School Spirit

This year both our Grade 5/6 Unit and our Grade 3/4 Unit are entering a choir piece into the local Eisteddfod. Partly because our current theme for this term is Australia’s Places and featuring deserts, rainforests and other cool places like that, and because the kids enjoy a bit of light history and a good little song, we’ve chosen to go with the Seekers’ anthem, ‘I Am Australian‘. Today we ran the kids who chose to turn up to the first practice at lunchtime through the song, and now it falls to me to teach them all the song during our Rotations activities. So… here’s the latest addition to the School Spirit Classroom Songs list.

I Am Australian

I came from the Dreamtime, from the dusty red soil plains.
I am the ancient heart, the keeper of the flame.
I stood upon the rocky shore, I watched the tall ships come.
For forty thousand years I’d been the first Australian.

I came upon a prison ship bound down by iron chains.
I cleared the land, endured the lash and waited for the rains.
I’m a settler, I’m a farmer’s wife on a dry and barren run.
A convict then a free man, I became Australian.

I’m the daughter of a digger who sought the mother lode.
The girl became a woman on a long and dusty road.
I’m a child of the Depression - I saw the good times come.
I’m a bushy, I’m a battler, I am Australian.

We are one but we are many
And from all the lands on Earth we come.
We share a dream and sing with one voice
“I am, you are, we are Australian.”

I’m a teller of stories, I’m a singer of songs.
I am Albert Namatjira and I paint the ghostly gums.
I’m Clancy on his horse, I’m Ned Kelly on the run.
I’m the one who waltzed Matilda, I am Australian.

I’m the hot wind of the desert, I’m the black soil of the plains.
I’m the mountains and the valleys, I’m the droughts and flooding rains.
I am the Rock, I am the sky, the rivers when they run.
The spirit of this great land, I am Australian.

We are one, but we are many
And from all the lands on Earth we come.
We share a dream and sing with one voice
“I am, you are, we are Australian.
I am, you are, we are Australian.”

If anyone is interested, the chord progression is as follows - (// signifies a new line in the lyrics)

C / F C // Am / F G C // C / F G Am // C Dm / F G C //

Chorus follows as -

C / F C // Am G / C // C // F C // F G / Am G / F G C //

Today was the last day in the classroom this week. Tomorrow is our House Sports day, and Friday is ANZAC Day itself, so today was the final chance I had to pass on a few of the stories about Gallipoli to the kids and try to get across at least some of the tragedy, humour and sheer grit and nobility of those ‘first’ ANZACs in 1915. I suppose I might as well start at the beginning.

It was yesterday we sat down as a group and I told them the story of Lone Pine. A trench-covered stretch of land who’s only notable feature was a lonesome pine tree growing on top of a small hill. It was one of several major offensives the Allies attempted in early August, 1915 to break the stalemate, and we only had a short amount of time to bring it to the kids’ attention yesterday. This morning we made a little more time to go into a little more detail. Keep in mind these kids are eight to ten year olds, but I only pulled punches when I really felt I had to.

Trench warfare is the first thing that started to show them that the life of a soldier is not such an adventure after all. One bullet down the spout and when it’s fired, you have to stand and reload. They quickly worked out that no Turk in his right mind was going to stand politely by while you reloaded your rifle to shoot him down again. The answer was the bayonet, that footlong piece of steel attached to the end of your rifle. To stab into the next poor bloke you ran up against. As expected, a few of them, mostly boys, let’s be honest, thought that sounded pretty cool. Until I pulled out a 40cm ruler and told them that was about the size of the blade being stabbed into your gut. Not such the glorious, clean adventure it was made out to be, is it?

They finished beginning to wonder what the whole point of battles like these were when we finished talking about Lone Pine and how the Australians captured the position and held it for six days with 2300 casualties. But their ears pricked up when I spoke more about the tree itself.

After the battle, seeds from the Lonesome Pine were taken by a digger. I don’t know his name, and I don’t know if many do, but he eventually brought the seeds back to Australian when he returned. They were planted, I believe but could be mistaken, at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, where they have since grown into another pine, the son of the Lone Pine, if you will. The kids recognised the family ‘tree’, as it were, and thought that was a fitting way to remember the battle, even though they thought it a waste of life for no real outcome. But the story didn’t end there. Seeds from that tree were then taken, a few years ago, and planted. From those grew hundreds of new, young pines, grandchildren of the Lonesome Pine. One of them ended up in a very special place.

