Public school educators across Victoria will hold their second full-day strike of the year tomorrow, after rejecting the latest sellout enterprise agreement pushed by the Victorian Labor government and the Australian Education Union (AEU) bureaucracy. 

Despite the attempts of the AEU leadership to stampede teachers into endorsing a deal that would lock in stagnant pay and do nothing to address soaring workloads, educators voted by 51.18 percent, in a ballot that concluded yesterday, to reject the agreement and proceed with strike action. This is the second mass repudiation of the sellout in several months. 

Teachers have made clear their determination to fight, but are continually coming up against an AEU bureaucracy that works as an arm of the big business Labor government, against the interests of educators.

It was in this context that a meeting of Victorian teachers and staff was convened by the Committee for Public Education (CFPE) on Saturday. The gathering resolved to form a statewide Educators Rank-and-File Committee, completely independent of and opposed to the AEU bureaucracy. 

The committee aims to bring together educators, union and non-union alike, to take control of the dispute, out of the hands of the AEU leaders, to break the division and isolation that the bureaucracy has imposed and to fight for demands that meet the needs of educators and public schools, not what governments and their lackeys in the union bureaucracy deem to be affordable.

Building the committee and preparing independent action by teachers is the crucial next step, pointed to by the entire situation and the course of the current dispute itself. 

My school is currently using for 7-8 English, and 9 & 10 next year.

I have observed classes recently and was not impressed, our teachers who aren’t superstars seem to struggle the most. No matter how good some slides are, they cannot make up for lack of teacher ability- it feels though this is some of the reason behind it- whereas a great teacher can make do no matter the unit.

Students seemed to be learning, engaging and simply doing more with our original units, even though I know the OCHRE units are based on evidenced research. I observed a lot more behavioural issues than I’d expected simply because students were bored. There’s much to say here, engagement is not entirely necessary for learning, and fun is not the same as engagement etc but still….

We are essentially being told to teach exactly what is there with no room for changes but PD & most people I’ve seen talk about it as a tool box, but my school is advertising it as a must, rather than supplemental…:I have planned a lot of units at our school over the years, much time and effort, I’m sad to see it all go. I’m struggling to see positives…love the school, I love teaching but I simply feel like I can’t get my head around this….

The lack of autonomy, deskilling, and technocratic managerialism is simply putting me off.

There is no persuasion, media or creative writing/text types unit in Year 10, it has me concerned as a VCE teacher

Hi r/AustralianTeachers —

I am a former Vic teacher who has left and will never go back due to abuse and consequent PTSD. I share the same thoughts about the system's problems as many of you.

I also run a small YouTube channel called No More Teachers, which explores why education systems around the world are failing students and teachers, and what it would actually take to fix this state of affairs.

I'll be at tomorrow's AEU march in Melbourne CBD filming a video about the second offer rejection and talking to teachers.

If you're going, and want to talk on camera about why you're there — find me near the steps. I'll be in a bright red beanie and all black everything else.

No pressure, fully your call; I'll ask your permission before filming anything.

Channel link here if you want to see what I've already put up.

Solidarity to all: Remember,

"Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will." — Frederick Douglass

How is the demand for maths teachers in the Sydney metro area? I’m looking at the NSW JobFeed and the maths jobs seem to all be regional/rural areas which would be hard for me to relocate to. Just wondering how easy it would be for maths trained teachers to find full time work in metropolitan Sydney.

On a side note, are all maths trained teachers expected to teach extension 1 and 2 maths? I barely scraped through my maths courses in university and am not confident with to teach extension maths, however I love teaching maths to juniors!

VIC educators - remember no working beyond the 38 hours.

My primary school is going through the process of adding an additional faction as well as renaming them. For those that have been involved with this process, what has worked or hasn’t worked, what did you avoid, what made things easy now looking back at your changes, etc. Even if you haven’t been part of a change, what already works well at your school. Thanks in advance.

Edit: TIL that factions isn’t what everyone calls them. Is it a Western Australia thing? A Perth thing? Every school I’ve taught at has called them factions. But yes, houses = factions.

