Freddo Frogs going begging here... my thoughts on Halloween

On Thursday after school I raced into Coles and bought bags of Freddo Frogs in preparation for the onslaught of kids at my door for the evening. Halloween - it happens once a year, and while I'm not a big fan of the event, there's no denying its popularity!

Halloween or Hallowe'en, also known as All Hallows' Eve, is an annual celebration observed in a number of countries on 31 October, the eve of the Western Christian feast of All Hallows' Day. It has its origins in an ancient Celtic festival at which communities in Scotland and Ireland took stock of their supplies and prepared for winter.  The custom was taken to America during the mass Irish and Scottish immigration during the nineteenth century and by the twentieth century was celebrated by people of all social, racial and religious backgrounds. The customs have spread to other countries as a result of increased American cultural influence through American television and other media.

And don't our kids love it! The dressing up, the wandering around the streets at dusk and in the dark, the knocking on doors and yelling 'trick or treat', the collection of lollies, fruit, nuts and toys - it's enough to whip any child, large or small, into a frenzy! 

I watched all the children passing down our street from our kitchen as I was preparing dinner and wondered if they had any clue what it all means.  Our teachers are reluctant to teach about Halloween - it's one of those topics that's a bit 'politically incorrect'. Some years ago a school was hung out to dry in the media because a few teachers decorated their rooms and explained the story behind the custom. Parents didn't want any learning about witches and ghouls going on in that school. And even in our school we have been taken to task about using such topics in lessons. And so, unless parents are telling their children the narrative behind Halloween, all it really is in Australia is an excuse to have a sugar high!! I mean, we can't possibly argue that we are storing up for winter!

We have quite a high wall and a gate around our house and as the evening trawled by it became obvious I would be eating the Freddo Frogs.  It was wonderful that parents wandering the streets with their kids concentrated on doorways they could see and people they knew. I could hear kids laughing and every so often someone yelling 'trick or treat'! 

So really, at the end of the day, who cares if Halloween in Australia is only a chance for parents to spend time with their kids, dressing up and collecting goodies from the neighbours. It has to beat an evening in front of the TV.

Next year I shall make sure our gate is wide open so all the little witches, ghouls, mummies and pumpkin heads know they can staunch their chocolate fix at our door! Happy Halloween!

A school song

Last week four Year 5 girls arrived from their classroom to share some writing - they had been challenged with the task of writing a school song or poem. I was so impressed with all of them - it was clear they knew our vision statement and school values; they managed to incorporate the school wide practices that ensure our school is a safe and enjoyable place for everyone; their verses were catchy; and they have captured our school ethos beautifully! I promised them I would put them in the newsletter - one a week for a few weeks, and I couldn't resist putting this one here. I love the bit about effort being higher than Mt Kilimanjaro!

My Golden School

Peregian, Peregian, our education starts here.
Peregian, Peregian, our bad habits disappear.
Our efforts are higher than Mt. Kilimanjaro,
and everyday we learn for today and for tomorrow.

Chorus 
Peregian Springs State School,
In you we learn how to play
With ground rules,
And amazing tools,
My Golden School,
You will always make my day.

Smiling faces are walking around,
Many teachers are pleased.
Peregian, Peregian,
You exceed the standards with ease.
Our efforts are higher than Mt. Kilimanjaro,
and everyday we learn for today and for tomorrow.

You are the newest,
the best in Peregian Springs.
I think you are amazing.
We all know that you are these things.
Our efforts are higher than Mt. Kilimanjaro,
and everyday we learn for today and for tomorrow.

Chorus x 2

Peregian, Peregian,
My Golden School,
Peregian, Peregian,
My Golden School,
Peregian Springs State School. 
(Faith)

I asked is there music? and they looked a little horrified and said 'We'll just read them'.

Well done, girls!

I'm turning Japanese, I think I'm turning Japanese, I really think so...

These lyrics sung by British band, The Vapours, in the 1980s were classic. Kids still know them even if they've never heard the whole song!

This might be an odd title for a blog post but over the last few weeks the lyrics keep going through my head - of course, we are not turning Japanese - but we are about to welcome the first Japanese Study Tour Group to our school. Seventeen 10-15 year olds and their teacher from West Japan will spend a week with us, learning English in the mornings, joining classes in the afternoons, and staying with their excited host families at night.

What a marvellous opportunity for all of us to learn something about this unique and surprising country and its people - and maybe even make some lifelong friends in the process.

Of course, we're not 'turning Japanese' at all. It's the last thing our visitors would want - they are coming to experience our Australian culture and to improve their English, that is, they want to develop their intercultural skills and understandings. And in the process of their visit, there is much we can learn too.

Intercultural competence is an important set of skills - it's about more than enjoying the food, geography and arts of a culture. It's more about understanding how a group of people think about the world and their place in it. Our children's future will be about the ability to engage with Asia in ways beyond simply visiting its glorious beaches and amazing cities for the summer holidays. This is not about 'turning Japanese' but about becoming more understanding, developing relationships, sustaining dialogue, and ultimately, its about economic growth, prosperity and international security.

So lets open our arms in that friendly Australian way, and open our minds at the same time. Spending time with our Japanese friends will be an opportunity not to be missed.

Stories from the Past - Living with our History

Over the last 15 to 20 years the teaching of history has had the potential to be a sadly neglected part of the general curriculum. It has still been there, as part of Studies of Society and Environment, but teachers had to look hard to find it. Teaching historical enquiry requires skill and an interest in the past. And so, over time and with a greater focus being placed on other areas of curriculum teaching and learning in history has faded away.

In 2013 all schools will be implementing history as a subject in its own right once again. And I am so excited about this. Having a sense of history is so important to understanding who we are and how we came to be this way, and for understanding who others are and how they came to be the way they are. For example, we cannot hope to understand the culture of Australian born Vietnamese families without knowing the stories of the Vietnam War and horrors endured in getting to Australia. And similarly, white Australians cannot partner effectively with our Indigenous peoples in building their (and our) futures without an appreciation of the ancient time they walked the land and the more modern times of white settlement.

And our youngest students cannot develop a sense of who they are without hearing and appreciating the stories of their own families and communities.

As a new school we will have to work hard for many years to build a history, to create a group of stories about how we came to be. My last school, Pomona SS, was over a hundred years old - the Resource Centre was full of artefacts from a time gone by - photographs of staff and students stretching back to the 1920s, tuckshop menus from the 1960s, a Tug-A-War trophy from one of the first King of the Mountain races. The things we learned about our school and the town of Pomona when we dug up a Time Capsule buried since the mid 1980s was a joy.

So we are collecting historical artefacts for our 'museum' - phones, cameras, kitchen objects, bric a brac and letters from a time gone past. These objects give us a new appreciation of our families and sometimes reveal startling facts and knowledge.

I visited my parents in the last holidays and asked Mum if she had any artefacts. She brought out her memory box and produces a copy of the Daily Mirror from 20 July 1969 - the day man landed on the moon! It was still in one piece and you can go and look at it in our Resource Centre. And what can we learn from a newspaper that's 43 years old? Well, one thing is that some stories never change - besides the moon landing, the newspaper reports on bashings, poorly behaved football players and local youth making a nuisance of themselves after dark! But it is also clear that Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon in Apollo 11 using less technology than we carry in our iPhones today! And, oh yes, there was a third man on that mission who everyone seems to have forgotten - and he didn't even get a mention in the paper produced on the day this historic event occurred. Perhaps our history lessons next year will help children question why.