My return to Primrose

*Just realised that this was never published and has been sitting in my drafts for about a month! Woops.

For my first week in work experience I went back to my old primary school, which is school for children aged around 5 to 12. I had some great years in Primrose Hill and I was very excited to be heading back there. I was working mainly with Junior and Senior Infants. They kept me entertained for the week with their endless stories. I mainly just checked their homework in the morning and walked around helping them while they did their work. I had to supervise at lunch time and help them pack up at home time. I missed being in Junior Infants when the biggest stress you had was whether or not everyone could fit in the play house together. With only 4 other girls in my class at the time, it was usually very possible! I was working with all my old teachers but it was actually kind of fun because they weren't giving out and were being really nice. I only noticed then how much I had grown up since leaving primary school. 
It was Science Week so we had lots of fun doing cool experiments with the infant classes. They got so excited and found everything so interesting. When they went home early I went to help 2nd and 3rd class with their science projects. They were working on circuits and designed lighthouses with working lights. I was very impressed because the kids seemed to know what they were doing without my help or the teacher's.
I did an interview with one of the teachers and I found out that a lot more goes into teaching a class than just what goes on during class time. A teacher  must plan every minute of a class and make lots of schedules and plans. I had noticed during the week how organised the teacher was and I wondered when she even had time to decorate the class with all the educational posters and different paintings. She told me you have to be a very organised, patient and energetic person to be a primary school teacher. I really enjoyed my week and I'm now considering teaching as a future career. :)

Inequality

"  Maya
        You are fifteen years of age and live in the Bronx area of New York. Your Mom is a single parent and tries to make ends meet by cleaning houses and living on welfare. Your neighbourhood is pretty dangerous and you don't feel safe at night. You try to work hard at school but it is hard when the school is run down and overcrowded.  
                                                                                                                      "
In religion class we are discussing the millenium goals and in particular gender equality. We did an excercise to look at the treatment of females in different countries around the world. A series of statements were read out, and if the statement applied to you, you took a big step forward. If it kind of applied to you, you took a little step and if it did not apply to you then you stood still. 
The person I was assigned was Maya. When I first read my bit of paper I thought she had a hard life. As the excercise went on, I was taking steps the whole way. At the end, I was fourth from the top. As I passed people by I felt bad for them, for leaving them behind and I wondered why everyone else wasn't moving too? The excercise showed me that there is extreme inequality and unjust treatment going on in other countries. I learned that Ireland is a very well-off country and we shouldn't take our rights for granted. I am much more understanding now of women and girls in third-world countries. I feel bad that they don't get to receive an education or even to feel safe in their homes.
We all need to try help pull up the people who are being left behind.