We are so lucky! I don’t mean to sound flippant about or dismissive of the turmoil which continues to envelop the world, but it happens to be true. Where do I start? Lockdowns of entire nations with populations existing in small social bubbles; businesses failing and families in such financial pain; countries reeling from inept and criminal leadership which threatens their very existence; droughts, conflicts and floods leaving humanitarian crises in their wakes. Yet, here we are. We sit here in beautiful Western Australia having had no community covid infection for 9 months, being allowed to travel within the state, socialise, shop and attend school with little or no hindrance. We are in our own massive bubble – and we are so, so lucky! The year ahead promises much but remains uncertain; I personally hope for great changes for LA14 and a year full of learning, joy and progress. Futures are, by definition, uncertain, but the present for us here in this stunning state is good and we must take a moment to think of others while we remember to count our numerous blessings. Here are a few photos of my own home town.

 

2020 was some year! On a world scale it was one we all shared together and saw us come together to find solutions to a problem which proved we are all basically the same, wherever we come from. Personally, well, I’m sure we all had our moments, good and bad, that will live with us, that added to our experiences, that lifted us up or helped us learn. However, time flies and we’re already ticking away the days of 2021. In Australia, we’re still on our summer break and won’t be back ’til February and even then it’ll be a few weeks before my new students get access to their blogs (more on that in a later post). Until then this blog is just biding it’s time, ticking over, awaiting the big day when the kids arrive with beaming smiles, energy and enthusiasm for the year that lies ahead. 2021 promises to be another notable year in history, hopefully one which bears the fruits of our collected efforts and sees us learn greater lessons about who we are as a world community, after all, that’s what history is for.

“Not all heroes wear capes!” This is a saying that’s been used quite a bit lately, especially when we think of the health workers fighting the deadly, global pandemic. To be honest, there really aren’t any real life cape wearing heroes (anyone running around in a cape would generally be thought of as odd – to say the least). Real heroes are all around us, ordinary people who do good things and who often don’t get recognised for what they do. It doesn’t have to be something amazing, even small things (a gesture, a word, giving time…) can make a massive difference to someone. Some of the unsung heroes at our school are the members of our very important P&C Committee who do such great work raising extra funds to benefit the students. One of the events they recently put on was a colour run around the school oval which, as so often happens, allowed the students to have a great time whilst at the same time raising essential funds. It did get messy as you’ll see below.

 

A high pitched scream followed by a giggle erupts from a brightly coloured shape as it bounds, bursting with almost uncontrollable energy, towards its hapless victims. This was Pajook, the feared and dreaded Pajook. This was our first encounter – we hadn’t known what to expect. As it turned out, Pajook day actually went really well (the name being a compound of the two words pajama and book) and the year 6s in LA14 seemed to enjoy reading to their year 1 buddies, despite their uncontrollable energy and excitement. After reading in the sunshine, we took our buddies inside to colour pictures of wild monsters and crazy creatures. You never know, some of them may have even been Pajooks!

 

This year we’ve covered so much in English and learnt to develop and control our writing in many ways. This task has been created in order to allow you to show the world what you can do.

Imagine a student (boy or girl) first enters a classroom, finds a seat and sits down. What would they see? What would they hear? How would they feel? Using all your skills of descriptive writing, create an opening for a story that explains the setting and the character. You must use third person and “show” as much about the character as you can. Think about what type of person they are and ask yourself questions about the character as this will help you create him or her. Do they like school? Do they have friends? What does the classroom look like? Remember all the texts we’ve studied, from Charlotte’s Web right through to Fish in a Tree. Create an atmosphere in the class (sights, sounds…). Create a mood and personality in the character through actions, feelings and thoughts. Complete a draft first in your English book.