Hi everyone, I'm very new to teaching and am running a poetry unit for a Year 8 class this term. I haven't accrued a very large list of resources yet, and was wondering if anyone here has any favourite poems they like to teach?

The unit itself is on landscape poetry, but I want to look at a range of different styles/genres to give my students a good foundation, so they don't all have to be nature-specific at all.

Thank you 😄

Also, if this sort of post isn't allowed please let me know! Like I said, I am very new to this...

1. Does your school publish their School Council Meetings so as to inform families they are occurring or does your school publish any meeting minutes or summaries of what is discussed at the meetings?

our schools does neither, we don't even know how they elect the school council president and members of the council as there is no voting or ballet votes completed and furthermore no announcement is published naming who the school council consists of when the process of electing new members arises beginning of the year.

2. The annual reports to the school community. Is there someone who audits these annual reports or oversees the financial budgets of the school, each year they are done or is it randomly audited or reviewed every few years?

a) There seems to be many things that are of concern with the reports that come out each year but one thing I find is being used possibly as a excuse or to divert from the real causes behind declining attendance and I find highly inappropriate (and surprised that it can be stated in a report) is that the principal attributes low attendance due to the cohort of "Indian Students and their families" that are away on extended family holidays, celebrating cultural events beginning of the year (Term 1).

Am I wrong to think that its not appropriate?

b) The expenditure in the annual reports seems to fluctuate significantly between reported years. For context I will provide some of the allocations that had significant

School Based Programs

2020: $4,000.00
2023: $22,000.00
2024: $2.2 mil
2025: $1.9 mil

Support Services:

2020: $46,000.00
2023: $229,000.00
2024: $373,000.00
2025: $445,000.00

Miscellaneous Expenses:

2020: $28,000.00
2023: $67,000.00
2024: $350,000.00
2025: $90,000.00

In the year of 2023 the school did a credit to cash transfer of 1,450,000 million that was taken out to support the application of having hardcover roofing built over the outdoor basketball courts.

In 2024 mention that there has been a delay regarding to have the works carried out, so that was the reason the schools high yield account was sitting at a much higher amount.

In 2025 there is no longer any mention of the works for basketball courts and the high yield account is short about 1million that can't really see explained across the expenditure.

How has the discrepancies and anomalies gone under the radar ? When entering in the data does it not trigger "red flags", like when you are submitting your tax return and it notes you are claiming higher deductions than the previous year, something along those lines?

THOUGHTS?

Teacher aides, what are we doing for work during school holidays? I’m a teacher aide at a high school, casual but work every day, however it’s recently occurred to me that I am not going to make any money during school holidays, particularly the long Christmas one🥲🥲

What are we all doing for work then??

Sorry if this isn’t an appropriate post for the group!!

This is a rant.

I’m almost certainly doxxing myself, but I don’t know where to turn and I’m really frustrated.

We run combined English + Humanities subjects 7-9 at my school. They’re completely overloaded with content and I understand that compromises have to be made.

BUT not having any formal oral assessment for an entire year just feels wrong.

Our Year 9 subject leader (who is also the Hums HoD) just decided to remove the only oral assessment of the year, in favour of a ‘context essay with a booklet’ - I don’t even know what that is and no one has told me…. it starts in 3 weeks

In this unit, the students do ‘literature circles’ with minimal teacher input (because it’s just not possible to run mini-lessons with 8 groups within one lesson). They have 4 books to choose from that are so different that text study lessons aren’t possible.

Hello everyone 😊

I'm currently doing some research on NCCD and Disability Inclusion processes in schools across Australia and would really appreciate your input. If you have a spare 5-10 mins to fill out a short anonymous survey, I would be forever grateful! It will help me to better understand if creating a tool to support our work would be useful.

Google forms link: [https://forms.gle/6CfeoXmsxSwDVrnSA\]

Thanks so much for your time and support ✨

TL;DR: click the link to support one of your fellow teachers with research on NCCD and DI processes

Admin, please delete if this post does not follow guidelines.

