We have my Dad for three weeks! So happy!!
Showing posts with label joy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label joy. Show all posts
Sunday, 27 November 2011
Saturday, 2 July 2011
They Were Great Days and Jolly Days......
Labels:
alma mater,
farewells,
grief,
joy
"We will honor yet the school we know
The best school of all
We will honor yet the rule we know
Til the last bell call
For the working days and holidays
For the glad and melancholy days
They were great days
And jolly days
At the best school of all."
So go the words of the 'School Song' of my Alma Mater.
Yesterday was the Baby Angel's last day. A group of them started the day by meeting in the city at the famous, original 'Pancake Kitchen' (they have their own webcam!) and then taking the iconic Adelaide tram back to school. Two assignments were due and their were summer uniforms to be 'signed' for the girls who would be leaving.
Meanwhile I was in the throes of a very intense parent meeting back at my school. Once the meeting was finished we had to debrief the rather upset teacher and then we had to come up with strategies for the child in class which required me observing in the classroom for a while. All in all, I totally missed the start of the parent get together at 2.30pm, and when I arrived at 4pm with champagne bottles in hand, most of them had gone. Disappointed by their lack of staying power I marched to the admin office and fronted one of the many ladies who will be looking for a new job in 5 months time.
"Who will join me for a champagne farewell?" I announced, and her look of bewilderment told me that this was not the attitude she had been experiencing from parents this week.
Like a lit firework, this impromptu Friday Happy Hour drew staff together from all over the building. There's nothing like champagne for triggering people's radar. Heads popped out from offices all around us. The Principal found some crisps in a drawer and voila! Instant party.
We retired to the staff room and the mood was wonderful.
"This is just what we needed." exclaimed one teacher.
"Thank you SO much for doing this." sighed another.
About 10 of us, including the BA, sat around the table toasting: the school, the parents who had stayed, the resilient girls and the staff who will be unemployed through no fault of their own. I regaled them all with stories of my own worst deeds at school and we laughed, sighed and reflected on what had been a wonderful semester and an amazing journey.
As the darkness fell and they drifted off home, the BA and I
were left with her Business Studies teacher and the Principal. We went back over the events of last year; we went back over the way the school had changed in the last 10 years and wondered where the pivotal point had been. Was it the expensive building of the Senior College at a time when the Government had proposed a 'Year 13'? Was it the introduction of laptops in 2001? Was it a principal who had tried to turn the school into a 'finishing academy' when its usual demographic
was middle class academics? We will probably never know.
The restructuring, indeed re-invention, of the school as a 'Learning Community' is a bold and controversial one. For those of us who mourn the past, it is sometimes hard to embrace the future but I am sure, with the benefit of time and space, we will come to appreciate and value the new Alma Mater. Anyone can be bitter but it takes character and strength to look beyond one's own needs and see the bigger picture. I think my Baby Angel can do that and I think this journey, and her school, have helped her to do that. Thank you Annesley.
We stayed as long as we could.
The best school of all
We will honor yet the rule we know
Til the last bell call
For the working days and holidays
For the glad and melancholy days
They were great days
And jolly days
At the best school of all."
So go the words of the 'School Song' of my Alma Mater.
Yesterday was the Baby Angel's last day. A group of them started the day by meeting in the city at the famous, original 'Pancake Kitchen' (they have their own webcam!) and then taking the iconic Adelaide tram back to school. Two assignments were due and their were summer uniforms to be 'signed' for the girls who would be leaving.
Meanwhile I was in the throes of a very intense parent meeting back at my school. Once the meeting was finished we had to debrief the rather upset teacher and then we had to come up with strategies for the child in class which required me observing in the classroom for a while. All in all, I totally missed the start of the parent get together at 2.30pm, and when I arrived at 4pm with champagne bottles in hand, most of them had gone. Disappointed by their lack of staying power I marched to the admin office and fronted one of the many ladies who will be looking for a new job in 5 months time.
"Who will join me for a champagne farewell?" I announced, and her look of bewilderment told me that this was not the attitude she had been experiencing from parents this week.
Like a lit firework, this impromptu Friday Happy Hour drew staff together from all over the building. There's nothing like champagne for triggering people's radar. Heads popped out from offices all around us. The Principal found some crisps in a drawer and voila! Instant party.We retired to the staff room and the mood was wonderful.
"This is just what we needed." exclaimed one teacher.
"Thank you SO much for doing this." sighed another.
About 10 of us, including the BA, sat around the table toasting: the school, the parents who had stayed, the resilient girls and the staff who will be unemployed through no fault of their own. I regaled them all with stories of my own worst deeds at school and we laughed, sighed and reflected on what had been a wonderful semester and an amazing journey.
As the darkness fell and they drifted off home, the BA and I
were left with her Business Studies teacher and the Principal. We went back over the events of last year; we went back over the way the school had changed in the last 10 years and wondered where the pivotal point had been. Was it the expensive building of the Senior College at a time when the Government had proposed a 'Year 13'? Was it the introduction of laptops in 2001? Was it a principal who had tried to turn the school into a 'finishing academy' when its usual demographicwas middle class academics? We will probably never know.
