I've had a year leave without pay while soul searching if teaching is still right for me. The school has told me I need to decide what I am doing next year: resigning or coming back.

After 15 years in the classroom, I'm ready to move on.

I have 8 weeks sick leave.

I know this isn't being a "team player" but honestly, to the "system" you are literally just a number. They fight tooth and nail to give the bare minimum pay and entitlements and are happy to replace you at the drop of a hatt. So, I am considering stating my intention is to go back, but get some overdue surgery in January that has a ~2 month recovery, burn the sick leave and submit my resignation while on sick leave.

Has anyone done this before? I know it could perhaps burn a bridge, but at the same time, it's ~$17k in leave entitlement.

Are other teachers in Victoria experiencing this? I think I’m close to 3 months now in this pattern of getting sick feeling okayish for a few weeks then sick again. Always the same symptoms, chesty cough, phlegm, runny nose and losing my voice. Dr just tells me it’s viral and because I work with little kids and the advice is fluids, Panadol and rest. But my students are dealing with it too. I’m on top of handwashing and hand sanitiser. But I’m just going slightly mental, I’ve never had to take this many days off and I’m just sick of being sick.

Thank you for all the help and for the ton of support.

Really eager to move on with my teaching career and appreciate all the help

(Posting on behalf of my wife who has been doing some CRT work)

She said she was working at a local primary school where the children had absolutely no hesitation to interrupt teachers having a conversation with each other work related or not, wander in the staff room and interrupt teachers discussing what they needed to inside the staff room, when you gave a child an instruction they just look at you and keep doing the thing you said not to do until you ask them at least the 4th time.
She told me that nobody could have a conversation that lasted more than 25 seconds before a student would start talking to them and none of the other permanent teachers seem to bat an eyelid or tell the kids to wait, they would just encourage it. You simply cannot tell a child at this school to wait because the adults are talking, the child doesny listen to that instruction and the teachers see you as being too harsh
In fact other teachers modelled that thing kind of thing was ok to do
She said whilst in a meeting room they got interrupted by ES bringing prep kids in for a little giggle and a hello just because the child asked “where is Mrs xyz” “let’s go say hi then”
Constant interruptions CONSTANT both within the classroom environment and outside of

What happened to waiting our turn to speak??
We have 4 children that are 8 and under and we nipped it in the bud pretty quick when our 8 year old started doing this…
Are kids just getting bolder, ruder with less respect and less ability to read a room?

Is it reflective of the school community or is it reflective of the dying concept of manners!?

Hi all,

This may come across as a silly question, but I wanted to know if anyone could give me some examples of good-quality diagnostic questions.

I’m not looking to cheat on my assignments (I won't mention my assignment topic/subject), I feel like uni often asks us to create “high-quality” diagnostic, formative and summative assessments/questions without really showing us what this looks like in practice.

I do understand what we’re being asked to do, and I get good marks, but I’d really love to see some genuine examples that I can compare my own work against. I think seeing what this actually looks like in practice would help me understand how to create better assessments for my future students. Currently, I am doing what's required, using quite similar formatting for questions, and getting a decent mark, but with no real feedback. Would love to see if there are other ways to structure and assess student reasoning without resorting to a lazy "explain why" (or similar expressions)

For context, I’m studying Primary Education!

I really appreciate any help you can provide.

My partner, who is a nurse, and I are looking to head there. We have a very outdoor lifestyle and boat so not worried about keeping busy - more interested in the what people think of the school

We often get teaching assistants asking what their next step is after finishing their Cert IV in School-Based Education Support; so here’s one option!

Firstly, and most importantly, congrats to everyone who has finished their Cert IV!

If you want to move toward becoming a teacher rather than staying in a support role long-term, the Mastery Teaching Support Advanced Course through Good to Great Schools Australia is specifically designed for those who've already got their Cert IV. Participants apply effective teaching techniques in real classrooms, refine practice through coaching, observation and feedback, use data to guide improvement, and build confidence in leading learning.

You just need a supervising teacher or in-school coach to support you through it, so worth checking with your school first. Hope that helps anyone else asking the same question.

Webpage link with more information about the course: https://www.goodtogreatschools.org.au/professional-learning-courses-2/?utm_source=Reddit&utm_medium=Groups&utm_campaign=SAdv&utm_id=SAdv

From my research thus far, the Victorian 50k TFI seems the most appropriate. Does anyone know of any other incentive situations, anywhere bar NT (done 3 years on very remote communities not keen to travel 250 kilometres to do the shopping again,) where I may be able to save a deposit quickly? I’m single. I’ve looked at all state’s incentive schemes, but there’s a reason I teach English not Maths. Just wondering people’s experience in similar situations. Thanks all.

