Well everybody's hoppin', everybody's boppin', boppin' at the High School Hop (Jerry Lee Lewis)

This post is brought to you courtesy of the inspiration derived from Michael Smith's PrincipalPage blog (link is in my blog list on the right).


Here's my list (in no particular order) of 25 things to be thankful for in my job as Lead Advisor at Ali bin Abi Taleb School.

1. The laughter I hear in the corridor outside my office every day (from a revolving cast).
2. Air conditioning - couldn't do it without you Mr General.
3. My dream team of advisors. Take a bow Jan, Peter, Davego, David, and Gavin.
4. Sharing an office with our translator, Hisham (a mutual support network of two).
5. The band at taboor (assembly) every morning.
6. Watching the teachers walk arm in arm with students.
7. Shaking hands with students at break time.
8. The Arabic teacher meetings - a riot of laughs.
9. Morning greetings with the staff and handshakes all 'round.
10. It's a boys' school with an all male staff - alhamdolilah (praise to God).
11. It's a Cycle Two school (Grade 6-9) so nowhere near the same pressures as in Cycle Three.
12. Mohammed, the Principal.
13. Holy Qur'an readings by the students which float in the morning breezes.
14. The view of the trees outside my office window.
15. School rituals.
16. The music coming from Ahmed's room (with Nidal's singing from time to time).
17. Abdulla (one of the Arabic teachers) and his daily greetings.
18. The boys' enthusiastic singing of the national anthem at taboor.
19. The friendly warm relationships.
20. Vice-Principal Fadhil's laugh and cheeky smile.
21. The enthusiasm for learning and embracing change.
22. The lack of private agendas that sabotage improvements for students.
23. The sweet black tea.
24. The open gate that symbolizes a lot about the welcoming atmosphere at the school.
25. Blogs from Michael Smith that keep me amused, grounded AND inspired.

Sunrise, shine down a little love on the world today (Eric Carmen)

I have now finished my first full week at Ali Bin Abi Taleb Middle School.
For this post (the written version of the entrance way into the school) I thought it best to do some background on the school so it's clear what I'm talking about in the months to come.

In the local parlance it is a Cycle 2 school with students at Grades 6, 7, 8 and 9. This means it is a middle school (rather than Cycle 1 - primary or Cycle 3 - secondary) catering for boys aged about 8 to 13 (but, in practicality, some are as old as 17 or 18).

The area the school is in is called Al Foah - a 30 minuite drive north of Al Ain towards Dubai. The land turns to desert about 20 minutes into the drive and it's lovely watching the sun rise over the hills to my right as I make my way towards the school.

There are 202 boys here and the staff is made up of 29 teachers. Mr Mohammed is the school Principal and it is he I work most closely with. Unfortunately his father died earlier in the week so he has been away for the last three days of mourning.

The subjects taught are: Islamic studies; Arabic; English; social studies; maths; science; I.T.; P.E.; music; art.

My job title is 'Lead Advisor'. In effect that means I co-ordinate and work with the subject advisors and work to improve the leadership capacity in the school.

So far, necessity being the mother of invention, I have had to share advisors from my friend, Graeme McFadyen's school. This isn't ideal for either Graeme or me but it is the best we can do at this stage. In effect it's meant that as well as being the Lead, I am also advising the Arabic and English departments. Unfortunately I am also without a translator and this is a real challenge. I have been very fortunate, though, that a couple of staff, notably - librarian Mohammed and an English teacher, Nadal (pictured below with his Grade 6 English class), have been able to translate for me on a few occasions.

The school day starts at 7.15 with a school assembly...

The boys warm up for assembly.

The assembly band and music teacher.

...and then there are 4 x 45 minute periods until a break for half an hour and then three more periods. School finishes at 1.15 (with a hiss and a roar as three buses ferry most of the boys out to their homes). The staff also get away promptly, leaving the advisors to work for a few hours before our hometime.

The staff and students are incredibly welcoming and accepting of me and the other New Zealand Cognition advisors; far, far more warmly and welcoming than schools in my NZ experience. I have been overwhelmed by their generosity of spirit. It is so nice to be appreciated!

I am also loving being back in a school context and loving being back in classrooms again - interacting with the students and assisting the teachers.