The Last Blog Post - Christmas with the Hodges

We had the privelege of having Christmas Day with our exchange partners Tim, Karen, Jack and Ella Hodges at Broulee in Australia. It was a lovely day and we shared a Christmas meal together, a few drinks, a swim at the beach and plenty of chatting about 'last minute things' and our exchange year. It is a rare thing that exchange partners get to actually meet and we have made good friends with them through our exchange experience and our many email correpondences.

So, here's to our teaching exchange 2010 - bonds and friendships around the world!

Farewell England - The Journey Home and Finnish Christmas

"Farewell to ol' England forever, Farewell to my ol' pals as well...

Singing too-rall-li, too-rall-li, add-i-ty...

We're bound for Botany Bay"

Hopefully not 'forever'. Maybe we'll get back to England and see more things and meet our 'ol' pals' again but it was time to go home and land in the plane at Botany Bay, Sydney. However, this may have been easier said than done. The snow in England had caused chaos at Heathrow and we weren't very sure that our plane would be flying. We decided the only thing to do was to go to London and see how we go.

After breaking up from school we had three days of cleaning and packing, making the house ready for the Hodges' return and making sure our bags were the correct weight for the plane. All the time the snow came down outside and there was about 30cm of snow laying on the ground. Putting aside the worry of the plane taking off we weren't even sure if we could get out of our little lane at Trethawle! We had to go into Liskeard for some shopping during these days. I rode the mountain bike through the snow one day and had the surreal experience of riding down the closed fast lane of the A38 while cars gingerly passed me through the slush of the slow lane. On another day Stefanie and I walked in. It was a lovely sparkly, snowy day and there was quite a carnival atmosphere as people walked into Liskeard from the surrounding villages and were walking around Liskeard being careful not to fall over on the ice. It was all quite beautiful and very Christmas-y.

I rang a taxi to book him for our journey to the railway station the day before we had to leave and everything was very uncertain due to the snow. The taxi couldn't get out of his lane due to the snow, so we were told to wait and see if the snow would clear. On Tuesday 21st December it was time to leave. The snow had stopped overnight and thankfully Andrew, the local farmer, had used his tractor to clear the lane a bit to help cars through. I rang the taxi early to find out what was happening and encouraged by cars moving carefully up his lane he said he would 'go for it'. There was one very icy area on our lane that I was worried about but I told the taxi-man that it would be OK. Happily, it was. By more coincidence and symmetry the taxi driver was the same taxi driver that took the Hodges to the railway station to go to Australia!

So, we arrived at the railway station. Step 1 of this perilous journey achieved. The train arrived on time and left on time. Step 2 good. The train journey through the Cornish countryside and then into Devon and beyond was beautiful in the snow. We thought we had a lot of snow in Cornwall but it wasn't until we got to Exeter that we realised how much snow had fallen in the east of the country and why there was so much trouble at Heathrow. It was blanketing and feet deep.

We arrived into Paddington station on time and immediately caught the connection on the very crowded Heathrow Express train to Heathrow and then the bus to our motel for the night, the familiar Ibis Hotel that we had stayed at before. Unfortunately I mucked up the details of which bus to catch so we waited too long for another bus at Terminal 5. It was then that a Christmas miracle happened. We were lost, bewildered, cold and hungry. A man who looked suspiciously like Santa Claus (old, big white beard etc) asked out of the blue "where are you going?"

"We're trying to find Heathrow Central and then the 111 bus," I said.

"Get on the bus I get on and hop off at the next stop," he said.

From there the bus didn't take too long to arrive. We rode the bus awkwardly guarding our many big bags. We had been travelling for quite some time now and we were starting to get weary. We arrived at Heathrow Central safely and Santa Claus said a hearty "Merry Christmas!" to us, then I'm pretty sure he disappeared.

"Dad...do you think that man was Santa Claus?" Eleanor said uncertainly. We all laughed because we were all thinking the same thing.

"I think he was and he has just given us a Christmas miracle," I replied.