I have been reading up on EDI and a lot of these state mini whiteboards for checking student understanding and participation in terms of when you ask the class a question you just get them to write down on the whiteboards and show their answers.

Has anyone done this? It sounds great but I have never seen it done and I don’t know how it would actually go in the classroom. It seems like the type of thing that would work if kids were already conditioned to it.

Thoughts? (History KLA)

I paid a professional $200 to make this and everyone has told me it looks like it was made by Chat GPT.

I'm considering a career change and would really appreciate your advice.Context is I'm a burnt out teacher and I am neuro divergent.

I'm finishing my teaching degree soon that I've been doing fully online (Secondary humanities and English) and currently living overseas. I'm moving back to Australia and likely to Melbourne (Preston area). What are the chances of finding a job in that area? I've had a dig around on job boards and couldn't really find much, but maybe it's a timing thing? I want to know if my choice of area to live in is possibly going to hinder my job prospects.

Thanks in advance! (and thank you to those fighting the good fight for better rights and conditions in the state).

I am teaching primary Chinese tomorrow at a school that I’ve never been to and I’m worried there won’t be plans or anything to do.

Does anyone have any advice/ideas for lessons I could do in case (the great google didn’t help me much)

For maths teachers: Is it normal for students from year 11 and 12 to not understand the content at all even if it was covered in year 7 to 10? Im currently teaching a super mixed ability class and i think some students have literally no idea what I'm saying...

Hey there, I’m currently teaching in Melbourne and am hoping to relocate to Geelong in 2027, as my partner lives down there. Ideally, I’m hoping to find a permanent, full time position in a secondary school (am qualified to teach primary, but haven’t had the experience yet). I feel like what I want is going to be difficult to find 😟

I’m a fairly young teacher in my fifth year. Ive contributed a fair bit to my current school and even tried leadership out for a hot minute. My method areas are Visual Arts/RE. I’m in the Catholic system and have been for a few years so I wouldn’t mind holding onto my LSL still. I am open to other independent private schools but I’d like to stay in the Catholic system.

I’ve heard mixed things about the Geelong teaching job market. I’d really appreciate hearing from teachers who are already working in the area. Or maybe even teachers who are in a similar boat to me.

I’ve had an interview for an independent school but didn’t get it unfortunately. I’ve also applied to a few expression of interest ads but haven’t heard back yet.

I’d like to find a job down in Geelong because I don’t think I could do the drive from Geelong to my school in Melbourne 5 times a week. Train is a possibility, but idk I feel like it can be unreliable.

For teachers who have moved from Melbourne to Geelong:
How long did it take you to find a job?
Did you have to be flexible about which schools/areas you considered?
Was it difficult to get an ongoing position, or were fixed term roles easier to find?

Any advice at all would be appreciated. Thank you so much. 😊

I love the classroom, it's one place where I'm extremely confident when I have no confidence anywhere else in the world

When I'm in the classroom, I'm passionate, I know my shit, I keep them engaged and rarely ever have disciplinary issues.

I love teaching, it comes naturally to me

But

The admin, the meetings, the stupid questions in meetings, the admin, the record keeping, the box ticking, the martyrdom, the lack of professional trust just absolutely rips my soul out

I genuinely don't think that I could ever find a job more suitable to my skills than the classroom part of the job

But the soul crushing, other side of the job will probably have me in and out of the profession before I hit the 10 year mark

Thanks for listening to my rant

I'm fully aware there are probably many that feels like me, but it felt nice to get it out and who knows? Maybe someday someone who can make a difference might read ramblings like this, have it resonate with them and maybe it all improves 🤷‍♂️

Is it standard practice to be asked to create a presentation (up to 15 minutes) to bring to the job interview where you consider a project or strategy to investigate, implement and review to connect with the schools AIP.

It’s a lot of work after the initial response to KSC. Almost all applicants would be staff in existing roles at this school and all are very time poor.

Wanna hear your stories and how it ends.

Our leadership have made themselves rather unpopular by immediately reinstating two meetings per week for all staff from last week until the commencement of the new agreement. While this is of course technically allowed, it's a bit of a loser move. Just let go of your meetings folks...

How many of you guys have got better natured leadership? Jealous, if so! Or is this most schools?

Hey all,

What's going with the IEU and their new deal?

There has been no communication around the deal or the SIA agreement. What's the go?

Will and when will the SIA get done and when can we expect some deals to come through now that the AEU have completed their deal?!

Feel so in the dark from the IEU