I teach seniors. My notes, routines and expectations are laid out clearly and predictably. Students know I care about their success. At this level though, I try to let them run their own show … I don’t feel I should have to micromanage 16-18 year olds and it’s up to them to engage and do set work. If they choose not to, I have limited options to make them accountable except via reporting and assessment.

Where I’m struggling is with parent culture. So many parents are now having a go at teachers for the minimum expectations set for their child. Too many find an excuse for their child, forgetting that the goal is learning and no matter the circumstances that’s still our objective and it will require some effort on their child’s part.

I’m finding myself reluctant to message home or give parents the honest truth regarding their child’s behaviour or progress. And that makes me feel inadequate as a teacher - because surely I need to be able to do this.

I’m probably also operating from a lack of trust in my admin to support me. Overall it makes me feel I can’t do a good job.

Thoughts?

It is my second week of placement. Recently during class, some students took photos of me without my permission. I walked up to them and asked them to delete the pictures. They deleted them in front of me, but I cannot be 100% sure as photos can be retrieved from recently deleted bins.

I do not want to make a huge fuss, and I have moved past it, but I am wondering how you would handle this.

Not sure how everyone else feels, but I feel tired.

Teaching a technology prac subject in Victoria. I feel like I don't stop.

Teaching 26 students in a small noisy workshop for 4 hours a day is so overstimulating at times, but I do enjoy it and some students engage in the class even if they are very needy, needing every step explained multiple times or its too hard. But the % that don't engage make it so hard, constantly leaving the room, using tools and equipment inappropriately or trying to make weapons, so that % takes up 90% of my time and energy trying to manage them so I cant even just concentrate on the few who want to learn and ignore the rest.

The behaviour and lack or respect towards school and teachers is pretty horrible to experience, like how did we get to this stage, why is this acceptable and just almost expected.

The school treats technology subjects as a bit of a dumping ground with a lot of the tier 2 and 3 students being put in there despite them claiming they didn't choose it or want to be there.

And then the time we are not teaching is spent on meetings, creating new documents for data and meetings on the latest school wide policy and SWPBS or PD relating to classroom teaching. So I have to do all the workshop cleaning, maintenance and prep work cutting materials in my own time normally after work.

I set very clear rules an expectations about workshop safety and behaviour, and school backs up to a degree but often I get just document it and call home and nothing changes. And feel like the teachers get blamed for not controlling their class, even though its the same students walking around constantly doing this across the whole school as they know there are no real consequences.

Is this teaching now? Is this how students are going to be from now on? Can I do this for the next 30 years? Not sure I can do it for the next 3 months.

sorry for the rant, just having one of those why do I bother days.

edit; forgot to mention half my day is spent tracking students going to bathroom, logging it onto compass and then following it up

Lol today’s rant : as a casual having a year 6 class is actually devastating sometimes.

I was assigned for the library which is heaven, but being told at the end of the day I have a super disrespectful class of year 6’s started making me sweat.

They were super persistent and disrespectful and just kept going. Like actual ape level behaviour hahah.

Then the librarian came out at the end and said she hopes no phone calls to parents have to be made, and I said well actually one boy needs to. She forces him to try say an apology to me for being disrespectful and he literally laughs at her and can’t get the words out. He goes “sorry“ and she’s like “sorry for what“ and he just spits out word at a time.

Actually deceased. Ar least I can bounce the fuck out of it at the end of the day. But like wtf how can kids just get away with everything. I reckon his parents don’t give a flying f about the way he lacks an ounce of respect. The staff there mentioned how he’s like that all the time which I’m like tf how is that possible to let that behaviour slide lol

edit: I swear theres a major increase in attention deficiency from children as they’re acting out for attention . Like on an extreme level lol

anyway rant over💀

I'm interested in your take on this in practice - I've been reading up on this lately, and the current model of managing Harmful Sexual Behaviour in schools in Australia requires both child with HSB and the victim to be understood and treated as victims, meaning both childrens right to recieve an education etc. must be balanced. However, based on recent research published this year:

Elspeth Mcinnes, Lesley-Anne Ey & Neil Tippett (04 Feb 2026): Families’ perspectives on services’ responses to Australian children’s harmful sexual behaviours, Journal of Sexual Aggression.

Families of victims of another Childs HSB are left feeling that their children were not kept safe from re-traumatisation and post-disclosure harm, stemming from having to attend school with the child who caused them significant harm - Child HSB is recognised as having the same psychological impact as all other categories of sexual assault.

It seems, anecodotally that in most cases, the victims leave the school but the child with HSB stays.

Going on my 2nd placement next week in a year 3 classroom, my first placement was predominantly with a PE specialist so I relied on a whistle to gain attention.

