School Spirit & sense of community

OU812

I have a friend in California who has a child the same age as me here in Ireland.

Both children attend primary (Elementary) school & are in the same grade.

My daughter's school is excellent, the teachers work hard and bond well with the kids. There's a strong focus on several sports and at Xmas, they put on a good non denominational (despite being a catholic school) show.

However this is where it stops.

My friend's daughter does (mostly the same subjects) and takes part in school sports, but they're also encouraged to be good members of the community by visiting the local OAP home, working on community projects such as clean up of litter in the local park & helping out around their area by planting flowers etc.

There's other stuff also, I just can't recall it right now.

The kids have an award ceremony once a month which parents/guardians can attend & win a certificate for being a good community citizen & then have what they call an "Ice Cream Social" where everyone gets an ice cream & they mingle & talk for an hour or so with the fellow parents/kids.

They're also extremely loyal to the school, buying & wearing school merchandise - their mascot is an eagle which is available on everything & is worn with pride by parents & kids alike. Sports events are well attended & there's several other community based events which are sometimes fundraisers, sometimes free, but designed to encourage community - one of the most recent ones was "Food Truck Friday" where they had twelve food trucks parked up in the school grounds from 4.30 to 9.30 on Friday night offering all types of food & parents & kids got dinner there with a percentage going to the school.

It seems that here, the school finishes at the gate & there's no sense of school pride/community.

Is it something that exists or would maybe the educate together schools have a greater sense of it ?



BTW, Don't get me started on school spirit with High Schools... Check this...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_01wJMrfLOM

Youtube is full of them.

muckisluck

Could you organise the parents to run such a community in your child's school. It sounds wonderful and something that would be really good for parents to become involved in.

OU812

I'm not a teacher & am already involved in the PTA. We run the usual fundraisers & activities, but it seems to me *and I've tried suggesting other things , that there's no enthusiasm for anything other than what's already been done year in year out.

I'm thinking it's an Irish thing that we can't be bothered or are just interested in ourselves & bugger everyone else. or maybe the American side of it is very much an American thing.

I'd love for there to be more parents involved in the school because it's a great one, but the same people have served on the PTA for years with very little new blood coming in. They're a bit of a clique and full of self importance too - something I don't like too much but put up with because nobody else seems interested in getting involved, it seems to be a case of not getting involved because someone else will do it.

byhookorbycrook

Irish primary schools have changed down the years, many of the teachers don't live where they teach. Parents are very often working where long commutes are involved and are not available for many of the things you have discussed. Unfortunately, as schools are so underfunded and many parents find uniforms so expensive, I can't see the school merchandise being a big seller here.

I had an American student with me for a few weeks, she wanted to know where the school nurse, the technician , canteen and psychologist were and was truly gobsmacked to hear that teachers pay for so much for their classes out of their own pockets, so we are talking two completely different systems.

The other thing to factor is, is that Irish teachers have a lot more class contact time , large classes and an increasing level of admin that has to be done on their own time.
The average class size in 2007–08 in the US was 20.0 pupils for public elementary schools , here we average 30.

This, coupled with the insult that is Croke Park hours, where teachers cannot used the hours to run extracurricular activities, has left a very bitter taste and a lack of engagement by members of the teaching staff , where once they would be enthusiastic about extra hours after school.

Sorry if this sounds negative, but it is the reality on the ground.

OU812

Not negative at all. You teach I presume?

I think the average class is larger in the U.S. Now. Certinally my friend's child has 27 in it & most of the classes in her school would have between 25 & 30.

I think the point I'm making is the lack of enthusiasm for supporting the school which exists in the community seems to be reflected back by the faculty (with the additional issues called out above contributing).

It's a shame because we could influence kids so much to be valued members of their community, but it seems the community is too wrapped up in itself (individually & as a whole) to recognise & support that.