Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749–1832)
“The truth needs so little rehearsal.”
Barbara Kingsolver (1955- )
The eve of the hearing has arrived. After some 6 months, I have accumulated a box file of paperwork and a lever arch folder crammed with neatly organized correspondence, statements and other reference material.
I have lived with it all, most I have written myself and most I now have forgotten.
Today, I look at it - there is too much ... like staring at a hedgerow from a high speed car, it all blurs and blends into a confusion of colour. Tomorrow it has to all become crystal clear, sharp and memorable.
I have not yet met my barrister and I wonder how much depth of knowledge that she has of my case and associated facts and details.
It is up to you but it is much like a revision process - a dress rehearsal. You will be asked questions and your responses need to be fluent, concise and accurate.
Everything is in your statement, so read it, noting any important points. Try to replay it all in your mind. Then scan all of your paperwork. Use ‘PostIt’ notes against anything that you might want to reference whilst taking notes of any questions that you would like your representative to address.
(The hearing will be an ordeal, so pamper yourself and have an early night - do not worry - my barrister was competent and able, as will be your representative !)
The head teacher professes to be an aspiring actor and says "In my spare time I tread the boards at Chorley Little Theatre."
His idea of a dress rehearsal was more akin to that involved with a theatrical production. He was observed entering my classroom with the two hostile witnesses after school where they discussed the format of the hearing and what would be said. Later they were seen around the scene of the ‘crime’ - the table, where they tried to reach over and smack one another.
I question whether such behaviour is in the best interests of impartiality and the desire to determine the ‘truth’ but remember it really no longer matters and no one cares anyway !
(I ponder whether the two witnesses were provided with a script !)
Jane Jameson (née Watts)
