sensible breakfast. We finally get to school without a hitch and Rosie goes into her class okay, brimming with excitement about asking her friends to come over after school. I drop Leo around the corner at his preschool and now I’m back at Rosie’s school to meet with Mrs Lovatt, the deputy head, to discuss what Rosie told me yesterday. I would have preferred to talk to Mr Jeffries, but he’s not free to see me until after school, so Mrs Lovatt will have to do.
‘Mrs Perry?’ A woman in her forties, who I’m guessing is Mrs Lovatt, has popped her head out of her office door.
I nod and get to my feet.
‘Would you like to come in?’
I follow her into her sparsely furnished office with a desk and three chairs. She’s new to the area and only started working at Ashridge Academy last term. Slim, with short, fair hair that’s flecked with grey, she looks to be a decade or so older than me – maybe forty-ish. We both sit and I waste no time explaining what happened yesterday. About how my daughter was extremely upset by some of the older boys making up nasty lies.
‘What did these boys say?’ She doesn’t seem overly concerned or apologetic and this irritates me. I mean, I know it’s not her fault and maybe it seems trivial to her, but she didn’t see how upset Rosie was yesterday. And how much the lies shocked me.
‘They told her…’ I pause. ‘They told her that I’d killed someone.’
Her eyes widen and she looks directly at me. I can see this isn’t quite what she was expecting. ‘And have you?’
I give an outraged laugh. ‘Not to my knowledge. No.’
‘Look, obviously that’s not a nice thing for them to say, but quite honestly it sounds like it’s simply boys being boys, playing detective, that kind of thing, you know how they can be.’
I take a deep breath and tell myself to keep calm. I really don’t want to lose my temper with this woman, but it’s annoying me how much she’s making light of the situation. I try to keep my voice level. ‘They weren’t “playing detective”, they were picking on my daughter and telling her that her mum is a murderer. Now, that might sound like harmless fun to you, but to me it’s quite a serious issue and I don’t want it happening again.’
She purses her lips and clears her throat. ‘Of course not. Do you know the names of these boys?’
‘No. Rosie didn’t say. I think they were older though. In the year above.’
‘Maybe we should call Rosie in and ask her.’
‘What, now?’
‘Yes. Hear what she has to say about it.’
‘To be honest, I’d rather not dredge it all up with her again. It took a lot to calm her down this morning. She didn’t even want to come in to school, and that’s never happened before.’ I realise I’m drumming my fingers on the desk quite loudly. I stop and put my hands in my lap.
‘The thing is,’ Mrs Lovatt continues, ‘without knowing actual names, it’s going to be quite tricky to do anything. I can’t reprimand anyone if I don’t know who did it.’
I take a breath and try not to snap. ‘Maybe you could say something in assembly to everyone about not making things up and spreading lies. And about not picking on others.’
‘We already do have quite a few Be Nice to Others assemblies. It’s a strong part of the school’s ethos.’ She glances over at the clock on the wall and I realise she wants me gone.
‘Well, it doesn’t seem to be working at the moment. Perhaps you need to word it more strongly.’
‘Hmm, well, we’ll certainly see what we can do.’
What the hell does that mean?
She gives me a nod and gets to her feet. This must be her tactic for getting rid of unwanted visitors. But I’m not taking the hint. I stay seated and fold my arms across my chest. ‘So you’ll say something to the older boys?’
‘We will.’
‘And can you tell Mr Jeffries what’s happened? And keep an eye on Rosie today at lunchtime and playtime? Make sure those boys aren’t hassling her?’
‘I’m sure Mr Jeffries has everything in hand.’
‘But you’ll tell him.’
‘I will. Please don’t worry, Mrs Perry. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m afraid I have another meeting to get to.’
I stand up, not feeling at all comforted by our chat. Maybe I’m an overprotective parent, but I don’t want a repeat