Locking in the pocket a smile (The House Of Love)

Rambling Man (You may say I'm a dreamer - Chapter 10 part 10)

Abdulla, Nidal and Abu Keegan on National Day.

When Jacky and I arrived in Al Ain we were very pleasantly surprised on a number of fronts.

Jacky and Al Ain in the distance from Jabal Ali

My old muckers from Doha - Colin Donald, and Graeme McFadyen were in the UAE as lead advisers and Brett Sloan from Taranaki was also in Al Ain. I was amongst friends.

CJ, Brucie, Brett, Graeme, Ali and our Principals

Our accommodation at the Gardens apartment complex was fabulous, close to the Hilton and its gym, close to Bawadi Mall, and only a 25 minute commute to Al Foah on the northern side of Al Ain for me.

Trees and gardens and manicured hedges were everywhere in this beautiful oasis town. We fell in love with it - the place (apart from the traffic and the madness of driving), the lifestyle and when I got to Ali bin Abi Taleb school - the people!

Jan Thomas - a good egg

My blog post before I started work at the school holds up -

This excites me no end. I've missed being in a school; a place I've lived in for the last 26 years. 

Schools are special places with their own individual worlds. Each school world has its own culture, its own characters and customs and ways of doing things. There are leaders and helpers, outsiders who interact with the organisation, rules and regulations, parents and their children - all moving and working in a symbiotic relationship. The movement can be in a variety of directions but when all are working together in a positive way a school is a force to be reckoned with.

Yeah, okay - I admit - I started with a positive attitude but then it all got better and better. I've loved plenty of my jobs but this one was special. Really special!

Mohammed at work 

When I started at the school, there was only me. No translator (so English teachers like Nidal, Magdi and others helped me hugely); I was the Lead Adviser but also the Arabic and English adviser. Two guys in Graeme McFadyen's team came over to lend a hand in maths and science a few hours a week but generally for a few months it was just me.

And it was great. Really great! I had time to settle in and get to know people and the routines.

With Mohammed and his ESOL teacher

The Principal - Mohammed and his deputy, Fadhil, welcomed me with open arms and hearts!

The English teachers (Nidal, Magdi), Mohammed the librarian, the Arabic teachers (Abdulla, Shaban, Salem, Abdul), Hassan the art teacher, and Khalifa would all became special friends. 

Eventually an advisory team was constructed and support came in the form of a (great) translator - Hisham, ESOL advisers came to help Mohamed and Fadhil like David Wallace, and other advisers arrived on a more permanent basis: Dave (Davego) in science, Alvin in maths initially and then the wonderful Jan Thomas, Gavin - IT, and Pete Kehayioff in English.

Music teacher, Ahmed, at taboor

As a team we hummed! Although...going out a limb here - don't think Dave and Alvin liked each other much!

During my blogging at this time I wrote the following post: 

Here's my list (in no particular order) of 25 things to be thankful for in my job as Lead Adviser at Ali bin Abi Taleb School.

1. The laughter I hear in the corridor outside my office every day (from a revolving cast).
2. Air conditioning - couldn't do it without you Mr General.
3. Barbecues organised by the irrepressible Abdulla
   
4. My dream team of advisers. Take a bow Jan, Peter, Davego, David, and Gavin.
5. Sharing an office with our translator, Hisham (a mutual support network of two).
6. The band at taboor (assembly) every morning.
7. Watching the teachers walk arm in arm with students.
8. Shaking hands with students at break time.
9. The Arabic teacher meetings - a riot of laughs.
10. Morning greetings with the staff and handshakes all 'round.
11. It's a boys' school with an all male staff - alhamdolilah (praise to God).
12. It's a Cycle Two school (Grade 6-9) so nowhere near the same pressures as in Cycle Three.
13. Mohammed, the Principal.
14. Holy Qur'an readings by the students which float in the morning breezes.
15. The view of the trees outside my office window.
16. School rituals.
17. The music coming from Ahmed's room (with Nidal's singing from time to time).
18. Abdulla (one of the Arabic teachers) and his daily greetings.
19. The boys' enthusiastic singing of the national anthem at taboor.
20. The friendly warm relationships.
21. Vice-Principal Fadhil's laugh and cheeky smile.
22. The enthusiasm for learning and embracing change.
23. The lack of private agendas that sabotage improvements for students.
24. The sweet black tea.
25. The open gate that symbolizes a lot about the welcoming atmosphere at the school. 

That sums up my feelings - these two years were a wonderful part of my life with an incredible cast of characters! 

Salaam alaykum - Abu Keegan bin Graham Purdy

Where trouble melts like lemon drops, high above the chimney top, that's where you'll find me (Judy Garland)

Rambling Man (You may say I'm a dreamer - Chapter 10 part 8)

Wozza goes to Doha.

Qatar and its main city Doha were huge unknowns. We had no idea what to expect.

The internet can only tell so much and the initial one day induction by Cognition people in Auckland didn't provide me much light and shade either.

It was a big adventure. I was living my Dream Big mantra that I'd shared with my students at Stratford High School.