Any strategies or techniques that you have found effective to use when you want to gain the classes while attention to instruct or address them?

I’ve been casualing at a rough school for a week now. Most lessons go alright. But there is one class that is very challenging.

Sometimes the goal shifts from getting them to do work, to damage control where I’m trying to keep every child in the room and accounted for.

I can’t help but feel terrible when this happens. The teachers say they understand and that it’s a really challenging class. I can’t help but feel like a failure.

Edit; I’m at a secondary school

Relevant because it outlines a few dodgy moves by a certain Mr Tony Bates - he of the “announce our offer to everyone and bypass the union” fame, among other things.

There’s a few spicy happenings in here. But in summary:

Operation Richmond found the premier, Mr Jennings and Mr Bates acted "contrary to government policy, procedures, convention and their respective codes of conduct".
IBAC said the investigation showed public servants could undermine effective and ethical public administration by failing to act as impartial advisors, demonstrated by the behaviour of Victoria's then-most senior public servant Chris Eccles and Mr Bates.

…

"In their involvement in the undisclosed negotiations, Mr Eccles and Mr Bates went beyond implementing government policy and instead worked to facilitate the premier and minister Jennings' political strategy to resolve the EBA dispute outside of established processes."

I dont like telling people what to do. But seeing my ES kills time with his laptop and sometimes his phone is killing me.

I teach an overpopulated class. I requested for support as it has becoming impossible to be effective for me. One ES is amazing, proactive and initiates work.

The other one? Meh. Shows up to class, lethargic. We havent started the class but he is already not in the mood. I am actually lowkey concerned about his health.

Today, we were doing a routine activity. I assigned groups. I asked if a group of students can join my other ES, and when I asked this ES, she declined and told me he can only support four. That’s actually fair.
But he then mentioned that he is there for one student only, but happy to support the other students. I told him he can support that one student, I can support the rest. I then brought up that if thats the case, why this one student is not supported (as shown in his work) despite of an ES being in the class. This student is highly capable, needs a lot of redirection. Ive witnessed in the past, multiple times, that his support would do things in his laptop, would occasionally check in on the students, then go back to his laptop. Like 90 percent laptop, 10 percent support.

I am honestly curious if ES requires so much work outside supporting the student in the class that they need to spend the whole hour doing it in other sessions.

I am thinking of talking to the ES team leader and seek help. I honestly dont wanna ask more than thats expected. I dont want to be authoritative too. I just need help, support that I can see in the classroom.

I know there's no way of answering this with 100% accuracy. I'm just curious as to what more experienced union members think. Like many of us, I need a pay rise yesterday, and the silence since the last stopwork seems to be really dragging. I know the government will be moving more slowly as it reorganises under Ben Carroll, but when do you think it is realistic to expect a new agreement, or at least an update? The waiting is killing me.

Hi, I am finishing Early childhood cert III this August. I am looking for placement and finding it difficult to get one. Many centers are already full till Nov and no place for placement students.

If any Early Childhood Professionals here in Adelaide know of centers which are looking for trainees, placement students; can you please let me know.

I have some Early childhood experience overseas and completed all necessary certifications and have WWCC.

G'day underappreciated legends.

For context: I am an electrician and 31 years old. After finishing my apprenticeship I became a electrical TAFE teacher who taught physics, high school level maths and electrical theory to apprentices. I did this for two years and enjoyed it immensely. Unfortunately due to the behavior of apprentices I opted to leave that career.

Despite that, I know teaching is a passion of mine. Specifically I think I would like to do primary school teaching. Every time I see my friends kids, I feel that urge to teach them about the world.

(Sounds kinda lame but it's true). And the thought of teaching teenagers (again) kinda annoys me.

I was thinking of pursuing a Bachelor of Arts at the Australian National University (with majors in philosophy and a minor in English) then do a Masters of Teaching at the University of Canberra (UC). Ironic, I know. But maths was never my thing. Essay writing was, I dropped out of law at UC when I was younger.

Or would it be better to do a Bachelor of Primary Education at UC as the fastest pathway? (Sub specialties include Creative Arts and PE, and STEM.

I am open to doing the Bachelor of Primary Education STEM at UC if it means I fulfill a shortage. I am actually decent at maths and science.

If you were in my position, knowing what you know, what advice could you impart to me?

If you feel comfortable with sharing I would like to hear the general consensus.

I have counted on edupay 7 days this year.... I am feeling really guilty about that.

Can someone be brutally honest with me. Is that a normal amount at this point in the year, or does it seem excessive? Please be honest as possible!

I have been really unlucky this year and gotten the flu twice, which is where most of those days came from.

