Badger Galore
Staying ‘Up Over’ for a while.
Farewell Mona.
So...we are just returned from another trip to Brisbane.We went down yesterday afternoon so that we could attend the funeral of Mona Clark today.Mona is the mother of Faye who is the partner of Anne who Will worked with at Chelmer Kindergarten. Faye and Anne have been caring for Mona since she had a stroke around the time that Dulcie fell and needed her hip replacement....so we are very much kindred spirits in that respect.The funeral today was very moving. Anne had written a lovely eulogy and Faye did a reading that was utterly beautiful:Your mother is always with you.She's the whisper of the leaves as you walk down the street...She's the cool hand on your brow when you are not feeling well.She's your breath in the air on a cold winter's day...Your mother lives inside your laughter.She's crystallized in every teardrop...She's the place you came from, your first home and she's the map you follow with every step you take...(Author Unknown)We know something of what Faye and Anne are going through and we are hoping that soon they will come and visit us here at Frogknot.
The potato of 'lurve'!
'Mr Allen'- Back in Action!
So...the day dawned for my return unto the classroom. It was July 2013 when I last stood before a class and the waves of fear from earlier in the week came back like Japanese tsunamis to wash away all the calm of yesterday after my introductory visit.I was given the key and Supply Teacher Handbook and then there I was back in a familiar habitat. Australian classrooms and UK classrooms smell the same...heaven knows what makes the perfume, pens, dusty books, paint, glue, paper and musty carpets.I switched on the lights and then wondered what on Earth to do. There was very little to do as everything I needed was waiting in a box by the whiteboard. I opened up the Supply Teacher Handbook and found the Fire Evacuation Policy but couldn't find where we were actually to muster in the event of a fire. I rechecked the care plan for C who has an allergy to nuts and eggs and has an epipen on standby and then stood like a lemon for a bit.I'd gone far earlier than I needed to but I wanted to seem keen and look professional. I was to open the doors at 8.30 but popped out at 8.25 to find the teacher next door to see if she could tell me where to take the class in the event of a fire. The classroom next door was pitch black and locked up. A child arrived with mum but I nipped back in my class again and locked them out. I was going to everything by the book.I opened the doors again four minutes later with a smiley 'Good Morning!' and mum and the child came in.One of the next mum's in wanted to know where the 'tuck shop' box was. I hadn't a clue as I had not been told about 'tuck shop'."It's normally here" she said."What does it look like?" I asked."A box!" she said illuminatingly."Do you want to leave it until Monday until the teacher comes back?" I asked trying to find a solution."No! He needs his lunch today!...Oh! I'll go next door and ask Mrs S" and she walked out.'You can ask her if she is there! I thought.School started at 8.50 and by 8.45 there were only 1o children there and I began to wonder if the parents were keeping them off because a strange, fat, bald man was in the classroom today.S got upset when he arrived, he was even more anxious than me but I gave him the important job of holding my special pen until I needed it and he settled down fine.By roll (registration) time all 18 had arrived but not the Teacher Aide.  She turned up halfway through roll call. I was relieved to see her at last.I had been told to pose a question during roll to encourage talk and improve language skills so I asked each child what they wanted to be when they grew up. There were a lot of policemen, many of the girls aspired to be mums. One boy said 'dead'...which I was not expecting..."Dead?" I asked perturbed...but it was his accent and he meant 'dad'. There were two farmers, and a recycling man, one teacher and a hairdresser."Ooh! What would you do with mine?" I asked."Comb it" was her reply."That might be difficult," I said.I have to say the morning was interminable...8.50 until 11.00 before it was time for morning tea. I was worn out never mind the children. We did the letter 'A' to death. We traced them, copied them, wrote them, found things starting with them, pointed at them in books until 'A' was absolutely asphyxiated and annihilated.At morning tea they were out for 30 minutes and I had a break but they didn't come back in until 11.40 and it was only then that I realised that the wall clock was fast by 10 minutes. There was a reason the Teacher's Aide said...but she never told me the reason. To me it just meant the end of the day was not as close as it seemed.By this time I had already marked out J, Z and little Sh as the class pests. Could they sit still and listen? Could they buffalo!There were 'Gotcha Bands'...( look, I don't know either)  to hand out for those children who could: 'Be responsible', 'Be resilient', 'Be a learner' and 'Be respectful.' We hadn't given out any up to morning tea but went mad upto lunch time.We did maths next. S who had perked up since the morning said he could count to 100. I got him out and he set off counting confidently but stopped him at 39 saying"I'm sorry but I'm quite an old man and I haven't got much time left to listen to more but well done!"I held up some numbers and they held up the right amount of fingers. They were all pretty good which was why I was not very comfortable introducing the Teacher Aide's task where they had to practice writing the number '1' and glue 1 thing in 6 different boxes! I was doing sorting with my group.We swapped the 'Gotcha Bands' for stickers just before lunch. Everyone had one, even Z, but not J or little Sh. I urged them to try harder in the afternoon by giving them a little, slightly menacing pep talk before I let them go for lunch.I was on dinner duty but had 15 minutes to prepare for Art in the afternoon and gobble down half a sandwich before I put my hat on and went outside.They were all sat on a carpet under a shade awning eating their packed lunches...'tuck shop' people were eating their school made items one of which appeared to be 'fried rice'!I was to help supervise those children 'at play' who had finished. Eek! It was a 'bear garden'!There was a 30 foot long rope lying on the ground that ended up being wrapped around  the climbing frame and yanked in all directions by a child that only appeared to be able to squawk her disapproval at those who got in her way. on the other hand there was a rickety wooden obstacle course with children leaping at the end onto a thick crash mat.All my Health and Safety alarms were ringing madly, nay shrieking at an ear piercing level as I tried to step in to stop children being garotted or flattened by another airborne child.The other teacher eventually came and said that the rope was for the obstacle course and should be laid on the ground. I grabbed it off 'squawker' and laid it out. It didn't stay laid out for long. I fantasized about tying them all up with it like one of those big round hay bales and going inside to finish the rest of my sandwich.It was such a relief when it was time to tidy up. I wound the rope up first!By the time the afternoon session arrived I was regretting my suggestion of finger painting apple pictures and especially dreaded letting J, Z and little Sh anywhere near it...but it went much more smoothly than I had expected and the tables were not ruined nor the chairs. There were no painted clothes or hair and faces...it was an actual miracle.J got his 'Gotcha Band' and so did little Sh..but they still wriggled through my story."Put your hand up if you have enjoyed today" I said. They all did. I hope I was the only one that lied.I sent them off...I got one hug which is not bad after only a day and then made a quick display of their finger painted apples before locking up and taking the key and Supply Teacher Handbook back to Administration."Can you do me 2 days the week after next?" Asked the Business Service Manager. I told her I would love to but couldn't say yes because of the impending op. I asked if it was Prep but it was Years 3 and 4. I was happy to let that go.I am exhausted and sadly cannot say that I enjoyed it...well, apart from my off plan bits...but I survived and could cope with a few times a fortnight if that is possible.I'll leave you with the finger painted apples we did and go and lie down in a darkened room.
