The last couple of months have been rather trying for everybody at Luna; we've been limping along without a full-time teacher since Dan left. Our students have been very understanding, accepting schedule changes or substitute teachers. Change in itself is not always a bad thing, but too much at one stroke can be tough to handle. I think all our kids especially have done really well adapting; I really need to thank Yuki for being so patient and careful in explaining our circumstances to parents, who in turn trust our intentions. Thank you too, teachers, for accepting it's not always possible to manage transition smoothly.
This week is certainly an historic one for Luna; we have no less than four new members of staff joining us this week, and are saying goodbye to two. In the course of this year, we will have an entirely new staff. I can't think of many companies that are capable of working through such a tumultuous turnaround in personnel. A large part of the reason we are able to do this is the degree of trust the school has established with our students & clients. I put this down to three things, in no particular order:
- Yuki's awesome abilities to communicate complex messages to each & every student personably, personally, and utterly professionally.
- The excellent track record our long-term teachers have built up over the years.
- Our students' ability to 'function' beyond the personality cult of any one, particular teacher.
I will introduce our new recruits at a later date, as well as thanking mystery leaver number 2. I know, you want to know everything now, don't you? Be patient! This blogging thing is new! In the next couple of weeks I promise they'll introduce themselves, OK? Kind of homework for teachers...
For now I'd just like to thank everyone for being really patient with us; we've had to change teachers around & jiggle class schedules a bit. Hopefully, we're back to normal services; on yesterday's evidence I'm confident Luna's winning team is looking as good as ever.
Just for the record, my optimism was ill-placed. Ruth failed to work beyond the end of August, and Claire only bothered to turn up as promised the once.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, abandoning students is unforgivable. Doesn't matter how good a teacher you are, or whatever else you have going on in your life, when you make a commitment to a child and break it, you'd better have an extremely good reason.
While my school may have to deal with a short-term image problem as a result of some shameful behaviour, the children will not forget the day(s) their teacher didn't turn up. And neither will I.
My advice to somebody who such scant regard for their responsibilities = find somewhere else to live, and quit teaching. You are a disgrace to the profession.