Spare Tyre

I had a ten minute walk back to where I had parked the car. Needed to change my shirt. In the car park I was approached by a lady who wanted to know if that was a flat tyre! I thought that she was talking about my stomach but she then pointed to her car. (I must loose some weight!) I changed it for her and thought now that’s my good deed for the day. I then changed my shirt (waited until she had left) and then because I was late for the dinner decided to drive to the hotel rather than walk. Got parking across the road, checked the sign. Pay parking until 8.30. Put in the money and ran to hotel.

ITF Farewell

Friday: Attended the ITF function in Treasury Place, the HQ of their dept of Ed (DEECD) @5.30. All the gang, 20, that are going next year were there as well as our 15. There used to be over 50 going each year but the numbers have dropped since 9/11. Karin and I were interviewed by the MC and that went quite well. The Undersecretary for Education referred to one of my stories and was also pleased at what Karin and I had to say about Education in Victoria. Glad that I had put some time into preparing the few words. It was a formal reception with other dignitaries there and all the school principals. Mary Lovelock was there on behalf of CEO Ballarat. It was nice of her to give the support.. Loads of photos both official and unofficial.

Tommy K

While shopping in Melbourne I got a text from the staff of St Patrick's. They had a 'pupil free day' today and went to The Commercial Hotel for lunch. The first text said that The Saw Doctors were on the intercom at the hotel. The next text said that 'Tommy K' was on and that they were all dancing to it. I wished that I was with them instead of trudging the streets in the abominable rain. The rain is so bad that only a few weeks ago a bumper harvest was predicted, now the crops are rotting in the ground.

Andrew Blair ICP President

Friday November 26th: Attended Prayer service by the school pupils in St Mary’s church. They have one every Friday morning and all the school attend. Plenty of parents and grandparents also. Met Fr Michael O Toole who asked for a copy of my speech from the night before. And there was me thinking that it was a bit as they say here ‘ordinary’! He gave me his email address so I had better send it on. Left meeting at ten to got to Melbourne. Met Andrew Blair for lunch in a very fancy restaurant called the European. Andrew is President of the ICP and we had a great if frantic chat about my experiences here. He had to rush to catch a plane. I finished my meal and then went to see Myers window. It is a famous department store, the first of its kind in Australia over a hundred years ago. This year the theme was The Nutcracker Suite. Had to queue as it is the main Christmas attraction in Melbourne. Pouring rain again, oh for some sunshine. Walked around the shops for a while and passed many places which reminded me of the Bursary trip in 2007 with Gerry. Hours shopping for some gifts for home. Got nothing. Not sure that I will. Problem getting light stuff.

Farewell Functions

Thursday November 25th: The crazy season has started. Today was the last meeting of the Southern Zone principals. It was held in Colac, that town which sounds like a medical condition. I arrived early and went on a tour of St Mary’s first: $2 million refurbishment, new classrooms and library under the BER. The meeting was followed by the end of year meal. Farewell speeches were made after the meal. It all felt a little strange. I was asked to give an after dinner speech on comparisons with Irish System. Probably a little too heavy for the occasion. I would have been better off just concentrating on my 'thank you's and goodbyes. Managed to do both. They all sang a song that they had composed for me to the tune of Dolly Parton's ‘Jolene’ I asked them to stop while I got the video and then ran back to the room. It was as Susan would say ‘a hoot!’ Bitter sweet-sad to go but looking forward to going home also. Will miss the people as they are a tremendous bunch who bring a lot to their schools. It was an honour working with them.

If you want to check out the song:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fqKbhVUmSJE

Irish Koroit

As I near the end of my time here, maybe it is time to go back to the beginning. Koroit, is a rural town in South-western Victoria.

