Friday 5th: There must be no nicer feeling on earth than driving down the sunny road on a Friday, heading home from school, having had a short sojourn in Mickey Bourkes.
There was a funeral in the church today and a reception in our school hall afterwards. The Parents' and Friends' Association did the catering voluntarily and the proceeds went to the school. They will do the same in a few weeks at the Port Fairy Folk Festival, where they will have a food stand for the whole weekend and the proceeds go to the school. As the funeral was for the mother (RIP) of a priest, quite a few priests, principals and CEO employees paid me a courtesy visit. The welcome that I have received to date has been overwhelming.
Saturday, February 6, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Timetables
Thursday 4th: I am almost two weeks at timetables and still not quite finished. There are six teachers and they do their own timetables-that's good! But they all get two and a half hours release time (for preparation)per week-that's bad! But you can employ other teachers to cover this release time-that's good! But you have to pay these teachers-that's bad! But you can employ specialist teachers to do the release-that's good! But the principal does it too-that's bad! You can also use the LOTE teacher-that's good! But sometimes he releases a class teacher in order that she releases another class teacher so if you go looking for this teacher she is in another teacher's room-that's bad! You can timetable the P.E. teacher for the hall-that's good! But the P.A. teacher also wants the hall-that's bad! You have specialist teachers for reading recovery, literacy support and numeracy support-that's good! But they don't work every day nor not always the same day and you can go looking for them all over the place to find out that they are not in today-that's bad! You get lovely long breaks of 30 mins and 60 mins-that's good! But that means eight different blocks of yard duty have to be timetabled each day-that's bad! You do a lovely yard duty roster ensuring that everybody does the same duty-that's good! But you have sixteen different people some of whom work one day, some two, some three, some four and some five except that out of the forty blocks there is one who was not pro-rata the same-that bad! You somehow solve the problem without using the log book-that's good! Then the heavens open and it rains and rains and rains...
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Financial Minestrone.
Tue Feb 3rd: temperature in the mid-thirties and again uncomfortable outside. Did not have yard duty so only went out for a few spot checks. Spotted a truck at lunch break about to drive across the playground (we have an extension project starting) and had to run to stop it. Needed a shower but tried to stand downwind of people until going home time!
One of the major differences between the two systems is the fact that here, all salaries, deductions and superannuation are paid directly by the school. The paperwork associated with it is immense and complicated. There are many different sources of funding ranging from regular wages to special ed to initiatives to drought relief to EMU ( I keep forgetting what that is:some form of funding for numeracy) to POL (i.e. POR) Column A, Column S, Column N and on and on and on... Some salaries are made up of a combination of two or three funding sources. All has to be done to keep within budget amounts and also other percentages and hours of work. This is a defacto seven teacher school but with others providing Reading Recovery, literacy support, numeracy support (EMU) specials (P.E., LOTE-Language Other Than English, P.A.-Performing Arts, Library) Teacher Aides and Integration Aides (SNAs). Some work one day, others two, others three and often wearing different caps-you get the picture. A draft budget has to submitted before the end of the school year and then a final budget at the beginning of the school year. When this budget is finalised it has to be entered into O.S.R (O.C.L.S.)with a breakdown of the hours that are got from each source of funding. You get the idea. The secretary Margaret (a gem) and I spent over two hours entering the data today. Queries will bounce back in the next few days and then we will finalise the input. Margaret has to write the checks for about sixteen people each week. This year we have two applications for Long Service Leave which adds even further to the financial minestrone. I have a headache even writing about it!
One of the major differences between the two systems is the fact that here, all salaries, deductions and superannuation are paid directly by the school. The paperwork associated with it is immense and complicated. There are many different sources of funding ranging from regular wages to special ed to initiatives to drought relief to EMU ( I keep forgetting what that is:some form of funding for numeracy) to POL (i.e. POR) Column A, Column S, Column N and on and on and on... Some salaries are made up of a combination of two or three funding sources. All has to be done to keep within budget amounts and also other percentages and hours of work. This is a defacto seven teacher school but with others providing Reading Recovery, literacy support, numeracy support (EMU) specials (P.E., LOTE-Language Other Than English, P.A.-Performing Arts, Library) Teacher Aides and Integration Aides (SNAs). Some work one day, others two, others three and often wearing different caps-you get the picture. A draft budget has to submitted before the end of the school year and then a final budget at the beginning of the school year. When this budget is finalised it has to be entered into O.S.R (O.C.L.S.)with a breakdown of the hours that are got from each source of funding. You get the idea. The secretary Margaret (a gem) and I spent over two hours entering the data today. Queries will bounce back in the next few days and then we will finalise the input. Margaret has to write the checks for about sixteen people each week. This year we have two applications for Long Service Leave which adds even further to the financial minestrone. I have a headache even writing about it!
