My job at AJHS was only a one year contract so since September I have been scouring the Ed Gazette, trying to hook myself up with a new employer for 2011. Job hunting is never easy, but when you didn't train in the country, and there are hundreds of students about to graduate having completed successful placements at the schools you're applying to, it's even harder to get your foot in the door.
After a lengthy process and some very frustrating situations, I was offered a one year maternity cover as a Health & PE Teacher at Orewa College. I am absolutely delighted and really looking forward starting in February. Orewa is about a 30min drive north from where we live at the moment, and is a little town on the Hibiscus Coast. Its traditionally thought of as a laid back sort of place where everyone spends their life on the beach. I was going to compare it to driving 30mins out of Edinburgh to somewhere like North Berwick but I'm not sure how often folks from N.B. actually get a chance to go on the beach? Or how laid back they are?!
Anyway, I'm very excited about starting and everything I'm hearing so far about the place is really positive. It's a combined Intermediate School and High School so takes kids from Y7-Y13 (P7-S6), and by all accounts the PE Department is a top place with eight full time staff. They are a massive volleyball school so I will no doubt coach another team next season. They also run an extensive Outdoor Ed programme and being on the coast, a lot of this is water based. I'm now so glad that a) Dave Beck taught me how to swim properly and b) I have honed my surfing skills alongside Scottish surfing legends Suzy Watson and Laura Armstrong in the waters off Balevullin Beach in Tiree.
Like I said, I don't start till February (loads more chat to follow, I'm sure) but in the meantime, I have SEVEN weeks holidays to enjoy!
LM :)
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