Local Grand Final Day

Today I went along to the Reid Oval in Warrnambool to watch the Grand Finals. There are a total of nine competitions in the Hampton League between netball and Football: Underage, Reserves and Senior. The day started at ten in the morning and continued until five o clock. Koroit were in two finals Senior Netball and Reserves (Resies!) Footy. Entry was $12 (about €8.50). On the way in I was asked if I would like a ‘Record’ which turned out to be a programme. It listed the times and 18 teams. The Hamden League has eight teams and the top five had gone into a playoff which favoured the league winners to produce two finalists. They don’t have ‘play-offs’ but rather ‘elimination finals’ with the first and second teams in the league getting a favoured draw. The exact same format is used for Netball. The finals run concurrently and they try not to have a clash by having the same clubs on at the same time. Not always possible so they had a large screen at the footy match showing the live netball matches.
It was a great family occasions and all bar one of the eight clubs had a team in one final or other. This is a great set up because it ensures a good turnout.
The crowd was still less than you would see at a County Final in Páirc Tailteann. They let cars into the ground and allow them to park on the hills on the three sides without a grandstand.

They even reserve parking spots for special needs and the elderly.

I met Di Looney who introduced me to Howard’s dad who was in a car in a special reserved space (he is 93 and still goes to matches). Food stalls and beer bars abound.
It rained on and off and was quite cold. I wore my Irish rugby jersey and it was the only green in the place. I did not bring my jacket as the sun was shining when I left the house, and I am in Australia! I was freezing and wet. I still can’t get into the mindset to prepare for winter conditions. I heard yesterday that it is wet and miserable in Uluru (Ayre’s Rock). I better bring a jacket and wellies with me next week!
Teenagers acted as water boys. At the end of each quarter loads of young fellas come on to the pitch to just kick around. When a goal was scored those in their cars hooted their horns. At half time they had a competition sponsored by Toyota. Six people who had won a draw tried to kick a ball from the 50 into the back of a pick-up (they call them yutes). It was worth five thousand dollars. No one succeeded. Then Jonathon Brown, a famous local lad who plays for the Brisbane Lions, tried for charity and he missed also.
Carmel, the DP in school was manager of the netball team who won a cliff hanger against Camperdown. They were five goals up at the end of the second half and five down at the beginning of the third quarter. Exciting stuff. I must learn the rules. Peter Mc Elgunn, Principal of St Pius P.S. and member of Koroit FNC gave me a present of the club track suit top which kept me warm and which will be a nice souvenir to have. He is coming to Ireland next year so I will get to return the compliment. I wonder would he prefer a Galway football or hurling top? They all headed back to the Clubhouse in Koroit with two wins out of two under their belt. I mentioned in an earlier blog that the match between netball and Footy was a match made in heaven, especially for the country clubs and it is. It was supposed to dilute the drink culture in the club, but I have seen some of those netballers drink beer and they can certainly keep up with the guys! I presume that instead of ‘Mad Monday’ they will have a ‘Mad Sunday’, and I have no doubt that those gals will pub crawl with the best of them!

Holidays

Friday: We got the holidays today and everyone was in great form. It was also Jersey Day. I was the only one in Maroon and White but all the kids had their club colours on. There was no dominant team and every team was represented. You would think that as Geelong are the closest team and had been champions two of the last three years that they would be the dominant colour, but no. There were just as many supporters for Richmond, one of the bottom teams this last while.

Staff Night Out

Thursday 16th: Did I ever tell you who was joint winner in the footy tips at school. Well the presentation was made at the staff do. There was a great buzz and atmosphere and plenty of people wanted to know what my strategy: I could tell you but I would have to kill you! The $150 dollars will come in handy next week in Uluru and Adelaide.

Barry Flattery

Thursday 15th: at about 4.45 today, I was just heading into the office to make a few calls before heading home to get ready for the Staff Night Out when I spotted a familiar looking face in the foyer. He addressed me by name and identified himself as barry Flattery from Trim. Sam and Alexi were pupils in St Mary’s. He was in Victoria on business and happened to be passing Koroit. He called in to say hello. It was great having a chat and catching up on the news from home. I even got to show him around and he particularly impressed with the new library and the space in our playground. I was unable to meet later as I had the staff do and he was heading to Melbourne the next day, yet it was great meeting someone from home. Again, like the girls last week I wished that he had let me know he was coming and he could have stayed with me or we could have arranged a meal together.

