Okay, it has been ages since my last post. I was reminded of this almost daily by my most demanding readers… my Year 11 Geo students. Well, at long last, after attempting, and failing to post before my Year 10 camp, here it goes. It will be a three part post over the next two days. School, Year 10 camp, and then all the family “events”.
So many things to talk about that I wonder where to start. Well, I guess I’ll start with a look at my school life and a nod to the previously mentioned Year 11s.
My Year 11s are an eclectic bunch, and I must say, they are growing on me (though I hate to admit it to them). I have two fairly small classes of them and we have been studying forests for the entire seven weeks thus far. There were two highlights (for me at least) in this first term when it comes to my 11s. The first was the “excursion” (it’s a fancy name for field trip – I picture a jungle safari each time I hear it referred to that way) to do a walk in the Otway Ranges (the area which is ringed to the south by the Great Ocean Road). The second was a project in which they had to develop a forest-based company for a specific location in the Otway Ranges.
The excursion was a great time, and both classes impressed me with their ability and keenness in “geo-spotto” (essentially an I spy game for geography) and with their knowledge in our Class A vs. Class B trivia challenge on the way home. Yes, I know I still owe choc chip cookies to Class B.
The project gave me a sense of the kind of students in this group. There was a fair amount of room for thinking and exploration, as well as some key guidelines to make sure they were dealing with the curriculum. From a forest based waterpark to a bottled water business, from a tree-top chairlift to a forest-based photography school/studio, from a wingsuit course swooping down a forested valley to a surf-board company that would build custom boards out of local trees, and our two winners, a high end restaurant and a café both using local produce and sustainable building methods to create an undeniably unique visit to the Otway forest. I was roundly impressed by their inventiveness and the results were fantastic. A shout out goes to the top two students – Peter H and his incredibly detailed and thought through café project and Alice C and her very unique restaurant venture. Both students even did a computer design of their buildings!
So many things to talk about that I wonder where to start. Well, I guess I’ll start with a look at my school life and a nod to the previously mentioned Year 11s.
My Year 11s are an eclectic bunch, and I must say, they are growing on me (though I hate to admit it to them). I have two fairly small classes of them and we have been studying forests for the entire seven weeks thus far. There were two highlights (for me at least) in this first term when it comes to my 11s. The first was the “excursion” (it’s a fancy name for field trip – I picture a jungle safari each time I hear it referred to that way) to do a walk in the Otway Ranges (the area which is ringed to the south by the Great Ocean Road). The second was a project in which they had to develop a forest-based company for a specific location in the Otway Ranges.
The excursion was a great time, and both classes impressed me with their ability and keenness in “geo-spotto” (essentially an I spy game for geography) and with their knowledge in our Class A vs. Class B trivia challenge on the way home. Yes, I know I still owe choc chip cookies to Class B.
The project gave me a sense of the kind of students in this group. There was a fair amount of room for thinking and exploration, as well as some key guidelines to make sure they were dealing with the curriculum. From a forest based waterpark to a bottled water business, from a tree-top chairlift to a forest-based photography school/studio, from a wingsuit course swooping down a forested valley to a surf-board company that would build custom boards out of local trees, and our two winners, a high end restaurant and a café both using local produce and sustainable building methods to create an undeniably unique visit to the Otway forest. I was roundly impressed by their inventiveness and the results were fantastic. A shout out goes to the top two students – Peter H and his incredibly detailed and thought through café project and Alice C and her very unique restaurant venture. Both students even did a computer design of their buildings!
On the boarding front, the boys of Barwon House continue to grow on me. Though there are moments that they drive me absolutely wild, they are great kids. In fact, on Thursday afternoons we have signed up to have volunteers come to our house to play with the kids or do odd jobs for an hour and the Barwon boys are here every week. They are great with Cormac and Stella and always very respectful with my wife. Yes, they are 13 and 14 year old boys that love to create havoc, but underneath it all, they are good kids.