‘Where did that one go?’ they asked eagerly, interest rising by the moment.

‘It’s planted in the garden outside the office.’

Yes, like all primary schools were supposed to receive, we have a small pine tree growing in our school yard which can trace its roots, as it were, back to that single Lonesome Pine that bore witness to that battle all those years ago. The kids quickly agreed it was clearly the most important tree in the school.

That afternoon, I finished the story, in a way. The following day was the battle of the Nek, and the 600 Lighthorse who were to capture it. The kids agreed that bombarding the position with ship artillery to scare the Turks off was a clever way of starting things off, so the Lighthorse could run across No Man’s Land with their bayonet charge and take the trench as easily as possible. They were devastated to learn that one of the commanders’ watches was seven minutes slow, which gave the Turks time to man their machine guns again.

When they learned that three waves of soldiers were sent over into a rain of machine gun fire before the attack was eventually called off they were all but silent.

But only for a moment before they all voiced their opinions over a futile and pointless attack. 300 dead in such a short time and in an area the size of two tennis courts. When they realised our school has only 370 odd kids, the number soon became even more powerful.

It was then that I sat them down to listen to ‘And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda’.

After that none of them left that afternoon thinking war was an adventure for the boys. It’s not a great adventure if your legs get blown off.

Hopefully it will send a few more of them to the parade on Friday.

Related posts: And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda, Two Little Boys,

Technorati Tags: ANZAC Day, Lone Pine, The Nek, Gallipoli

This would be one of my all time favourite songs, and I make sure the kids hear it leading up to ANZAC Day each year. As Thursday will be our House Sports Day and I’ll barely see half of the kids for much of the day, they’re going to hear it tomorrow instead. With a bit of luck it will interest more of them into trying to drag their parents to the parade on ANZAC Day. I know some of them will be there, and one of them has all but dared me to meet him at the dawn service, but if it gets more of them there to see the real diggers walking by, then fantastic. If it just opens their eyes a little more to the history of our military and how we honour a defeat rather than a major victory like most nations, then that’s more than enough too.

It tells the story of a digger landing at Gallipoli on 25th April, 1915, and then returning home to Australian via Sydney on the first ANZAC Day, 25th April,1916. The words written here are the ones I use and learned, not quite the same as those Eric Bogle sings on the clip to the side. I play it in C as it’s easy to finger pick for me, but again, I sometimes use a capo to get it to a better key for the kids. Here is the progression for those who are interested. The verse and chorus are the same for each of the five sections. It’s in 3/4 time.

C / F / C / Am / C / G / C G/G C /
C / F / C / Am / C / G / C G/G C /
G7/ G7 / F / C / G7/ G7/ F / C /
C / F / C / Am / C / G / C G/G C /Chorus
C / F / C / C / C / F / G7 / G7 /
F / F / C / Am / C / G / C G/G C /

And The Band Played Waltzing Matilda

Now when I was a young man, I carried a pack
And I lived the free life of a rover.
From the Murray’s green basin to the dusty outback,
Well I waltzed my matilda all over.
Then in nineteen fifteen the country said ’son,
There’s no time for roving, there’s work to be done’.
So they gave me a tin hat and they gave me a gun
And they sent me away to the war.

And the band played Waltzing Matilda as the ship pulled away from the quay.
And ‘midst all the cheers, the flag waving and tears, we sailed off for Gallipoli.

How well I remember that terrible day,
How our blood stained the sand and the water.
And how in the Hell that they called Suvla Bay
We were butchered like lambs at the slaughter.
Johnny Turk, he was ready, he’d primed himself well.
He rained us with bullets, he showered us with shell.
And in five minutes flat they’d blown us all to Hell.
Nearly blew us right back to Australia.

And the band played Waltzing Matilda as we stopped to bury the slain.
We buried ours and the Turks buried theirs - and we started all over again.

And those who were left, well we tried to survive
In that mad world of blood, death and fire.
And for ten weary weeks I kept myself alive
While around me the corpses piled higher.
Then a big Turkish shell knocked me arse over head
And when I woke up in my hospital bed
And saw what it had done, well I wished I were dead.
Never knew there were worse things than dying.

