British Schoolroom
So here I am, settling in. I think the job will exhaust me and thrill me. The commute will just exhaust me, but it's not a crowded B-Line in a traffic jam. Trains are AWESOME! Geography of the greater London area is not as awesome. Everything goes out in a circle and I get very confused with directions. Some trains actually do U-Turns before getting to the final destination, and I was spending the last two days missing the fast trains (or not figuring out which ones were fast) and taking all the zig zag routes. This is why I came early! I left Orpington, Kent around 7:30am today and arrived in Sutton at 10am!
The Avenue Primary. Currently it is a mess, but as a school it has great spirit and seems to be a great fit for me! It's not the classic "inner city London school" many teachers have heard about. It is in a well-to-do neighborhood called Belmont. I think Belmont is the town within the borough of Sutton in the county of Surrey in the country of England. I just had to ask what everything meant! I am living in the town of Orpington in the borough of Bromley in the county of Kent. Phew! Many little towns within bigger boroughs and so on and so forth. Anywho, Sutton is really nice and calm. Not too crowded, but has everything one needs. I opened my bank account, figured out my cell phone, bought random odds and ends and had a nice cup of coffee all in one place. Sweet!
I digress. The school! I am teaching "Reception" which is our equivalent of Kindergarten. Our section of the school is called the "infant" school and consists of a nursery, reception and Year 1 classrooms. There are 3 reception classes each with 30 students. We actually SHARE a space... there are three "rooms' which open into a general mess area where arts and crafts will take place. There's a lot of free play between classrooms and I have no idea what the noise level will be like with 90 children and 6 adults!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Then there is their age. They used to only allow children into Reception if they were turning 5 between Sept and June of the school year. The summer babies had to wait until January to start school so they would be 4 1/2. NOW THEY ARE LETTING THEM ALL IN!! I will have a handful of children who just turned 4 last month!!!!!!!!! And a few more who are turning 5 in the next month or two. This is a BIG GAP and will be interesting with the curriculum. Especially since they begin a full day of school in October, whazooo!
I am very grateful to work with a "team" in Reception. I have met both of the other teachers who are really friendly, helpful and full of energy! I suppose you HAVE to be with so many tiny tots around!
Now for the classroom. Whoever taught last year, this "mrs. wright" person, had left all of her old displays up which are outdated. She also chose to use "blue tac" to stick EVERYTHING to the bulletin boards. Very weird stuff this glue tac, and so popular with the british folk! My mom still asks for it!
Um, this is long... so I'll leave you with this: COBWEBS! EVERYWHERE! But it's a nice space nonetheless. I'm not sure how 30 children fit in the "square" (I don't have a carpet) which I have to make out of masking tape. They better be reeeeallly tiny!
Tomorrow I go to the agency to figure out how I get paid and all that. I don't even know if they'll pay me for my time this week!!! But I HAVE to prep the class before Monday! Ahhhh!!
Cheerio,
Kavitha
The Avenue Primary. Currently it is a mess, but as a school it has great spirit and seems to be a great fit for me! It's not the classic "inner city London school" many teachers have heard about. It is in a well-to-do neighborhood called Belmont. I think Belmont is the town within the borough of Sutton in the county of Surrey in the country of England. I just had to ask what everything meant! I am living in the town of Orpington in the borough of Bromley in the county of Kent. Phew! Many little towns within bigger boroughs and so on and so forth. Anywho, Sutton is really nice and calm. Not too crowded, but has everything one needs. I opened my bank account, figured out my cell phone, bought random odds and ends and had a nice cup of coffee all in one place. Sweet!
I digress. The school! I am teaching "Reception" which is our equivalent of Kindergarten. Our section of the school is called the "infant" school and consists of a nursery, reception and Year 1 classrooms. There are 3 reception classes each with 30 students. We actually SHARE a space... there are three "rooms' which open into a general mess area where arts and crafts will take place. There's a lot of free play between classrooms and I have no idea what the noise level will be like with 90 children and 6 adults!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Then there is their age. They used to only allow children into Reception if they were turning 5 between Sept and June of the school year. The summer babies had to wait until January to start school so they would be 4 1/2. NOW THEY ARE LETTING THEM ALL IN!! I will have a handful of children who just turned 4 last month!!!!!!!!! And a few more who are turning 5 in the next month or two. This is a BIG GAP and will be interesting with the curriculum. Especially since they begin a full day of school in October, whazooo!
I am very grateful to work with a "team" in Reception. I have met both of the other teachers who are really friendly, helpful and full of energy! I suppose you HAVE to be with so many tiny tots around!
Now for the classroom. Whoever taught last year, this "mrs. wright" person, had left all of her old displays up which are outdated. She also chose to use "blue tac" to stick EVERYTHING to the bulletin boards. Very weird stuff this glue tac, and so popular with the british folk! My mom still asks for it!
Um, this is long... so I'll leave you with this: COBWEBS! EVERYWHERE! But it's a nice space nonetheless. I'm not sure how 30 children fit in the "square" (I don't have a carpet) which I have to make out of masking tape. They better be reeeeallly tiny!
Tomorrow I go to the agency to figure out how I get paid and all that. I don't even know if they'll pay me for my time this week!!! But I HAVE to prep the class before Monday! Ahhhh!!
Cheerio,
Kavitha