Tuesday, March 20, 2007
Monday, March 19, 2007
March 19th
Inniu Dé Luain 19ú Márta: Lá breá brothallach a bhí ann. Fonn orainn fanacht inár leapacha ach seachtain nua, scoileanna nua agus Ostán nua, ós ár gcomhair amach.
Up early to pack. Due to "Mumba Weekend" Formula One and FINA World C'ships, though we were trying for three months prior to departure, we had been unable to get accommodation and had to book two hotels. Today was "moving day". Our new serviced apartment is perfect. We actually have a table on which to blog! Life doesn't get too much better.
In the morning we visited the Catholic Education Office (CEO). This is an eight-storey high-rise modern building encompassing the Irish equivalent of Archbishop's House and D.E.S. for the Catholic schools of Melbourne combined. This magnificent structure houses the "business" that is the management of Catholic Education in Melbourne. Every aspect of support, servicing and funding for 269 Primary schools and 70 Secondary schools, emanates from this building. This office has 320 employees, some of whom are based in four regional offices around Melbourne. Conjure with the titles of the lovely people who gave so generously of their time to us this morning:
Next it was on to St. Monica's P.S. Moonee Ponds and its charming principal Tim Kelly who entertained us royally. Home-made sandwiches, no less. This was a school set in a middle class area with 500 pupils and 40 staff: 32 teaching, 8 non-teaching. Victorian building (as in Queen Vic.) beautifully maintained, on a dual campus, superbly resourced. And yet they still managed
to give all the staff with additional responsibilities (POLs) their own office space. Deputy Principal was walking and also had her own office. Every class had an advanced webpage where they could even access their homework, should the need arise. Outside facilities included three full-size basketball courts, two tennis courts and a state of the art adventure playground.
By contrast, St. Michael's in North Melbourne is situated in an area of high disadvantage, most of its students coming from immigrant background. They were a Mercy school up to 2001 with strong Irish connections. They were delighted to receive a copy of "Mass for God's Children" from St Mary's Mercy School in Trim. They had 180 pupils, seven mainstream class teachers
out of a staff total of twenty! This school places great store on the promotion of literacy and numeracy and given the area in which they are located, it is nothing short of remarkable that they won the National Award For Literacy and Numeracy 2006. They weren't afraid to proclaim this achievement on a large sign outside their school and who could blame them? Something of which to be truly proud.
The more attentive among you will have noted our reference to the need to cut back on the number of schools per day. Tomorrow we visit three schools: go figure!
Nath na Seachtaine:
Focal Scoir: We have just discovered that our hotel has a Gym, Spa, Leisure Pool and a rooftop outdoor sunbathing area, adjacent to our room. Oh happy days.
Up early to pack. Due to "Mumba Weekend" Formula One and FINA World C'ships, though we were trying for three months prior to departure, we had been unable to get accommodation and had to book two hotels. Today was "moving day". Our new serviced apartment is perfect. We actually have a table on which to blog! Life doesn't get too much better.
In the morning we visited the Catholic Education Office (CEO). This is an eight-storey high-rise modern building encompassing the Irish equivalent of Archbishop's House and D.E.S. for the Catholic schools of Melbourne combined. This magnificent structure houses the "business" that is the management of Catholic Education in Melbourne. Every aspect of support, servicing and funding for 269 Primary schools and 70 Secondary schools, emanates from this building. This office has 320 employees, some of whom are based in four regional offices around Melbourne. Conjure with the titles of the lovely people who gave so generously of their time to us this morning:
- Geraldine Harbourd: Executive Assistant
- Mary Oski: Manager of Leadership and Accountability
- Paul Sedunary: Curriculum Co-ordinator
- Cailín Yeomans:Education Consultant
Next it was on to St. Monica's P.S. Moonee Ponds and its charming principal Tim Kelly who entertained us royally. Home-made sandwiches, no less. This was a school set in a middle class area with 500 pupils and 40 staff: 32 teaching, 8 non-teaching. Victorian building (as in Queen Vic.) beautifully maintained, on a dual campus, superbly resourced. And yet they still managed
to give all the staff with additional responsibilities (POLs) their own office space. Deputy Principal was walking and also had her own office. Every class had an advanced webpage where they could even access their homework, should the need arise. Outside facilities included three full-size basketball courts, two tennis courts and a state of the art adventure playground.
By contrast, St. Michael's in North Melbourne is situated in an area of high disadvantage, most of its students coming from immigrant background. They were a Mercy school up to 2001 with strong Irish connections. They were delighted to receive a copy of "Mass for God's Children" from St Mary's Mercy School in Trim. They had 180 pupils, seven mainstream class teachers
out of a staff total of twenty! This school places great store on the promotion of literacy and numeracy and given the area in which they are located, it is nothing short of remarkable that they won the National Award For Literacy and Numeracy 2006. They weren't afraid to proclaim this achievement on a large sign outside their school and who could blame them? Something of which to be truly proud.