It has the largest concentration of Irish outside of the major cities, in all of Australia. Most of them came here to pick potatoes in the early 1850’s initially working for two main landlords and eventually owning farms of their own. They mainly came form Clare, Tipperary, Limerick and Cork. It has been a huge bonus for me to be among ‘my own people’. The community here have been unbelievably welcoming and kind to me. It is quite moving to think of the hardships the ancestors of this community went through, especially in the early days and how well they have done in their new home. Through it all they kept their Irishness. For example, today in school someone brought me in a photo taken of a gravestone in a local graveyard, It was written as Gaeilge, sa chló Rómánach. Andrew Lynch from Clare who when he passed away in 1914 was described as ‘Fíor Ghael a d’éag’. The person’s face lit up when I was able to translate. In Trim we have children from about 19 different nationalities, here there is only one child who is not of Caucasian descent. The majority have Irish surnames but it is not so long ago when they ALL HAD. The photo below was taken in the mid-sixties and as you see, the names are all familiar Irish ones. Sorry about the poor quality of photo but I did not want to dismantle the frame!

Happy Birthday Leonard

Saturday Nov. 20th: Denise's sister Melanie, husband Brendan and kids Josh and Sam live in Camperdown which is about 30 minutes away. They came over for the party, which gave it a great family feeling. I had made the now famous 'chocolate biscuit cake' which was enjoyed by all. We had a oil painting done of a scene from Coole Park (outside Gort) and we could not have got anything nicer.

A few calls home rounded off the night. I was really pleased to have all my visitors stay and just sorry that more of my friends did not make it over this year. That darn recession!

Official Opening and Blessing

Friday Nov. 19th: Today at 10.30 the fun started. It was a great day. Bishop Connors attended (ancestors from Clare) among other dignitaries and many of the local principals. We started with a Smoking Ceremony where the dignitaries walked through smoke made from gum leaves following the ancient Aborigine tradition. Robe Lowe, an elder from the local Peekwhuurong tribe performed the ceremony followed by the Acknowledgement of Country when all the local tribes were acknowledged and we were all welcomed on their behalf.

We then proceeded to the catholic part: an opening hymn, opening prayers, enactment of the Gospel, prayers of the faithful, prayers of blessing and various speeches interspersed. Plenty of pageantry and mime. The Gospel was Mark 10.13-16 followed by a hymn written by a past Chairperson of St Mary's Trim BOM, Fr Kenny R.I.P. "Let The Little Children Come to Me". It was an appropriate connection between the two schools on such an important occasion. Some Grade Six boys played guitars and drums and our Parents' and Friends' had supper for all. We finished up with 'Say To The Lord I Love You' and got all in the hall including Fr Bill and Bishop Connors to do the actions. (see photo above0 Although if you look at the kids who were doing it right you can see that the timing of the two lads was a little off!

We now have a Library and teaching area, a Computer Pod, three new withdrawal rooms, a Reading Recovery Room, Librarian’s Office, Archive Room and Staff Preparation Room. That was all the ‘official stuff’ but we also refurbished two full classrooms and made other 'unofficial' purchases. All under the BER (Building the Education Revolution) funding.:a stimulus initiative of almost $15 Billion which the Australian Government invested in primary schools this past two years. Every primary school in the country got a new hall or new library or new classrooms (in some cases whether they wanted them or not!) They also made a similar investment in hospitals and it worked. No recession here. Other factors like having a load of valuable minerals and a bank regulator who did his job, also helped.

Leonard and Denise

Thursday Nov. 18th: Leonard and Denise arrived today. It was his 50th last week and this was part of the celebrations. We are going to have a party on Saturday night. We had a nice meal and chatted for hours. Great to have visitors, especially family. The house is big and beautiful and nearly wasted on the one person.

Starting School Bonus

Monday Nov.15th: Getting near the end of the year here and today we sent out forms to all new Preps and Grade Six (who start High School next year) for their parents to claim $300. The Victorian (State) Government provides a one-off bonus to all students starting primary or secondary school for the first time. It is to help meet the costs of purchasing uniforms, school bags and other school items. It is not means tested. The parents claim the money at any post office.