Over the past 2 years or so, when I've searched teaching positions in Canberra, there has been a generic primary school and secondary school listing. Those disappeared/were closed, and all I can find are officer roles for the government or non-teaching jobs like receptionist. Am I looking in the wrong place or are there really no jobs available?

Hi r/AustralianTeachers 👋

Koora Middi delivers authentic Nyoongar cultural incursions and excursions for Perth schools, early learning centres and daycare groups.

Programs include bush tucker, traditional tools and artefacts, Nyoongar connections to the Derbarl Yerrigan and cultural knowledge for all ages from Early Learning through to Year 12.

Curriculum aligned with the Australian Curriculum's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Histories and Cultures priority.

100% Indigenous owned and operated. Working With Children Check held. $20M public liability insurance.

More info at kooramiddi.com.au — happy to answer any questions!

I am a pre-service teacher studying a Master's in Education at SCU. Your insights and experiences are incredibly valuable in helping to better understand how this policy may impact schools, students, and educators.

Who can participate?

Australian teachers (primary, secondary, or special education)

Time commitment:
Approximately 5 minutes. 10 Questions.

If you're able to spare a few minutes, I'd be very grateful for your participation:

https://qualtricsxm8b8tc3cdp.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_25AA36Ai444lm50

As a fellow postgraduate researcher, I'm also happy to return the favour by completing other members' research surveys where I'm eligible. Please feel free to share yours in the comments or send me a message.

Thanks in advance!

The AEU just announced that the deal has been rejected. The strike is on for Thursday.

Work history: PE teacher with the NSW DET for the last 7 years, prior to that a warehouse operator and before that, a gym receptionist.
Applying for: Christian/Catholic schools for the first time

How much information are you putting in your resume about previous roles? I don’t feel like my experience outside of the classroom is relevant to the position and it’s quite old. But I also don’t want to look like I’ve only had 1 job at the same school, the whole time I’ve been employed.

It’s my first time applying for a role other than the one I’m in and I landed this one about 5 years ago so any tips or tricks for landing a job outside the public sector schools would be much appreciated!

On AEU Instagram. No email or otherwise yet.

Hi all,

I completed the approval to teach interview over 3 weeks ago and still haven't recieved confirmation whether I passed or failed. How long did it take you to get your results?

Moving VIC's raise dates from November to January is the logical face-saving solution for the VIC government. Teachers will pocket an extra $20-25k simply by changing the timing of the raises. This achieves 85% of what a three year deal would achieve.

You can see my working out for these claims here.

Given the 'no' vote outcome and the potential of another strike, please be mindful of the public and media rhetoric. The nuances of the agreement(s) and what school staff are actually advocating for, versus what the public and media understand what we are advocating for, are two very different things.

Pay has remained the focus of what has been reported on, and very purposefully. For those of us privy to the specificities of the proposed agreements, and previous agreements, we know that we have been shortchanged in the past and that the nice big 30% odd figure increase, isn't quite what it seems. For a lot of people however, rejecting that nice big figure, is enough to warrant the sledging of school staff.

We know that the agreement is more than just about pay. It is about our working conditions, our funding, our student's access to learning and their learning conditions. WE know that. However the aformentioned pay dispute is enough for a lot of people to have made up their minds about school staff.

So... The public will become exasperated with the disruptions, the media will underreport or mislead, the government will holler how scrupulous they have been with their negotiations. It will be disheartening to hear public support turn to disdain, it will be confronting to see the media discredit our plight and the government to undermine our efforts as greedy.

Just remember, you know the intricacies of what we're fighting for, whether you voted 'yes' or 'no', and it's okay if not everyone understands. Step away from the screen or turn of the broadcast every now and then. Look after yourselves and one another. Love ya.

Hello. I’m getting discrepancies with responses on Google so I thought I’d ask teachers who might be in the Northern QLD system: what’s the deal with your summer holiday break? in Victoria we go back at the end of Jan, but all the ads I’ve seen for jobs in cairns, teachers return by the 15th.

For health reason, I need to move to a warmer climate. But I equally need to know I’m not giving up even more wntitlements by working in QLD. So, when do your December holidays commence?

And if it seems weird that I’m concerned about holidays, my response is: too bloody right!!