The more attentive among you will have noted our reference to the need to cut back on the number of schools per day. Tomorrow we visit three schools: go figure!
Nath na Seachtaine:
"We're a Sun Smart School."
Sunday, March 18, 2007
March 18th
Inniu Dé Domhnaigh: Te agus 25C.
St. Francis' Church offered a range of masses to rival any town in Ireland. The large congregation was predominantly Asian in background and the Aussie priest was as positive and cheery as the day that lay ahead.
Full Irish breakfast, Chinese style, left a lot to be desired, most notably sausages, pudding and beans. It seemed like all of Melbourne was travelling to the Grand Prix. A free service was provided on the city trams, organised with military precision and minimum fuss.
The most amazing thing about the Grand Prix was the amount of entertainment outside of the race itself: Full size Fun Fair, shopping emporia of all descriptions; full-scale air show from The Australian Air Force; and we won't mention the all-singing, all-dancing showgirls suitably dressed for the sunny weather! The noise level of the cars going by shook the ground in a matter unimaginable for the television viewer. All around wore earplugs as a matter of necessity. We were sitting on a grassless (there is a drought in Melbourne) grassy knoll near a bend with a perfect view of the large screen whish kept us up to date with the race. There was a party atmosphere in the crowd, in this instance ordinary Joe Soaps-no $10,000 ticket holders in our neck of the woods. When the race was over we got to walk the hallowed track and we left on a high which lasted until someone mentioned the word "Blog"! Only joking, we enjoy the auld blog if in a perverse sort of way. Pity it can't count as part of our report.
Nath na Seachtaine:
St. Francis' Church offered a range of masses to rival any town in Ireland. The large congregation was predominantly Asian in background and the Aussie priest was as positive and cheery as the day that lay ahead.
Full Irish breakfast, Chinese style, left a lot to be desired, most notably sausages, pudding and beans. It seemed like all of Melbourne was travelling to the Grand Prix. A free service was provided on the city trams, organised with military precision and minimum fuss.
The most amazing thing about the Grand Prix was the amount of entertainment outside of the race itself: Full size Fun Fair, shopping emporia of all descriptions; full-scale air show from The Australian Air Force; and we won't mention the all-singing, all-dancing showgirls suitably dressed for the sunny weather! The noise level of the cars going by shook the ground in a matter unimaginable for the television viewer. All around wore earplugs as a matter of necessity. We were sitting on a grassless (there is a drought in Melbourne) grassy knoll near a bend with a perfect view of the large screen whish kept us up to date with the race. There was a party atmosphere in the crowd, in this instance ordinary Joe Soaps-no $10,000 ticket holders in our neck of the woods. When the race was over we got to walk the hallowed track and we left on a high which lasted until someone mentioned the word "Blog"! Only joking, we enjoy the auld blog if in a perverse sort of way. Pity it can't count as part of our report.
Nath na Seachtaine:
"Did the earth move for you too?"
Ressurrection School St. Albans with Principal Bernie Mc Hugh "…and we come from a Land Down Under!"
March 17th
Inniú Dé Sathairn: Gaoth aniar aneas. Fuar (18C) ar maidin ach go deas san iarnóin (23C).
Up at the crack of dawn (6.50 a.m.) to do the City Tour. Great idea, now we know all the right places to visit, if only we could get the time! Video and photos to upload, daily notes to write and we still have to exercise and eat. If the notes are not done as we go along, they are impossible to do at a few days remove. We have two schools a day planned for all of next week. Think that we need to reconsider that. Also have neither Koury (Aboriginal) school nor Independent school on our list. We have to visit the Catholic Education Office as well as ACU (Australian Catholic University). That Gerry fellow has me killed!
Some highlights:
We finished up doing a tour of the bay, but it was a bit of a damp squib as there was not much to see. The only bit of excitement we had, was having to bend down going under many of the bridges as the tide was high and our heads were in danger of being chopped off.
All the photos have been uploaded, so as soon as we get them into folders, we will put some on the blog. I know, I can't wait either! (My apologies for the exclamation mark abuse, but I don't have any of those smiling faces. Donations accepted…)
There had been a noticeable lack of Irish in Melbourne. We had only met one group to date. On St. Kilda's beach last Wednesday, we heard this boisterous group of young women using a lot of French. We figured that they had to be Irish and they were. A group of twelve (seems to be the popular number) travelling the world, mainly nurses and mainly from Cork and Kerry. We did not chat for too long, as they had this "thing" about the short days and long holidays teachers get. When they found out we were on a "Study Visit" they started using the "J" word and we had to sheepishly leave. (Junket) Anyway today, Lá Fhéile Padraig, we met the country and its mother. The "Supermacs" and Tipp jerseys attracted them like flies.
