My son Tom goes into Year 8 tomorrow. It's an unusual occurrence as I expect most schools in NSW do not turn over the academic year until the end of the summer holidays. For those of you living in the Northern Hemisphere, that's at the end of January. I am guessing that this is an attempt by the school executive to try to head off the malaise that can can afflict an Australian classroom as the year winds down to Christmas. Typically both staff and students begin a countdown to the last day of term, which can end up being a bit of a waste of time.

When Tom was still in Year 7 last week, a teacher took a photo of his class, which I print below. It has already been officially published by the school so no person is compromised, I hope. Its nice to see kids having fun together.