Re: [ozmidwifery] Re: surviving school again

[Aviva Sheb'a]

The System is not nutty, Andrea -- it's utterly mad!   Morning tea given by the local school (Dunolly, Central Victoria) for parents who'd just brought their children in for their day of school. Teacher made some incomprehensible spiel. I'd brought Rosie my younger for her first official day, though she'd been sitting in with Leslie's class fairly frequently, and came in while I did remedial reading with some of the students.   My response (oh, I just couldn't stop myself) was {sigh} "Another lamb to the slaughter". Should have seen the faces, specially his. I did not back down, much to his chagrin. We left that school a bit over a year later. We had a go at home schooling, but that was definitely not for us. We shopped around and The Darlings went to one 15km away. I'm still good friends with the woman who was then principal. A year after we moved to Adelaide, she and her family moved here too.   My children are very glad they've had the experiences they have. Despite Leslie's school being a disaster in many ways, it was perfect for him in many others. Rosie is doing so well and is so amazingly happy, but then she attends an Agricultural High School where the emphasis is on sustaining, and healing, the environment. So that school system is not nutty, it's brilliant. They actually teach the young people (they're treated as young adults) how to make a living by growing things, processing etc. In fact they have an orchard, olive grove, vineyard, their own wood business...the Urrbrae Conservation Volunteers (Rosie's one) go around hauling out olive trees that have gone feral and killed off native vegetation around Adelaide, then another group cut up the wood and sell it for firewood. They learn all the business side of that, including tax, customer relations etc. Their own olive grove is managed sustainably; the trees are covered with nets so the birds can't get to the olives and drop the pits -- which is how olive trees went feral all over the Adelaide Hills. The Wetlands teach the children about the environment in a very practical and beautiful way.   My own school experiences were another story altogether. That I left at lunchtime on the last day of year 9 without a backwards glance, without saying goodbye, without collecting my report, says enough. I went home, had a bite to eat, changed clothing, put uniform in the bin, gathered up my dance gear and went off to full-time dance school -- two months early! That's when life really started for me.   Aviva ----- Original Message ----- From: Andrea Quanchi To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, November 19, 2002 3:40 PM Subject: [ozmidwifery] Re: surviving school again This conversation is great. I thought I was the only one who doubted that they would be able to survive school the second time around. The relief I felt last December when I finished primary school was immense.  Everyone who has ever met my kids tells me how great they are (well of course but its still nice to hear it) but every time I go to a parent teacher interview I come home devistated with the comments that are bandied around by the teachers. I made a conscious decision not to go anymore because it makes no difference and drives me nuts. Its great to know that it is not only me that finds the system nutty Andrea Quanchi