Figure 1.--One of the characterictics that New Zealand students especially appreciate in a teacher is a sence of humor, although the humor the children appreciate varies greatly among different form levels.

The children at some of the schools have interviewed the principals and teachers. The result provide an interesting view of both the teachers and the questions posed by the children. The details add a personal element to sometimes dry statistical data on school staffs.

OUR NEW ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL: By Kimberley and Krystal

On the 5th of May, Kimberley and her friend Krystal interviewed our new assistant principal. She teaches in Room 6, so the students are about year 3-4. Mrs Coffey enjoys seeing the joy of learning on the children's faces, and likes being able to do things differently to suit the children. She began teaching in Hanmer Springs. She moved to Oamaru after that and taught at several schools there! She liked teaching her form 2 kids, but the five year olds... were amazing! We asked what she is looking forward to achieving at the school, and she replied, "I'm looking forward to helping the other teachers to keep enjoying their work, because if teachers enjoy it, so will the kids!" NOW ABOUT HER! She misses the village life of Kakanui where her husband, dog and cat still live! (until their house is sold). Her brothers are farmers and her sister is a nurse. Her mum still lives on the family farm. Up until now if she wasn't at school, you could find her in her garden. She has travelled with her husband to Australia a few times and they cruised around the Islands in Fiji as well.

Please note that the student interviewers warn that due to this teachers's quirky and weird sense of humour, read the following interview with a very open mind. A further report by the children will follow below). Daniel & Angelika. "Why did you ask us to do your interview?" Teacher: "Because you are my oldest friends and I had fun with Daniel at camp and I haven't seen him for ages." "How many days have you been at School?" "656 teaching days." "Have you ever taught at any other school?" "Yes, I have worked in some schools in Christchurch and around Nelson." "Do you enjoy kids around you?" "Kids should only be available for use in science experiments - that would be kind of fun." "What was your favourite subject at school when you were little?" "Sports and maths, because I enjoy all forms of dance as I had eleven toes to count on." "What is the highlight of being a teacher?" "Hearing the bell ring at 3 o'clock." "Is there anything you regret doing in your younger days?" "I regret not working with animals before I started teaching. It would have been great preparation." "Tell us what you are scared of?" "Mrs. _________ and new entrants, and I'm scared this isn't a dream." "Tell us about your family." "I live in a wigwam with a mouse named Cyril and a donkey called Horse. We are a very happy family." "Why are you so funny and tall?" "I was born extremely funny and as for being tall, I won this in a competition." "How many jokes can you do a day?" "I had a joke-limiter fitted by my doctor, which means I can't do anymore than 11 an hour, but that doesn't include people who interview me." "If you could choose a Christmas present this year, what would it be?" "I would love Mr. ________ to give me a class of mannequins to teach next year." "What advice would you give to kids today?" "Stay ho ../teachers.htm me, stay out of sight and watch your back." "What is your favourite food?" "I find boys are less stringy than girls. Girls tend to upset one's constitution." "What is the best thing that has happened to you?" "I saw the light." "Where?" "In the fridge."

Mrs G is our teacher (i.e. year 5 - 7 students). We all wrote a question for her to answer. Mrs G cannot remember ever wanting to be anything else but a teacher. As a youngster her favourite 'game' was playing school. She has taught at many schools, mainly long-term relieving. In 1981, Mrs G came to our school and has been here ever since, except for 2 years at an intermediate school. Her preferred level of teaching is the present years (5 - 7). She believes that teaching is a very good job but you must be able to relate to all sorts of children and build up a positive working relationship with the class. It is really rewarding to see children who take all the opportunities to improve their learning. Also, when pupils return a few years later to say how well they are doing is quite rewarding. "What advice would you give naughty children these days?" Mrs G replied, "These children usually get lots of advice. They should listen to and follow the advice--think about the consequences and the sort of person they want to be when they've grown up. Anything to do with spare time will have to be a good guess, as Mrs G hasn't had time for any of her hobbies for the last 2 - 3 years, so she guesses that "What are you going to do when you retire?" will be the time to bring them out again: reading, stamp collecting, cross-stitch and hardanger embroidery, and knitting and sewing for the grandchildren. Also, retirement will be an opportunity to revisit China again, as well as Scandinavia and Europe. Her favourite holiday was to Thailand and Hong Kong (10 years ago), and her favourite day of the week would have to be Sunday, when she has 2 cups of tea in bed and doesn't get up until 8.30 am. by all of Room 3's kids

