Dead Serious #014 - SCHOOL’S OUT …….FOR EVER!!!!!(Pt 1. The independant school system)
Dead Serious #014 (MP3 – 11MB – 40min)
“School’s Out”
It’s the last week of school in Australia for Year 12’s…..the ‘big kids’.
For international listeners, you must remember we are at the ‘arse end’ of the earth and so our school year finishes prior to Christmas. The little kids (primary) finish in December and the secondary school kids finish anywhere from October to December depending on their year level.
This week and next week’s shows look at the grief and loss, excitement and stress issues for kids finishing their school year and their school life AND their hopes for the future, as they head towards the ‘dreaded exams’ and then out into the ‘big wide world’.
Given that my very own ‘little girl’, my third and last child is finishing school this week (though she declined to be interviewed) there are mixed feelings for me in all of this too. My ‘baby’ is now 18 years old, she can get her driver’s licence (she already has her Boat operators licence), she can vote and she is an adult…………….what does that make me????? An old lady????? The next step is being a ‘grandma’ and given that I’m well below ‘middle age’, I think that’s a bit rich………….so I have my own grief issues, as does my ‘beloved’.
I’ve already said ‘goodbye’ to our two georgeous son’s, one inter-state, one to ‘the big smoke’ and that has been hard enough, but the very thought of ‘our little girl’ moving away from home in order to go to University next year, fills me with dread!
So how is it for the kids? How do they feel about saying ‘goodbye’ to friends they have lived with on a daily basis for six years? How do their teachers feel about letting their ‘ fledgelings’ fly off into the ‘great unknown’????
This week I talk to the kids at my daughter’s school and their school Co-ordinator. As they attend an independant, private school, (though not an ‘exclusive’ school by any means) the views they express may be very different to the views you will hear next week from the kids, the teacher and the parents of kids who attend school in the public system. Our public system is the state run school system (which I know is different for many of you in the U.K and U.S)
So sit back, listen, and remember what it was like YOUR last week of school. The excitement, the saddness, the pressure and feel really glad (as I do) that it’s all over and life goes on and actually turns out to be okay, despite you often ending up in a totally different place than you imagined at 18!
So thanks to Analise, Gerard, Brent, Brodie, Krystal and Peter for being so accommodating and sharing their thoughts and feelings. Music is provided by Kit Fennessy and the program was recorded (as always) on Skylook. Thanks also to Motorola………..DUDE!!!!!!