Jade, Jacky and I arrived in Doha in November of 2009 and were met at the airport by one of my new in-country bosses - Colin Donald. He took us to our new apartment in an older section of Doha - close to the famous Souq Waqif. 

Apartment 704 of Legends Hotel Resort and Spa, Corner of B Ring Road and Najma St., Najma District, was to be our new home for the next 8 months.

Wozza with Deno and our translator (photo
by the world famous Graeme McFadyen)

Initial impressions were on the whole pretty good - Colin seemed to be a good guy, the heat in Doha was okay at 25 degrees, and the apartments were modern and spacious. The cleanliness of our place wasn't up to Jacky standard though so we spent the first few hours cleaning. My working life started with interviewing prospective Principals with Colin (CJ), Graeme McFadyen and Dene Bright (Deno) in a swanky hotel. 

I still have no idea what this was for really as nothing came of the process, but we did the interviews over three days as we were instructed. These first work days were all a bit of a blur really - given the culture shock, the working with translators and finding my place in the scheme of things.

Luckily Deno was a dryly hilarious Aussie bloke who I immediately had rapport with, Colin was laid back and cool and I knew Graeme already.

While I was doing this, Jacky and Jade were learning more about Mall culture, taxis, and how women are regarded in the Middle East.

Wozza with Andie, Reem and Rami

Given they are both blond, very attractive women, and in Jade's case feisty with it, the transition wasn't an easy one.

When we walked down to the souq in the evening there were no other women around, local or otherwise. Jade and Jacky attracted a lot of attention and Jade especially hated that.

Breakfast with the team (Ian next to me)

After a couple of months Jade decided she'd had enough and needed to head back to NZ and get ready for university life in Wellington. This was after we'd been camel riding on a desert safari in a beautiful part of Qatar's border with Saudi Arabia.

Michelle and Gavin have helped look after each of our children during these transitional moments and Jade also had Samantha in Wellington (she'd moved into a flat) so we felt relatively relaxed about things. 

She started at Victoria but quickly realised she wasn't doing a course she liked nor did she like Wellington, unlike Samantha. Instead, she decided to go to Massey at Palmerston North to do nursing.

Colin was the leader of our Leadership Project team - a mixed bag of people from New Zealand, Australia and South Africa, with some local translators thrown into the mix. Half the team were preparing for a big project that was in the planning stages, the other half (including me) was delivering professional development to a group of 80 to 90 Qatari Principals who had been fired by the ministry. They were pretty grumpy - they had to attend our sessions to get paid!

We were working in a marriage venue called Regency Halls - two huge halls with a smaller hall attached. We were in the smaller hall!

John Lambert and I were joined by Karin (a.k.a. Barbie) and/or Aussie Di with Refka and Reem as our translators. Hilarity ensued!

Colin, Wozza, Deno, John and Deno's son.

It's impossible to describe the atmosphere and the craziness that happened on a daily basis (two days we worked from the office to prepare sessions, and three days we delivered seminars).

A few memories - watching some Principals being dropped off at the entrance to sign in (to get their pay), then immediately walk through the venue to where their driver picked them up. The female Principals were very much in a minority - about 15 of them and they could not mix with the men. Breakfast  happened after the first session - exotic foods that took me forever to get used to.

At Regency Halls with my bros.

It occured to me as I was writing this post that I had blogged about all this stuff at length back in 2009 - 2010 (a sample can be found here, including some images of my co-workers like Barbie). Re reading my entries was a hoot - just go to Blog Archive (bottom of the right hand column) and dial into 2009!

After the course finished with the Ministry Principals I was seconded onto another team (called National Professional Standards) - again delivering PD to Qatari leaders with Andie and Aussie Ian Smythe with Rami and Reem as translators. 

It was still cool but not as much riotous fun as the John led team. Eventually that contract ended too and by the end of June 2010 we were back in at our house in Stratford, New Zealand.

It had been a blast! Doha was an experience, an adventure and a half, with some amazing people and some challenging times with no professional regrets!

Love and peace - Wozza

When I look to the sky something tells me you're here with me, and you make everything alright (Train)

Rambling Man (You may say I'm a dreamer - Chapter 10 part 7)

The local paper announces my arrival! Drum roll, please!

Three years at Stratford High School as Principal (2007 to 2009) can be summed up thus:

First year  

That first year was exciting and fun and a process of continual challenge and discovery. After commuting from New Plymouth for the first term (staying at father-in-law, Brian's place), we bought a great property just out of Stratford on Pembroke Road with 6 paddocks for the horses and sheep. 

The views of Mount Taranaki and across to Ruapehu etc in the far distance were amazing!

It was an old slightly run down cottage, surrounded by trees and gardens that we would steadily improve over three years. The property was very pretty underneath the surface - we are good at seeing potential in a place and chipping away at things. Great neighbours too - Barry Smith on one side and Eric and Jeanette Darrow in front.

Barry was huge for us in helping up with farming things, and Eric procured an old 1920's Massey-Ferguson tractor for me to use. He fixed it up, as in built it, for $600 and I still have it, ten years later.

