Although there are four terms in the school year, the end of term 3 is like the end of the year. After Preliminary HSC and Trial exams, then reports, the Year 12s then go through their leaving process of ceremonies, assemblies and valedictories (more a marathon than a process... it seems to go on forever). Except they haven't really left, because their final exams don't finish until the end of October. Still, the "Sprinter" holidays (the name will be the subject of a later blog post) mark the end of the winter sport season, the end of the busiest few months of the year for me at work, and the changing of the seasons. It's one of my favourite times of the year.
Gillian finally has her teaching number, which means she can apply for teaching jobs at last. Whilst the quest for a permanent position can be a long one, she's been able to pick up some casual work at her old school and where she did her prac. So appreciative were the children in her class that one of them presented her with a gift at the end of the day:
Without meaning to belittle the initiative, creativity and gratitude expressed here, it does beg several questions - was the decision to sign the document an afterthought? Is this the first time this class has ever had a teacher actually show up? If this is what you get after a day, what do you get after a week, or a year? I also like the fact that the paper on which this is written has a border, giving it the impression of being a certificate. In fact, it's also a recognition of professional competence. This teacher has been judged to be "really fun" and "very good". As I'm about to go through the wonderful experience known as pointless red tape accreditation, it's helpful to know that these are the Australian national teaching standards by which educational practitioners are assessed. And for the different levels, presumably a sliding scale of exclamation marks.
I may not get multicoloured certificates of appreciation for doing one day's work, but high school teaching does have its material rewards. Even from boys, who in most cases will bring in a gift only because mum has made them do it. And I do get a sadistic pleasure in watching boys over the age of 15 give a card or gift and desperately try to avoid making eye contact (under that age and they're just like overgrown, unselfconcious puppies). Giving their teacher or housemaster a gift is like ripping off a band aid or pulling out a splinter. Whilst it's a bit uncomfortable, it has to be done, so just get it over with quickly and move on.
It's always interesting to see which are the ones that give gifts. Sometimes it's from the really good kid for whom you've needed to do next to nothing, and sometimes from the kid who over the years has taken hours - or even days - of your life (or in some cases, 'off' your life). There's no way to pick it and I'm surprised every year by who does and who doesn't. Unlike kids in primary school, high school kids may also have several teachers, plus a mentor/tutor, plus in my school a housemaster - so gift giving becomes a more complex and potentially more expensive operation. For their parents, of course. We know who it's from really.
By the end of Year 12, I know I've done my job if they've learned what kind of gift their kids' teachers will genuinely appreciate. And it's not one that I can still on my fridge. After many years of school, they may not realise it, but the parents will have learned a lot.
And I wouldn't make it as a primary school teacher, anyway: being 'really fun' is totally beyond my skill set.
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