Hi ho, Sunday night. Weekend disappeared yet again. At least some of it was productive - Magazine report for chess club, drafting etc, and on the home front, finally got around to cleaning and partly oiling the pool deck which was looking a bit overdue. Will try to get home early tomorrow to finish it off.
Declan away on cub camp all weekend. Had to drive to Sandgate and back Friday night, and same this afternoon - 2 hr round trip each time. Still, seems like he had a lot of fun, and of course any time spent away from family is good experience for a young lad, I would argue. Didn't get into too many scrapes by the sound of it.
Still going with the Chess Fiends on chessmaniac.com. Had an awesome win over a guy where I sacrificed my Queen with only a slim likelihood of success, but it came together and I prevailed. I resigned my other game against him, but it was the kind of buzz that chess like this is meant to create.
What else? This week is going to be big. Ekka day on Wednesday so a day off to do marking and get ready for the days afterwards. Thursday night we are heading up to Toowoomba to see the TGS production of JC Superstar and then I have to be at Brisbane airport next morning at the appalling time of 5am for a 6am flight to Sydney then Adelaide for an Anglican conference. Hope I can sleep on the plane or at least not stay out late on the Friday. Never been to Adelaide before but looking forward to it - won't be much time to look around though, I suspect. We get back 7.30 Sunday night and then straight back into school on Monday, so no time to fool around.
OK, better hit the sack - but I should mention we had Bp Tom Frame preaching again at church this morning and it was one of the greatest sermons I've heard in a long, long time. Admittedly, he was at least partly plugging his latest book 'Losing my Religion' but by golly, I'm going to buy a copy because it sounds great. He didn't have any with him today because he says they don't actually come out until Friday, but I'll be on it when they do, you bet. Ciao now.
Showing posts with label cubs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cubs. Show all posts
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Anger and other problems
Well, a funny old day today. Kids slept over at Mum's so a very quiet start to a Saturday. Usual enjoyment of Times cryptic crosswords briefly before picking them up. Dec's soccer game was harsh for them - another loss to a strong team they hadn't played before. They haven't really regained their spark from before the holidays, so I hope it's not all downhill from here. Final score 8-4 I think. Dec had his moments, including putting his head on a corner which would have been spectacular if it had gone in. Not to worry.
After lunch, Dec had to a cub event which is when the rot set in. Al gave me money which I thought was to pay for entry at the event if necessary, but it turned out I was meant to give it to him for food and drinks if he wanted any during the afternoon. I felt stupid and angry that I either hadn't heard this or hadn't understood it and it just triggered a rage in me. I went downstairs and hit a few walls and things, luckily not leaving any holes (as has happened a couple of times before, I must admit). Then I calmed down enough to put up a new smoke detector in the laundry and went for a long trip to the hardware shop for another shower head (after the last one broke off and I then busted it properly while trying to repair it - another source of frustration) and a mop-head thingo to reoil the pool deck. By the time I got home, it was too dark to get underway with the pool deck, so maybe we can squeeze it in tomorrow. I sure hope there aren't any other trips tomorrow I don't know about.
Other issues: an unexpectedly sudden curriculum meeting with outside consultants at school on Monday. Concerned that I haven't brought home a copy of the College Strategic Plan to help me prepare for it but then again there was no reference to that in the ridiculously brief prep notes I was sent by the boss' PA. They want to see a sample assessment item (not applicable in RAVE) and evidence that my subject is innovative and prepares kids for the future. Well!
I'm thinking I'll give them the Year 10 unit from last term on Environmental Values and Ethics, or else one of my Yr 10 Powerpoints from this term which have Youtube links etc.
What I'd really like to see is these consultants looking at the whole school's overall curriculum strategy. At 16 years old now, we really need to decide what kind of school we want to be. Can we market ourselves as a school for high academic achievers? With only 1 -3 OP1s each year, that's going to be pretty demanding. Our central mission statement and vision must be clear to all - and I don't think it is at present. I'd argue that our Anglican nature and values can be the core of what we do. We should be able to say that if you are an OP1 level student, you will more than likely get an OP1 at our school; if you want an apprenticeship or traineeship, you can do that here (and since we're apparently the biggest provider of these in the state, that's an easier claim to sustain); but that overall, our school teaches kids to care about others. I believe that getting a reputation for being a school which produces great citizens who are able to change the world in positive ways will actually solve a lot of our problems. More pragmatically, we certainly need to do a better job of marketing our low fees and 'all inclusive' philosophy - the value for money at our place is incredible. You'll get a very good private education and Yr 12 still costs less than $10 000, probably more like $8000 - $9000, I think, with huge savings when you consider the inclusion of textbooks, camps, a ski-trip, excursions, etc, etc. Why aren't we marketing that on every billboard?
