Temperatures next week should be above 0°C, even at night, and highs of 11°C. It has been pretty dry, hardly any rain or snow, so that also isn’t a good start to spring which is around the corner. By the time you’re reading this I will have already started my shearing season. I have my first pre-lamb mob waiting. Honestly it has all snuck up pretty quick and I am not sure I’m actually ready, physically and mentally.
They are actually some of the best conditioned sheep I have, very round and quite big, a cross of Charolais and Zwartbles and Texel. So, fingers crossed it all goes well.
I have pretty much decided on my new handpiece, an Heiniger Icon SF . But I will wait until main shearing before using that. Pre-lamb can sometimes be a muddy or dusty affair. The next three main pre-lamb mobs are booked in between the beginning and middle of March.
So, I want to tell you about my life in school. I have been teaching for six years now in a normal state school, about 30 minutes’ drive away. It is a programme where in the class they have a native English speaker. So, I was quite qualified for this. We start in the 3rd class and finish in the 6th class. I am usually following them through the classes.
There are three of us at school — me, a Serbian and a Welsh teacher. I take part in their English classes, maths lessons, art and craft and PE. And the idea is we present lessons or prepare our own, especially maths with the older classes. It is just about getting the kids in closer contact with English. I really enjoy it, and the kids do as well. I think it really helps as I see them more and more confident when speaking.
I’m working 15 hours over three days plus a Monday afternoon club and two conversation classes with the teachers on Tuesday.
School facts: Children all start school at the beginning of the school year. They must be at least 6 years old and you can also keep your child back a year if you have a feeling they are not ready, so some kids can be age 7 when they go to school.
There is kindergarten, they can start from 3 years old, then 9 years at basic school and then the last four years at a high school. In the last year of high school you sit the “maturita” exam and that gives you the basic school level qualification.
There are many types of these high schools, either a gymnasium where it is more academic and most continue to university. Or there are trade schools where you get a basic understanding in almost any trade you want.
My daughter Zofie is at business school. She doesn’t know where she will go after school but said she would take a gap year and travel to New Zealand for a look. And then who knows? Maybe she will study at Otago.
Until next time.