I met some wonderful people at SHS, some of whom remain good friends, among them - fellow Principals Graeme McFadyen, Paul Ryan, Mark Bowden, my Board chairs Raewyn Rooney and Pete Theron, some students who have gone on to great things and my wonderful colleagues Diane Lithgow and Susie Terry.

WYSIWYG

As for the family: Keegan had moved to Auckland, Adam was at Waikato University; Samantha started her final year doing NCEA Level 3 at New Plymouth Girls' High School - busing in to Nu Plimf each day, as did Jade who was starting NCEA Level 1. 

Samantha lasted the year at NPGHS. Jade lasted two hours. 

She rang me at school, sobbing, very unhappy, being at an all girls' school was not for her. She wanted to come to my school. I was reluctant. The memory of Keegan's disastrous experience was very fresh. But so was the idea that I now needed to let the kids decide where they wanted to go to school. 

So she did, and it didn't go well.

Some of the staff, and some of the students resented her and, by the third year, made her life difficult. Being Principal in these circumstances was tricky. Suffice to say, there are many things I'd do differently - I should have fought her corner more, but hindsight isn't much help is it.

Second year 

Chalk this one up as the best of the three years!

The theme was all about making positive changes in the school. These involved planning for new buildings, a new paint scheme, new positive behaviour modification structures, new teacher appraisal scheme, new relationships with the Ministry of Education, new targets to improve achievement.

Now knowing a little more about myself and others was helpful in my second year. 

What had I learnt? Being Principal is a lonely job, some people hold deep grudges that affect their behaviour, and I certainly learnt who I could rely on and trust. I lent heavily on my fellow Principals.

Really, only other Principals know what it's like. It is a job with high rewards but there is a price to pay.

Over the first two years, I was doing the first time Principals' programme and had Mark Bowden as a mentor.  It was a rich time for learning. This and SPANZ conferences were great professional development for me. 

Samantha had moved down to Wellington at the start of the year to start studying at Victoria University. We drove her down and set her up in the hostel. 

How devastated I felt leaving her behind       completely blindsided me. Jacky had to drive us back to Taranaki - I was an emotional mess!


When I got back home I went into her empty room and felt that familiar ache in my stomach.

Third year 

Unfortunately, in my third year, my focus shifted for two reasons. 

Some of my Principal buddies started leaving Taranaki for jobs in the Middle East. After Lyall French-Wright left NPBHS, Angela Gattung left Inglewood, and Graeme McFadyen left Spotswood College; I started getting itchy feet. 

With my final bunch of prefects

Then in August the horrible happened. My sister-in-law rang me at school. I knew it was bad news, it remains the only time she's ever rung me at work. Ross couldn't talk to me, he was too upset. Our dad had had a severe stroke and was in North Shore Hospital.

From then onwards, my weekends were spent driving up to Auckland to see him and my focus shifted from school mode to family mode.

Selfie years began

When he passed away in September I knew I had to get away. Away from New Zealand and away from being Principal.

I accepted a contract from Cognition Education to go to Qatar to join an educational consultancy team delivering professional development to Qatari school leaders. 

When accepting the job late in November 2009 they asked me if I could get to Doha in a week!!

I said, erm, no. I couldn't. But I could be there in two!

So we packed up our belongings, put them into storage, said goodbye to Stratford High School at my third prizegiving, rented the house out, and flew to Doha, with Jade, who had finished her Level 3 NCEA and was waiting for University to start in February of the next year.

She wasn't very happy about that but we felt it was the right move at the time. Hindsight...did I mention hindsight? 

Love and peace - Wozza

These vagabond shoes they are longing to stray (Frank Sinatra)

Many of my Cognition Education friends in Al Ain and Abu Dhabi have come to the end of the contract line and will be winging their way to new locations in the next week. Some are returning to Nu Zild and others are on holidays or making their way to new jobs in new countries.

Io commemorate/celebrate my time working with them I thought I'd head into the archives for this post and dust off some snaps of some happy times in the sandpit. You may wish to check out more of this celebration on a companion post on http://www.baggytrewsers.blogspot.com/

Margie, SWMBO and Louise



Nola with Wozza



Graysy and me at a prefects' meeting



Brain (Minister of Defence) joins me and
Mohammed the librarian at a school BBQ



My 'son' Hamad



Khamis, Hishy, Hassan and Samir



Jan shares a joke



and shows off her jewellery



With my buddy Abdulla 

Love and peace - Wozza

What's my line? I'm happy cleaning windows (Van Morrsion)

One of the whanau lives in Abu Dhabi on the 60th floor of the building on the left called Sun Tower (we'll call him Graeme McFadyen). How he and his wife, Jan, live there is beyond me. Sixty floors up sounds a lot and it is. I'm a scaredy cat and couldn't look out at the world from that high up on a daily basis. No way!

Anyway - a while ago Graeme sent me some photos that he took from inside his apartment looking out, and they need to be shared with the blogosphere.

They are not outtakes from the Tom Cruise MI: 4 movie Ghost Protocol (Tom's adventures on the Burj Khalifa in Dubai also make my toes curl).

The window cleaner working 60 floors up is the real deal.

Love and peace - Wozza