Junior BAFTAs

"And the winner is...... just let me fumble with the envelope for a moment or two to create a false sense of suspense......."

I just thought I'd post a few more pictures of Lydia at her last school play for the folks back in England. Still, me and Lydia shall be flying north in a week or so, if all goes according to plan and I don't fall foul to any snags in the paperwork I'm wading through.

Making time for the important stuff

As school has finished I have more time on my hands so that means I get to catch up on things I missed during this last frenetic winter. Lydia was in a school performance today and so I was able to attend her Oscar winning performance as a forest elf in her school play.

Picasso rated R for Greek students

An exhibition of work by by Picasso in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki has been judged unsuitable for high school students.

The director of the secondary education in East Thessaloniki, Mr Theodoros Tapanidis withdrew approval for the participation of junior and senior high school students in the exhibition, Picasso 347 Suite at the Telleiogleio Art Foundation. Mr Tapanidis told the Makedonia newspaper that he was responding to telephone calls by parents and students that the exibition contained "indecent images" He is quoted as saying; "Just because its Picasso, when there is an exhibition we can just show the children anything?"

The ban sparked a stream of protests by local politicians and educators who have condemned the decision as censorship and "medieval".

However, Museum official today said that the ban had been lifted and that students were once again able to visit the gallery, as long as their teachers approved.

The Picasso 347 Suite exhibition, which contains 347 pieces created by Picasso in 1968, will be open to the public until 16th April

NowPublic

Tags: Greece | School | Thessaloniki | Censorship | Culture | Education | picasso

School Award Ceremony

It's that time of year again. Time for me to put on a suit and pretend to be a fine, upstanding member of the community. Don't worry, it wasn't a court appearance, but rather the school's annual award ceremony. In between giving a speech and congratulating my hard working students I managed to take a few photos.

Santa Claus and his cups

Santa Claus and his cups, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Today was Lydia's last day at school before the they closed for the Christmas holidays and the kids put on a show for the parents. As you can see father Christmas was there handing out...cups? Oh well, it's the thought that counts.

Do schools kill creativity?

"Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining (and profoundly moving) case for creating an education system that nurtures creativity, rather than undermining it. With ample anecdotes and witty asides, Robinson points out the many ways our schools fail to recognize -- much less cultivate -- the talents of many brilliant people. "We are educating people out of their creativity,"

Exam day

Today my students at school were taking their interviews for PET, FCE and CPE interviews. happened to have my camera with me. Surprise, surprise!! Chatting to them afterwards, it seemed that they did pretty well and the preparation we did paid off.

The term is coming to an end

Everyone at the school let their hair down last night.

Last night's wine and cheese party at the school

Well, I don't know about the rest of you but I had a great time. For more photos check out my Flickr page here.

School sit - ins

There is a wave of school sit-ins sweeping Greece. While the five-week teacher's school is drawing to a close the students have decided to take matters into there own hand. According to www.syntonistiko.gr 1015 schools are being occupied (υπο καταλυψη). The demands of the students include higher government spending on schools and guaranteed access to all levels of education. At the moment the vast majority (and we mean 90% plus) of students are obliged to do extra lessons which have to be paid for by their parents, if they want to get into higher education or learn basic skills such as a foreign language to any kind of adequate level.

Check out what one of my students think of all this here.