When the teacher said, "Who would like to interview a teacher?" Mara and Kate yelled, "Yes, yes!!" The teacher continued, "You must have finished and published your camp story in your camp diary." "Yes, yes. We have!", cried out Mara and Kate again. This teacher teaches year one and two, as you can see by the photo above. She used to teach at Victory School, before coming to Richmond School. She has taught at 6 different schools. What she likes best of all at school is the staff support and the children, who make her feel welcome here. When travelling, she has visited Tokyo, England, Scotland, Eastern Europe, Hong Kong, China and Australia. Her main interests out of school are tramping and being with her family and dog. Her first husband died, so the family shifted from the country into town. Since then she has remarried and has her 3 grown-up children, as well as her 3 grown-up step-children. She has a cat, a chocolate labrador, and 2 donkeys. She is always busy at our school helping others and we're really proud to have interviewed such a special person. by Mara and Kate

Interview by Amanda and Steven (Room 3). Q. What is it like being at teacher? A. Challenging, interesting. It can be fun or frustrating. Q. How many years have you been teaching? A. About 15. Q. Is it hard to handle naughty kids? A. Sometimes. Q. What do you do outside of schools? A. Reading, music, playing golf, family, gardening, involved with my own children. Q. Is it easier to teach juniors or seniors? A. Both are different. Q. Do you like the pay you get? A. No. it's not enough. Q. What is your favourite food? A. Roast meals and pasta meals. Q. Who is your favourite singer? A. Country and Western, and Classical singers. Q. What are your favourite sports? A. Team games: rugby, netball, golf. Q. What is your favourite song? A. I like songs you can understand. Q. Do you like this school? A. Yes. Q. Do you play any sports? A. I am learning to play golf. Q. Have you tried any other jobs? A. No not really. Holiday jobs as a student, voluntary work with Parent Centre. Q. Were you born in New Zealand? A. Yes. Q. Why did you want to be a teacher? A. Because I like working with children and I like learning things. Q. Have you taught at another school? A. Yes, in about four different schools. Q. Did you like going to school when you were a child? A. No, not really. Q. Have you got any pets? If so, how many? A. I have one cat named Boris.

Interview by Amanda and Steven (Room 3) 5.9.96 Q. What is it like being a teacher? A. It's sometimes frustrating but very rewarding. Q. How many years have you been teaching? A. About twenty. Q. Is it hard to handle naughty kids? A. Not always. Q. What do you do outside of school? A. Enjoy my garden and knit. I am involved in JAB Rugby and Nelson softball. Q. Is it easier to teach juniors or seniors? A. Juniors. Q. Do you like the pay you get? A. No it's not enough. Q. What is your favourite food? A. Chicken and pasta. Q. Who is your favourite singer? A. I have not really got one because I like a variety of music. Q. Who is your favourite sports person? A. Casey - my son! Q. What is your favourite song? A. I like lots of songs. Q. Do you like this school? A. Yes it is one of the best I've taught at. Q. Do you play any sports? A. No, I am involved in my boys' sport and really haven't got time for any myself. One day I would like to play golf. Q. Have you tried any other jobs? A. No. Q. Were you born in New Zealand? A. Yes, I was born in Motueka. Q. Why did you want to be a teacher? A. Because I like people and like helping people. Q. Have you taught at another school? A. I have taught at eight different schools. Q. Did you like going to school? A. Yes. Q. Have you got any pets, if so how many? A. Yes, one ginger cat and one Cavalier King Charles dog.

