Busy days ahead at work and play

Liz Bishop counts out during a maths lesson with her younger pupils. Photos by Christine O'Connor.
Liz Bishop counts out during a maths lesson with her younger pupils. Photos by Christine O'Connor.
Pupils  (from left) Ria Galbraith (10), Sydnee O'Leary (10), Isaac Douglas (9), Ollie Moffatt (9)...
Pupils (from left) Ria Galbraith (10), Sydnee O'Leary (10), Isaac Douglas (9), Ollie Moffatt (9), Hayley Maynard (9), David Street (7), Liam Patterson (8), Lily Dobson (8), Layla Maynard (6), Devon Moffatt (6), Nate McCabe (6), Hunter Mitchell (6) and...
Layla Maynard (left), Devon Moffatt and Hayley Maynard.
Layla Maynard (left), Devon Moffatt and Hayley Maynard.
Liam Lash (left) and Liam Patterson look up the meaning of ''integrity'' in their dictionaries.
Liam Lash (left) and Liam Patterson look up the meaning of ''integrity'' in their dictionaries.
Liam Lash (left), Layla Maynard and Lily Dobson face the front on the mat.
Liam Lash (left), Layla Maynard and Lily Dobson face the front on the mat.
Tools of the profession, including the school bell and desktop globe.
Tools of the profession, including the school bell and desktop globe.
David Street gets into character before his reading lesson.
David Street gets into character before his reading lesson.
Devon Moffatt finds a quiet spot to stretch out and do a little reading.
Devon Moffatt finds a quiet spot to stretch out and do a little reading.
Liam Lash waits for the mail to arrive.
Liam Lash waits for the mail to arrive.
Liam Lash, who is the youngest pupil, and ''Baa-Baa'' choose something for morning tea. Baa-Baa...
Liam Lash, who is the youngest pupil, and ''Baa-Baa'' choose something for morning tea. Baa-Baa was never far from his sight.
Half of the pupils rode their bikes to school that day. The sole classroom is visible behind the...
Half of the pupils rode their bikes to school that day. The sole classroom is visible behind the bikes.
Small beginnings on the growth chart.
Small beginnings on the growth chart.
The measuring tape comes out for a lesson.
The measuring tape comes out for a lesson.
T_Beach_school_4_28012015_Medium.JPG
T_Beach_school_4_28012015_Medium.JPG

As many schools burst back into life this week, education reporter John Lewis and photographer Christine O'Connor went back to class. They sat at the back at Taieri Beach School, learning about a day in the life of sole-charge teacher Liz Bishop.

It's 6am and the alarm clock is blaring.

Taieri Beach School principal/teacher Liz Bishop jumps out of bed, raring to start her year at work.

It's not only her first day of teaching for the year, it is her first day teaching at Taieri Beach School, so she's pretty excited.

The year 1-8 school has a roll of 14 pupils, who range in age from 5 to 10, and she's confident they will all become like family to her within a matter of weeks.

Mrs Bishop is at school by 8am, when pupils start arriving for the day.

At a small country school with a sole-charge teacher, responsibility for some of the morning chores falls to the children themselves, and they take delight in being able to help with the running of their school.

As we arrive, the mail van pulls up beside us, and eagerly waiting at the gate is the school's youngest pupil, Liam Lash (5), who collects the mail and takes it in.

Seven-year-old David Street takes great pleasure in signalling the start of the school day, by ringing the school's historic bell at 9am on the dot.

Class starts with everyone sitting on the mat and delivering the morning mantra with a slow and rhythmic ''Good morning Mrs Bishop''.

First order of the day is roll call. All goes smoothly until she calls out the name Liam, and two little boys chime in: ''Which one'', followed by cheeky giggles. There are two of them in the class, so she makes a mental note to call them Liam P (for Patterson) and Liam L (for Lash) from now on.

It is Hunter Mitchell's sixth birthday, so everyone sings Happy Birthday, and then Mrs Bishop promises there will be a special sweet treat at morning interval to celebrate. It causes the room to break into excited chatter.

Lessons officially start with dialogue about citizenship and integrity.

Then they move on to a maths lesson, which involves the senior pupils working out how to measure the school boundary, and how many times they would have to run around it to match the 37.3km distance from Taieri Mouth to Moana Pool.

It was a maths problem with real-world applications - something that thoroughly engaged the pupils.

Suddenly, it's morning interval. While that equates to 15 minutes of play time for the children, there is no rest for Mrs Bishop. Someone has to supervise, so she wanders the playground with a cup of coffee in hand, keeping order and making sure everyone is safe.

''I collapse at the weekends,'' she admits.

''When I'm at school, I work really hard and then I catch up in the evenings and weekends.''

Fortunately, she has help from Ros Moore, a relief teacher who comes in for one and a-half days each week to take over the teaching role while Mrs Bishop tends to principal duties.

Despite the help, she says the job is still very tiring.

''Coffee is my friend some days,'' she says.

Humour also lightens the load as ''kids say the darnedest things. Sometimes they make me chuckle. They are the little gems that keep me running during the day.''

Here's a prime example: During the maths lesson, she asks the junior pupils what sort of things could be used to measure the length of the classroom.

The children come up with a long list of tools, such as rulers, tape measures and ropes with knots in them.

But she was tickled by one pupil's suggestion of tying clothes together to measure the distance.

Imagine: the classroom is 15 jerseys long, or 25 socks, or 30 pairs of shorts ...

''This is the joy of working in a school with a range of ages,'' she says.

After interval, it's time for reading and writing.

Senior pupils are given a reading comprehension task, and then they help the juniors by listening to them read one on one.

Mrs Bishop says she relies on some of the older pupils to give guidance to younger pupils, and the younger pupils look to them as role models.

''Kids at sole-charge schools have to be more independent. They are not spoon-fed to the same degree.

"I have my own ideas about what they need to learn, but I'm also a big fan of inquiry-based learning - pupils following their own interests.''

Before you know it, it's lunchtime and while the children are out burning off excess energy, Mrs Bishop is back in the playground supervising, with another cup of coffee and a sandwich.

Afterwards, it's time for pupils to work on an inquiry topic about diversity, and after about an hour - just when the class starts to get fidgety - she announces it's time to go swimming in the school pool.

The day finishes with a quick tidy-up in the classroom, and at 3pm, once the children have all gone home, Mrs Bishop slips into principal mode and tends to all the duties of running the school.

Then she plans her lessons for the next day. Seldom is she home before 6pm.

''I try to leave as much of my work at school as I can, because it's very important to have 'me time'.

''You could easily turn this into a 24/7 job.''

All that is left to do is to look forward to doing it all again tomorrow, she says.

john.lewis@odt.co.nz

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