My school at Malapoa

My work is fine but settling in is a slower process for me than for Cheryl, since I have a much bigger complement of staff to get to know –and tell apart!!. Now that I’ve been there a few weeks, I’m beginning to see past the peeling paint (and shortness of resources) and can see it is a school with a heart, lovely kids and staff who care. During these two weeks, I’ve been to a school open day, a national School Sports Week opening, met the Minister of Education and established a relaxed relationship with the acting head of the maths department. I think she was a little over-awed at my 'credentials' initially and the fact that I'm a 'grey haired' one (automatically revered over here - - - - -hmmm, something Aussies could do with methinks!). The last few days have seen us in relaxed conversation about some of the workings of the faculty and she seems willing to listen to tentative suggestions. But as is the case here ------hasten slowly.


The senior curriculum is taught over 3 years. Year 11, 12 and 13. Year 11 & 12 is sort of equivalent to Oz. However students who want to go on must study all subjects at a higher level (like our 3-unit and 4-unit type courses) to gain university entrance, and that’s what year 13 is about.


I’m teaching two year 13 classes –Maths with Statistics (34 students) and Maths with Calculus (18 students). Both will be a challenge since I haven’t taught that content since Westfields High School in 1988! I’ll also be looking closely at their curriculum, programming, registration and other processes to see if they need to be tweaked to push standards higher. Malapoa College (MC) used to be streets ahead of other schools in Vanuatu, but the rest of the field is catching up and MC wants to ensure it maintains its reputation as a leading school.


Tonight it's off to the Anchor Inn -apparently the place to be for local expats. Tuesday night was trivia night at one of the pub/resorts. Our team came second, but won a few beers along the way. Pity our volunteer's pay doesn't allow for more than the occasional night out -but nevermind.


Foodwise, local stuff at the market is cheap as. --and get jealous here::::: this morning I bought a bunch of small bananas (about 10 ) for 150VT (=$1.80). Local lettuce, tomatoes (rare), cucumber, bok choy, kumera (kumala), mandarins (plentiful), passionfruit, green coconut (I just love the clear juice and it is SO healthy for you) are fresh daily. Beef is also about 30% cheaper than Oz and really good. However if you want traditional European/Western stuff from the supermarket, it's about 200% of Oz prices. Wine is plentiful, and there are also bargains to be had -especially if you know a bit about French wines- lucky me- but prices are higher. Say around 1300VT (=$16) for a respectable 'Jacobs Creek' standard wine.