"When people ask for my job description I usually tell them that a 'Gapper' is someone who gets paid to play sport and hang out with kids, helping them in classes or taking them for activities. Sounds fantastic right? Not to mention the unbelievable holidays you get and the amazing places you can go! I have been to over 25 countries alone this year.

But, like most things in life there is another side. The other and not so glamorous side usually contains the jobs that no one else wants to do. From photocopying to running errands you can be asked to do just about anything. The hours are long but it is oh so worth it. My year this year has been great, hectic but great! I can’t believe how the time has flown past, though it is probably due to how busy I am as I work from 7:30am until 8:30/9pm most nights unless I’m not on 'Grub' (a snack the students get before they go to bed around 8). Grub is usually made up of a biscuit and a glass of milk (or tea). Trust me it is like pigs to a trough!

On Monday's we start breakfast at 7:30am, which is always a continental breakfast (with a different hot meal each day). The students then slowly move upstairs to do their teeth. I of course have to monitor them (not every morning as we pass the duties between the GAP's and usually end up doing each duty every 2nd/3rd day) which basically includes a lot of encouraging the students to hurry up and sending them to class. After they have all gone I quickly rush downstairs to my “flat” to brush my own teeth before heading off to class. Monday morning lessons include year four drama and year six maths. In lessons I walk around helping the kids who struggle with their work (or telling the kids who are gazing out the window to get on with it).

Break is at eleven. Break time usually (every second day) includes quickly rushing off to grab a quick bite to eat, before going out to do ‘Woods’. Now when I first got here ‘Woods’ was described to me, by the principal, as a time when I had to go and stand in the nearby woods and just watch the kids play (making sure they don’t hurt eachother with sticks) easy enough I know! But no…oh nooooo! ‘Woods’ is anything but easy and simple. My first experience of ‘Woods’ included me turning up (in a dress skirt mind you!) ready to monitor year three. What followed was a completely different story. They informed me that I was to be ‘it’ in their zombie game (for the next half-hour) and had to run around chasing them. Let me inform you that ‘Woods’ is situated on a hillside that is covered in trees and mud. So for the next half-hour I was running around like a 'mad person' trying to catch any year three I could get a hold of just so I didn’t have to be ‘it’ anymore. Meanwhile, all the year threes are running away screaming…''MISS BARRETT’S COMING!'' Do you know how hard it is to catch a seven year old on a muddy and very slippery hillside? The other staff all think it is hilarious!

After ‘woods’ on a Monday I have 'Garden House' lunch (again I have to do this every second day). Garden House lunch is the lunch for the three to six year olds (preschool to year one) who have their lunch at twelve (one hour before the rest of the school). Garden House lunch mostly includes me cutting up their food and the persuading them to eat it.

Afternoons consist of ‘games’. Games is an hour of sport each day in which the kids train in their respective teams. On Wednesdays and Saturdays games are two hours long as the teams usually travel (sometimes going away for days at a time to travel across the country) to other schools to verse them in matches. Like in Australia, other school do visit here for inter-school fixtures. On Monday ‘games’ session I help out with cross-country running, which of course is carried out in sun, on the rare occasion, as well as the more likely rain, wind or even hail. It is so much fun running over hills, climbing over fences and running through muddy sheep paddocks. After the games session I have to supervised the girls having a shower and getting changed back into uniform.

After games are more activities and lessons. Then at 6:20pm all the non boarding students are sent home and the boarders have their evening meal. You’ll be glad to know that the food is okay (sometimes it is even good). After dinner we do more activities until eight, which is when the kids have to go and get ready for bed. Weeknight activities that I help out with include kayaking, judo, design technology and running a dance club for the girls.

So this is a typical Monday. All the other days of the week are pretty similar except that Tuesday is my day off. Wednesday I have different lessons, so I’ll usually attend year three Maths and English and instead of cross-country I will help with the netball, coaching or referring a game if there is a match on. On the odd occasion I even get to go down to the local grass ski-fields and grass ski for two hours, which is unbelievably fun! Thursdays are a bit different again with drama, hockey and teaching saxophone! I now have four regular students that I teach saxophone to every Thursday. It is actually quite fun, but oh so frustrating when they don’t practice. Now I know how my music teachers felt!

Weekends are filled with activities that we have to help out with including shooting, swimming, design technology, arts and craft, cooking and musical practice. All a lot of fun!

The above is pretty much an average week at my school - Hectic I know!

So there it is, an average day in the life of a gapper. Though of course it is different whichever school you go to and even differs from day to day at the same school. You are rarely asked to do the same thing twice and have to be prepared to do just about anything.

As long as you keep an open mind and are happy to go along with just about anything you could think of, one thing is certain, a GAP year will be the best year of your life. It has been for me!"

Kate (GAP Assistant 2009)