A stage full of sound and fury

Is the staffroom a junction, a site or a stage. Certainly, it is a hub. Tracks are crossed, buffers adhere to and protect all the cabals in the room.

Signals are given and received by innuendo, the raised eyebrow, the restraining kick-in-the-shins. By mid-October, pylons of texts, copy books, acetates and the dreaded "projects" are on every surface in the room. These will never sink, as pylons should, but will remain standing as symbols of education in progress.

However, it's as theatre that the staffroom excels. An average season will render up many acts and scenes, while a vintage year will include a few tragedies, a score of satires and dozens of comic interludes.

The pace of that great set piece, the staff meeting (never, even euphemistically, called a "briefing"), has greatly improved. Staff development, now scheduled and attended without a hint of a smirk, has affected principals as well as teachers. All the dramatis personae are expected to know their lines.

This year's minor revelation was that the £25 subject association membership may now be claimed back. One might be forgiven for thinking that the Department may have confused this with a salary hike.

Rivalry between subject teachers is low-key but not absent. Subjects fall into three categories: powerful, glamourous and essential. Everyone knows the French and Italian teachers have the best lifestyle; they had suntans and knew that a chateau came in red, white and occasionally pink long before the rest of us.

As for Irish, the change here is subtle. Multiculturism is most visible "as gaelige". Non-nationals and students whose background permits derogation are a significant cohort now in secondary schools.

So whether junction, site or stage is the best metaphor for the staffroom, you can judge for yourself, dear reader.