The SFE - Doc 117 Southwold Fire Station
2nd July 1998
In response to the invitation set out in Doc 67 & 69 X and four others attended Brigade HQ for a series of assessments used to select personnel for promotion to the rank of Station Officer.
As was patently clear to X at the time, and subsequent to the previous day’s supervisory review by DO Batchelor, the likelihood of a positive assessment was as remote a probability as it could be. We hasten to add not helped by the supposed great and good of Suffolk Fire Service, Deputy Chief Fire Officer Simon Smith, Assistant Chief Fire Officer Trevor Tinley and the fat cheeky boy of the Brigade know as Divisional Officer Chantry being the assessment panel. The latter being the ultimate metaphorical, and real, waste of space there could be. His rotund physique and giddy manner would have made him much more use as a Benny Hill “stars in their eyes” tribute act. Indeed, he was a dead ringer for Benny’s character Fred Scuttle. That said he was harmless enough. Well apart from doing everything he was told by his uppers without blinking an eye-lid.
Anyway the assessment period for X was quite brief. The retail manager aptitude testing had been completed on a previous day. So all that remained to be surmounted was the discussion group participation and an actual interview in front of the great and good and DO Chantry. Mrs Jo Campbell was in charge of the organising and efficiently herded the 5 prospective candidates into the Headquarters conference room.
Then it all went a bit pear-shaped. Well apart from the fact that nobody had bothered to arrange the room by moving the furniture into the prescribed place. Right behind and backing up was the Deputy Simon Smith who at seeing the room unready started making sarcastic remarks and personal criticisms at those supposed to have sorted the room out. So not best pleased was the nasty Deputy. Anyway the prospective candidates acted ad-hoc; they got stuck in and flung a few tables together to get the show on the road. Hmm, jolly good show it was indeed. By this time Trevor Tinley had arrived and the Deputy seemed to turn his wrath on him for the unready state of the room. “Trevor the unready” I suppose! So the Deputy blamed “Trevor the unready” and Trevor blamed somebody else, which is pretty standard protocol for Fire Service officers.
Well despite a few minutes delay the discussion element of the assessment, with the 5 prospective candidates acting out the part of cultured men of knowledge, got under way. Ebbing back and flow each candidate tried to show their best credentials as “oracles of knowledge”, courtesy and manners etc. Of course all the time trying to score points off each other in search of the promoted prize. A Station officer job and a few thousand quid extra in the back pocket. All in all a false and surreal experience that seemed to last a lifetime. Fortunately, there is no second half like most sports, so when the yawning officers blew time it was time. Thank Gawd!
The prospective 5 were as quick as rats down a sewer to exit the conference room and straight into the station canteen adjoined to HQ as fast as there little legs could carry em. Well apart from Karl Rolfe that is who meander along at a more sedate pace in order not to crease his razor-sharp kecks.
So fed and watered one-by-one X and his fellow contenders nip in for the crucial interview with the great and good of the Suffolk fire outfit and Fred Scuttle Chantry. Well as far as we know X’s interview was as mundanely inspiring as all the rest. But very good theatre all the same. Especially with regard to the great and good who valiantly tried to act the part of wise men complete with integrity and fairness. After all it was by now clear that both couldn’t bear the thought of X ascending to the dizzy heights of Station Officer.
So it was no surprise that when the results were announced that X had been judged to be pretty useless and not up to the prescribed mark. Overall being marked up with 3 D’s and a C from the specified area of assessment. Oh and a pass for the retail manager aptitude tests. That said it was also the case that X wasn’t alone with only zee Karl Rolfe being assessed as making the grade for Station Officer. So 80% of the candidates failed which was shall we say pretty unusual for Suffolk assessments.
So afterwards as X met up with his fellow candidates X felt he had to apologise for turning up and bringing the majority down with him. Well it wouldn’t have been to bad if it had been one of X’s duty days. What made it worse being that it was one of X’s rota day’s.