Eventually, dragging our bags across the ice we arrived at the Ibis Hotel. We checked in easily, threw our bags in the room and went downstairs for a beer or two and some dinner. We went to bad happy that our perilous journey so far had gone quite well. Step 3 was complete.

The next morning we had breakfast early and headed for the terminal as weren't sure how long the delays would be. I rang Qantas and they told me that our flight would be leaving. We arrived at Departures to be met by a line that was some 200 m long. We could see a lot of frazzled people and marquees had been set up to keep people sheltered or to help people who had been waiting too long. "My goodness, this is going to be bad," I said in front of the kids. I was thinking something else. It was then that we worked out how the departure system worked. We had to look at a big board to see our flight number and that told us which lettered entrance to use. We realised that we were in the line where flights were mostly going to Europe so we set off to find Entrance F for Qantas. We were met by no line and some people who were too cheerily asking people if they had a confirmation voucher for their flight. We didn't but I told them that I had just rung Qantas and they had said we would be flying so they were happy with that. It took mere moments to check in (so glad to get rid of the heavy bags!), seconds to get through security and then we were boarding the plane. This was a stark contrast to the distressed people we saw wrapped in silver space blankets who had obviously been at the airport a long time and looked like they had just about given up the will to live. Oh dear.

In no time at all we were in the air. It was as easy as that. Step 4 complete! The flight home was most pleasant. Stef and Eleanor (in the row behind us others) had a spare seat between them, we had good food and drinks and all the entertainment offered on long-haul flights. Stef and I watched a terrific Finnish film called Rare Exports which was a scary adaptation of the Joule Pukki (Father Christmas...literally Christmas Goat...story). Check it out if you get the chance. After some 13 hours in the air we arrived in Singapore. By this time, our internal timeclocks were all mucked up. Unfortunately, Stef left hers and Eleanor's boarding pass on the plane. I thought this was going to be a big deal and we would be stuck in Singapore but a quick show of the passport allowed another boarding pass to be printed. Thank goodness the passports weren't left behind! In the gate-lounge in Singapore we looked for a couple of fellow exchange teachers we had glimpsed on the plane but they weren't to be seen in the crowd. We had met them in Belfast. At that time, the man was dressed as a Leprechaun and Annie had danced the night away with him...but that's another story.

We left Singapore uneventfully and 7 hours later we were approaching Sydney over Hornsby and then dipped into Sydney Airport. Home at last. We were met by Stefanie's good friend Caitlin. It wasn't until we emerged from the airport that the Australian air wrapped us like a warm blanket. It felt good to be home.

Caitlin had enough room in her car for the kids and the luggage so Stefanie and I abandoned both and took the train and then our feet to Pymble where we would be staying overnight. It was a journey we were quite familiar with. Despite the fact the neighbours were having a loud, rocking party we slept quite easily. Step 5 complete.

The next day we had to get to Parramatta by train, find the Prior's bus to Broulee and enjoy the journey south. The luggage made the train journey difficult. So did the jetlag and the crowds on the train. We took some time to orgainse how we were going to get the luggage off the train at Parramatta. It was a difficult task but people kindly rallied to our rescue. The train pulled into Parramatta and within a blink of an eye some blokes had the luggage off the train and dumped at Stefanie's waiting feet. "No worries, mate!" one of them said in a thick Aussie accent that was quite unfamiliar to us after our year away.

We had trouble finding the bus stop for the Prior's Scenis Express. Fortune smiled again as in my wanderings I actually found the bus and followed it around Parramatta transport station to where it stopped. Stefanie hastily bought us some lunch items and then in no time at all we were off to Broulee. We arrived to be met by Ross and Joan at 8:10pm Christmas Eve. Step 6 and the journey home was complete.

We went to Joan and Ross's house for some dinner and to say hello to our Finnish friends, Lassi and Toula and Minna, Pekka and daughters Rossa and Sierri. Christmas Eve is Finnish Christmas time when Joule Pukki (previously mentioned but not quite as scary) comes to the house to give out presents. It was quite a surreal experience in a disorientated and jetlagged state. Towards 11pm Stef and I drove our familiar cars back home and we all went straight to bed tired but happy to be home at last.

