Lots more firsts this week - Charlotte has visited her first play group which she loved, lots of parks and the library story and craft time. She has had a great week. Martin picked up a trailer bike to put on the back of his bike at Ben's new schools' Spring carnival and so they have been able to get out and about more this week.
The Spring Carnival at Ben's school was amazing - we arrived just before ten when it was supposed to begin and there were already lots of people there! There was so much to see - a Pets Corner, cake stalls with home made produce, cafes, a barbeque area, lots of craft stalls, second hand clothes and a 'Trash and Treasure' area. All Charlotte wanted to do was play on the park equipment of course so I spent most of my morning watching her, whilst Ben and Martin looked around the carnival. The school raised about $37,000 to go towards school funds which is staggering! There is obviously a lot of support for schools in the ACT (Australian Capital Territory).
Ben had already had a visit to the school on Friday morning so he had met his teacher and so on Monday he was all kitted out with new uniform and ready to go to school. He loves school over here - he goes off on his own on his bike, locks it up at the bike shed at school and comes home on his own too. He is feeling very independent! He has cookery lessons once a fortnight and gardening lessons on the other week. The school has a kitchen garden which they are developing, including hens which produce eggs for their cooking.
I have spent this week working with children on an individual basis, following reading recovery plans and have really enjoyed getting back into teaching after a long summer break. I work with 2 children at North Side (which is about 10 mins from our house) and then I work with 4 children at South Side (this is attached to the main school site which is huge!) It is about 15 mins from North Side to South Side so I have a bit more travelling to do each day but the traffic isn't too busy over here so it isn't too bad.
Martin and Charlotte are trying to go out on their bikes so that we only use one car most of the time - and its paying off. He has lost about 4 kgs already! We are slowly becoming familiar with local shopping areas - Gunghalin, Gold Creek (a lovely bead shop and card making shop is here!!), Belkonnen, Dixon, to name but a few. Life over here is so much more relaxed and laid back - and we are loving it!
We have also visited the local farmers market which is on on a Saturday morning - the fruit and veg there is so much fresher and lasts longer! I have also made 2 lemon meringue pies with lemons from our lemon tree which is lovely. On Sunday, we visited the local church that Keith and Cynthia go to (friends we met whilst in England) and the children seemed to enjoy it. A little more traditional than Martin and I are used to but the people were very friendly and the morning tea after the service was yummy!!
I wonder what the next week will hold for us?!! Watch this space....
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Friday, October 1, 2010
First Month in Australia
What an amazing first month we have had! We've done all sorts from visiting local parks to going down to the coast. As I sit here, thinking about what to write, I feel a little overwhelmed at the experiences we've already had and wonder what else is in store over the next year! I will post one week at a time on my blog I think, for now!
The journey was interesting - Manchester - London, Heathrow. London - Bangkok. Bangkok to Sydney and then Sydney to Canberra. It did feel never ending at times. And the security checks we had to go through at every airport was a nightmare. If you can imagine a family carrying 4 flight backs, a laptop, a saxophone, a set of hand chimes, coats, dolls, a small rucksack (and most of it carried by Martin and me) Ben was good but could only manage one bag so the rest was up to Martin and I!!!! At Bangkok, we had to get off the plane, walk all the way through the airport, through security again and then back to where we had got off the plane, ready to reboard. It took about 3 hours before we got back on the plane. Before we were allowed back on, we had to have all our bags searched - which took a while - it's obviously one of the airports extra checks that they do!! We survived it though and felt such a sense of relief once we got to Sydney. I then left Martin with most of the luggage as he was hiring a car to drive to Canberra (due to the luggage restrictions on Quantas flights) and I took Ben and Charlotte on the last flight with just 3 suitcases which were checked in. So I had to just carry on a handbag which was good. Ben left his coat under a table where we had sat whilst waiting for the flight so yes mum had to run from the aeroplane back to the table to retrieve the coat and then back to the plane. Ben wasn't very popular with Mum for a while!!! Other than that, the last journey was fairly easy and only took about 50 minutes so felt like a very short flight after the other ones.
We arrived on 3rd September 2010, feeling absolutely exhausted but pleased to be here. Julie's cousin met us at the airport and took us to the house. Martin arrived a couple of hours later in the hire car. The house is amazing - all on one floor with an open plan living area, a bathroom, 3 bedrooms (master with an ensuite). Our bedroom is huge - much larger than the one at home! Charlotte and Ben each have their own bedroom too. There is just so much space here - it's a real feeling of freedom.