Sam's Story

Getting off the Metro I met Ben Walsh, one of the teacher's sons. he introduced me to Sam. He played football for Ballarat this year and has been signed by Clontarf GAA Club in Dublin for January. The Clontarf's coaches wife is an Aussie from Cobden near where Sam lives. He is an accountant. I tried to tell him about the recession but I am not sure that he 'got' it. We swopped numbers and I invited him to Trim next year.

Tiger Woods

Sunday Nov. 14th: Tickets were $50 and good value at that. He had sold out last year but there were plenty of tickets unsold this year. It meant that it was easier to get a close view, so iIwas not complaining. The city of Melbourne paid $3 Million appearance money and reckon that he generated about $50 Million for the city last year. Great money if you can get it. Yesterday we had 40 mils of rain and today it was overcast. Where is the sunshine? I have only five weeks left and am getting desperate! We have had the wettest winter for over 20 years. Just my luck and it does not help when everyone says last year it was so hot...
On the way in we were searched for cameras but the old 'tourist from Ireland' story worked. I followed Sergio for eight holes and then followed Tiger from the third until the end. He could not sink a put and at one stage was ten shots behind the leader. Yet he picked up five shots in the last four holes to finish fourth. I stayed to watch Appelby win and Bland miss a put to tie on the last. Then I rushed for the metro and train to Warrnambool. It meant that I was able to read my book and stretch my legs. It also means that I can keep the mileage down on the car, I have had many journeys and everywhere is so far away.

Chris and Graeme

Saturday Nov. 13th: Went to Melbourne to see Tiger Woods play in the Australian Masters. Stayed with Chris and Graeme Milne who I had last met in Saudi in 1995. There was a reunion in Heuston Texas a couple of months ago and a good friend of mine, Susan, met them there. We had all been members of The Village Singers together and starred (!) in Brigadoon, Pirates Of Penanze, 'Lil Abner and Cinderella. Susan told them that I was 'somewhere in Australia' and sent me on their address. it turns out they were in Warrandyte, Melbourne. As my time here is so short, I decided to combine two activities on the one weekend.
It was great catching up with them and sharing stories and memories. It rained all day today so we just chatted and watched the golf on the telly. Their house was magnificent and the food delicious. After dinner they took out the old albums and we reminisced about Yanbu, Medi-ensalleh, The Red O etc. ...and of course The Village singers. They reminded me of the Prayer Around The Cross that I organised in Yanbu and how I got a 'feeling' from the carpenter that he was a Christian., and so was able to ask him to make the cross. Wonder where that cross is now? Look forward to meeting up in Ireland sometime in the future.

Sleepover in School

Friday Nov. 12th: Classes Three to Six, in St Patrick’s, go on Camp every year. This usually involves two overnights. It is common practice in most schools and indeed there are plenty of schools in Ireland that have overnight school tours. Not so sure that they have sleepovers, though. Last night our Grade Twos had one, as their school camp. They stayed on after school and the teachers organised a long list of activities followed by tea followed by a DVD and bed. In this case it was in the school hall under the supervision of two teachers. The last child fell asleep at around midnight. Up again at seven for breakfast, provided by the teachers and then they got ready for school. Other teachers came in at 7.30 to release the overnight teacher so that they could wash and change for school.

The kids were very excited. It was the first time away from their parents for many of them. Most schools here do sleepovers for their Grade Two classes.

Anois céard déarfa faoi Ghaillimh, gan ann ach baile beag!

Pat's Story

Left Gort in the early sixties as a qualified nurse. Did an interview in Dublin for the St John of Gods in Perth. Got the job and flew out. Spent a couple of years there and then move to St John of Gods in Ballarat. met Neville and they eventually ended up in Horsham where Neville became principal of school number 298. Pat is also retired now. It was amazing to think that about three weeks ago she was in my dad's house in Gort. As Zig and Zag would say: "It's a funny old rock and roll world!"