Shining Light Fit For The Job Challenge

Wed 15th: As a whole staff we joined up three months ago. It cost $100 each and this company (http://www.shininglight.net.au/) sent someone to the school before we started, to measure and weigh us all. This would be used to rate us later on and to compare us with companies all over Australia. The company is based in Perth and our main contact with them was online or on the phone. They also provided us with a colourful folder containing a disk suggesting a daily exercise programme & diet-well more healthy recipes than a diet. There was also a programme planner, to be done under the supervision of an online tutor. Some did, some didn’t. There was also an exercise diary, some did and most didn’t. I didn’t do any of the above but I did take part in the Monday fitness programme organised in the school by Leisa, one of our teachers. It was good fun to do something together and it reminded me of the mid-eighties in Rathfeigh NS when we all trained together for the Mini-Marathon. There is nothing like a bit of bonding in adversity!
Everyone undertook the challenge with relish but in the beginning there was one potential banana skin: At recess each day a teacher brings in some cake or other treat. They are all great cooks and have about a hundred different versions of what my mother (God rest her soul) used to call ‘Chocolate Biscuit Cake’ which they cut up and call ‘slices’ (or in the vernacular ‘sloyyces’). This, I thought was going to be a problem as we all loved our little treats. No bother to them, they all made the effort to have healthy treats. That was a great idea until my week came and I had to ‘buy’ something healthy. Banana cake, date cake, dips… and I was struggling. Still I was only on ‘twoyce’ in the twelve weeks so I got through.
Anyway, they sent a local person to measure our arms, waist, hip and chest, as well as measuring weight, blood pressure, heart rate, push-ups, sit-ups and sit&reaches. I wasn’t able to do the sit-ups (should that be ‘sits-up’?) until about week eight but once I got the knack there was no stopping me. We were measured again after week six and we all had improved, so much so that we were rated seventh in Australia and third in Victoria.(I know, I was impressed too!) Our final measurements at the end were done last week and they improved also. The pressure was on especially coming up to the measurement week-nobody wanted to let the team down. I was measured at 1.10 p.m. and fasted all day, as well as taking off my watch and emptying my pockets! I then celebrated by eating a pie (poy). Pies are a traditional dish here and the local bakery (Koroit Bakery) does a huge selection, one nicer than the other. Healthy food they are not.
It will be interesting to find out what our final ranking is.

NAPLAN Results

Tuesday September 14th: At last the NAPLAN results arrived in school. They were given to all Grade Three and Grade Five pupils back in … and then had to be sent off to be corrected. What arrived back at school on Tuesday 14th was a very colourful and professional result sheet with each child’s name on it. We sent them home with a cover note inviting parents/guardians to make an appointment to see the teacher. None did. Yet there was no reference point or benchmark to establish whether or not their child had improved since last year-as they had not done it last year. Even for the Grade Five pupils there was no reference to their score in Grade Three. So the pupils were rated average, above or below average in Maths and English. There was a detailed and complex explanation of these scores in small print that many of the parents that I spoke to had not even read. They just looked at the dots. Certainly the results do not inform student learning in our school, yet they will appear on a website and be used to compare schools. By the way, we did very well. I think that instead of sending home the results it would be more meaningful for parents/guardians to hand them out personally with appropriate interpretations.

Walkathon

We had one of Friday September 10th to raise funds for our new library. The whole school took part and many parents came along with their buggies and younger children. There was a great sense of community making it worthwhile for that alone.

First Communion

This took place yesterday as part of the regular Sunday mass. No fake tans or helicopters here! but the girls did wear white dresses and the lads their bit of style. There was no fuss in the preparation beforehand either. Most was done in class with a trip to the church on Friday from 2.30-3.30. I did the choir and in just over a week did 10 songs, three mimes and involved Grade Six boys on guitar and drums (hidden at the back of the photo)! It came together in the end though it was somewhat stressful. In all honesty no more stressful than at home when we would be preparing for months. Here the emphasis is very much on the ceremony as part of the parish/community mass. It was lovely. Parishioners had helped in the preparation with the Australian equivalent of 'Do This In Memory of Me'. many of them came back to the school afterwards for a cuppa. The kids went home or locally for something to eat.

The sacraments of First Reconciliation and Confirmation were equally low key but none the worse for that. Interestingly they make First Reconciliation in Grade Two, Confirmation in Grade Three and Communion in Grade Four: remember the order we learned them in the Catechism? Interesting also, the change back to the order in the early church and the age groups for each.