When it’s good it can be amazing, but when it’s bad it can be truly awful. I’ve had plenty of the good in my teaching career, but last term I can honestly say was the most stressful. This isn’t just a teacher thing, most jobs come with a certain amount of stress, but as a teacher we have to bounce into class and lift ourselves to make sure we’re giving as much as we can. However, being only human (yes, teachers really are people) we also need to make sure we look after our mental health because if we don’t our problems can rear up and bite us viciously, and the wounds can last a long time. Thankfully the end of term break was a great opportunity to rest and take the time to do something for myself. I’m a firm believer in looking after our mental health (just ask the students – we’ve done heaps on this during the year) and to help myself I have my trusty MGF which I purchased as an ongoing project specifically for this reason. This time I stripped the inlet manifold to paint it, refurbished the injectors, painted the cam cover to match the body and started updating the interior. It was extremely cathartic! Last term will remain with me for a considerable time yet, but by looking after our mental health we can all make sure we are in the best position possible to deal with each day, good or bad.

If you’re experiencing stress take time out to look after yourself and remember the ABC’s of mental health: Act, Belong, Commit!

Sometimes it’s not the destination that matters, it’s the journey. In our instant, bells-and-whistles, digital world it’s nice to give students an experience of something new, something hands on, something that requires patience and care. This is an activity that I’ve been doing for a few years and it’s one that carries so many benefits with it. We made a wooden photo block for Fathers’ Day (it was supposed to be for Mothers’ Day but Covid came along…) and it gave the students quite a few new experiences such as sawing and sanding wood, spraying lacquer and manipulating digital images. While the results were great, the major focus was simply to give the students a fun activity and a few new experiences. Check out the images below.

If only we had more time, but unfortunately we’ve all become victims of “the system”. As teachers, we give the students a task to complete but then serve them with frustratingly mixed messages: “Take your time, take care with your work, think about what you’re doing, but do it quickly as we have to do something else.” If the pressures of the curriculum aren’t enough, students are fighting their own pressures and the innate expectations of their modern, instant world. Students know knowledge is instant, available at their fingertips, and a contact, a photo, a purchase or a movie is only a click away. Waiting is a thing of the past and the need to spend time creating something often seems alien to the modern student. Time, it seems, is a thing that needs to be taught, and that’s exactly what we’re doing in LA14. We’ve started an art activity which is going to take right up until the end of term to complete. On top of that, we’re also creating a special Father’s Day gift which requires a vast amount of patience and care to complete (not to mention sawing, sanding, sticking and rubbing). These special activities are forcing the students to take more care and time with their work and to be much more thoughtful. If we’re lucky they’ll even learn the of pleasures to be gained from once in a while being able to slow down and just smell the roses.

As a kid I’d sit for hours letting my imagination run wild as I constructed all kinds of vehicles, buildings bridges (and much more). Now, as part of our STEAM (integrated Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math’s) activities, we’ve been using Meccano in the classroom, the toy I enjoyed all those years ago. Meccano has strong connections to the topic of robotics and digital technologies, which some students will be choosing to follow in high school; in fact it’s such a fabulous tool with a huge educational value. Besides helping the students develop their problem solving skills and their construction skills, it is also great for their literacy development. The students are having to cooperate in pairs (boy and girl) as they attempt to read, decipher and follow the fairly complex instructions. The instructions are all visual, the type that Ikea tend to use, but a lot more detailed and complex with steps having to be followed in clear stages. As well as requiring good reading skills, the students have to use clear, polite and constructive conversation skills to overcome any difficulties they encounter. The instructions are very similar to an algorithm and must be followed closely. When finished they should have a great model with working parts and can post about their experience on their blogs, as long as they stay on track and don’t come off the rails!

Education is a team sport! To imagine that a student sits in a classroom and the only owner and disseminator of knowledge is the teacher standing at the front would be to miss the huge resource which resides in every individual. It would also be to deny the creativity and vision that others see, which we ourselves may miss. For this reason the character analyses in our new novel study (Fish in a Tree by Linda Mullaly Hunt) are being carried out in groups and the discussions and the learning have been more valuable than in my previous novel studies. The ideas and opinions have flowed from everyone and the characters have been fully and deeply investigated. Not only has the learning improved and been shared by everyone (not everything is a test) but the students have enjoyed it way more than simply struggling to write in their books, alone and without the benefit of hearing others. Check out the images below.