For I’ll got no more Waltzing Matilda all around the wide bush far and free.
For to hump tents and pegs, a man needs both legs - no more Waltzing Matilda for me.

So they gathered the wounded, the crippled, the maimed
And they shipped us back home to Australia.
The armless, the legless, the blind, the insane.
Those proud wounded heroes of Suvla.
And as the ship pulled in to Circular Quay
I looked at the place where my legs used to be
And thanked Christ there was nobody waiting for me
To grieve, to mourn and to pity.

And the band played Waltzing Matilda as they filed us down the gangway.
But nobody cheered, they just stood and stared, and they turned all their faces away.

So now every April I sit on my porch
And I watch the parade pass before me.
I see my old comrades, how proudly they march,
Reliving old days and past glories.
But the old men march slowly, their bones stiff and sore.
Tired old heroes from a tired old war.
And the young people ask ‘what are they marching for?’
And I ask myself the same question.

But the band plays Waltzing Matilda and the old men still answer the call.
But year after year more old men disappear - one day no one will march there at all.

Technorati Tags: ANZAC Day, Eric Bogle, Waltzing Matilda, Gallipoli

Right from the very first, I should probably lay my cards out on the table. I’m not a dedicated convert to the global warming or climate change phenomenon. I’d like to think of myself as a healthy, albeit slightly suspicious, cynic in regards to many of the arguments (if they can be called that) predicting the end of the world due to this nasty carbon stuff. It’s only fair that I say this up front before moving on to the main topic of this post, which is the now global event called Earth Hour.

If you haven’t been aware, Earth Hour was an idea originating in Sydney last year (2007) where everyone was encouraged to turn off their lights for an hour for the benefit of the planet. About 2 million people (or is it households? That would have been more impressive) and 2000 businesses signed up to take part. The goal was to reduce greenhouse emissions in Sydney by 5%. About 10% was the figure achieved according to some reports, so straight up congratulations to Sydney on their one off reduction. This year, it’s a global event and cities all around the world are taking part.

Look, I think it’s a nice idea, I really do, but I have a suspicious feeling that it’s mostly going to be a single, feel-good hour which will give the planet a quick breather (if I may personify the planet… why not? Many people writing articles like this see it as suitable!) before most of the lights will come back on and the planet will once again glow like a Christmas bauble throwing thousands of black balloons into the air like we see on those greenhouse reduction ads on Australian television.

In regards to those ads, why don’t we ever see one showing those black CO2 balloons coming from the backside of a cow?

Some people (and blogs) are spouting the idea that it’s a great initiative to support the Earth and harness the interest of school kids in the wellbeing of the planet, and even better, ‘promises an opportunity where they can behave to demonstrate their understanding of being a global citizen‘. I actually agree with this idea, although I don’t know whether Earth Hour will be the true success it aims to be and therefore I’m not sure I would have (had it been during the term and not the school holidays) sold it to my own kids as a way to help save the planet. I don’t think it’s quite as simple as that, and I’d be selling the kids short if I tried to tell them so. I’m not much for flowery imagery in my statements, but it seems others are - ‘YOUR participation will go a long way in spreading the message thatwe, as individual droplets working collectively - can create an impetus far more powerful than the mightiest of rivers‘. Nice metaphor, and all meant with the best intentions, but does it really mean anything? Rivers are good for hydro power generation, which is apparently better for the environment… but that involves dams, eh? We’re not allowed to build more dams in Victoria… it harms the planet.

On another blog, I found this quote, which shows support once more for the initiative (and keep in mind I support the idea in general, I just don’t believe it is going to have the impact it promises). ‘This is a wonderful, simple idea to share with your students. It can make them feel part of a global movement, but more importantly it demonstrates that individuals CAN come up with simple, sharable ideas that make a difference‘. I actually agree with much of this statement. It truly is a wonderful and more importantly simple idea, and I recognise the benefits of the kids feeling like their involved in something bigger than themselves, their town or even their country. I’m also right up there with anything that will help kids think they’re important enough to make a difference. Again, I’m just not convinced the difference this will make will be of any significant benefit once those lights go back on sixty minutes after they get switched off.

