Bethany School

Keynote Speaker

On Wednesday last I was asked to speak about my exchange experience in Camperdown for a group of four schools and their boards. They have a dinner each year for their boards. It was a little daunting but went well. I have never been a 'keynote speaker' before and was delighted that I did not make a bags of it. Met Mark's brother Paul who had stayed in my house in Trim last March and also Alistair Fitzgerald from Dingle. I had been in training college with his brother. Just as the night finished I discovered that there was a Justin Staunton whose father was from Gort teaching in the local secondary school. He is a first cousin of a first cousin of my mother's but we are not related. Small world or what?

Footy Tips

Today was the end of the regular season. There were 22 weeks of matches and from now on it is knockout. At school we had a tipping competition whereby we had to predict the eight winners each week. Your score counted each week and this weekend as we entered the last round of matches, I was in second place. After the last match today I was in joint first. There are 12 in the group of teachers and spouses so I am looking forward to some crowing tomorrow. If I had not tipped Charlton so much, this year, I might have won. I supported them as Setanta plays for them. Well he used to until he was dropped about a month ago. I have seen him play a few times and he did not do well. His days are numbered, I would say. Wonder will he go home and win an All Ireland medal?

Federal Election 2

Still no result. Labour are expecting 72 votes and the Coalition 73. That means that they will need to have the support of 4 Independents to form a minority government. The reason for the delay is that they are counting postal votes which have come in from all over the world and have made a difference in constituencies where there are only a handful of votes between the candidates.

Speed Traps

They are everywhere. Not much speeding on the roads here because you are guaranteed to get caught. A few week ago while coming back from Melblourne at six in the morning, I came across three speed cars and that is not counting the cameras. I have met a car at least once on journeys of any length that I have made here. If they are not pulled in they can appear driving against you or behind you. Thus you can be driving on a five lane highway and if you are on the limit you are seldom passed out.

Weather

Not all barbies and sunshine here. There had been a drought in Victoria for at least the last ten years and this winter it has rained and rained, The house if a full field from a river and on Thursday last water came within 20 metres of the back garden.

Parent Teacher Interviews

Parent teacher interviews were held a few weeks ago over two days. Tuesday 2.00 to 8.00. and Thursday 2.00 to 6.oo. The business manager and myself cooked a meal for six o clock (photo) on the Tuesday. She did the soup and I did the Irish stew. ETs (emergency teacher-sometimes also called a relief teacher but let's not go there!) were employed for three teachers from 2.00 on the Tue and ditto for the remainder on the Thursday. No Staff meeting or PLT (Professional Learning Team meeting) that week. 15 minutes per interview and Marg rang a bell every 15 minutes. They did not record the interviews. Also were not able to not use the Naplan results as they have not been corrected and issued yet. They are done by the Dept and not the teachers. All that work and still not able to use the data. The interviews were a follow-up to the mid-year reports issued two weeks previously. There will be a second set of meetings (and reports) before the end of the year.