WHEN Canadian teacher Robyn Lilley was told she could go on exchange in Australia her response was instant.
“Yes, I’m in,” she said.
“Miss Lilley” as she is known to her combined year 3 and 4class, has taken part in an exchange program where she swaps her job, house and country with a teacher from Lake Albert Public School (LAPS) for an entire year.
Ms Lilley arrived on January 3, while LAPS’s Terry Weatherald travelled to the great white
north to take up her post at Lethbridge, Alberta in Canada.
Ms Lilley has since won over her students who, at first, had to come to grips with her accent.
“Spelling was a bit difficult at first, I had to get a translator,” she said.
“I asked and a cute little boy put his hand up ... I’d say a word and then they would look to him and he’d repeat it, and they would be like ‘ohh’.”
The sudden change isn’t limited to accents either, with Lethbridge currently experiencing temperatures as low as -30 degree.
“I had a teacher (from Lethbridge) email me and say ‘you realise there is about a 60 degrees difference from here
to where you are’,” Ms Lilley said.
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