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Narrator (Reese):
I am Reese and this is Georgia. We're friends, housemates, and teachers here at Kingston Community School.
Kingston Southeast on the limestone coast is known for a few things: it's epic beaches and spectacular coastline, fresh and delicious seafood–
Reese:
Dinner is sorted!
Georgia:
[laughs]
Reese:
–surrounding national parks, and opportunities for awesome outdoor adventure.
Georgia:
And our most famous resident, Larry the Lobster.
Reese:
He's a 17-metre tall giant crustation and he takes a wicked selfie.
Narrator (Reese):
But that's not the only big thing around here.
Welcome to Kingston Community School. A reception to year 12 school. Over 300 students flock here every day from surrounding districts.
I teach high school science and Georgia, well, she'll fill you in.
Georgia:
Hey, my name's Georgia and I'm the year 5 teacher at Kingston Community School. Welcome to my classroom. My favourite part of the day is when the kids come in and we get to say good morning to each other. I think like any class ever, they're always complex, different but awesome.
Georgia and students:
B-R-IGH-T-ES-T
Narrator (Reese):
The primary and high school are very integrated and have some great modern facilities from state-of-the-art tech and science labs, an ag farm with award-winning cows, and a new home ec centre where students can even learn how to pour the perfect cup.
And there's even a wellbeing dog; his name's O2. Who's a good boy?
I've been a science teacher here for a couple years now and I honestly love it. So let's get back to the lab.
Reese (to the class):
Does anyone know what Dihydrogen Monoxide is? It's a colourless, odourless gas. It's really dangerous. It's the main cause of people drowning. What is it, Jake?
Jake:
It's water.
Reese:
It's water.
Georgia:
Hey Reese, I have a really important question. Do you have to like fishing to live here?
Reese:
Absolutely. You do.
Georgia:
But do you have to be any good at it?
Reese:
Nup, you can buy it right here. How good is this? You won't find this anywhere in Adelaide. Fresh lobster rolls.
Narrator (Reese):
In my experience, the country's a great place to live and work. But we thought we'd sit down to answer some pretty common questions.
Georgia:
Why did you move to the country?
Reese:
I'd just finished uni and I was looking for a job and luckily enough the school contacted me and it was full-time work, so I said, “Why not?”
Georgia:
I got offered the job in week 0 and then moved 2 days later. And why? Because I really, badly wanted to be a teacher in a classroom.
Georgia:
What are the biggest misconceptions about teaching in the country?
Reese:
Probably the state of the classrooms. When I was moving down, I thought the school would be quite old and raggedy, but was quite surprised to see that it's all updated.
Georgia:
Are there other staff welcoming?
Reese:
Yes. Yeah, massively. Everyone gets a mentor, you get a buddy. There's plenty of different ways that you can get involved to meet everyone, find support.
Reese:
Can you actually get good coffee around here?
Georgia:
Well, take a sip. [laughs]
Reese:
[laughs]
Georgia:
What do you do on your days off?
Reese:
Playing footy, probably on the Saturdays and then when the weather gets a bit nicer, love going fishing, four-wheel driving, surfing, getting around the beach, walking the dog.
Georgia:
Ooh, I do like to go to Cape Jaffa on the weekend for a good wine or 2. And then I like to go across to Robe for a little bit of retail therapy.
Reese:
How have you made friends?
Georgia:
I was told by my mentor, "Do sports, join in and volunteer with the community."
Reese:
Because you keep your identity. Yeah. I think that's probably an important thing. You don't try and change to fit in. Mm-hmm. But you bring those… those interests, yeah, and find the group that you can join in on.
Reese:
Will you stay?
Georgia:
I definitely thought it was gonna be a 1 year kind of situation for me, but now I've just accepted a contract for next year. So it's definitely 2 and probably more.
Reese:
Yeah, no exact same boat. Luckily my partner was also able to move down with me and everything's falling into place. I think we'll settle and look to buy a house and do all of that.
Georgia:
What's your advice to anyone considering teaching in the country?
Reese:
God, I don't even know, hey. This is… I'm… I'm stumped.
Georgia:
You've just finished uni to do this exact job, so you've got the opportunity to do it. Why not? I think you've really just gotta take the chance. Yeah.
Reese:
Yeah. Do it. I reckon you’ll have a blast.
[End of transcript]