Horsham

Thursday Nov. 11th: Took a drive up to Horsham to visit Pat, a sister of a neighbour from Gort. Pat's husband Neville was a retired principal and he showed me around all the schools in Horsham. He had worked in the state school Number 298. It had an official name but back in the mid-nineteenth century the locals called it by its number and the habit continues to this day. As I was taking a photo of SS Michael and Mark Primary school, Neville knocked on the window and a teacher came out to give us the tour. It was only open a week and everything was new. All designed for self directed Learning, which is the 'big thing' here. had a lovely meal with Pat and Neville and headed home to Warrnambool after nine. Got home around midnight and hit the sack straight away. had to get up early the next morning to relieve teachers on a sleepover.

My Grandmother's Story

Thursday Nov. 11th: My grandmother Annie was from Dorset Row in Dublin and her father was killed in the 'Sinn Fein Uprising' (as described in the records of Guinness' Brewery). She had two brothers who were killed in Flanders fighting in the British Army in WW1. Thus she used to have the Poppy and Easter Lilly sitting proudly on her mantle piece. I thought of my two grand uncles as I wore the poppy.

The Poppy

Thursday Nov. 11th: I wore a poppy for the first time in my life as it was Remembrance Day. Everyone at the meeting observed a minute's silence at eleven o' clock.

Principals' Meetings

Wednesday November 10th: Yet another meeting and again so far away. back to The Grampians which is about two hours away. This time it was for a briefing. These are held once a term and include all 61 schools in the Diocese. We also have one Southern zone meeting a term for 18 of these schools and also one local group for the five local schools. That is 16 meeting per year and they are all formal with minutes, agenda etc. Interestingly they do not have support groups. Given the choice, I would prefer support groups. Some meetings involve an overnight stay and fully paid substitute cover is provided, along with accommodation and mileage. I also had induction meeting for NAPs which was another four days. Most of the meetings are worthwhile but I felt under pressure being away from school too often. There are approx 140 pupils in the school and I only teach an hour and a half four days a week. I get 20 release days also but these mainly cover meetings.

I was caught unaware as they made presentations and I did not have a speech ready. The Zone group have a dinner on the 25th and I have been asked to speak at that. That will be my real goodbye and I was anxious not to get caught up in farewells for as long as I can avoid it.

Colm and Jim-Jim

Well kinda but with an Aussie accent:Hamish and Andy. They are a funny radio double act who are even more famous than Colm and Jim-Jim, if that is possible. Here is a flavour of what they are like:

http://www.2dayfm.com.au/shows/hamishandandy/listen

Chocolate Biscuit Cake.

I just made my first chocolate biscuit cake. It reminded me of when I was a young fellow and my mum (God rest her soul) used to make it for us at birthday time. When she passed away we could not find the recipe. I was delighted to see that it is very popular here. They call it hedgehog, as they usually sprinkle the top with coconut or sprinkles. I got the recipe from Carolyn at school. I will try it out on the staff tomorrow at break time and let you know how it goes.

Teaching Practice

They call them teaching rounds. The training colleges do not supervise teaching practice here. They pay the school to do so! We had two student teachers recently for two weeks. The school got $450, we kept 20% and the teachers got the remaining 80%. The co-coordinator (post holder if you like) got $23.40 and the teachers $168.30 each. Two lecturers visited us but only to talk to the teachers, not to observe lessons. At the end the teachers fill in a detailed form which is not based on one lesson but on the whole two weeks. Even though you could have a situation where they know the student teacher or where the student teacher is a past pupil, the teachers are very conscientious and professional about their reports. They have to give a copy to the student also and explain what they have written. But because this is the system that they went through themselves, they accept that they must be objective and have no problem doing so.

Ferreting

One of the kids at school (Kieran) on Friday asked me if I would like to go ferreting Saturday. I have tried to say 'yes' to as much as possible while on the exchange, to enter into the spirit of things, so to speak. When he assured me that there would be no blood and guts, I went for it. So I met Kieran, Rhiannon, Amber and their mum Sandra at school yesterday morning. We went to a farm in Killarney where we eventually caught a rabbit. The rabbit was then sold for seven dollars to a local farmer who cooked it for dinner.

