Secret diary of an expat teacher – Week 13

 This is the end. My last entry after thirteen weeks of blood, sweat and tears at a government school on the outskirts of London.

The number thirteen has long been associated with bad luck. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I have been cursed, but it has been an arduous task to wake up every morning before 6am to commute to a workplace that wasn’t always pleasant.

There were positives, of course. Being at the one school allowed me to make some wonderful friends with other Antipodean teachers and English natives, some of whom I’m confident I’ll remain in touch with beyond the last day piss-up.

The students did get used to me, and many even claimed to be sad that I was leaving. It’s funny how these same kids would whinge and moan when I first started – I guess they figure that it’s better the devil you know than the devil you get next term!

I have learnt a lot. I don’t think my new skills will transfer to Australia, though – I had to harden up here, and I feel I don’t need the same level of classroom management back home.

It’s somewhat true that kids are kids all over the world. However, it was a definite shock to the system to teach in a different country, to children of different social circumstances and within a schooling structure quite different to Australia’s.

I’m proud that I made it the whole way through without a sickie. There were times I’d have loved to stay in bed, but I can now enjoy three months of travel with the money I’ve earned from fronting up and attempting to teach the unteachable.

Ultimately, I’m glad for the experience of living and working in an amazing city. I never say ‘never’, but I’m pretty sure I won’t be back in front of a classroom in this country again. Give me a class full of bogans any day – at least I can relate to them!
 

Miss Cazbar – not her real name – is an Australian teacher who came to work in a London school for 13 weeks. She chronicled the experience; exclusively for Australian Times each week.

More from the Secret Diary of an Expat Teacher:

Week 1 – Welcome to teaching in London

Week 2 – An ANZAC vs the Vicky Pollards

Week 3 – Cracks in the system

Week 4 – Teaching reality bites

Week 5 – OFSTED

Week 6 – It gets hot at summer half term

Week 7 – From Paris to the classroom reality

Week 8 – World Cup fever in the classroom

Week 9 – Field trip red tape

Week 10 – I’m a survivor

Week 11 – Let’s talk about sex

Week 12 – Sports day