We went to the AFL Pre-season Grand Final to see Carlton beat Brisbane in the Telstral Stadium, about five minutes walk from our hotel. I was "barracking" for Carlton and Gerry was "barracking" for Brisbane. The stadium has a capacity of 50,000 and was most impressive. Colm Begley was playing for Brisbane and Setanta Ó Halpín for Carlton. Setanta's brother Aisake would have been playing if he had not misbehaved, last week. Both the lads played well, although Setanta was marking the best player by far Jonathan Brown and he did a good job. He played more or less as a full back, for most of the match. He is very popular here and they reckon that this will be his year. He got a huge cheer when he went up to get his medal.
Couple of Irish pubs. Late night. Blog. Bed. Formula One tomorrow can't wait.
Nath na Seachtaine:
Up at the crack of dawn (6.50 a.m.) to do the City Tour. Great idea, now we know all the right places to visit, if only we could get the time! Video and photos to upload, daily notes to write and we still have to exercise and eat. If the notes are not done as we go along, they are impossible to do at a few days remove. We have two schools a day planned for all of next week. Think that we need to reconsider that. Also have neither Koury (Aboriginal) school nor Independent school on our list. We have to visit the Catholic Education Office as well as ACU (Australian Catholic University). That Gerry fellow has me killed!
Some highlights:
- Shrine of Remembrance to the war dead. Takes up acres. Beautifully maintained. Huge Visitors' Centre inside. Great 360 deg. views of the city from upper balcony if somewhat spoiled by the incessant loud noise of F1 practice day.
- City full of full of churches and museums of all shapes and sizes. All centrally located.
- Captain Cook's house which had been moved brick by brick from its original home in Yorkshire 200 years after its original construction in 1735.
- Old Melbourne gaol where our friend Ned met his maker.
- MCG; Rod Laver Arena; Vodafone Arena, Telstral Dome. All within a stone's throw of each other and easily accessible by all public transport, trams, trains and coaches. Again SPACE very much in evidence.
- The city architecture (photos to follow) is very striking and impressive. Every skyscraper is dramatically different from the next, yet they all combine to give the impression of a modern vibrant cosmopolitan city. Old and new live harmoniously.
We finished up doing a tour of the bay, but it was a bit of a damp squib as there was not much to see. The only bit of excitement we had, was having to bend down going under many of the bridges as the tide was high and our heads were in danger of being chopped off.
All the photos have been uploaded, so as soon as we get them into folders, we will put some on the blog. I know, I can't wait either! (My apologies for the exclamation mark abuse, but I don't have any of those smiling faces. Donations accepted…)
There had been a noticeable lack of Irish in Melbourne. We had only met one group to date. On St. Kilda's beach last Wednesday, we heard this boisterous group of young women using a lot of French. We figured that they had to be Irish and they were. A group of twelve (seems to be the popular number) travelling the world, mainly nurses and mainly from Cork and Kerry. We did not chat for too long, as they had this "thing" about the short days and long holidays teachers get. When they found out we were on a "Study Visit" they started using the "J" word and we had to sheepishly leave. (Junket) Anyway today, Lá Fhéile Padraig, we met the country and its mother. The "Supermacs" and Tipp jerseys attracted them like flies.
We went to the AFL Pre-season Grand Final to see Carlton beat Brisbane in the Telstral Stadium, about five minutes walk from our hotel. I was "barracking" for Carlton and Gerry was "barracking" for Brisbane. The stadium has a capacity of 50,000 and was most impressive. Colm Begley was playing for Brisbane and Setanta Ó Halpín for Carlton. Setanta's brother Aisake would have been playing if he had not misbehaved, last week. Both the lads played well, although Setanta was marking the best player by far Jonathan Brown and he did a good job. He played more or less as a full back, for most of the match. He is very popular here and they reckon that this will be his year. He got a huge cheer when he went up to get his medal.
Couple of Irish pubs. Late night. Blog. Bed. Formula One tomorrow can't wait.
Nath na Seachtaine:
"Come on Irish, come on Irish, ah well played mate."
(Setanta fan)
March 16th
Inniu Dé hAoine: Tá sé bog inniu.