My concern here is that I doubt it will actually achieve anything in the long run, which is what it is intended for. Once that hour is over, just about every business who has signed up will put those lights on in their office towers while no one is working there, have their neon lights back on to advertise their companies to passing pedestrians or motorists. The lights will come back on and the telly will flick back to whatever was being viewed before… and it will happen every night afterwards.

Until next year’s Earth Hour comes around again when we can all feel good about ourselves for going without lights for another hour to save the planet.

There’s my little cynical bit over with. I’ll go about my normal nightly business with a light on in the room I’m working in (usually a little lamp) and maybe the radio in the background or the telly if I’m in the lounge. In the classroom we generally only work with lights on if it gets too dim to see with cloud cover outside over the sun (or once we’ve done so much work we’ve covered the windows with displays!). To me, getting people to work with electricity in this way would be more beneficial. Hopefully that’s the message a lot of the people who take part this year get from it all. If it truly causes thousands of people to think to use only the lights they need when they need them, then I think Earth Hour will have done its job.

I’m not too convinced with some of the comments on the official Earth Hour site either, particularly the Frequently Asked Questions page. What candles should we use for light during this hour, it is asked at one point, to which the response is candles made of beeswax. Why? Because they are carbon neutral because ‘the CO2 they emit has already been taken from the atmosphere to produce the wax‘! Okay, by that logic, coal fired power stations are probably just as carbon neutral because the carbon produced by the burning was already taken from the atmosphere when they were alive as trees back in the Carboniferous Period! Millions of years ago those ancient forests grew, sucking up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere which is now stored in those coal deposits. So burning it is only releasing the carbon back into the atmosphere from where it came. I think that’s a little bit of flawed logic there, but again, it’s a nice thought, eh?

I’ll finish with this quote from the Age newspaper which, despite not particularly liking that paper, makes what I think is the most important point to be taken from this whole initiative. ‘It’s not simply about turning off your lights on March 29, even though it is estimated that this alone reduced carbon emissions equal to 48,000 cars being off the road for one hour last year. It’s about awareness, understanding and commitment: awareness of the impact of climate change, understanding that small, practical gestures by individuals can collectively make a profound difference and commitment to making an ongoing effort to reduce energy consumption for long-term benefit‘.

Anyway… enough rambling. On the whole, I think this Earth Hour initiative is very well-intentioned and will be a great article for the media across the world to cover, and very well might make the world’s politicians sit up and take notice (or at least wave at the crowd when they turn up to show their support before going back to their other policies the next morning). Any small approach to reducing these pollutants will help, but I’m just not convinced this is the world changing event it’s being built up to be.

Mind you… I’m more than happy to be proven wrong!

Technorati Tags: Earth Hour, climate change, global warming.

Officially, Clean Up Australia Day is this Sunday, March 2nd. The little problem here is that the kids aren’t at school that day. They’re at home, probably sitting in front of their X-boxes, their PS2s or in the corner. Maybe that’s a slight generalisation tainted by the ever-so-slightly-mental Friday I worked my way through today. If I’m honest, I reckon it probably is. But anyway…

Because the kids aren’t going to be here on Sunday (and, most importantly for us, neither are we teachers!), today, Friday, February 29th (and didn’t we talk about Leap Years a lot today!), was Clean Up Australia for Schools Day. Meaning… we dragged the kids around the school ground and the sports oval complex nearby with plastic bags and a shortage of plastic gloves. Yes, plastic is not really environment friendly, but neither’s leaving all that rubbish flitting around in the breeze either.

Lots of glass around, to be honest. The kids thought it was great to find an old VB bottle or two, but I did get a little sick of trying to pick up shattered glasses by the roadside, and I didn’t even bother when the kids found little tiny bits of glass scattered across the asphalt car parks.

The kids seemed to enjoy it, even if it did cut into their Free Time Friday afternoon, which most had to use finishing off their week’s work anyway. Maybe that was why they were happy to stay out there as long as possible…

I don’t think we’re technically allowed to call it ’scab duty’ any more… I think ‘emu parade’ is the more politically friendly and slightly amusing term for it now.

Shame. I always liked the term ’scab duty’.

* Not to do with this post, but if you missed today’s previous short post, read on again. Seems my other site is of Cultural Significance!