Toolooa State High School

I took Nick on a tour of Toolooa High this Sunday and thought I would share the pictures we took with all of you.  I am really enjoying my job at Toolooa High and feel really lucky to have this experience.

I am working as an aide to the special education teacher and help special education students in their general education classes.  I have been working the length of the school day which is from 9am to 3pm.  Students have four 1 hour 10 minute periods and two 40 minute breaks so the day goes by really fast.  Period one and two are back to back, then a forty minute break.  Period three and four are separated by a forty minute break and then it is time to go home.  Students eat lunch or play basketball on their breaks.  There isn't a cafeteria, just picnic tables set up throughout the campus and all classrooms are accessed from the outside.  Most classrooms have large sliding doors that teachers often leave open so it is almost like going to class outside.  Both the staff and students have been really friendly and when I pass students they always say, "hello miss".  Students wear uniforms which I believe is the case in most Queensland schools, both public and private.
 

I have been riding my bike to school which is about a 3 mile ride each way.  Conveniently there is a bike path from our apartment all the way to school.  The weather has been beautiful for riding and being out in the sunshine always puts me in a good mood.  I ride by a primary school on my way to and from Toolooa High and I love seeing the younger kids walking and riding their bikes to school.  Primary school students wear tilley hats as part of their uniform and they all look really cute. 

It didn't really hit me that I was teaching in another country until the students were called to an assembly (which they call a parade) and everyone sang the Australian National Anthem.  There are other small reminders as well.  I have had to brush up on my knowledge of the metric system and there has been confusion with some vocabulary.  I told a student to be sure to put a period at the end of his sentence and he had no idea what I was talking about...apparently here a period is called a "full stop".  Many of the boys at school wear hats with American NFL/MLB/NBA team logos but have no idea what the logo represents.  One of my students had a Detroit Lions hat and I said, "Hey, I'm from Detroit".  He said he had no idea where Detroit was but apparently likes the colors blue and grey.  Another student had a Chicago Blackhawks hat and I was able to convince him to do a math problem by agreeing to tell him what sport his hat represented when he was done.  He was very disappointed to find that it was ice hockey...told me it wasn't worth all the hard work:). 

The "tuck shop" is a snack bar where students can buy food for lunch

Covered pathways in case of rain

A sliver of ocean view from campus

Nick and I also went back to the botanical gardens to hike around.  We found a trail that lead us to a vista with a great view of Gladstone.

The red arrow points to our apartment so you can see our close relation to the airport