We interviewed the deputy principal at our school. She has had a lot of experience with children. She is a little camera shy. We asked her how many schools she had taught at, she said, "They are called Westport Granity, Tokoroa, Salisbury Girls, Auckland Point and including Richmond there are six altogether." What a busy lady she must have been. Her favourite subject in school was .... everything!! She absolutely loved school. Her favourite subject now is "English". We asked her if she ever had a job before she started teaching. She replied, "No, I went to college when I was seventeen." Then we asked her our grand question. Are younger children more difficult to handle than older children? She answered, "At least I can pick them up and set them on my knee until they settle down to think about their behaviour." She finds praising children as a substantial part of teaching. She praises them by: smiling at them, giving them a pat, giving them stamps, stickers etc, plus telling their parents good comments. She Merrion disciplines children by sitting them on the 'yellow chair'. She finds that her year 1's are astounding. She teaches 11 children that have just turned 5. The highlights of her teaching days are: when little children learn to read, when they say thank you, when little children are happy and smiling and when her "old" pupils come to visit. Children with behaviour problems would get told to think about what they are doing, try to walk away from trouble and play an enjoyable game. She thinks that most younger children have it easy, because little people want to please their teacher. We asked her what she was going to do when she retired. She pleaded, "I'm not going to retire!?!?" She said she has been to Australia seven times! Wow!! The best things that have ever happened to her were: getting married, having two children, getting a grand-daughter and starting her teaching. We asked her what took up her spare time, she replied,"What spare time." The only spare time she has is spent on her grand-daughter. Because the recent rugby Super 12 matches with South Africa, Australia and New Zealand teams have just finished, with two of the New Zealand teams to play off in the final, there has been great friendly rivalry here. Do you vote for Canterbury or Otago? we asked her. She answered, "Canterbury." Because she loves their style of play. Her main hobbies are: knitting, reading, and if she wasn't here at school you could find her babysitting her grand-daughter. Are you scared of anything? we asked and she said, "Not Mr Langford that is for sure!" Her family has 20 people (including the pets) and school children. She has Bill - husband, Nicola - daughter, Craig - son, John - son-in-law, Jackie - daughter-in-law, Courtney - her delight, Noddy - the cat, Cindy - her little dog, Jen - Bill's dog, and including her entrant children. By Krystal and Alana

On the 3rd of May we interviewed a teacher who works every morning at our school. Her job is to help children read and understand meanings of words; it's called "Reading Recovery". The children she teaches are usually about 6 years old, so that means they are starting Year 2. She has been to lots of different schools - 16 all together !! We asked her if there were any difficulties in her job. She said, "Of course." And they are finding her pupils when they are visiting artists, swimming times, class visits etc. She spends approximately 20 weeks working with them. Mrs Cresswell does word building and breaking, reading and writing with all her students. The difference between her job and the other teachers are that she teaches one child at a time and it is 30 minutes of very intensive teaching and child participation for each child. She chooses the pupils by looking at the results of a six-year old reading tests and consultation with the class teachers. Some things she likes about Richmond School are the children, the staff and the parents. Now about her: Her main interests are travelling, gardening, fabric painting, boating, fishing and music. She has an eighty-one year old mother, three sisters (2 are in England) and one brother. They all grew up on a large farm in Marlborough and some of her family still manage the farm. by Kimberley and Shannyn

The most important person in our school is the principal. We interviewed him on May 7th. We asked him what is expected of a principal at a school. He replied, "The principal is the leader of the school who helps other people do their jobs. He also has to manage the school's finances and carry out the Board of Trustees policies and to make sure that the school does what the Ministry of Education wants. He has been at our school for ten and a half years and has been principal for other schools - Huanui Station School; Waitaki Bridge School; Dipton school; and Bluff school. He enjoys working with lots of different people but he does not like filling out forms and doing paper work. At the moment we're having a huge school hall built. Ideas about building the hall began in 1990, because we didn't have a room big enough for large groups and wanted somewhere out of the sun in the summer and out of the rain in the winter. He helped organise a committee to fundraise money to achieve his dream, which has finally become a reality. Have you ever wondered how he became principal here at Richmond School? Well, Mr Martyn was appointed by the Nelson Education Board. Now, we asked him what he has enjoyed most while being at Richmond School. He replied, "Doing things with children and teachers and helping to make sure that all children receive the best education they can." Now about him His wife also worls at the school and they have 2 children; Philip (20) is studying for a computer graphics degree at Wanganui Polytech; and Raewyn, who wants to study fine arts at University, is in the 7th form at Nelson College for Girls. His hobbies and interests are tramping, art, visiting around the country and family things. He has been to America, the UK, and Europe. When he retires he wants to go fishing, play golf, go tramping plus trip around the world and he also wants to keep up to date with news and current events. by Kimberley and William

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