We're Not in Kansas Anymore, Toto!

I completed my first week of teaching in an English Catholic primary school.  I have 30, yes, 30 very um . . . lively six-year-olds (are you reading between the lines??) in a small classroom in a small school.  Fortunately each classroom teacher has a teaching assistant (otherwise, I don't know how a teacher would manage 30 little ones for six hours a day!).  The T.A.s are virtually co-teachers and are treated and respected as such in this school. The staff are truly, truly some of the nicest people I have ever met, each going out of their way to help and support me.  There is a loving spirit that seems to permeate the school.  I don't know if it's because this is a parochial school or simply because of the makeup of the incredible staff.  The staff are very firm but loving and caring and dedicated, and they seem to really care about one another.  This is definately a team.

Having said that, my first week was rather tough.  As much as many things are similar to our American system (i.e. we're all talking about the same philosophies, strategies, and expectations--they're just wrapped up in different lingo), many things are different, and it's mostly the little things.  Also, not being Catholic, I feel quite like the perverbial fish out of water.  One of the major differences is the relationship between parents and teachers.  In the American system (especially in a school like Steele), parent involvement and frequent and accessible parent/teacher communication is just part of the school culture and is encouraged.  This seems not to be quite the case in European schools.  I say European schools because in our Fulbright siminars we were told this is the case all around Europe, and several former Fulbrighters reported this as what they had experienced.  The children in my class (did I say there were 30 of them?!) are adorable (especially when they're praying--positively angelic), and they are definately testing their limits with this new teacher from America.  The Fulbright people told us time and time again that we would feel like first-year teachers, and that is exactly--after 21 years of teaching--how I felt my first week.  It is a blow to the ol' confidence.  But I know that it will get better, and it is up to me to make it better.  I will get the routines under my belt, I will find out where the ding dang erasers are (called "rubbers" in England) and I will remember who I am as a teacher.  It will take some time, and I have some terrific coworkers that have my back.

A little about the U.K. school system.  It's quite confusing to me, so hopefully I've got this right, but I'm not so sure I do.  Briefly, school is compulsary to the age of 16 (though it's been changed to 18 starting in 2013).  Within the primary school system are the key stages.  Key stage one includes reception (like our preschool) and years one (kindergarten) and two (first-grade), and key stage two is years three through six.  I think there is some sort of junior school at this point, and then a child can then choose to go to two more years of school called sixth form, (which is like our high school and is sometimes called "college"), and then go on to University for a three-year Bachelor degree (as opposed to our four-year Bachelor degrees) or to some sort of trade school.  There are a number of types of schools that are funded in different ways by varying entities and run by different governing bodies.  For example, the school where I teach is run by a board of governors, as opposed to our Boards of Education.  Parochial or faith schools of the Church of England or the Roman Catholic Church are schools that teach religion as an integral part of their curriculum and some are tuition-free (though funds can be donated).  All public schools include religion as part of the curriculum as well, and primary school children pray (or can be made to pray) daily.  That's it in a nutshell.

Speaking of nuts, here's a random thought:  I haven't seen one squirrel since I've been here!

On another note, I have decided to start booking some weekend trips and to come to a decision about where I want to go for our October term break (one glorious week at the end of October).  I am still flabbergasted (or gobsmacked as they say in the UK) how people just go skipping from country to country here!  I even talked to one person who told me that her mother took a day trip to Venice!!  There are litte travel agencies absolutely everywhere--even in grocery stores--that advertise cheap excursions to Rome, Paris, Edinburgh, TUNISIA for gosh sake!!  Though people around these parts seem to be born here and die here, what they do do is take these wonderful trips around Europe and even Africa!  It's like in America traveling from Colorado to New Mexico.  So, I have my ever-growing list of places I want to see.  I need to make the most of being here--and that means trying to travel as much as possible, if even for weekend jaunts.  But in October I'm thinking about Italy.  I can't believe that's a possibility!

But for now, it's going to be a week of figuring out how to implement the curriculum.  And I'll let you know if I locate the erasers!