Week One – First Visit
I had my first visit to the school today. I’ll start with first impressions. Brookley* Primary is in an area where there is a lot of different people: Different cultures, different levels of education, different amounts of ready cash and different values. I live in the area; about 5 minutes’ walk from the school, which is incredibly handy. As I walked up to the school, I first noticed the barbed wire fences and the gates that are lockable. Fair enough, I thought, there must be a lot of vandalism go on around here. I then noticed the care put into the gardens and the friendly welcome from the administration staff. My interview with the principal was really great, I was genuinely welcomed and he prepared me gently for the sorts of challenges I would likely face in the school. The staff seemed extremely driven, and I was interested to note that many of them were much younger than I was used to seeing on Prac.
The principal kindly gave me the grand tour and introduced me to my class. Oh my gosh. I came to the following conclusions straight away:
1. I’m in WAY over my head with these kids. I don’t even know where to start.
2. This is my biggest challenge yet.
3. I’m going to have to learn so fast I think my head will spin.
I think my supervising teacher is very good at reading expressions, as she laughed a bit, we had a quick chat about what I should expect of the class, what her plans for the term were and how I could fit in my teaching requirements. My teacher was quite interested in doing a PowerPoint Project for the kids. She then gave a pack of information about the school and sent me on my way.
My class is going to be the most challenging I've had so far, I think. There is a huge range of ability, and cultural background. I have several Indigenous students, and about half of the class were born in a different country, or are the first generation born in Australia. Apparently literacy levels are very low: four of my kids are ESL students. Mathematics is the favourite subject in the class, and the stduents are very quick to pick up on topics.
However nervous I am about my ability to cope with what may be thrown at me here, I am really looking forward to going back next week. I feel really good about the school and the behaviour management policies. In my information pack it was said that the school policy is based on the work of Bill Rogers, Peter Smilanich and Barrie Bennett. The theories behind these men’s work (and also the whole school behaviour management plan) are what I believe in most as a third year education student: prevention is better than cure and winning the students over before they have a chance to resist is half the battle won.
