Canadian exchange teacher Cam Miller loved his first stint in Sydney so much he named his daughter, who was conceived there, after the city.
Now on his second exchange, a close encounter with a great white shark while snorkelling hasn’t been enough to dampen the Miller family’s enthusiasm for Australia.
Cam’s first exchange in 2007 at St Patrick’s College, Sutherland was such a “fantastic, amazing life experience” that the family were looking for an opportunity to come back to Australia as soon as their first exchange finished.
Following some heavy duty renovation work on their home in Powell River, British Columbia, Cam was able to secure an exchange to Lumen Christie College, Pambula, where he’s teaching PDHPE and Maths.
“Getting a different perspective and learning different teaching techniques is helpful for your teaching,” Cam said.
“The staff were wonderful last time and it’s shaping up to be just as good this time round.”
Cam said his 14 year old daughter was probably the most reluctant to come back, worried about leaving her sports teams and making friends, but all her worries dissolved once she started at Lumen Christie.
The family have embraced life on the coast, joining Nippers and getting into some snorkelling, despite the shark encounter.
Cam attended the IEU’s Council meeting on 19 March, and said many of the issues raised, including work intensification, were similar to problems experienced in BC.
“We’ve just had a nasty strike. The government hasn’t been treating teachers with a lot of respect and stripping out a lot of things in their contracts, like class size limits.”