Lastly to rowing. As mentioned in my previous post, the rowing season here is short for the Year 10 girls. Seven weeks from start to finish. A hectic seven weeks it was. The last two weeks were especially intense, with two days of racing at the Geelong based Head of the Schoolgirls. This is an incredible event which boast 2500 female athletes battling it out for the title of best girls’ crew in the State of Victoria (in their category). Word on the street is that it is the largest single gender sporting event in the southern hemisphere based on the number of athletes competing! The athletes go through heats, reps, semis and finals… the full progression. My 4+ had a pretty good weekend of racing, but our slow starts did us in in the very competitive Division 2 (there were seven divisions, with Geelong Grammar boating two boats in Divisions 3-7). We were knocked out in the semi-finals and so finished somewhere between 5th and 8th place (there is no B-final).
The next weekend was Head of the River. This is a regatta about 1.5 hours away at a rowing centre. The weather was beautiful with a slight tail wind, blue skies and a temperature in the mid-20s. This event is only for APS schools (a small group of independent schools in Melbourne and Geelong). It is a one race do-or-die event. I will state here and now that I could not have been more proud of the way my girls raced at that event. Unfortunately our coxie (Steph) could not be there as she had just had her wisdom teeth taken out three days earlier and her voice wasn’t ready to go, and so we had a Year 8 rower fill in for us (Sarah – who was awesome!). We practiced starts all week. One day I sat in bow seat of the boat, one day in the coxie seat – all we focused on was aggression. The race plan on that day was to try to get out with the best boats in our division and stay with them as long as we could. We had been soundly beaten all season by many of these boats and we figured this was the only way we could be in it. I will state with all certainty that it was their best race of the year, which left me a very proud coach. Mimi, Lucy, Sophie and Bella were fantastic girls that worked hard each and every day and had lots of fun in the process. I really enjoyed working with them this competitive season and hope I get the chance to work with some of them again at the end of the year when rowing training recommences.
The next weekend was Head of the River. This is a regatta about 1.5 hours away at a rowing centre. The weather was beautiful with a slight tail wind, blue skies and a temperature in the mid-20s. This event is only for APS schools (a small group of independent schools in Melbourne and Geelong). It is a one race do-or-die event. I will state here and now that I could not have been more proud of the way my girls raced at that event. Unfortunately our coxie (Steph) could not be there as she had just had her wisdom teeth taken out three days earlier and her voice wasn’t ready to go, and so we had a Year 8 rower fill in for us (Sarah – who was awesome!). We practiced starts all week. One day I sat in bow seat of the boat, one day in the coxie seat – all we focused on was aggression. The race plan on that day was to try to get out with the best boats in our division and stay with them as long as we could. We had been soundly beaten all season by many of these boats and we figured this was the only way we could be in it. I will state with all certainty that it was their best race of the year, which left me a very proud coach. Mimi, Lucy, Sophie and Bella were fantastic girls that worked hard each and every day and had lots of fun in the process. I really enjoyed working with them this competitive season and hope I get the chance to work with some of them again at the end of the year when rowing training recommences.
On one last rowing note. I was able to attend the annual Pincott Club alumni dinner – an event which sees 10 year reunions of Head of River crews from Geelong Grammar School. This invitation was extended by one of my co-coaches Kim Baker, who is the living definition of a gentleman. Interestingly, I had a chance meeting with a member of the 1965 (50 year anniversary) men’s First 8+ who now lives on Gabriola Island – just off Vancouver Island. A small world it is…
It is the end of Term 1. One quarter (almost) of the academic year is behind me and I am firmly confident that the decision to do this exchange has been and will be the best kind of professional development I will ever do. I feel like I am examining my teaching practices with a new set of eyes, and thinking about the goods and not so goods of what is done at Brentwood in a very healthy and meaningful way. I cannot help but constantly be thankful for the opportunity that the two schools have afforded me and my family. We also feel very blessed that the Fitzgerald’s came along. Not only are they the catalysts of this, but they seem to be the perfect exchange partners as well.
Oh I think to myself… what a wonderful world.
It is the end of Term 1. One quarter (almost) of the academic year is behind me and I am firmly confident that the decision to do this exchange has been and will be the best kind of professional development I will ever do. I feel like I am examining my teaching practices with a new set of eyes, and thinking about the goods and not so goods of what is done at Brentwood in a very healthy and meaningful way. I cannot help but constantly be thankful for the opportunity that the two schools have afforded me and my family. We also feel very blessed that the Fitzgerald’s came along. Not only are they the catalysts of this, but they seem to be the perfect exchange partners as well.
Oh I think to myself… what a wonderful world.