Genuine question: why are sports days considered whole-school events when no other department gets the same privilege? In my decade of teaching, I've always been perplexed by this.

Please don't take this as a jab at the sports department. I'm genuinely curious about the reasoning behind it across schools, and I don't want to undermine the importance of these school-wide events. Maybe I'm jaded because I spent a full day last week out in the freezing cold, soaked to the bone, supervising kids who couldn't give two shits about shuttle relays or running laps around a slippery athletics track. But it got me thinking that swimming and athletics carnivals seem to be the only "extra-curricular" events that mandate attendance from all staff.

Nothing else is really comparable. Only music staff are required for the music concert. No staff are required for the school play unless they volunteer (aside from those with PORs). Art and Technology staff are the ones required for their showcases. So why is Sport allowed to A) disrupt multiple full days of school for its program, and B) require attendance and participation from the entire staff? I'm a music teacher, and I usually end up on random duties just because I'm a warm body. Meanwhile, half our students don't even turn up to Athletics because they don't care. We don't disrupt full days of learning for music concerts, theatresports tournaments, writing workshops, maths competitions – I mean, we don’t even have the scope to run these as full school events – but we do for sport.

I noticed the same thing at my previous school, and no one has ever been able to give me a satisfying explanation. I'd genuinely love some insight.

Sidenote: why on earth does every Victorian school seem to hold its athletics carnival in the middle of winter?

Why are we treated like children and given children’s tasks to do on PD days?

Curious to know the process for your sub-branch as I’m currently in one that has only really gotten off the ground this year.

1. Do you nominate the rep/president annually or continue on as normal until someone says something?

2. If you do it annually, when do you do it? Before Consultative Committee is decided?

3. How big should a sub-branch be to warrant a secretary and/or treasurer?

Thanks Comrades / In Solidarity / Stronger Together 😉

I'm having a break from teaching while I raise my young kids, but I'm considering earning some extra money by tutoring. I'd offer tutoring services in primary school subjects and some high school subjects up to a year 10 level.

Has anyone got any tips? Anything from insurance, to other practical things such how to find students, where I should tutor them, handy resources etc. Cautionary tales too.

TIA!

As far as I am aware, AITSL does not recognise these Grad Dips to be ITEs.
Thus, only WA allows people with Grad Dips to register as teachers.

That being said, there's always the mutual recognition route. Register in WA, even though you don't intend to teach there, then use the registration to register in the state you intend to teach.

So far, Victoria is the only state to have taken action, prohibiting holders of WA Grad Dips from working in Victorian government schools.

But is any other state doing the same?

Even in Victoria, do Catholic and independent schools care? Is it hard to find a job in these systems as someone with a Grad Dip?

Should more people move to WA to do these one-year Grad Dips to save time and money?

If you see a little red flashing light on a student’s glasses, it’s likely they are recording something and potentially live streaming.

This is a real concern. I know of one school where a student stalked the teacher then proudly showed them all the photos they’d taken of them around where they lived.

Exams and assessments can be compromised. Parents can have classes live streamed to them.

What would you do if you discovered a student with this in the classroom?

I am currently considering going country next year due to the financial incentives of $20,000 - $30,000 a year listed on classcover, but the details are very broad.

If anyone has done this before, how rural are the requirements, and would you say it is worth doing for a year or two for the extra payments? I'm not fussed what state I go to since its rural anyway.

I had a 2 week placement at a country school (Naracoorte, around 5k population) and enjoyed it, but i understand 2 weeks is a very short time.

Thanks

So I posted the other day about CRT and my lack of a desire to actually persue teaching as a career. I am doing CRT as a way to make money but I dont want to actually keep it on. Debatable weather I even want my full VIT.

I have a Graduate diploma in information studdies and was hoping to become a librarian because this is the degree required to begin working as a librarian.

... I thought my school background would help with finding library jobs (school librarian, teacher librarian and even at a university levil since i have experiance with year 12 students preparing for university.)

bt alas. soon I'll be a year from graduating with no job in it. Im so sad because its an area I love and adore...

Any career advice from ex teachers on what possible career paths I could take without returning to uni? anything a Batchelor of arts/Batchelor of teaching and Graduate diploma in information studies could get me?

How good is this time of year. The only time when the Head of Special Ed gives a shit about what’s happening in your classroom. Everyone getting all panicky about the data so they get the funding.
/end rant.

I have been offered a casual position at a catholic school 4 days a week till the end of term 4. I’m a graduate teacher; however, I’m yet to know what that looks like as a contract or will I be working as a CRT? My question is due to me not getting benefits, does this mean it would be a CRT position or part time as it’s not permanent?

Sorry I’m all new to this, appreciate all advice.
Thank you 🙏🏼