Brisbane- Day 3-School Visit

School Uniforms at Runcorn State School, Brisbane, Australia
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An 8am departure for our school visit would have been good, if only the driver hadn't forgot our BBQ pit for tonight! So, after a short delay, we were on our way to visit a primary(elementary) school. Unfortunately, there is a Runcorn State School and a Runcorn Heights State school.

We, of course, went to the wrong one! Well, there's nothing like a good school secretary anywhere in the world! Totally unflappable, the secretary simply said that this happened all the time and called to tell the correct that we were delayed! Then she called our coach to come back to get us and told us a little about her school.

One precocious student even asked why we play a "sissy" game of football instead of "rugby."

Runcorn State school!
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When we finally made it to Runcorn Heights, we were met by principal, Robert Probert who warmly welcomed us and told us "No Worries, this happens all the time...we're thinking of changing our school's name because of it!"

Statistics from the principal....

The school is 650-700 students and growing. They are adding 1 class per year.  The school is very multicultural with 50-60 different ethnic groups with Asian making up the largest population.

The school is run by a state system and Dept of Education which sets policy for all Queensland schools including the non-state schools. There are aprox. 1400 state schools in Queensland and they take 25% of the state budget.

Welcome to the USA teachers (if they can find us...) from Runcorn Heights State School.
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The school's annual operating budget is $350,000-400,000 AZ (not including wages).

Queensland has 12 regions and smaller districts...this school is in the Greater Brisbane Region.

There is no Board of Education-Teachers are employed by Queensland State gov't and principals apply for their jobs based on merit.

There is a strong teachers union. Teachers complete a 4 year university degree, start on contract and then can be offered a permanent position after 1 year. The adminstration staff makes all hiring and firing decisions.

Runcorn Heights-Cafeteria
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Beginning teachers salary-$40,000AZ, Senior Teachers-(9yrs+) 64,000AZ

Principal salary: $95-98,000AZ

Class sizes: 25- grade 1,2,3 (grade 1=our Kindergarten)

28 -grade 4,5,6,7,8,9,10

Runcorn Heights- Classrooms
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25- grade 11,12

Most new schools being built are P-12 (p=preschool)

The school syllabus is well-recognized and aggressive. Integrated units for technology and social sciences. Teachers get 2 hrs. prep time per week. Students have 1/2 hr music, 1/2 PE and a language other than English (most do Chinese).

The biggest challenges according to the principal and teacher:

Runcorn Heights-CLassroom
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1. Curriculum-making it relevant

2. Professional Development-making it relevant (10% of the total school budget must be spent of Prof Dev- costs $330/day to replace just 1 teacher)

Students receive 1 progress report at the beginning of school-just a "tick and flick" according to the teacher. Then 3 report cards per year.

When we went into the classrooms, students were excited to say "g'day"  and asked about where we all lived. They were quick to ask if we knew,"Playstation and Grand Theft Auto. " One precocious student even asked why we play a "sissy" game of football instead of "rugby." (I might have to pass that on the the Houston Texans and see how they respond..).

Tea Time at Runcorn Heights..yum yum!
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The bell rang for "tea time" and students had their snacks outside the classrooms, sitting on the floors while they put out quite the spread for their guests from America.

Special treats included Pavlova, scones, and the ultimate...Tim-Tam Slammer!  The Tim-Tam slammer is a chocolate Tim-Tam cookie with opposite diagonal corners bitten off and then dunked in a hot cup of coffee. You then sip the coffee up through one corner of the Tim=Tam. The result is a gush of melted, divine, chocolate and coffee! Gotta love these Aussies for their creative thinking!

Runcorn Heights-student autobiography
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After tea-time, we returned to the classroom and observed a lesson in "maths" on probability. One student was asked,"What's the probability of J. getting extra homework tonight?" J. was a little distracted by us I think!

Finally, I shared the gifts I brought, a yearbook from our school, some Texas pencils,a book about armadillos and a stuffed armadillo, stickers of cowboys, a book about the state of Texas, a book about  how US laws are made and some maps of Washington DC. Then, I gave them the letters that my classes wrote the last day of school. The kids were very excited and many said they would like to email them and ask them more questions. This was an important component of my grant and I hope that future correspondence with the teacher we visited will result in continued contact and perhaps a shared unit.

Runcorn Heights-Thanks for the visit!
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I think that kids are kids, no matter what country they're in and this was a fun morning!

At 1pm, we left for Mt. Glorius where there are unique mountain landscapes covered in lush and dense tropical rainforest. Spectacular scenery and views over Brisbane City, Samford Valley and the distant coastline and islands are viewed while winding your way up the mountain top. Just remember, those same VERY windy roads take you back down the mountain at night!

Here, we meet up with with local experts from the Queensland University of Technology Science Department ,Dr. Jack Marsh and Dr. Bernie Cooke . They  guide us through the rainforest and discuss local flora and fauna before nightfall.

Fig trees in the rainforest!
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We have a traditional Aussie "barbi" as the sun begins to set. The winds kick up and we don our woollies for a nighttime spotlighting experience!

Our guides were as fearless as Steve Irwin!  Dr Jack Marsh shows us the burrows of the funnel web spider and even a trap-door spider! He eventually coaxes one out- not once, but twice! He was even amazed. We see huge ants and Dr Marsh also get some of them to "come out and play!" We also searched for pademelons -( no not a fruit, a small reddish-brown wallaby) gliding possums and brush-tail possums.

Home of a funnel-web spider.
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A small bandicoot must have been hit by a passing car and we find it no longer living.

The night ends as we drag our weary bodies to the coach and fasten our seatbelts tightly as we anticipate the twists and turns of the road back down!