Christmas Flower Time in Australia: Re: Re: School Year

» MaggieM - Re: Re: School Year

Traute - the original (Canada) school year is based on the "farm" agricultural cycle - children were needed to help out in the summer months. There has been some experimentation (pilot projects) with changing things at some school boards here in Ontario, the thinking being that the less time kids are away from the books, the better for their learning. Interrestingly, some of our communities inthe far north of Ontario where there are manynative children, there's a week off for the annual "goose hunt" in the fall.
Gay you will love having those two grandchildren in the mornings during their vacations! And knowing those kids, they'll love being with you and Kees, too!
Traute - we have an exchange principal at one of our schools this year who is from just outside of Sydney Australia. Lots of teachers do exchanges, not too many principals, though. She arrived in late December (her holidays) and had to go right to work early in January. Her Canadian counterpart had a month or more of hols before going to school. The exchanges are all for a one year - calendar year - time period. We have a teacher friend who has retired now who did two exchanges to OZ because she and her husband loved it so much. You take your kids, your spouse and trade houses. Winter here - and snow days (no busses) - have given our Aussie visitor a number of new experiences. She also came in and had to deal with a work-to-rule "strike" of teachers in February and Mmarch , after going through a similar situation in OZ before she came away!

-- posted by MaggieM