Closed at four!

Went in to town today just after four, to do a bit of shopping but every place was closed. Met Ben van de Camp who told me that this is the norm here, some will even close earlier on a Saturday if business is quiet.

Came home and did some weeding instead (I hate gardening!) went for a walk and had some dinner. Had an enjoyable dinner with Eugene and Jenny last night which means that I will be eating Irish Stew for a few weeks. Did extra in case the 'girls' called but they were unable to make it. They had eaten here last night and it was great to catch up on home and to share some travel stories.

Sitting down now to watch Kennelly play for The Swans against The Western Bulldogs. The Dogs were the better team during the season but The Swans had better form in the last few weeks.

Visitors from Athlone

I was just finishing the dinner tonight when a text arrived, as Gaeilge, telling me they were in Mickey Bourke's pub in Koroit and would I like to meet up! I nearly choked on my greens... Laobhaoise Nic Aogáin from Athlone and two friends (Máire and Mairead)were sitting on the seats that we sit on Fridays after school. They had just come from Darwin via Perth and Adelaide on their way to Melbourne and Sydney. Two of the girls are on career breaks and travel on to New Zealand. It was great catching up on all their news and filling them in on the craic here. I could not talk them into staying with me as they had already booked the hotel but they are coming for a bit of grub tomorrow and Friday. Of course they will also visit the school tomorrow. It will be nice to show them around and to introduce them to the teachers and staff of St Patrick's.

Mad Monday

This morning I was on Yard duty before school (8.30-9.30) and I noticed a large gang of lads walking the road behind the school. I asked one of the kids what that was about and he replied: 'That's Mad Monday'! The local football club lost the equivalent of the county Semi-final, the day before. After the match they started a pub crawl which would last until Monday night! It is the custom here and everybody accepts that they will not be at work-even the teachers who play.

Slippy When Wet

On Saturday morning we went on a bike ride that took about an hour on a track walkway an old railway track into Warburton. We had lunch there and met with Grace. Grace had the sense to book the wineries tour and was as dry as a bone, well in the rain sense at least! In all the years they have organised this weekend it had never rained like this.
There was only Sandy and Tracey cycling, both of whom work out and are sporty. Our host (Debby) had been coach to the Aussi Netball team so you can imagine who was keeping up the rear! That was bad enough but it was raining cats and dogs and we all got soaked. On the way back I decided to swallow my pride and go at my own pace. It was much more civilized. I did regret having desert for lunch though! When we got back to our starting point we were all soaking wet and had to change in the local pub before heading off on a tour of some wineries. Then it was back to Sherly’s for a BBQ. The fire was lit but we were unable to sit outside because, you have guessed it, it was pouring. Sheryl’s house was near the Upper Yarra Dam which supplies Melbourne with water. The dam was overflowing for the first time in about 20 years and we could hear the water being released from her house. We were all exhausted and grabbed an early night.
Next morning it was off to the world famous Healesville Sanctuary. I was not too pushed as we had seen so many this past few months but all have had something different. This was no exception. I had not seen Platypus, Goannas, Dingoes or Rock Wallabies

before but the highlight of the day was the Birds of Prey Exhibition. This was a stunning display showcasing native Australian raptors. Set in the park’s outdoor amphitheatre, Birds of Prey was a thrilling aerial display demonstrating the magnificent flight and hunting skills of several iconic Australian species, such as the Peregrine Falcon, Black Breasted Buzzard, Barking Owl, and of course, the breathtaking Wedge-tailed Eagle. The show lasted about 45 minutes and was captivating.

Then our hosts had arranged a BBQ for us. I left shortly after on my journey that too seven and a half hours to get home. I had to get a lift to W train to Southern Cross, train to Geelong and finally a bus to Warrnambool. This is normally a train service and I had not noticed the change until I arrived in Melbourne. Still it was great not having to drive. It was too hours longer but I was bale to read my book. My ‘friends’ from the outward journey were not there so I had a peaceful, if uneventful journey. I think that my ears were still red two days later.

Yarra Valley in Springtime

It was late on Friday night before I arrived at Liz and Lou James, they having to come to the Lilydale train station and pick me up. Their house was in the outskirts of Healesville about twenty minutes from the station. Their guest room had been recently built out of bricks made with the clay they dug out for the foundations. It was lovely. All part of the final weekend organised by the ITA. Only four of our group could make it but our hosts still gave us a great weekend.

An Amazing Train Journey