The restructuring, indeed re-invention, of the school as a 'Learning Community' is a bold and controversial one. For those of us who mourn the past, it is sometimes hard to embrace the future but I am sure, with the benefit of time and space, we will come to appreciate and value the new Alma Mater. Anyone can be bitter but it takes character and strength to look beyond one's own needs and see the bigger picture. I think my Baby Angel can do that and I think this journey, and her school, have helped her to do that. Thank you Annesley.
We stayed as long as we could.
Tuesday, 26 October 2010
Keep Strong This Faith
Labels:
alma mater,
faith,
joy,
school
There is power in prayer and reward for faithfulness.
The ball is now in our court as a school community.
The ball is now in our court as a school community.
Friday, 1 October 2010
This Morning In Arizaphale's Head
My sister's arriving tomorrow! My sister's arriving tomorrow!
Oh.
That means I have to clean the house. Minor buzzkill.
Oh well.
My sister's arriving tomorrow, my sister's arriving tomorrow.....etcetcetcetcetc
Oh.
That means I have to clean the house. Minor buzzkill.
Oh well.
My sister's arriving tomorrow, my sister's arriving tomorrow.....etcetcetcetcetc
Tuesday, 4 May 2010
The Heartbreak Cat: A Story in Four Felines.
A non-animal loving man....and his cat. (Himself and Morticia)
A bad tempered cat who hates everyone but does a good impression of 'pilchards wouldn't melt in my mouth' for the camera (Pippin).
A new addition to the family (Lily......as in Munster).
Now given that we came home one night to discover Pippin baling up Lil in the stairwell, and given that Lil was SO terrified she ripped a chunk out of Himself's mouse finger, you would think that she'd learned her place in the pecking order. Apparently not.
When Morticia was brought face to face with the interloper just recently, contrary to our expectations her blood pressure skyrocketed and she emitted that low menacing growl which goes with invaded territory. Lily of course was blissfully unaware and followed Morticia around the house attacking her periodically until Tish turned, swiped her and then sat by the door pointedly until we let her out.
That was Friday.
On Sunday afternoon I found this message on the kitchen blackboard.
Tish had not put a paw near the place since Friday and Himself was gutted. I mean, we were all devastated but Himself was hardest hit.
"This is why I don't like pets!" he announced after having got up at 3am to walk the streets and look for her.
Even Pippin was affected. This most stand-offish and psychotic of cats (Himself calls him The Anti-Pet) whined horribly and, shock of shocks, on Sunday morning, came and sat on my lap!
I considered this anomaly with the BA.
Me: You know the last time Pippin went all sooky was when Merry disappeared.
(Merry, the suck face ie incredibly affectionate, cat that Lily is replacing. 2005-2005)
BA: Yeah that's right! He kept whining and carrying on. But you know, he used to fight with Merry all the time.
Me: Yes, and he was hissing at Tish again the morning before she disappeared!
(Silence while we contemplate this anomaly)
Me: Maybe he's 'doing them in'??????
By Monday night we had started to look for a body. We poked around under trees and we'd stopped calling for her. A cloud of foreboding hung over the family.
This morning at 6am, No2 Son was awoken by a small, bedraggled, hungry black cat at his window. Her familiar bell, a sound we had resigned ourselves to never hearing again, awakened him and he was able to let her in. Where has she been? We have no idea but we are awfully glad she's back! None more so than Himself who has given me strict orders never to let her outside again! I wonder how long that will last?!
A bad tempered cat who hates everyone but does a good impression of 'pilchards wouldn't melt in my mouth' for the camera (Pippin).
A new addition to the family (Lily......as in Munster).
Now given that we came home one night to discover Pippin baling up Lil in the stairwell, and given that Lil was SO terrified she ripped a chunk out of Himself's mouse finger, you would think that she'd learned her place in the pecking order. Apparently not.
When Morticia was brought face to face with the interloper just recently, contrary to our expectations her blood pressure skyrocketed and she emitted that low menacing growl which goes with invaded territory. Lily of course was blissfully unaware and followed Morticia around the house attacking her periodically until Tish turned, swiped her and then sat by the door pointedly until we let her out.
That was Friday.
On Sunday afternoon I found this message on the kitchen blackboard.
Tish had not put a paw near the place since Friday and Himself was gutted. I mean, we were all devastated but Himself was hardest hit."This is why I don't like pets!" he announced after having got up at 3am to walk the streets and look for her.
Even Pippin was affected. This most stand-offish and psychotic of cats (Himself calls him The Anti-Pet) whined horribly and, shock of shocks, on Sunday morning, came and sat on my lap!
I considered this anomaly with the BA.
Me: You know the last time Pippin went all sooky was when Merry disappeared.
(Merry, the suck face ie incredibly affectionate, cat that Lily is replacing. 2005-2005)BA: Yeah that's right! He kept whining and carrying on. But you know, he used to fight with Merry all the time.
Me: Yes, and he was hissing at Tish again the morning before she disappeared!
(Silence while we contemplate this anomaly)
Me: Maybe he's 'doing them in'??????
By Monday night we had started to look for a body. We poked around under trees and we'd stopped calling for her. A cloud of foreboding hung over the family.
This morning at 6am, No2 Son was awoken by a small, bedraggled, hungry black cat at his window. Her familiar bell, a sound we had resigned ourselves to never hearing again, awakened him and he was able to let her in. Where has she been? We have no idea but we are awfully glad she's back! None more so than Himself who has given me strict orders never to let her outside again! I wonder how long that will last?!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)