Ending as we began - SNOW!

We started the year with snow and now, at the end of our exchange year it is snowing again. Here are some photos of the farm and the kids playing, in the snow.

Last Days at Looe Community School

I wanted to have the full school experience before I commented on teaching in England and Looe Community School. So, ironically, one of the last blog postings I am doing is about the very thing this teaching exchange is about - teaching!

I remember the first day at Looe School being picked up in the freezing cold by Martin Ollerenshaw and driving through the Cornish countryside. We arrived at the school which looked to be all car park and concrete to me. We walked in through the door to the Science Prep Room and I remember the unmistakable smell of labs everywhere: chemicals, washing up liquid and plant material.

"Hello, hello," Martin greeted Eunice the lab technician in his upbeat, happy manner.

"Helloo Martin," Eunice replied in a happy but busy way. This set up the scene for the year as Martin was always upbeat and Eunice was always happy but busy. Eunice looked every part the lab technician with her white lab coat on.

"Eunice, this is Wayne," said Martin.

We shook hands and Eunice said "Helloo Wayne. Welcome, welcome. Lovely to have you here. Come through and meet the others."

The Prep Room looked like organised chaos as many prep rooms do. Stuff on shelves, stuff on top of display cabinets, stuff in display cabinets, a huge rack of tray drawers, boxes of worksheets, bunsens and electrical equipment on top of workbenches. We went through into a small staffroom area with sink, microwave, table, chairs and filing cabinets. Max Chippett was there making a cup of tea.

"Alright, O?" Max inquired of Martin in the Cornish manner. It was to be later revealed that Martin was generally known as Dr. O around the school.

"Yes, very good, very good," Martin replied.

"Cup of tea?" Max inquired.

"Yes, please," Martin said, "Max, this is Wayne." We shook hands.

"Alright, mate?" Max greeted me, "cup of tea?"

"Yes, please," I said.

Then from their various rooms Karen Meakin appeared and greeted me warmly and then Adrian Chapman.

"This must be all a bit of a shock for you, eh?" Adrian said. It was. It was cold, dark, the accents were strange and it felt a bit like walking on to the set of the TV program, Teachers. But it was a warm welcome and I instantly saw that the Science staff at Looe were a lovely group of people.

That first day was a training day. I was welcomed to the school by the Head Teacher, Heather Jenkins and I looked around at a staff who looked happy enough despite the fact that it was the middle of winter, there was the prospect of snow and they had just had Christmas holidays. The training day began with half a day on something called FFT(D) and the implications for something called the GCSE's and the grades of current Year 11's. Of course, I had done some research before leaving Australia and I knew that the GCSE's were basically the equivalent of the NSW School Certificate but I wasn't entirely sure how it all worked. A year on, I have a fair handle on it but it is still quite a complicated system. The second part of the day was given over to department preparation time. Max took me under his wing and tried to explain what was what, where things were and how things worked. I went home with a headache.

The next day, the snow came and the school was closed. It was the best thing that could have happened. The one thing I lacked was time and preparation for teaching lessons. The two days we had gave me just the chance I needed to get my head around what Max had told me, the syllabuses and what the heck to teach the students.

The third day we were into it. Things started off well. I slipped into teacher mode automatically and the students seemed quite stunned by this strange Australian who was standing before them. Then it got tougher. As the students realised I was as human as a teacher in their eyes is after all, some 'difficult' behaviours started to appear. Not all the classes were like it and it seemed to be concentrated with the Year 10 and 11 students but they just wouldn't listen! I seemed to have to project my voice over them nearly constantly and wait, wait, wait for them to settle. Everything took sooo loooong. I tried every trick I had over the next several weeks: changed the seating plan, strict use of the disciplinary system, food rewards, highly structured work, combinations of everything. Most things worked for a bit but I could see quite quickly that I wasn't going to make these students into more motivated and more independent learners in the short time I had with them. It became simply a matter of being on their case, encouraging, cajoling and always having high expectations of their behaviour despite the fact that they would rarely meet it. I was helped a lot by the Science Teachers' Aide, Mark Deakin who commented to the senior management that he thought that the new Australian Science teacher was a bit shocked by the students at Looe School. Mostly, he wasn't wrong!

