Just take away their knives before you get on, and you're good to go.;)

Sounds like life is gooooood Ortho :)

Last day of school today. Well, last half day, I was home by 13.00.
Lots of prizes from the childer - I am always so flattered. Not because of material gain, just that they must mention my name at home in order to justify a parent buying a gift/ card. As it was I mostly received chocolates, all promptly donated to my Mum, who accused me of wanting her to get fat :) Tiger & family got me a cute cat plaque..

I got banana flavoured treats from my class teacher.
And no, not as a knowing joke, she just doesn't know me. Well it's only been 11 months. And yes, I sound like an ungrateful bitch, but the bottom line is I just don't like her. I smiled and thanked her of course - I do have manners.

But, phew - I'm glad that school year is over. I have been asked subtly by other TAs how it was working with her. And responded with equal subtlety. And then we've looked at eachother's wary faces and realised we both felt the same, and laughed and shook our heads. Not a great environment, especially for lower ability children. Tiger Mum was especially just riding out the year.

My bet? Tiger will really flourish next year and a lot of the anxiety he now releases as soon as he gets home will disappear. From that teacher I got a cupcake decoarting kit :) And from the Specialist teacher I work with - cheese and wine. I work with some wonderful people.

I'm going to miss staff and children over the summer!

When does the school year start again for you, Sundae? We're already more than halfway through summer vacation here, and mentally preparing to start up again near the end of August...

We're back in school on 6 September.
Summer holidays are generally accepted to be 6 weeks, but sometimes they are a little more and sometimes a little less.

One of my class told me today that it was 45 days - I haven't counted it myself. The same child told me his mother had died and after I found that not to be true I've always been wary of accepting his word.

Oh, that explains it.* Summer vacation is 10 weeks here. We also have 1 week for "Spring Break," and 2 weeks for the holidays in winter.


*"It" being why the US is at the bottom of the list in math, science, literacy, and pretty much every other metric among developed nations.

So are you working with the same teacher next year?

Whereas they have 1 week in october, 2 weeks at christmas, one week in spring, two weeks at easter and one week in may. In additoin to th 6 weeks in summer. Comes out pretty similar in the end.

I'm working with the cupcake teacher :)
I've been with Mrs Banana in the mornings with Tiger all school year, and Miss Cupcake in the afternoons with Mars since February.

I'm moving up the school with both of them (this year at least). I will be with Miss Cupcake in the mornings with Tiger, and a new teacher in the afternoons with Mars.

Tiger already knows Miss Cupcake because he comes into her classroom during assembly some days, to read with me. So as well as taking home a "My Class Next Year sheet for the holidays, he is already comfortable with his new teacher. Also the classroom is right next door to his old one and shares a cloakroom area and toilets.

Mars has a more difficult transition. I've also done him a sheet, and he has spent 3 afternoons in his new classroom, but he will now be in Key Stage 2 in a different area of the school and with different play and lunch times. He is less anxious than Tiger, and acts out displeasure/ distress immediately rather than internalising it. This works for him in school, because he gets immediate attention, but reaction is still poor care. The good thing is that the morning TA in that class has a son who is on the spectrum and specialises in children with behavioural difficulties. She's not assigned to him specifically, but she knows the difference between bad behaviour and autism.

God. Everything gets so complicated for the autistic kiddies. Scary enough moving from familiar classes to unfamiliar ones.


Glad you're not stuck with banana flavour lady next year :P

Yes about the autistic kids.

Down here, the education department recently changed the special needs transport schedule for an autistic lad with NO NOTICE AT ALL, didn't even warn his mother in advance.

Kid had what was described in the media as an "autistic meltdown".

The education department have since publicly admitted that they got it wrong. It takes a lot to make them do that. Seriously, guys, "special needs" should give you a clue.

I think a big part of "it" is that the US is still a haven for immigrants, and immigrants don't speak English well, so they don't learn or test as well. There is a lot of talk in my city of closing the acheivement gap, but nobody is willing to admit that it will never be closed as long as a new batch of ESL kids comes into the system each year.

That probably is a factor in literacy, but Australia and Britain have high levels of NESB migrants too.

The fact that some of your school science books even mention creationism probably doesn't help.

:rant:

I think the problems in education across the board in Australia and most likely other western countries, is the amount of bullshit bureaucracy and administration work required by teachers. I also think that teachers trying to teach who don't speak english properly is a setback for the students right from the start and it really is the biggest irony of all time.

eta: I'm not against teachers from other countries teaching here, but it's stupid that a teacher with an accent so thick it's difficult to understand them, or who can't even put their pronouns in the right place should be teaching high school OP students.

The biggest single factor in educational outcomes is .... the parents.

Poorly educated parents --> poorly educated kids.

Fast forward 20 years (or 10, or 2, sometimes :p ) and those poorly educated kids are now poorly educated parents themselves.

Rinse and repeat.