School n weather

Settling in at St Francis


So, I've been at St Francis for a couple of weeks now, and so far everything is going well. The students iin my class are keen and relatively biddable. I have found that I remember the math(s) quite well, but the lingo is a little different. One chapter of the text book is devoted to radicals. I was worried I had forgotten an entire branch or mathematics until i discovered that was just Canadaian for Surds. Phew! There have been lots of little bits like that. We have HCF, they have GCF (Greatest Common Factor, not Highest), we 'factorise' expressions, they 'factor' them. Minor stuff, but I have to try to stay on top of it so as not to confuse the kids.

Classes are large; I have 2 groups of 38 and one of 32. We hear rumours of colleagues at other schools with classes over 40 or even 50! We are definitely ahead in that department. We're also up in the technology stakes. Far from smartboards, I’m still teaching on a blackboard here! The last time I saw one of those was in Rwanda.Despite those negatives (and the relatively poor teacher's pay which might see me on strike this year) the school is great in so many respects. There is no uniform here, but all the pupils generally stay within the limits of acceptable dress. My classes, despite their size, are not a problem to teach at all. Maybe it's just that they kindly gave the new guy nice kids, but the students are keen to learn, successfully manage their own workload and see their learning as their own responsibility to a much greater extent than I've seen in the UK. Perhaps because they aren't spoon-fed and constantly entertained with 15 learning styles per lesson. They rise to meet the expectations upon them, as do people everywhere, and here that means stepping up to the plate (baseball metaphor!) and getting it done for themselves.

Another odd thing is how very Catholic the school is. There's a little dead Jesus on a cross over every door amd the kids all stand and pray to St Francis every Monday morning, and we had mass as a staff twice in the first week. When we got there, all the teachers knew the word and actions and I felt like a proper fish out of water, I can tell you. On the one hand I'm glad we don't make pupils and teachers do things as religious as that, but that said, a workplace full of Christians is one of the friendliest and most supportive and encouraging schools I have ever worked at. What an excellent advert for Faith they are.


The department have all been super helpful and it was a huge bonus that we had a whole week at school before the kids arrived. It meant I had asked most of my questions before standing in front of a class, otherwise it would have looked like Amateur Hour as I repeated "uhhh, I don't know." I only hope Alison was as well inducted at Horbury.

Speaking of Horbury, I got the results of the GCSEs. Way to go, Y11, and well done my maths class. You all did so well, and some of you must be very proud to have beaten your targets. You know who you are. And thanks for those A*s, you guys make me look good;-)On the flip side, I don't want to hear any more reports of detentions coming over the pond. BEHAVE!

I'll be sending DVDs home to friends, colleagues and family, so you'll be able to see just what school is like there.

And how about that Calgary weather! Hot enough for yer? Cold enough for yer?Last week it snowed at lunchtime on Wednesday, and then I was in sorts for coaching The girl's Soccer team (Another story...). Apparently this is quite usual. As they say here in Calgary, if you don't like the weather, just wait 10 minutes!Yesterday I was scraping frost off the Dodge at 7.30 AM, by the time I returned at 3.00 Vic was sunbathing on the deck.
I'm perpetually confused here, and we haven't seen the snows and Chinooks of winter yet. I can hardly wait...

Anyway, more soon.Cheers for now,R