How Scary can a Kindergarten teacher be?

Population 26-ish

Ollie’s teacher and the principal from the School of the Air came for their yearly assessment visit this week-end.  It’s not an easy task to get to the island.  You either have to charter a plane or a boat or catch a lift on a supply run.  The teachers ended up chartering a small plane.  In an area of the world that is labeled “remote”, we are beyond “outback”.  The teachers consider us the most far flung of their students in an otherwise extremely “far flung” part of the world.

The airstrip is scratched out of clay around 6km from the homestead.  Sometimes the pilot will call before he takes off.  It takes only 15 minutes to fly from the mainland and it takes us about 15 minutes to drive to the airstrip.  Or we wait until we hear the sound of the plane and then go for a mad dash so the poor devils on the flight don’t think they have been abandoned in the middle of nowhere.

The boys and I waited anxiously in the little sunshade that the dune buggy provided us.  How scary can a kindergarten teacher be?  At times the school seems to operate in a vacuum.  The boys both have on-air lessons with their teachers for half an hour a day.  After each two-week set of work, I send the completed work back to the teachers for marking and assessment.  It takes about six weeks to get the marked work back by which point we can scarcely remember what the set was about.  So the boys and I operate with very little feedback on their progress and I operate with no real validation on whether  I’m going my job properly and whether they are accomplishing what is required.

So I was trepidatous too.  I had visions of the mean teacher and the principal tearing our efforts apart, telling me I couldn‘t teach my way out of a paper bag, and putting the boys into remedial classes.  It was a long wait for the plane to circle and touch down.

The flight touched down and taxied to the “terminal” (aka where the car track hits the runway).  The boys went to hide.  The teachers wanted to take photos.  I think the teachers were having fun on their big adventure too.  The airstrip is full of holes and we always wait for the pilot to get the plane back into the air before we leave.  If they were to loose a wheel or crash, we want to make sure there is someone to get help.

The ride back from the airstrip is bumpy and sandy and lots of bugs fly into your face, so it’s a good idea to wear sunglasses.  It meanders through the low scrubby bushes that survive in the sandy soil and then the vista opens up to the sea when you drive over the final hill to the homestead.  It’s very rugged and hot and dusty.  The homestead is a revelation in the hostile environment.   The homestead is it’s own little cluster of buildings and it’s own little community and it appears out of nowhere on this very large desert island.

The old shearers quarters has 8 guestrooms facing the sea with a long covered veranda dotted with deck chairs.  There are 24 large solar panels and a shed filled with batteries that give us constant electricity.  The 100 year old shearing shed is next to the house and fun to explore (if you keep an eye out for snakes).  The family house with the classroom is behind the shearers quarters and very modest. 

The teachers spent two days assessing the boys.  I was extremely relieved that they didn’t have any major criticism of they way I was running the schoolroom.  They seemed downright complimentary.  Most school of the air students are taught by their mothers who really don’t have the time to dedicate to the kids’ education.   Both boys came out ahead of the curve in their assessment.  It felt like I received a good report card too.