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Hi all,
It's a long time since we added an update. Christmas holidays and the New Year celebrations are now just nice memories. We enjoyed catching up with most of you and now we have headed into our new adventure for 2011.
Our life has taken a different turn this year. We are headed for Vanuatu for the next 12 months. I have applied for and received a work permit to teach at a small private school in Port Vila. The residency papers are the last thing to be signed and then we can move permanently. This should happen at the end of this week but who knows for sure. I have learned that patience and persistence are needed in large doses when dealing with government agencies in Vanuatu.
Now about the school. Peter Pan School was started about 20 years ago as a charity school by Denise Hannent and a partner (Now deceased). It is run from a private house and outbuildings that have been added as classrooms.The school also rents the vacant block next door as a playing field.I will be working as a teacher at the school teaching in the kindergarten, the 2 - 4 year old age group. I have currently got 60 children on the roll. There are 45 children in the pre-school group 4 - 6 year olds. In the primary classes there are approximately another 130 children enrolled. In Vanuatu the ages in a class can be up to 3 years difference between the youngest and oldest. This is because Education is not free yet and some parents cannot afford to pay.The Government is working toward providing free education to grade 6 but the quality of the teaching is not the same in every school. In Vila, parents who are able choose to use private schools like Peter Pan because they recognise the quality of the teaching staff and the results the students receive.
The tone of the school is very positive and all of the children appreciate the opportunity to attend. All the teaching is done in English so the children have excellent speaking skills by the time they leave for high school. Most of the Universities in the region teach in English so the children who want to can go on to further study without the hassle of not understanding the language.
I have just spent a month working, in the office until school started, and teaching the little ones since 1st Feb. My main job is to prepare the children for pre-school. This means the main focus is on teaching English language skills, social skills, and writing/drawing skills.
Our curriculum is play based with free play followed by mat/teaching time then 'lunch', more free play and structured activities in small groups. During our mat time we do lots of singing and dancing, circle games, and a small amount of blackboard work. We are currently learning about our body, some shapes, the primary colours, letter sounds for a and b, numbers 1 - 10 and Old McDonalds farm.In our structured activity time we do lots of craft activities that involve cutting, gluing, colouring and drawing. During the free play time the children have tables set up with puzzles, painting, play dough and there is a home corner, small cubby house as well as outdoor activities like the sand pit, swings and water play tables.
The pre-school group have access to the same type of activities only they have more structured learning times and more of the structured activities.They are expected to follow directions and behave in a socially acceptable manner.
Our morning kindergarten and pre-school groups run for 4 hours from 7.30 to 11.30 each day.The afternoon kindy runs for 2 hours from 12.45 to 2.45 each day.The primary school starts at 7.30 and finishes at 1.00.As you can imagine with the number of children attending everything is pretty hectic.
In the meantime while I have been flat out having a great time Tony and Sarah have been waiting patiently???? in Brisbane for the paperwork to be completed.We have had 3 cyclones pass by Vanuatu and so far the boat is ok. The last one, Atu, was a category 4 and passed just east of Port Vila. We were watching closely on the web and just trusting God. Our boat is in the safest possible place and was thankfully still secure after the cyclone had past.
Tony and Sarah are still planning to work with PYM this year while I stay in Vila at the school. I believe that there are 5 tours planned for period July through October including some new areas on Ambrym between Vila and Santo.Things are still at planning stage so we will have to see how it all works out.
We are excited about the opportunities that this new year will bring. Vanuatu is such a lovely place and the people for the most part are very appreciative of any help they are given.
That is all of our news for now.
Love to all
Carol and crew of McDiver
- comments
clive stead sorry, did you mean that denise hannent ( an old friend of mine) was deceased? Or just her partner was deceased? I live in Queensland now, but did live in Vila 15 yrs ago. kind regards Clive stead