Killer Teacher!
So...for the past few days waves of terror have washed over me in regards to my teaching appointment on Friday. It is completely irrational as I have 27 years teaching experience but it is mostly to do with the fact that I have been out of a classroom for more than two years and that this is a completely different country, and therefore I surmise, a completely different education system.It goes to show, somewhat, the level of my commitment in that in those two or more years I have not been bothered to even find out about the Australian Education system but that's me for you.I doubt my blood pressure has been perfect the last two days.Maree and I passed the morning in Stanthorpe at the laundrette,"I'm gonna wash that dirt right outa my pants, I'm gonna wash that dirt right outa my pants, I'm gonna wash that dirt right outa my pants and hang them on a line."...which took my mind off the fact that I was visiting the school this afternoon.Back at Frogknot I ironed a shirt and used up all the power doing so, then cleaned my canvas shoes with carpet cleaner. I ate lunch even though I didn't feel hungry and set off at 2.15 pm.I wanted to spend the whole afternoon in the class before tomorrow, mainly to check out classroom routines and especially to prepare the children for a day with a big, fat, bald man, but I was asked this morning if I could come 10 minutes before the end of school...i.e 2.50 pm.I was full of dread and brimming with inadequacy as I headed into Stanthorpe in Roxy and then I ran over a rabbit that leapt out in front of me. There was a sickening thud underneath the car and I saw it somersaulting across the road in the rear view mirror before it lay motionless upon the road.I immediately worried it was an omen.I arrived at the school at 2.40 and noticed the Prep Department was completely separate from the school across the road. It looked massive and I sweated a bit more. I called in at Administration and met Lisa who is the Business Service Manager (?!) and who was the one who had emailed me about the cover. She took me over the road to the class.I was relieved that no one screamed as I walked in, including me, in fact some children even came up to me and showed me their pictures that they had just finished. It was a big room and there were only 18 children. That fact made my mood level rise a little.Watching them gather on the carpet it was obvious that these children have only been in school for just over 2 weeks. My mood level jittered.They were all wearing name tags which was helpful. The teacher introduced me and then it was time for them to go. I would have liked a bit longer to chat but it was not possible. The teacher asked for their names tags back and said they could give them to me. She got 15 and I got 3.Lots of them left say they were going to miss her tomorrow but I said,"But I'll be here!" They didn't seem convinced that that was a good thing.Jen, the teacher knows Will when he used to work at the school years ago and we had met once before by the eggs in SuperIGA.She got her planning out for tomorrow."Be kind to me," I begged.She was.I feel so much better now I know what I am doing and it is pretty much straightforward and much of the day is based around the letter 'A'...I am the embodiment of that!Art in the afternoon was collaging an apple template with sticky paper but I suggested fingerpainting and said I would take in apples for them to copy and to show them how they are not all red and green but a mixture of the two colours.I drove home feeling much more relaxed about the whole thing. I can do it. I CAN do it. I even had a smile on my face until I drove over the rabbit I had killed earlier again.
Hairdressing at sunset.
So...we are presently visited by our friend Maree. It has been sometime since Maree has been at Frogknot and she has been very excited to see all the work we have been doing.She decided that she wanted to cut her hair, that she has been growing since 2004, at sunset on the rocks. Walking up to the rocks in the evening we startled a stag that hurried off out of sight through the trees.
Will performed the hairdressing duties and then as the sun set Maree sang 'Land of Light' by Roy Gullane of the Tannahill Weavers.O sleep in peace you valleys and hillsBe safe be free as the breezeThe north wind of fear like a banshee howledAnd she drove you down on your knees to prayShe drove you down on your kneesLift up your head to the morning lightThe fight o'er darkness is wonAnd feast your eyes on the land you loveIts life returning with the sun beholdIts life returning with the sunAnd the morning walks proud, shining out like a flameNo evil could subdueYou open up your arms in friendship and joyTo welcome in the new born dayTo welcome in the newMay the spirit so strong in the shadow and stormHold fast to what is rightAnd surely as you breathe the gentle air of peaceThis land shall shelter in the light of loveThis land shall shelter in the lightIt was a special moment.