Kids, April 2036

Round 32: April 2036 (Autumn)
Principal: Tatiana Lachance
Teachers: Pamela Gray, Finn Romilly
Students: Matthew and Simon Lane are both 11, Sylvia Draper, Alice Jacobson and Aurora and Bianca Moretti are all 10, Gabriel Nott, Ruby Lane and Ramona Nihill are all 9, Marcus and Charlotte Lane are both 7, Jacinta Nihill and Everett and Grace Benton are all 6, Michael Gottlieb, Keira Romilly, Thomas Moretti, Daphne Kirby, Elmer Miguel and Felix Lane are all 5 and Will and Levi Draper, Ryan Moretti and Jude Clarke are all 4.

Narrated by Finn Romilly

This year, we have our highest enrollment ever at Sullivan Primary.

We have 24 students, so things are always very lively around here.

I was a bit worried about Keira being a little fish in such a big pond but she’s in kindergarten now and she seems to have adapted very well to school. She’s had her cousin Daphne with her all the way, so that’s made it easier for her.

She’s the most shy out of our three kids but she’d made some new friends at school as well, which is fantastic.

Due to our very large enrollment, Pamela's class consists of the pre-school and kindergarten children combined.

The kids always seem to adore Pamela, so she’s the perfect first teacher for most of them. None of them were complaining about having her two years in a row.

I have a very diverse class, as usual. Ruby came to my class last year and she didn’t waste any time making herself known.

She’s the kind of kid you need to keep a close eye on. She’s a little bit of a schemer and she knows which kids are most easily influenced.

Ruby certainly keeps my job interesting, that's for sure.

Aurora and Bianca are two of the more well-behaved students. They’ll be here at the primary school for one more year after this one and I think I’ll miss teaching them. I guess I’m a bit biased, being that they’re my nieces, but they really are sweet girls.

I know my students would love to spend as much time colouring in and playing as the little kids do but there’s just not enough time for that, plus all the curriculum work we have to do.

Most of them just get on with it, because they know there’s no point arguing. Then there’s Alice, who will not focus on anything, unless it's science.

Whenever she gets bored with English, it’s never long before she comes up the front and starts her daily “why do I have to do this stuff?” plea.

Alice is extremely bright; she just finds it hard to motivate herself unless she’s already interested. With some prodding from me, she can produce some very good work.

Then there are kids like Sylvia, who try to keep reading under their desks after the class has moved on to the next lesson.

One thing where I can always guarantee all the kids’ full participation is the new buddies program.

We usually run it in Pamela’s room and it’s a good opportunity for the youngest kids in the school to get to know the older ones, almost like mentors.

My kids love it as much as the younger ones. They get the chance to play, something we don’t get to do a lot of normally.

And for those who are the babies of their families at home, I think they enjoy having someone look up to them for a change.

It’s been generally positive for the school. I see the older kids voluntarily sitting with their “buddies” at lunch sometimes.

Some kids still have some things to learn. I saw Ruby pushing in in front of Will the other day, which is obviously not something we want to encourage.

Tatiana has the smallest class this year - just five kids.

In the next couple of years, her students will move on to my class so I try to keep up to date with who’s who. Fortunately, most of the kids are quite nice, according to Tatiana.

I’m a little terrified at the prospect of getting two more Lane children in my class next year. There will be Marcus, Ruby’s little brother.

And Charlotte, Ruby’s cousin. It’s always concerning when a kid’s teacher tells you she has a child seated and facing away from the other kids and she still has to hover over her to make sure the work gets done!

Still, I like a challenge, so I’m looking forward to getting to know these kids as well.

Notes:

• Last round's primary school update was so heavily posed that I ended up doing a more gameplay-oriented post this time. Even the buddies program was prompted by me being unable to keep the big kids out of the pre-school room!
• Buddies is something else I stole from my real life job. I've never worked in a school without a buddies program. It's generally school-wide, rather than just the oldest and youngest kids. Each class has a buddy class and the kids in the classes are paired up "buddies". The classes get together once a week for combined activities and all the kids tend to enjoy it.
• Next round, enrollment at the primary school will go down to 22 and thank goodness for that! This was the first time I had to add extra student tokens to the lot so I could get everybody enrolled. 24 kids is insane!