The over-arching theme (buzz word alert!) of Farm Girl’s learning this year is Who Am I?
It seemed the obvious place to start and so far we’ve explored appearance and family, location and favourite things, she’s even created her own mihi. It was time to dig a little deeper; cue Inside Out.
At the Union Homestead Preparatory School and Home for Colourful Thinkers, we’re never quite sure what will turn up during our set a task and retire to weed the garden/clean the paddock/trim the flight feathers on those pesky Houdini rooster chicks/you-get-the-idea timetable slot. Usually it’s thoughtful and on-task; often the work is well presented and grammatically correct, and sometimes she even indulges in a little augmentation and decoration. None of us were prepared for the depth of the response this particular template provoked, though; particularly when it came to red mist moments.
You see, it happens the thing that makes our Farm Girl angriest is the very same thing that’s had us fuming this week: people not listening.
On Wednesday, the hard copy of Farm Girl’s Certificate of Exemption (from a registered school) came through. Glory be and happy day, now the fun could start in earnest! A call to Te Kura (The Correspondence School) was put through; “Chocks away,” we yodelled (or words to that effect), “Action the application you have had for the last month (as suggested by you in order to cut down the waiting time), that magical time you earlier stipulated for getting down to the nitty gritty regarding her ORS funding and teacher aides (please no!) and the likes has arrived.”
But you all know where this is heading. Apparently what we were aiming to do (home school Farm Girl, paying Te Kura for the two core curriculum subjects, thus giving her enrolment in a registered school and ensuring she still has full entitlement to BLENNZ and her Resource Teacher: Vision) is not allowable. “In fact, my dear (that noise you hear is courtesy of The Milk Maid’s molars), it could be seen to be double-dipping.”
We’re going to leave it here…but not before we say, just whispered and not in any way confrontational, why didn’t they tell us that when they read our intentions in our two applications. The applications that took us an entire wet weekend to prepare and rehash and titivate and examine and rehash again because there may be a hint of ambiguity in there. Why didn’t they allow us to talk to someone in the know, the “my dear” lady for instance, when we emailed and telephoned, and telephoned and emailed asking for direction. Ah well, as I type our application is being shuffled around the rarefied air of progressively bigger wigs in an attempt to get a definitive ruling and, just quietly, we simply want to be left alone to get on with it. Like teaching Farm Girl in the way that best fits her needs, and lavishing a few final goatie cuddles on Miss Ulrika, who departs the Homestead tomorrow morning for her next adventure,
…all the while enjoying our super-funky new curtains.
Love the new curtains – roman blind is a great option over the counter/bench window. Did you make them yourself?
Teeth grinding moment for sure. It’s good to know they always put the welfare of the child first :(. I don’t really get why they could see it as double dipping. My best guess is that the money that pays resource teachers is allocated to districts and that by joining Te Kura you are joining a different district from the one your resource teacher is attached to.
I’ve had runarounds like this with our own distance education department – which we were involved with for math, which our youngest was taking independently, while still in school for her other subjects. I had to pay $300/year for the course while it was below the high school level, because apparently funding to schools is provided per child, and if she shows up as registered in two schools they cannot split the funding, it can only go to one school. The fact that her teachers and the school adminstrators recommended she take her math this way(she was advancing ahead of grade level), as critical to her learning success was immaterial, the district was immovable on the matter. Ironically, the minute she started into high school math, the courses became free. While she was still physically not yet in the high school. Go figure.
Good luck with this one. Crossing my fingers that your relentlessness and resourcefulness win the day. And my dentist recently made me a thing like a mouth guard to prevent me ruining my teeth while grinding them in my sleep. Makes me feel like a boxer when i use it (which I don’t, I hate it) BUT – might be just the thing for you!
I could definitely do with your mouthguard 🙂 Currently we are in no-man’s-land but steadfastly pretending that all is business as usual until we are told differently.
I am sure, like you, that this has to do with funding which is odd as we are paying quite a substantial amount for the two courses she is taking.
As for the curtains…oh, they are a joy. No, for the first time in forever I paid to have them made. The lady included the making in the price and it still came in under our budget – very fortuitous!
Because if they did tell you right at the start, then that would be helpful and we wouldn’t want to set a precedent like that or everyone might expect them to be helpful and then where would we be? I hope it works out.
Why is nothing ever straight-forward and why don’t people do their jobs properly?! I admire your collective patience and hope that all will be sorted out very soon. The new curtains are just right!
Any large bureaucracy, whether it be public or private, is designed to frustrate the bejeezus out of their customers, clients or victims. It has something to do with efficiency – getting the weak to fall by the wayside.
I wish you and Miss Ulrika good luck in the outcome of your respective endeavours.
Union Homestead 
No it isn’t you are right though sorry that the powers that be are messing you around big time. The curtains are very smart I must say.
We are very pleased with ourselves as we were told it was “not the choice of everyone”:)
Love the new curtains – roman blind is a great option over the counter/bench window. Did you make them yourself?
Teeth grinding moment for sure. It’s good to know they always put the welfare of the child first :(. I don’t really get why they could see it as double dipping. My best guess is that the money that pays resource teachers is allocated to districts and that by joining Te Kura you are joining a different district from the one your resource teacher is attached to.
I’ve had runarounds like this with our own distance education department – which we were involved with for math, which our youngest was taking independently, while still in school for her other subjects. I had to pay $300/year for the course while it was below the high school level, because apparently funding to schools is provided per child, and if she shows up as registered in two schools they cannot split the funding, it can only go to one school. The fact that her teachers and the school adminstrators recommended she take her math this way(she was advancing ahead of grade level), as critical to her learning success was immaterial, the district was immovable on the matter. Ironically, the minute she started into high school math, the courses became free. While she was still physically not yet in the high school. Go figure.
Good luck with this one. Crossing my fingers that your relentlessness and resourcefulness win the day. And my dentist recently made me a thing like a mouth guard to prevent me ruining my teeth while grinding them in my sleep. Makes me feel like a boxer when i use it (which I don’t, I hate it) BUT – might be just the thing for you!
I could definitely do with your mouthguard 🙂 Currently we are in no-man’s-land but steadfastly pretending that all is business as usual until we are told differently.
I am sure, like you, that this has to do with funding which is odd as we are paying quite a substantial amount for the two courses she is taking.
As for the curtains…oh, they are a joy. No, for the first time in forever I paid to have them made. The lady included the making in the price and it still came in under our budget – very fortuitous!
Because if they did tell you right at the start, then that would be helpful and we wouldn’t want to set a precedent like that or everyone might expect them to be helpful and then where would we be? I hope it works out.
Oh that phrase “…set a precedent”. If I have heard it once in the last few days, I’ve heard it twenty.
Why is nothing ever straight-forward and why don’t people do their jobs properly?! I admire your collective patience and hope that all will be sorted out very soon. The new curtains are just right!
Thanks you both for your best wishes and complementing our curtains 🙂
My pleasure! 🙂
Any large bureaucracy, whether it be public or private, is designed to frustrate the bejeezus out of their customers, clients or victims. It has something to do with efficiency – getting the weak to fall by the wayside.
I wish you and Miss Ulrika good luck in the outcome of your respective endeavours.
Thank you 🙂 Miss Ulrika has definitely fallen on her feet. Her new owners were utterly smitten. Things are rather quiet in the paddock currently
A global thing…losing molars over bureaucracy. I hope things look better by now…the curtains certainly do and good luck to Ulrika! xo Johanna