Literacy Interviews
Feb 2 Tuesday: It was in the high thirties and oppressive heat today. Yard duty was tough, even with the straw hat. At lunchtime I rounded the building to see that the yard was empty. On closer inspection I discovered that all the kids were in the shade, wherever they could find it-smart kids.
Last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we had literacy interviews. The teachers from all grades did various literacy test interviews with individual children. For example, in Infants there was a sheet for the sounds/alphabet, then words (like Schonell) proceeding to questions on books and reading. Finally it finished with writing. The children start at an older age here and only have seven years in Primary: that is Prep to Grade Six. So Prep compares with Senior Infants. Similar age appropriate interviews took place for all the other grades. They took 20 to 30 minutes for each child and teachers got through eight or nine a day. Similar tests took place before Christmas in Numeracy. Children get an appointment and do not come in for those three days unless they are being tested and only then at the time of their appointment. Thus at the start of each year teachers have a very complete picture where each individual child is at.
Last Wednesday, Thursday and Friday we had literacy interviews. The teachers from all grades did various literacy test interviews with individual children. For example, in Infants there was a sheet for the sounds/alphabet, then words (like Schonell) proceeding to questions on books and reading. Finally it finished with writing. The children start at an older age here and only have seven years in Primary: that is Prep to Grade Six. So Prep compares with Senior Infants. Similar age appropriate interviews took place for all the other grades. They took 20 to 30 minutes for each child and teachers got through eight or nine a day. Similar tests took place before Christmas in Numeracy. Children get an appointment and do not come in for those three days unless they are being tested and only then at the time of their appointment. Thus at the start of each year teachers have a very complete picture where each individual child is at.
First Day With Kids Back.
Monday, St Brigid’s Day: The kids came back today. I met many of the parents before and after school. The whole community, parents, kids and staff have been most welcoming to me and I really feel that it is a home away from home. There is a whole Irish element to this that goes way beyond any exchange. I am in the area of Australia, excluding the cities, where there is the largest concentration of people of Irish descent. Murphies, O Briens, Lanes, Dalys, Lenihans… There is a confirmation photo on the wall from, it looks like, the Sixties, and of the twenty kids ALL have Irish names. Anyway that is for another day.
In school I felt like a Newly Appointed Principal. I was giving out to myself about having yard duty on my first day when I realised that it was I who did the roster! It was the first time that I had ever done yard duty in a straw hat-‘no hat no play’ applies to the teachers also. Strange going around wondering where the children were allowed to play and what were the procedures. After school, I went to the front to do bus duty only to find that the bus comes to the side of the school. Some sixth grade girls approached me in the morning and said that they had an important question for me. I was expecting something meaningful about Irish schools when they piped up:
“Were you at Vanessa Amorosa on Friday Night?”
Well, as everyone speaks like Nadia, more like:
“Weere yoou at Vanessa Amorosa on Friiiyyydaayy Nooyght?”
Well honestly, a fella can go nowhere.
At lunch break one of the second graders kicked another boy. I walked up and asked him what did he do. He replied:
“I kicked him in the nuts.”
I kept my cool and did not show my shock at the directness. I asked him how the other boy felt and he replied:
“Sad”
…and quick as a flash a fourth grader walking by added:
“I bet his nuts felt sad too!”
School starts at nine (noyne) but at half eight two of the lads had the school garden half weeded. They returned to it during the breaks and it was in good shape by three thirty, when we finished. The recess is from 11.00 to 11.30 and lunch is from 1.00 to 2.00. At 2.15 Teresa came and showed us all how to make St. Brigid’s Crosses; I filled them the kids in on some stories and finished with a prayer ‘A Bhríd a Mhuire na nGael’ which I said in Irish and translated for them. We then had the weekly planned assembly which finished with a Q & A from the kids. The questioning was very direct and if I ever go on Facebook, I can no longer hide my age or other central details to my life.
During the day I keep using Irish terms, like asking for a ‘bualadh bos’ for Teresa, ‘súilígí’, ‘tar isteach’, ‘déanaigí líne’ srl.