The process is simple. They put nets over the rabbit holes and then sent down the ferrets. They had three ferrets which cost about $35 each and had to be trained to come back out if they whistled to them. We had to try a few different locations before we were successful. They had prepared a nice picnic and the weather was good-no rain for a change! Another Aussie 'experience' ticked off my list.

Later on that evening they invited me greyhound racing in Warrnambool where we had a nice meal and good entertainment.

Greyhound Races

The Four Minute Shower

As a nation the Aussies are big into conservation and bio-diversity. Water conservation is huge here, especially as they have had a drought for the last eleven years. (Until I came and then see Saw Doctors, 'Songs From Sun Street, track 12!) The most common advertising is recommending that you do not spend longer than four minutes in the shower. You can even buy a four minute egg timer for the shower, entitled ‘Our Future’. It has a little suction pad to attach to the tiles. Yet you can, in certain places and at certain times water your garden for an hour. Another suggestion is that you shower the length of your favourite song. That is a problem for me, although I could let on that my favourite song was Bohemian Rhapsody or maybe share the shower with someone else and then I could have eight minutes!

Consultant not Inspector

I just had a mind shattering experience and needed to share with the group:

“My name is Coilín and I’m a…” …only joking.

Yesterday I had a visit, at 9.00, from our educational consultant. This is the nearest thing in this system to a Cigire, and also the furthest thing from a Cigire, as I will explain. Her name is Di and she is a treasure. First off she comes in and gives you a hug. Those of you who know me know how partial I am to hugs. Then she enquires how she can help. As a matter of fact she contacted me a few weeks ago to set up the meeting and to set up an agenda for my needs as well as hers. She visits the teachers regularly during the year and each principal once a term. Yesterday there were only three items on the agenda:

• The Annual Report to The School Community
  
• Annual Action Plan
  
• VRQA Compliance

The first is a thirteen page report that principals make to their school community at the end of each school year. (i.e. December). The second is a ten page document where principals outline plans that will be actioned next year. The last is like a Plean Scoile folder with just a set of minimum requirements/policies. This is checked each year to see that it is up to date and a form has to be filled in online to indicate compliance. [They each merit a ‘Blog' and if I get the time I will give more details. But not today!]

Anyway, I had a class from 2.00 to 3.30 so both of us (after the hug) put our heads down and tore into the tasks. As all this was new to me, she explained it in great detail and showed me where to get the information needed. There was no change in format on the first so I was able to follow what Mark had done last year. The AAP had changed completely. Last year it was a wish-washy document but now it is very specific, You need to have targets based on evidence and outline who and how these targets will be reached. If you remember the parents, staff and pupils were surveyed earlier in the year and she helped me interpret and use this data to complete the report. I now have two documents to write up but can see exactly how to do them. Unfortunately two o’ clock came and we had not even started the VQRA compliance. As a staff we had been updating policies during the year but they were everywhere. Other technical information had to be updated from various websites. I had to take a class. Di said that she would have a look at the folder and we would finish it after class. At 3.30 I arrived back to the office to find that she, with the help of the school secretary who knew where the updated policies and other information was, had completed the folder for me! I nearly kissed her but settled for another hug.

Is this not the help all us principals should be getting from DES? Don’t inspect me-help me.

P.S. Marg is a treasure also, but another ‘Blog’ and another day. So much to write and so little time…

Melbourne Cup

Today was Melbourne Cup Day and we had a sweepstake among the staff. All the classes had the same and there were prizes for the first three and last: sweets. Just before the race all the classes went to the hall to watch. Many had drawings of their horses and the cheering was enthusiastic, so much so that we could not hear who won. We had to wait for the dust to settle. Good harmless fun and it was even part of their integrated studies, a section of the Maths Curriculum called C&D (Chance and Data).