Were you a monitor?

[Marine Boy]

In the last year of Junior school, I was a 'tray monitor'. At lunchtimes, the kids would file passed the serving counters to collect their meals and then walk over to a vacant table. We monitors would collect the trays and put them back in the pile at the start of the queue. When everyone else had finished their lunch, we'd sit down for our own meal which was almost always a larger portion!

I also recall milk monitors and register monitors. Were there monitors for other tasks? What are your memories?

[Heather74]

Re: Were you a monitor?

I was given the role as Secertaries helper
After collecting each classes registers I'd take them to the office and see what jobs needed doing each break time, the job I loved the best was Monday morning I'd go to each class room collecting the dinner money for the week.
I took the money to the office then had to take the dinner ladies their 'numbers'. I loved it because they always allowed me to take a freshly baked biscuit or cake from the big silver trays

I also filled in for the crisp and milk monitors if they were off school sick.

In high school I was a Prefect which mainly consisted of standing on a landing on the stairs making sure people stuck to the left or right and were walking not running.
I only enjoyed being one because we got to leave lessons 10 minutes before everyone else, that and the fact boys tried to beg my badge off me to try and fool the teachers into thinking they were prefects too!!

[frame]

Re: Were you a monitor?

I had the role of the monitors arch enemy.
Frame.

[Richard1978]

Re: Were you a monitor?

I remember at secondary school each form in turn had to spend a week doing various jobs.

Most of the time I spent the week picking letter, which was actually one of the easier tasks (we had those robot arm style pickers) compaired with being a minion to various head of year, school & departments.

[kazboot]

Re: Were you a monitor?

I was a milk monitor in the Juniors, that's all.

[culnara]

Re: Were you a monitor?

Yeah a DOOR Monitor, got a Prefect Badge just to open and close a door once everyone was in, it also gave you some Power, remember there was this older KId Pushing a younger one
and I told him if He didnt stop, I'd grass Him Up to the Head !!! ,He Said " YOU can't do that !! " I said, " Yes I can, cause I'm a Prefect !" He said " Prove it " I showed Him the Badge and He started to cry, Begging Me not to Tell.
LOL

[chilligrape]

Re: Were you a monitor?

I was a 'server' in my last year at primary school. Each server had a table of eight and the dinner ladies brought the food to the table and it was my job to share out the main course between the eight kids on my table. There was also 2 'side servers' who did the vegetables or chips etc. Us servers thought we were the bees knees!!

[Richard1978]

Re: Were you a monitor?

The first primary school I went to had "servers" at lunch times, who were always 4th year juniors, who were there to keep order.

They didn't serve much, only occasionally they would share out a plate of cakes.

[kazboot]

Re: Were you a monitor?

I was a server in the Juniors and the thing I most remember is that all the kids on my table wanted the chocolate custard skin!
I had to try and remember who had it last and ration it as best I could, but noone was ever happy!

[Trickyvee]

Re: Were you a monitor?

I was tea money monitor in the juniors for a while. I had to go around all the teachers on a Monday morning and get them to part with their hard-earned cash in the name of staff room refreshments. I hated it as I was meant to get around the whole school before the morning assembly started, which was impossible. Some teachers weren't in their rooms, others were too frazzled trying to sort their classes out to be bothered with me, and I'd inevitably have to creep into the silent assembly to chase up those I had missed. Then I'd get shouted at for not getting all the money and not being in the assembly!

I also remember being sent down to the infants on a couple of occasions to look after classes during rainy play times when everybody had to stay in. It was crazy as I was completely unsupervised! It was only for 10 or 15 minutes, but I was only 10 myself and in charge of a whole class of 6 year olds while the teacher was in the staff room . it would never be allowed now!

[Marine Boy]

Re: Were you a monitor?

...being sent down to the infants on a couple of occasions to look after classes during rainy play times when everybody had to stay in. It was crazy as I was completely unsupervised! It was only for 10 or 15 minutes, but I was only 10 myself and in charge of a whole class of 6 year olds while the teacher was in the staff room . it would never be allowed now!

I have news for you, Trickyvee. In the primary school where I work, during wet playtimes when the infant classes have to stay inside, they are supervised by............10 and 11 year olds! (Though there is usually an adult wandering the corridors aswell.)

[Marine Boy]

Re: Were you a monitor?

Not quite sure how I forgot this one, but I was also a 'bee' monitor for a while! We had a glass-sided spotting hive in the science lab. There was a little tube that went to the outside and I, (together with a select few), were responsible for topping up the sugary solution we gave to the bees each day. We also had to collect the dead drones that the workers threw out in the winter. We used them for microscope work.

I've searched the net for a picture of our type of spotting hive, but can't find one. So here's a pic of something quite similar:

[Jacqueline]

Re: Were you a monitor?

Crikey I'm glad I didn't go to your school MB!

I made it to the dizzy heights of milk monitor at primary school. I loved stabbing the little straws into the foil tops on the bottles. The irony was I loathed drinking milk (still do) so never drank any.

I can remember being dispatched to supervise an infant class during wet playtime when I was in top class juniors. We were sent in pairs and no teacher was ever in evidence unless you knocked on the staff room door in an emergency.

Where I teach now, teachers stay in their classrooms during wet playtimes and support staff collect their drink from the staffroom and supervise for toilet break.

[Trickyvee]

Re: Were you a monitor?

I also remember being sent down to the infants on a couple of occasions to look after classes during rainy play times when everybody had to stay in. It was crazy as I was completely unsupervised! It was only for 10 or 15 minutes, but I was only 10 myself and in charge of a whole class of 6 year olds while the teacher was in the staff room . it would never be allowed now!

What I do remember is getting my first kiss during one of those supervising sessions. I was reading the class a story and one boy pointed at a picture of a bride and groom in the book, said "that's going to be me and you" then jumped up and planted me one right on the lips. I was totally traumatised! I wish I still had that effect on men now lol.

[Palazzo]

Re: Were you a monitor?

In our final year of Primary School, me and my best mate were given the job of 'weekly rotor monitor'. The weekly rotor was just a photocopied sheet listing all the things going on through the school that week. The job itself was absolutely brilliant though, because me and my mate would have to do this first thing on a Monday morning while everybody else would be stuck in the classroom.

After while we began to take advantage though and it became 'Let's hand out the rotors to all the classrooms as quickly as possible and then stand about in the corridor chatting'. Then it went to 'Let's hand out the rotors to all the classrooms as SLOWLY as possible and then stand about in the corridor chatting'.

As expected, one of our teachers got wise eventually and decided to question our lazy attitudes infront of the whole class on our return one morning. The cheek!