middle of nowhere

The train dropped me on a platform in the middle of nowhere on a gloomy afternoon in November. I made my way over the footbridge where a representative of the centre was waiting. She drove us the short distance through the Surrey countryside to my home for the next eight months. I was given my keys to the staff hostel, shown to my room and left to place the collection of books and cassettes I'd brought with me on a small shelf and hang my clothes in the tiny wardrobe. Then I sat on my bed thinking about what I'd done.

The following afternoon I was taken to the hall where the students gathered at breaktime to hang around and consume large quantities of sugary drinks and snacks. Within five minutes the teacher I'd be working with on the farm, M, had been punched in the eye by a student. Later on we were introduced up on the farm. "Are you any good at painting?" he asked. "Not bad," I replied, "I've got an A-level in Art." "Uh, that's not the kind of painting I had in mind," he said and pointed to a shed at the back of a faraway field. Terrific!

I'm somebody who hates getting his hands dirty, so working on a farm didn't really feature on the list of things I imagined I'd ever do. But early each morning I would trudge bleary-eyed across the campus to feed the pigs and donkeys and open up the hen houses. Then I'd head back to the staff hostel, shower and go for breakfast in the dining hall. The college day began at 9 with the first group of around eight students coming up to get cracking on all the different jobs required to keep the farm running smoothly. So they'd feed the rabbits and guinea pigs, clean out the cages, brush the donkeys, wash down the pig stys and sweep out the hen houses. At the end of each lesson everybody would retire to the small classroom and write about what they'd achieved over the past couple of hours. Rain or sunshine, all the jobs had to be done and the students threw themselves into it which, in turn, encouraged me. Some had very severe learning disabilities and required a lot of support to carry out basic tasks but others were very able and could be relied upon to conduct tasks independently. Several had behavioural problems. One morning I looked round to see M, ever the target, being chased by an angry student wielding a shovel above his head. I made a mental note not to upset that particular student in future...