he probably had a posh girlfriend and wouldn’t be interested in her. If Scott were to find out he would be furious. Once before he’d seen someone giving her the eye in a pub and he’d landed a punch on the bloke when he’d spotted him going outside for a cigarette. He’d made it quite clear that if he caught her chatting up other blokes she’d get a good beating. Sometimes she wondered why she stayed with him but he did seem to care for her most of the time and he showered her with gifts whose provenance she’d learned not to question too closely. No relationship was perfect she told herself, she must be grateful for the good times.
At that moment she was disturbed from her musing about her domestic situation as the professor’s colleagues arrived for the meeting. She followed them into the room to assist with their laptop and to check whether they needed another jug of coffee or any more waters. Matt and Brett also returned from their comfort break, the latter giving her a wink and standing back to let her wiggle her way into the room for the next part of the day.
**
Nick had sat through a GCSE science lesson and found it quite enjoyable. Today’s topic was crude oil and hydrocarbons as fuels. The students were well behaved and seemed to be quite engaged, asking loads of questions and showing real interest. It was a mixed group of slightly more girls than boys and it was clear that discipline wasn’t a major concern in this school. The teacher introduced him at the start of the lesson to explain the purpose of his visit. After the mid-morning break, he was due to observe another lesson, this time a practical demonstration and then the students would do their own experiments. He was looking forward to seeing how practical science was handled in a school situation.
‘So, Nick, how are you enjoying it here today?’ asked Greg Shandling, one of the chemistry teachers.
‘Oh, it’s really interesting. It’s so good to see the pupils asking questions and learning so keenly.’
‘Well, they’re good on the whole but we do have some less well-behaved groups. We stream the science groups by ability. So some of the lower sets are a bit difficult to keep engaged, they don’t see the point of science.’
‘Oh, I see,’ said Nick sounding slightly deflated.
‘It’s a really good school though, I’ve been here ten years now and I’m not thinking of moving on. I’m hoping to apply for Head of Science next year, well that’s if Mrs Higgins does finally decide to retire,’ he joked.
Nick smiled and they reached the laboratory where the next lesson was due to take place. The teacher settled the students and explained what was going to happen. It was a practical demonstration of a distillation and then after that, they would work through some experiments on their own using a worksheet to guide them. The students were all wearing their lab coats and safety glasses and were told to bring their stools around the portable fume cupboard.
The teacher started to introduce the experiment which involved distilling a compound so that the fractions collected would be pure and the impurities would be left behind. The teacher picked up the bottle of chemical and uncapped it whilst holding it outside the fume cupboard. Nick was horrified. It was quite a hazardous chemical and should not have uncapped in the open laboratory, there was a fume cupboard there and everything should have been kept inside it.
Suddenly Nick also realised that the teacher had forgotten to switch on the extraction of the fume cupboard. It wasn’t making any noise and any fumes released would soon start to filter back through the opening into the lab. Nick was caught in a difficult situation, what should he do? This was so embarrassing, he was a visitor and yet he really wanted to point out that he’d forgotten to switch it on. He felt his pulse racing, how could he do it tactfully? He really liked this school but if he made Greg feel uncomfortable in front of the class he would be sure to mark his card. Nick was squirming, should he keep quiet? But that wasn’t ethical, some of the pupils right at the front would be exposed to the chemical.
As the teacher started to pour some of the chemical into the flask he spilt some down the side of it and that must have somehow jogged his memory as he quickly looked at the plug and flicked the switch to start the extraction. Nick breathed a sigh of relief. However, it was only a temporary feeling as he’d also noticed that the teacher wasn’t wearing gloves and it looked as though he’d actually got some of the chemical on his fingers. This was appalling, the guy was a complete amateur in Nick’s eyes. Didn’t staff have proper training? If he showed such a bad example what would the pupils be like? Nick’s day had started well but was now spiralling downwards. The teacher went to get a tissue to wipe his finger and then walked back over to the bin by the door and dropped it in the open bin rather than bagging it in plastic inside the fume cupboard. This was too much, Nick started to shuffle about on his feet, he could hardly contain himself.
The teacher got the distillation underway and the clear liquid started to distil over, he pointed out how the dirty residue was being left behind. As it boiled away the teacher left it unattended and wandered over to the front bench to look at his notes. Nick could see that the flask was starting to boil dry and the residue was obviously getting hotter and hotter. This could be dangerous and in some cases cause an explosion. Distillations should always be stopped before all the material was consumed. Nick could stand it no more. He strode towards the front of the class and switched off the heat.
‘Mr Shandling, I think the distillation is finished,’ he said.
The teacher came bustling over glowering at Nick. Thank you, Mr Thomas, I was just coming over to do that, I was just checking my notes for the next part of the lesson. Now, class, I would like you to sketch the apparatus and then I will hand out a worksheet for the experiments I would like you to attempt.’
There was a noticeable chill in the air. It would be very awkward chatting with this teacher for the rest of the morning. Nick was pleased he had a meeting with the deputy head after lunch. Was this really the standard of safety in schools or had be been unlucky just to have been landed with a complete cowboy? There was no way of knowing. He didn’t want to ditch the idea of teaching completely but the idea had certainly been tainted by this experience. Once again he felt his optimism being dashed. He needed to talk all this through with Polly this evening.