Anyway, in other matters: fantastic Founders Day dinner last night in the St Pauls hall - MC was the mayor, Paul Pisasale, who must have a personal approvhatred al rating higher than 80% - he's incredible. Guest speaker was former rugby legend Tim Horan - despite my long-held loathing for rugby, I'd drunk just enough to have my photo taken with him, along with other colleagues - surreal. He spoke well enough, but it was basically 20 minutes of chat about places he'd been, things he'd seen, people he'd met (e.g. the Queen; Nelson Mandela) and of course some amusing tales from the rugby field (including the best one which included his dropping of the F-word but I doubt anyone was offended). Today I found myself wondering why my mate Dave couldn't do the same thing for a living, after his retirement from the Ten Tenors - he could prepare a 20 minute monologue about amusing and incredible places he's been and of course, add in 2 or 3 songs along the way. Horan's chat began with a 3 minute video presentation featuring him scoring try after try; Dave's could do likewise with event after event. I'm convinced it could work - I've even come up with the name "Tenor Eleven" (geddit? geddit?)
Must chat to Dave soon - thought his 1st child was due in a week or two, but it's actually November.
OK, last thing - fantastic Founders Day/Chaplain Commissioning service on Friday morning. I had a few little roles to play. All went well except choir got missed in the program when they were supposed to perform their own featured item - poor old musos! Everything else was great and I continue to be extremely optimistic about Lizzie's prospects at school. Fingers crossed!
After lunch, Dec had to a cub event which is when the rot set in. Al gave me money which I thought was to pay for entry at the event if necessary, but it turned out I was meant to give it to him for food and drinks if he wanted any during the afternoon. I felt stupid and angry that I either hadn't heard this or hadn't understood it and it just triggered a rage in me. I went downstairs and hit a few walls and things, luckily not leaving any holes (as has happened a couple of times before, I must admit). Then I calmed down enough to put up a new smoke detector in the laundry and went for a long trip to the hardware shop for another shower head (after the last one broke off and I then busted it properly while trying to repair it - another source of frustration) and a mop-head thingo to reoil the pool deck. By the time I got home, it was too dark to get underway with the pool deck, so maybe we can squeeze it in tomorrow. I sure hope there aren't any other trips tomorrow I don't know about.
Other issues: an unexpectedly sudden curriculum meeting with outside consultants at school on Monday. Concerned that I haven't brought home a copy of the College Strategic Plan to help me prepare for it but then again there was no reference to that in the ridiculously brief prep notes I was sent by the boss' PA. They want to see a sample assessment item (not applicable in RAVE) and evidence that my subject is innovative and prepares kids for the future. Well!
I'm thinking I'll give them the Year 10 unit from last term on Environmental Values and Ethics, or else one of my Yr 10 Powerpoints from this term which have Youtube links etc.
What I'd really like to see is these consultants looking at the whole school's overall curriculum strategy. At 16 years old now, we really need to decide what kind of school we want to be. Can we market ourselves as a school for high academic achievers? With only 1 -3 OP1s each year, that's going to be pretty demanding. Our central mission statement and vision must be clear to all - and I don't think it is at present. I'd argue that our Anglican nature and values can be the core of what we do. We should be able to say that if you are an OP1 level student, you will more than likely get an OP1 at our school; if you want an apprenticeship or traineeship, you can do that here (and since we're apparently the biggest provider of these in the state, that's an easier claim to sustain); but that overall, our school teaches kids to care about others. I believe that getting a reputation for being a school which produces great citizens who are able to change the world in positive ways will actually solve a lot of our problems. More pragmatically, we certainly need to do a better job of marketing our low fees and 'all inclusive' philosophy - the value for money at our place is incredible. You'll get a very good private education and Yr 12 still costs less than $10 000, probably more like $8000 - $9000, I think, with huge savings when you consider the inclusion of textbooks, camps, a ski-trip, excursions, etc, etc. Why aren't we marketing that on every billboard?
Anyway, in other matters: fantastic Founders Day dinner last night in the St Pauls hall - MC was the mayor, Paul Pisasale, who must have a personal approvhatred al rating higher than 80% - he's incredible. Guest speaker was former rugby legend Tim Horan - despite my long-held loathing for rugby, I'd drunk just enough to have my photo taken with him, along with other colleagues - surreal. He spoke well enough, but it was basically 20 minutes of chat about places he'd been, things he'd seen, people he'd met (e.g. the Queen; Nelson Mandela) and of course some amusing tales from the rugby field (including the best one which included his dropping of the F-word but I doubt anyone was offended). Today I found myself wondering why my mate Dave couldn't do the same thing for a living, after his retirement from the Ten Tenors - he could prepare a 20 minute monologue about amusing and incredible places he's been and of course, add in 2 or 3 songs along the way. Horan's chat began with a 3 minute video presentation featuring him scoring try after try; Dave's could do likewise with event after event. I'm convinced it could work - I've even come up with the name "Tenor Eleven" (geddit? geddit?)
Must chat to Dave soon - thought his 1st child was due in a week or two, but it's actually November.
OK, last thing - fantastic Founders Day/Chaplain Commissioning service on Friday morning. I had a few little roles to play. All went well except choir got missed in the program when they were supposed to perform their own featured item - poor old musos! Everything else was great and I continue to be extremely optimistic about Lizzie's prospects at school. Fingers crossed!
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