This weekend was
pretty low-key after an interesting week.
February 14th
brought stop-work action by Victoria’s public school teachers. The result of
this for us meant the kids stayed home as only one teacher at their school did
not take strike action while about 15 teachers were at my school (it is not
mandatory to be a part of the union here). Those teachers who were at school
supervised the two classes-worth of year 7s who came to school.
At first count, when
the year 7s at school assembled, there were 37 students so I thought – how easy
is that today?!?! Just one class of kids to supervise! When I said that I was
surprised that there was only one class, everyone was horrified – no way – that
is two classes – are you out of your mind??? I didn’t get it – that was clearly
just one class! Then I thought – hold on a minute – this is not Alberta where
classes in the mid-thirties (or higher) is quite normal, this is Australia
where the largest class size is 26… So, we split the group into two, found five
more kids who hadn’t been in the proper place for attendance and added them
into the mix, and then we split the day and took time with our charges!
There was a great
turnout for the teacher rally for those who did strike and their slogan and
posters were fantastic – no love for Ted (premier) – appropriately timed to
coincide with Valentine’s Day! There was a lot to love about the teachers’
passion and resolve! Rotating strikes are now planned for second term while the
38 hour workweek is ongoing resulting in no PD or extra-curricular events occurring
beyond the regular workday. This is reeking havoc with Brad subbing as there is
just no work at the moment as sub time is required for those on PD, etc but
without that happening there is no need for a sub…
On Friday we went
to the Melbourne Rebels home opener match for rugby. We had great seats, the
kids moved up to the front and had a blast doing that and the Rebels (after a
pretty sleepy start) won it pretty decisively. After the game, the whole team
came out and signed autographs, took time to chat and get photos taken with
fans. The kids were thrilled! Eoin, especially, was on cloud nine with rave
reviews continuing all weekend!
Saturday was a
day at the beach and Sunday was spent with the kids having time with friends –
Hana going to a buddy’s place and Eoin having his friend to play. A pretty
low-key weekend but worth it!
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