A teacher has been astounded at an unprecedented 100% attendance in her Friday afternoon lesson. Source: Feliphe Schiarolli.
A well-respected, long-serving teacher from a school located in Adelaide’s northern suburbs was ‘blown away’ when, for the first time in 32 years, she recorded a perfect attendance during a 90-minute 'double' lesson late in the week.
Joan Smythe, a senior school teacher, who has been around the profession for over 35 years amazed colleagues yesterday as she recounted the lesson that occurred last Friday after lunch. She told them of how her usual Friday afternoon skepticism slowly evaporated as chair after chair was filled, until she determined that she might have achieved the ‘magical unicorn’, or perfect attendance.
‘It’s rare, at any time during the week, to see a perfect attendance,’ Mrs Smythe told The Third Day yesterday. ‘But on a Friday, and after lunch, is pretty much deemed impossible by many teachers. I mean, I saw students who I didn’t even know were enrolled in my subject. I actually had to dig around in my bag to find the original roll so I could take an accurate attendance.’
Mrs Smythe, who began her career 35 years ago as a temporary relief teacher and has now been teaching in a permanent capacity, at the same site, for 32 years cannot recall ever having had a perfect attendance. ‘I’ve been close a number of times, but this is the first time I’ve actually met the mark,’ Mrs Smythe said. ‘About ten minutes after I submitted the roll, the principal called to check if I’d made an error. She [the principal] sounded incredulous when I told her that it was accurate, and a few minutes after I hung up the phone, she was outside the classroom, peering in. It’s a big thing, you know, having a perfect attendance.’
... the principal called to see if I'd made an error.
Principal Ledgenowe, who, after witnessing the perfect attendance firsthand, hastily organised a guard of honour for the class as they left the room at the end of the lesson had only positive comments for about her star teacher, ‘We are so very proud of Joan. I always knew she was a special teacher with a real knack for reaching the pupils in her care, and this just proves it. A prefect attendance is a big deal for everyone.’
As yet, it is unknown as to what caused the phenomenon, however, Principal Ledgenowe has launched an enquiry into how Mrs Smythe managed to get all of her class in the same room at the same time. One colleague, who wished to remain anonymous, claimed, ‘I suspect COVID-19 had something to do with it. These teenagers don’t want to be around their parents at the best of times, and now that many of them [parents] are now working from home, or unemployed, as a result of the pandemic, students are looking for alternative places to be, and school is suddenly looking like an appealing option for many.’
After tweeting her success late Friday afternoon, words of encouragement and congratulations from peers across all teaching sectors have been flooding in, as news of the spectacular record spread across social media. Mrs Smythe has been inundated as teachers from across the globe herald her as their hero and seek advice on how they can replicate the unprecedented event. The state’s premier even got in on the act, claiming Joan to be an ‘inspiration and a local hero’.
Mrs Smythe's original tweet caused a sensation with teachers around the globe.
Unprecedented: the level of support and congratulationsfor Joan Smythe has gone global since she tweeted about having 100% attendance in her lesson.
But such an event comes with its pitfalls too. ‘I had students in that room who I have only seen once or twice this year, and they are so far behind, I didn’t even know where to begin with them,’ Mrs Smythe stated. ‘I mean, when we’re three or four units in, and some of these students have not even completed the first one, where do you start?’
We are so very proud of Joan. I always knew she was a special teacher with a real knack for reaching the pupils in her care...
Despite having some misgivings about the incident, Mrs Smythe’s fame is quickly spreading. She has already received numerous invitations to run professional development sessions on student retention and how to create learning environments that will stimulate student attendance. When asked to comment on the invitations, Mrs Smythe was humble in her response, ‘I don’t really deserve any of this, do I. It was a fluke really, I mean, on Monday I was already back to a much more expected sixty-five percent attendance.’
This revelation, however, is not deterring the South Australian Premier, who, late on Monday afternoon released a statement that indicated the government is planning to build a statue in honour of Mrs Smythe’s achievement. ‘We were well into planning a lifetime achievement statue for astronaut, Andy Thomas, to be erected in Victoria Square, although, in a meeting with stakeholders yesterday, we came to the conclusion that this event is far more significant and needs to be memorialised for future generations.’
Posted from my website, The Third Day with SteemPress : https://thirdday.online/?p=157