Parent Teacher Conference Day

Whether as a teacher or educational manager, Parent / Teacher conferences are fraught with unpredictability. None more so than at my inaugural one in Addis.

Having seen the subjective, laissez faire and abstract approach to reporting at my new school, i have stalled for time to rework them. For the last few years, "Settling – In" reports were issued at this time of year. The format looked so purile i have opted for the “personal touch.” I have cancelled classes for students and invited parents to come and meet their child’s teacher. Last week i provided the teachers with a basic recording pro-forma that highlights each child’s strengths and areas for further development, debriefed them both in staff meeting and Monday briefings, I even postponed my planned INSET to ensure teachers had time to complete the pro-forma and to ensure classrooms displays were vibrant and all books marked and up-to-date. I’m not the complete Bastard Boss, despite what you might think.

I don my Sam the Tailor’s charcoal single breasted suit, one of my absurd silk ties (i opt for the Warner Bros. Tasmanian Devil football player in fire engine red) and head into my office. I leave my door open and wait with trepidation for the invariable whinging and complaining parents to make a bee-line for me.   

Despite massive publicity on whiteboards and newsletters, and invitations to book time-slots, only about 35% bother to turn up. The school is beautifully quiet and tranquil throughout the whole day.  

I get more visitors than most of the teachers. But it is lovely. About a dozen pop in and every one of them have come to say thanks for all the improvements they had noticed during my brief tenure. No moans, bitches or complaints. Not many Head Teachers can boast that. Kinda blown away. Several parents also have students on the Secondary campus and have noticed improvements there also, so i call Ginger Warrior throughout the day passing on the good tidings. Long may the honeymoon period last. 

We're All Special

Ageing Ethiopian Rasta Mrs R returned to her home 18 months ago after nearly a 30 year stint in LA where she also allegedly picked up her qualifications. She has taken over the Special Needs department and, like all the new Heads, has found herself starting afresh due to lack of any coherence or legacy whatsoever.

She is the only teacher operating between both Primary and Secondary campuses. Many of the teachers lack any awareness of what Special Needs entails, and i have requested Mrs R to provide three INSETs per term to get them up to speed. We have split the Wednesday Staff Meetings where i have “performed” handwriting, phonics, spelling and most recently Writing Assessment training. If they sounds rather dull to you, compared to Mrs R reading out Advanced Neuro - Psychological textbooks, i am positively an orgasm on very long legs.

We have now seen influx of students on a wide range of the autistic spectrum, with moderate and above students receiving one-on-one support in classrooms throughout the school day. If it were up to Mrs R all would have been admitted immediately, However i have insisted on vetting these students and in a few cases trialling them. I have been heart-broken to turn away three very severely handicapped students with dangerously wild behavioural traits.

The stigma of children with learning difficulties in Ethiopia is harsh to say the least, and there are no options of schooling for these kids. I did invite the rejected students to enrol in our Extra Curricular Activities programme but the families remain uncontactable.

Even amongst our parent body - so-called “educated” and “internationally minded”, i am told of parents trying to literally beat out autism and other learning disabilities from their child and resorted to “magic” and “witch-craft” in the attempt to cure them. One of my student's was repeatedly whipped by branches of an auspicious tree for hours on end.

Two parents requested to move their children out of a class to “avoid” Kaleb, a delightful Somali boy with quite severe learning difficulties, as well as a cleft pallet. My response was curt to say the least.

Three of my students are teenagers – the oldest being a 17 year old boy in our Grade 4 class. He towers over all my other students and i presume is the only male student to have pubic hair in the school. 

 I have to be weary of Hawi – she is very affectionate to me and wants to hug me like the young ‘uns,  but at 15, she has breasts and it might not look right.

It's taken a while, but Mrs R is adjusting to working life in Ethiopia again.

Splash!

I stay local and use back-roads in my blue KIA and i have avoided the attentions of the traffic police. Which is more than can be said for Rob.

Rob is a very English accountant by trade but is taking time out with his even more English wife Anna on a year sabbatical to build a school in Debra Zeit, about 80kms out of Addis.

Rob regularly gets stopped on the road, for a wide variety of “reasons”, but the latest is my favourite.

Caught in a flash storm returning to the city he hits a pot-hole on the road and is immediately pulled over. He has splashed a pedestrian and it’s an offense. Rob pleads his case. It is raining so all pedestrians are wet. The road has a gaping hole in it. Surely it is the responsibility of the municipal council to maintain the roads?

But his pleas fall on deaf ears and he is given an on the spot fine of Birr 200 – about US$13. 

Mr T's Nuptials

Mr T heads the Pre-tertiary division at our school and is an interesting guy. An Ethiopian, he has spent the last 28 years in England. He has returned to Addis with a brand new Ethiopian wife and now mother to his 3 children, and she has at least three kids of her own, and is pregnant again!

Their wedding ws a very extravagant affair in Addis with some 700+ guests, limousines, a couple of photographers and a fifteen course banquet. But even in Ethiopia, such stuff doesn’t come cheap. Indeed a whopping Birr 700,000 or almost US$40,000!!!

Despite their recent lavish nuptials, Ted is back in Addis with the youngest at just three months, and his wife in London. She will visit Addis at Christmas.

Trust in Aunty

Have you noticed how poor and narrow the coverage of African news and affairs are in Asia, Europe and South America?

The BBC is still one of my favourite news and sports channel, and their coverage of Africa gives me a better sense of perspective of my latest home.  Check it out for yourself by clicking here.