Teaching and Warm Weather

Well even if I can't believe it, it has again been about 3 months since my last update and apparently my social calendar is getting much to busy to keep up with a blog...LOL...don't know if that is a good thing or a bad thing hahahahaha...alas, there is much to catch up on to let everyone know how we're doing over here in England!

The past couple months have of course been busy as usual with work and trying to get everything organized with Visa renewals and job applications. In the way of jobs, Anthony and I did apply to the Halton District School Board and the Niagara School Board and we wanted to see if this would help us decide whether or not to come home as our Visa's run out at the end of this year. Unfortunately, to date both school boards have closed and their hiring processes have stopped as of now. Therefore, we have had to start looking at other options for continuing our work experience over here in England. This however, has proved to be more difficult as we dig deeper into the details of applying or renewing our Visa's. The good news is that both schools that Anthony and I work at are begging for us to stay and are willing to do whatever it takes to keep us here in England. We are though at the mercy of the British government to decide whether or not we're allowed to stay in the country after December 31st of this year. We have looked into this and with the help of our HR departments at the schools are organizing a way to try and keep us here.

Short version -- we have to reapply for our jobs to prove we are better fit than a British citizen considering we're still immigrants and we have to apply for a different Visa as the one's we're currently on are non-renewable; also, we have to apply for new Visa's ASAP and have to go home to Canada to do it (not allowed to do it from the UK). If we can do all of this and get sponsored by the schools as well, we should be allowed to stay in the country for another 3-5 years depending on how long the school wants to employ us for. So at this point, we're not too sure what the future holds and are somewhat in limbo trying to sort it all out but hopefully we can get everything resolved this summer when we come home for 3 weeks...here's hoping!

Other than that, teaching has been going really well and Anthony and I are really settled in our positions at the school. I am LOVING teaching music and I am so proud of my little choir that has started to solidify and grow. They were entered in a competition in Hastings a couple of weeks ago and they came in 2nd place with Merit distinction. I am so proud of the girls for really stepping outside of their comfort zone and starting to show what they're made of. They did such a good job!! This means that we're only going to come in 1st place next year and we have tons of time to get better! :) Teaching music is definitely something that I was meant to do and I get so much joy out of teaching kids how to play different instruments and learn about music technology. I love seeing the look on students faces when they achieve what they thought they couldn't do or when they've got better at something they were already good at. There are still lots of moments that the students are teaching me something (especially at guitar) because honestly, they know more than me on it at the moment! LOL...the students also recently did a performance with all different aged bands and singers and choirs at a local pub and Kym (music colleague) and I organized a little concert for them to put on. They were brilliant!!!! We had over 100 people come to see the event - parents, siblings, grandparents, friends, etc. and it went so well we definitely will be doing another event like it again soon.

Anthony is also loving his job at the moment because he has made some good progress with the students and they are starting to show him respect and some of them are even making some good life changes. It is really encouraging to see him work through these kids lives and make a positive difference with them. He is trying to be that role model for them because most of the students don't have a proper role model at home or anywhere else but sometimes he has to show tough love to help them. But all this to say that is definitely within their best interest that he is doing this and the school is recognizing his ability to do well in his job in many ways. Anthony has also had a few teaching observations done through the school and they have given him an outstanding review so nothing to worry about and more to negotiate for his new contract beginning in September as they want to keep him around for a while. Other than the daily physical restraints that Anthony has to keep up with he still comes home with crazy stories, children going home in police cars and small bruises all over his arms and legs from time to time. At the end of the day, he still smiles, loves the people he works with and loves helping these children make positive choices.

There hasn't been much other important or exciting events going on over here in England and even though our social lives are busy and we are constantly meeting new people, we aren't doing much outside of work. We have our friends that we love to see every week and hang out with almost every weekend and are always planning different dinner dates with our close group of mates to stay in touch as we all get so busy with teaching! We love having vacation so often and are currently in the middle of our Easter holidays (2 weeks off). Last night we just came back from 6 days in Paris and loved every minute of it but are exhausted from travelling and our feet and legs need a break from walking around everywhere and every minute of every day...LOL

Pictures to be posted shortly...

Till next time,

Steph & Anthony xoxo