Visits to other local schools

Alan took on a few short visits to other local schools so that we would be able to see the Australian education process at other levels and with different sizes of schools. The first school that we visited was another primary school, Apollo Parkways, which is much larger than Greenhills. There were quite a few different buildings and the hallways were outdoors. All of the kids were at assembly while we were there, but I got a few good ideas looking at the student work displays outside of the classrooms. Some of the classrooms in this school have interactive white boards on a plasma screen TV on a stand. Basically, there is a clear screen over the TV which senses the pen. They are portable, but the screen is much smaller than the interactive white boards that we have at Greenhills. Also, their yards are covered in turf instead of grass because of the severe drought that this area has been experiencing for more than the last ten years.

The second school that we visited was the Diamond Valley Special Development School. There are 83 special schools in the state of Victoria, which is the highest number in the country. This is a school for students with IQs of less than 55. There are 102 students ranging in age from 3 years old to eighteen years old. Teaching the 102 children, there are 55 teachers and staff. The main focus of this school is communication. They use Makaton signing, picture cards, and other technologies. They have a horse-riding program at the school which helps with motivation, physical development, and communication skills.

We also had the opportunity to visit St. Helena Secondary College (high school). This was especially interesting to me because the primary schools here are Grades Prep-6 and then secondary school is Grades 7-12. At St. Helena, there are 1571 students. To break down such a large range of ages, there are different teams of administrators and teachers for three "schools" within the school. Grades 7-8 are the Junior School, grades 9-10 are the Middle School, and grades 11-12 are the Senior School. The foreign language that they teach is Italian because there is a very large Italian population in the area. They have six 48-minutes periods in the day. Also, uniforms are worn and they are varied depending on what year you are in. As we walked through the school, we saw their new science building. They have lab tables and computers in the same room which is great for gathering and reporting data. The teacher in this room also said that students could take a picture of their work with their phone, bluetooth it to the computers, and then work with it from there. It is amazing to me how effective technology can be when it is integrated effectively!

Our last school visit was to the preschool (Kinder) in the area. There are two classes - age 3 and age 4. The set-up was very similiar to those in America, but it was very spacious. There was a kitchen for play, painting area, block area, carpet area, and tables. I think that in order to assess the differences for this school and American preschools, I would have to spend time in the room.

Alan also had a surprise visit for us to the office of Jenny Macklin, Federal Member of Parliament for the Jagajaga area and the Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. We unfortunately didn't get to meet her because she was sitting in Parliament in Canberra (the capital of Australia). However, we talked to her secretary and got to have a look around the office. She also had a package of some great stuff for us. This included a CD of the Australian national anthem sung by different groups, an Australian flag, information about Australian symbols and emblems, and two books about Australia. It was incredibly generous!

Overall, it was a great experience to be able to see the flow of the Australian education system in this area. It was great to see where my students came from and where they are going after they leave Greenhills.