What I did learn over time was that these kids were great. What some of them lacked in literacy, numeracy and learning skills they made up for in social skills. They were very interested in life in Australia and they happily bantered about sporting events: the football world cup, the rugby and at the end of the year, the Ashes. These kids loved to chat, and chat they did.

Over time, particularly after the summer holidays when I took on my own new classes, I had become more a part of Looe School and things did get better. The students understood more about how I operated and I had a better understanding of their abilities and interests. It is the same with small community schools the world over it seems, you have to be a part of the community and be able to talk about who knows who before you are accepted and respected.

So, what do I think of the English education system? It is overly complicated (the modular GCSE system), it is demoralising and unmotivating to quite a few students (setting GCSE target grades that are below the award of a GCSE in a subject but still expecting the student to work), it is highly stressful for teachers (performance management stresses and Ofsted stresses.) I find the government mantra of 'ever increasing student achievement' a noble educational pursuit, but the adversarial way the government have gone about it is wrong! It is highly teacher-centred. Despite the fact that most of the Quality Teaching and Learning research I have been looking at over the years has come from England, I have found that much of the pedagogical focus in England is on the song and dance of the teacher. Less emphasis is on looking at how students are learning, and putting the responsibility of learning on to the students. There is still a big focus on teaching content rather than teaching students how to learn. I think this is occurring because teachers are under such scrutiny to 'perform' that they are safest adopting an authoritarian, traditional approach.

What do I think of Looe Community School?

It is a lovely school filled to the brim with wonderful, generous people. The staff are dedicated, hardworking and friendly and the students are generally lovely kids. There is a terrific sense of community at the school. I remember going to my first Free (Singing) Assembly and just being amazed. Four hundred students, some staff, Mr. Tom Saddler up on stage - all singing their lungs out with wonderful enthusiasm. It caught in my throat and I had to swallow back a tear it was such a terrific thing to see. Even though starting at a new school, in the middle of the school year, in winter, when it should be warm, summer holidays was really difficult, I always felt very welcome, happy and supported at the school. It has been a terrific experience.

The last days of school were special. There were many opportunities to say farewell. The Christmas Reflection and Farewells Assembly was really special. I got up to say a few words of goodbye and thanks and to give the school a gift to acknowledge the teaching exchange - the whole school community gave me a warm and lengthy round of applause. It was quite overwhelming. I'll never forget it. It all goes back to what I said before, quite a number of the students were not the best learners I have ever taught but they are some of the loveliest people and they are extremely generous. I am quite sad to be leaving Looe School just when I'm starting to feel like I am more a part of the Looe School community.

What about the Science staff?

They are a terrific bunch. They welcomed me into the team enthusiastically. They put up with my moaning on occasion despite the fact that I promised myself I wouldn't moan during my exchange year. They supported me and we became friends. Saying goodbye to them was really difficult. And then there is Eunice the lab tech. Eunice saved my teaching life on more than one occasion this year. She went above and beyond the call of duty, has a wonderful scientific knowledge, an incredible memory and brain and worked just so hard to keep the department running smoothly day to day. I cannot praise her or thank her enough for the support she has given me this year.

I wrote to Helen Gregory the exchange organiser the other day and one of the questions I answered for her was 'could I live and work in England?'. The answer to this is 'yes'. But would I want to once I've got back to Australia, smelt the Eucalyptus, felt the warm sun, looked at the big, blue sky and had a swim in the sea? Probably not, but I will certainly miss the staff and students of Looe School.

Here is a link to some of the Christmas festivities at Looe School. It was great to end the year on such a high http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7Y9JoYzmxBg