In response to the invitation set out in Doc 67 & 69 X and four others attended Brigade HQ for a series of assessments used to select personnel for promotion to the rank of Station Officer.
As was patently clear to X at the time, and subsequent to the previous day’s supervisory review by DO Batchelor, the likelihood of a positive assessment was as remote a probability as it could be. We hasten to add not helped by the supposed great and good of Suffolk Fire Service, Deputy Chief Fire Officer Simon Smith, Assistant Chief Fire Officer Trevor Tinley and the fat cheeky boy of the Brigade know as Divisional Officer Chantry being the assessment panel. The latter being the ultimate metaphorical, and real, waste of space there could be. His rotund physique and giddy manner would have made him much more use as a Benny Hill “stars in their eyes” tribute act. Indeed, he was a dead ringer for Benny’s character Fred Scuttle. That said he was harmless enough. Well apart from doing everything he was told by his uppers without blinking an eye-lid.
Anyway the assessment period for X was quite brief. The retail manager aptitude testing had been completed on a previous day. So all that remained to be surmounted was the discussion group participation and an actual interview in front of the great and good and DO Chantry. Mrs Jo Campbell was in charge of the organising and efficiently herded the 5 prospective candidates into the Headquarters conference room.
Then it all went a bit pear-shaped. Well apart from the fact that nobody had bothered to arrange the room by moving the furniture into the prescribed place. Right behind and backing up was the Deputy Simon Smith who at seeing the room unready started making sarcastic remarks and personal criticisms at those supposed to have sorted the room out. So not best pleased was the nasty Deputy. Anyway the prospective candidates acted ad-hoc; they got stuck in and flung a few tables together to get the show on the road. Hmm, jolly good show it was indeed. By this time Trevor Tinley had arrived and the Deputy seemed to turn his wrath on him for the unready state of the room. “Trevor the unready” I suppose! So the Deputy blamed “Trevor the unready” and Trevor blamed somebody else, which is pretty standard protocol for Fire Service officers.
Well despite a few minutes delay the discussion element of the assessment, with the 5 prospective candidates acting out the part of cultured men of knowledge, got under way. Ebbing back and flow each candidate tried to show their best credentials as “oracles of knowledge”, courtesy and manners etc. Of course all the time trying to score points off each other in search of the promoted prize. A Station officer job and a few thousand quid extra in the back pocket. All in all a false and surreal experience that seemed to last a lifetime. Fortunately, there is no second half like most sports, so when the yawning officers blew time it was time. Thank Gawd!
The prospective 5 were as quick as rats down a sewer to exit the conference room and straight into the station canteen adjoined to HQ as fast as there little legs could carry em. Well apart from Karl Rolfe that is who meander along at a more sedate pace in order not to crease his razor-sharp kecks.
So fed and watered one-by-one X and his fellow contenders nip in for the crucial interview with the great and good of the Suffolk fire outfit and Fred Scuttle Chantry. Well as far as we know X’s interview was as mundanely inspiring as all the rest. But very good theatre all the same. Especially with regard to the great and good who valiantly tried to act the part of wise men complete with integrity and fairness. After all it was by now clear that both couldn’t bear the thought of X ascending to the dizzy heights of Station Officer.
So it was no surprise that when the results were announced that X had been judged to be pretty useless and not up to the prescribed mark. Overall being marked up with 3 D’s and a C from the specified area of assessment. Oh and a pass for the retail manager aptitude tests. That said it was also the case that X wasn’t alone with only zee Karl Rolfe being assessed as making the grade for Station Officer. So 80% of the candidates failed which was shall we say pretty unusual for Suffolk assessments.
So afterwards as X met up with his fellow candidates X felt he had to apologise for turning up and bringing the majority down with him. Well it wouldn’t have been to bad if it had been one of X’s duty days. What made it worse being that it was one of X’s rota day’s.
posted by Bert Blythburgh at 11:54 PM
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