As it was the first day there was a lot of crying and gnashing of teeth but I only succumbed to the latter. I still get a lot of questions and if I don’t know the answer:
“Sure, how would I know I am only the principal!”
That works with both parents and teachers. Rule Number Six never came in so handy. All and all the experience was somewhat uncomfortable but overall most enjoyable. I think that I will give it a go again tomorrow.
In school I felt like a Newly Appointed Principal. I was giving out to myself about having yard duty on my first day when I realised that it was I who did the roster! It was the first time that I had ever done yard duty in a straw hat-‘no hat no play’ applies to the teachers also. Strange going around wondering where the children were allowed to play and what were the procedures. After school, I went to the front to do bus duty only to find that the bus comes to the side of the school. Some sixth grade girls approached me in the morning and said that they had an important question for me. I was expecting something meaningful about Irish schools when they piped up:
“Were you at Vanessa Amorosa on Friday Night?”
Well, as everyone speaks like Nadia, more like:
“Weere yoou at Vanessa Amorosa on Friiiyyydaayy Nooyght?”
Well honestly, a fella can go nowhere.
At lunch break one of the second graders kicked another boy. I walked up and asked him what did he do. He replied:
“I kicked him in the nuts.”
I kept my cool and did not show my shock at the directness. I asked him how the other boy felt and he replied:
“Sad”
…and quick as a flash a fourth grader walking by added:
“I bet his nuts felt sad too!”
School starts at nine (noyne) but at half eight two of the lads had the school garden half weeded. They returned to it during the breaks and it was in good shape by three thirty, when we finished. The recess is from 11.00 to 11.30 and lunch is from 1.00 to 2.00. At 2.15 Teresa came and showed us all how to make St. Brigid’s Crosses; I filled them the kids in on some stories and finished with a prayer ‘A Bhríd a Mhuire na nGael’ which I said in Irish and translated for them. We then had the weekly planned assembly which finished with a Q & A from the kids. The questioning was very direct and if I ever go on Facebook, I can no longer hide my age or other central details to my life.
During the day I keep using Irish terms, like asking for a ‘bualadh bos’ for Teresa, ‘súilígí’, ‘tar isteach’, ‘déanaigí líne’ srl.
As it was the first day there was a lot of crying and gnashing of teeth but I only succumbed to the latter. I still get a lot of questions and if I don’t know the answer:
“Sure, how would I know I am only the principal!”
That works with both parents and teachers. Rule Number Six never came in so handy. All and all the experience was somewhat uncomfortable but overall most enjoyable. I think that I will give it a go again tomorrow.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Saint Brigid's Family Fun Day Out, Crossley
Sunday Jan 31: Turns out that Crossley is beside Koroit so I took a stroll out in the afternoon (sometimes called ‘night’ here!) It is a rural area with a huge number of people of Irish descent. Their ancestors came in the mid-nineteenth century and settled in the surrounding area where they mainly picked spuds. Apparently they were not convicts but other Irish, practically all from an area of less than fifty miles radius of Killaloe/Ballina. The ships used to stop at Port Fairy, nearby, on the way to Melbourne and the local landlord enticed many of the Irish to ‘jump ship’. The clay in the area was perfectly suitable for growing spuds. Loads of O Briens, Lanes and Linnanes and all very proud of their heritage. The current generation, a famous musician called Shane Howard among them, were even interested in getting Irish language lessons for their kids. When I get settled I might consider getting involved. Their ancestors built a beautiful red-bricked church which held around 400 parishioners in its heyday. Alas no more and the church was closed a few years ago. The locals purchased it from the parish along with the old hall and hope to eventually develop a genealogy centre. As the patroness of the church was St Brigid this was their big fundraising day. It was just like an old ‘Bring and Buy Sale’ at home. There was a fancy dress where the kids dressed up as their ancestors, fun sports and even a pony and trap for the kids. Teresa made crosses and showed young and old alike how it is done, while recounting all the relevant stories and customs. She accepted an invitation to St Patrick’s for tomorrow which was St Brigid’s Day. These were so Irish they not only knew about The Saw Doctors, they could even sing some of their songs! I was impressed but also moved by their story and the strength of their heritage.
Croc tries to steal shark from fishermen.
Saturday Jan 30: 23 degrees and clear at 5.00 pm so went to the beach for an hour and a half. Usually it gets cooler as the evening falls but today as I was leaving it was 31 degrees. Have to watch that and put on the old sunscreen. I still have not gone in for a dip but if you watch this clip you might realise why.
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