Resurrection School St. Albans
This is a Catholic School in St.Albans. Aine Beggy from St. Mary's Trim taught there for twenty years. We had already visited there yesterday and interviewed the Principal Bernie (short for Bernard) Mc Hugh. Yesterday, Bernie brought us to lunch and accompanied us to Holy Eucharist School. Afterwards we returned to "Resso" but the kids were gone so we chatted to some staff members and Bernie then brought us to a school supplies store in Essendon. From there we went to his home where we had a "Barbie". We have already planned Bernie and Marie's trip to Ireland, next year, when he gets to take "Enrichment Leave". What a system! Thirteen weeks' paid for every principal after every five years of service. He will not have to do a report not even a flippen blog! It's not fair.
Today we returned to tour the school and interviewed fifth and sixth grade pupils who had been taught by Mrs. Beggy. We saw the "Beggy Tree" which she had planted and was subsequently named after her. We even met parents who remembered her and wanted us to pass on their good wishes. Nice to be remembered, eh?
We took the train, as yesterdays half hour journey had taken an hour and three quarters. This was in no way due to Gerry's poor navigational skills but rather to the directions we got from the school secretary J.C. We ended up screaming her initials in breach of the Second Commandment, on more than one occasion. When we did meet her she was a sweetie named "Josie"! (It's the accent) Anyway, on the train we were sure to be on the right road and going in the right direction. Also our relationship was the better for it.
Some observations:
Nath na Seachtaine:
Resurrection School St. Albans
This is a Catholic School in St.Albans. Aine Beggy from St. Mary's Trim taught there for twenty years. We had already visited there yesterday and interviewed the Principal Bernie (short for Bernard) Mc Hugh. Yesterday, Bernie brought us to lunch and accompanied us to Holy Eucharist School. Afterwards we returned to "Resso" but the kids were gone so we chatted to some staff members and Bernie then brought us to a school supplies store in Essendon. From there we went to his home where we had a "Barbie". We have already planned Bernie and Marie's trip to Ireland, next year, when he gets to take "Enrichment Leave". What a system! Thirteen weeks' paid for every principal after every five years of service. He will not have to do a report not even a flippen blog! It's not fair.
Today we returned to tour the school and interviewed fifth and sixth grade pupils who had been taught by Mrs. Beggy. We saw the "Beggy Tree" which she had planted and was subsequently named after her. We even met parents who remembered her and wanted us to pass on their good wishes. Nice to be remembered, eh?
We took the train, as yesterdays half hour journey had taken an hour and three quarters. This was in no way due to Gerry's poor navigational skills but rather to the directions we got from the school secretary J.C. We ended up screaming her initials in breach of the Second Commandment, on more than one occasion. When we did meet her she was a sweetie named "Josie"! (It's the accent) Anyway, on the train we were sure to be on the right road and going in the right direction. Also our relationship was the better for it.
Some observations:
- "Resso" had a Clinical Psychologist and student councillor employed one day a week. Past pupil of Bernie's. She spends the rest of the week working in three state school, not thirty as in NEPS. She did assessments and follow-up, advised the teachers on strategies, counselled pupils and assisted in the paperwork for grant aid.
- We observed 20 Parent volunteers undergoing training before starting work on literacy, numeracy as well as working with individual children. Training was given by POLs (Positions of Leadership/our ISM) There are 60 volunteers in total working in the school. The are awarded certificates on completion of a three session training programme.
- The teacher resource library was huge and very well resourced and organised. Again, the common theme in all the schools is "SPACE". In the playground, in the building, in the surrounds.
- Another recurring theme is "TIME". The teachers have time built in to each day for planning and corrections etc. This has been negotiated by their union and forms an integral part of their working lives.
- Another constant is "BUDGET". Here it was $3.5 million No salaries are paid centrally, the money for salaries and all other expenditure is all devolved. This puts huge pressure on the Principal and Business Manager. (a wha'?)
- The auditors were in! Two of them spent the whole day in school going through the books. Sixteen boxes of papers were examined and then filed away in the archives.
- Here out of a staff of 43, nineteen were class teachers, 8.5 had not teaching duties, subject co-ordinators etc. five were POLs and the rest were admin.
- We were bowled over by the personality of Bernie and how well he looked after us. " There was a great sense of team spirit and religious ethos among the staff. They had a St. Patrick's Day party with all this green food. Those who know me know all about my relationship with green food, but I ate the "Pav". It was delicious.
- Áine had asked me to sing "There Is a Place" [ Liam Lawton] and I duly obliged. Scary moment, but I was glad I did it, as it meant a lot to her friends.
- We were sad leaving, as it was like a home away from home. It was the highlight of our visit, so far.
Nath na Seachtaine:
"I remember Mrs. Beggy-she was so skinny!"
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