The first week was a bit mad - I started work on Monday, still a bit jet lagged. I had a fantastic first day, meeting lots of new people who were all very friendly and welcoming. I work in 3 different classes, taking 2 children from each class to work with. 2 of the children have just been discontinued as they are where they should be so I will be choosing 2 new children after the Spring break. I spent the rest of the week working in the classrooms, just becoming familiar with the classroom routines and getting to know the children.
I had to go to Queanbeyan on the first Thursday which was another first - I managed to find the training centre okay but got lost on the way back - took me 1 hour to do a half hour journey - oops!! But I managed to find my way back home which I was pleased about. I met lots of other reading recovery teachers there who were all friendly. The tutor is an interesting lady - her name is Sue and she talks very fast! She obviously knows her stuff and is a very busy woman.
Whilst I was at work, Martin sorted Ben out at his new school - Majura Primary - and took Charlotte to be registered at Lyneham Pre School (as Ben's school pre school unit was already full) So Charlotte will start school next February - just for 2 days. We met our next door neighbours too - Lisa and Maurice. They have a 4 year old daughter, Arabella, and a 2 year old son called Sebastian. We had a meal with them on our 2nd Saturday which was nice and Charlotte loves playing with Arabella.
All in all, a pretty good first week!
The journey was interesting - Manchester - London, Heathrow. London - Bangkok. Bangkok to Sydney and then Sydney to Canberra. It did feel never ending at times. And the security checks we had to go through at every airport was a nightmare. If you can imagine a family carrying 4 flight backs, a laptop, a saxophone, a set of hand chimes, coats, dolls, a small rucksack (and most of it carried by Martin and me) Ben was good but could only manage one bag so the rest was up to Martin and I!!!! At Bangkok, we had to get off the plane, walk all the way through the airport, through security again and then back to where we had got off the plane, ready to reboard. It took about 3 hours before we got back on the plane. Before we were allowed back on, we had to have all our bags searched - which took a while - it's obviously one of the airports extra checks that they do!! We survived it though and felt such a sense of relief once we got to Sydney. I then left Martin with most of the luggage as he was hiring a car to drive to Canberra (due to the luggage restrictions on Quantas flights) and I took Ben and Charlotte on the last flight with just 3 suitcases which were checked in. So I had to just carry on a handbag which was good. Ben left his coat under a table where we had sat whilst waiting for the flight so yes mum had to run from the aeroplane back to the table to retrieve the coat and then back to the plane. Ben wasn't very popular with Mum for a while!!! Other than that, the last journey was fairly easy and only took about 50 minutes so felt like a very short flight after the other ones.
We arrived on 3rd September 2010, feeling absolutely exhausted but pleased to be here. Julie's cousin met us at the airport and took us to the house. Martin arrived a couple of hours later in the hire car. The house is amazing - all on one floor with an open plan living area, a bathroom, 3 bedrooms (master with an ensuite). Our bedroom is huge - much larger than the one at home! Charlotte and Ben each have their own bedroom too. There is just so much space here - it's a real feeling of freedom.
The first week was a bit mad - I started work on Monday, still a bit jet lagged. I had a fantastic first day, meeting lots of new people who were all very friendly and welcoming. I work in 3 different classes, taking 2 children from each class to work with. 2 of the children have just been discontinued as they are where they should be so I will be choosing 2 new children after the Spring break. I spent the rest of the week working in the classrooms, just becoming familiar with the classroom routines and getting to know the children.
I had to go to Queanbeyan on the first Thursday which was another first - I managed to find the training centre okay but got lost on the way back - took me 1 hour to do a half hour journey - oops!! But I managed to find my way back home which I was pleased about. I met lots of other reading recovery teachers there who were all friendly. The tutor is an interesting lady - her name is Sue and she talks very fast! She obviously knows her stuff and is a very busy woman.
Whilst I was at work, Martin sorted Ben out at his new school - Majura Primary - and took Charlotte to be registered at Lyneham Pre School (as Ben's school pre school unit was already full) So Charlotte will start school next February - just for 2 days. We met our next door neighbours too - Lisa and Maurice. They have a 4 year old daughter, Arabella, and a 2 year old son called Sebastian. We had a meal with them on our 2nd Saturday which was nice and Charlotte loves playing with Arabella.
All in all, a pretty good first week!
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