I’m a school mum. That’s not so very unusual; there are a lot of us about. However, I also happen to be a school library assistant. I also work (occasionally) in the school office. I am a regular — though largely silent — member of the P&C. During the past four years I have painted school murals, helped with reading groups, covered endless library books on my dining room table, volunteered for cake stalls, turned up for working bees in the school garden (even though my home garden is in a sorry state of neglect), and have generally put my hand up for anything and everything that would help make my son’s school a better place.
My further qualifications for writing a blog about Australian school life include having personally attended an Australian primary school and secondary school and having two parents who were both dedicated and enthusiastic (not to mention exhausted, frustrated and under-appreciated) teachers for decades before their retirement.
When I decided to write a blog, I pondered which of my many and varied interests to focus on. It wasn’t long before I was forced to admit to being a hobby whore, flitting from short-lived passion to short-lived passion — from cooking to piano to writing to crochet to running to jigsaws — not really very suitable for a coherent long-term blogging experience. Then I realised that school was the answer. It is a never-ending source of potential topics, and in the near future I hope to entertain both you and myself with some of my anecdotes.
Let’s just hope that blogging isn’t just my latest short-lived passion…
decoratedschool 
Yay! So happy to see you in Blogland!! A big welcome – and congrats on a great first post! 😀
Hey – I didn’t know that both your parents were teachers! Bet you never got away with missing homework, huh? 😉
And for the record, I am a “hobby whore” too (what a brilliant word!) – I’m even worse than you, I think. I’ve still got half-hearted stamp collections, half-completed jigsaws and half-stitched embroidery panels from my childhood in various cardboard boxes all over the place (no cooking though…I know my limitations! 😛 )
Anyway, am really looking forward to learning all the dirty, little secrets of school life in the land of Oz!
ps. sorry if this is a stupid question but what is P&C?
P&C stands for “Parents and Citizens”, though in practise it is usually just “parents and parents”. It’s a group that generally gets together once a month for the purposes of earning extra money for the school, though sometimes it also arranges working bees and discusses hot topics such as school uniform style or the lack of drama teaching.
Welcome to the world of blogging! Hsin-Yi sent me over. As a teacher, she thought I might enjoy reading your posts. You are right…schools are an endless source of material. Can’t tell you how many times us teachers say, “No one would believe this if we told them”.
Have fun with your blog! Write when you want, about what you want, and don’t be afraid to ramble off topic too (sometimes those are the best posts of all).
I’ll be interested to read about your experiences. I was a primary school teacher for thirty years and I’ll enjoy hearing about school from the point of view of a parent. How about posting a bit more about the school garden one of these times? Maybe a photo or two? Without children in the pics, of course.