Typical Day at Saint Ignatius

Every time I walked onto the campus at Saint Ignatius it was like walking onto the most beautiful college campus. The grounds were impeccable and the buildings were beautiful. All of the classroom doors were open to the outdoor hallways so there was a very free feeling community. I would always start my day by visiting the teachers lounge and checking in with the rest of the teachers over a cup of coffee. The faculty was always extremely laid back and spent lots of time just catching up on their personal lives. It was in the faculty lounge in the morning where we would make our schedule for the day. We were not placed with a specific cooperating teacher but rather moved around throughout the day to have experience in different classrooms during different lessons. Some days I stayed with the same class the whole day and traveled with the group of boys and other days I sat in on many different classes. While the behavior rules were very strict and the boys were held to a very high standard, the school was generally very laid back. The boys had a lot of freedom and choice and received a lot of instruction in elective subjects. I always went outside for their recess time because they had so much time. They all were playing sports during recess. It was amazing how much emphasis was placed on sports in the school. One day of prac I went on a Thursday and the students had sports practice for half of the day. It was incredible to me that the school would take away instruction time for the boys to have more sports practice but it was a clear indication of the importance of sports to the school. What I loved about a typical day at the school was how polite and sweet the boys were. When we walked into the room they would stand and say "Hello Miss.Kelly!" in the cutest Australian accents. They were quite the little gentlemen especially in their uniforms and it was so fun to get to know them. Overall, the days were very relaxed and the learning was very student centered which was great to experience.