u/OkAcanthaceae2200

Hi everyone,

I’m a Master of Teaching (Secondary) student in Victoria and I’m looking for some advice about my second placement.

My teaching methods are Senior biology and Junior Science. For my first placement, I taught Year 8 and 9 Science. My second placement has been allocated to a senior college (Years 10-12), and I’m honestly feeling quite anxious.

I’m not sure what to expect. Will I mainly be teaching VCE Biology and Science classes, or is it common for pre-service teachers to be asked to teach subjects outside their teaching methods? One of my biggest worries is being asked to teach something like VCE Maths or another subject I’m not qualified in.

I also emailed the school to arrange a pre-placement visit, but I haven’t received a response, which has made me even more nervous.

For those who’ve completed placements in senior colleges (or mentored pre-service teachers), what was your experience? What kinds of classes did you teach? Any advice on how best to prepare before placement in a senior college?

Thank you!

I’m looking for some honest perspectives from parents, especially those who have had a shy or slow-to-warm-up child.

My daughter is 3.5 years old and has always been a very cautious child. This is not something that started recently. She has been this way since she was a baby. She takes time to warm up to new people and new environments. Even at parks, she will often hesitate if there are other children around. She watches first, then slowly becomes comfortable. She is not a child who runs into a room and immediately starts interacting.

Recently, her kinder teacher raised a concern that my daughter is not expressing her needs at kinder. They said if she is hungry, she doesn’t tell them, she doesn’t ask for things, and she often doesn’t answer questions during conversations, like “What did you do at home?” or “How was your day?”
They also mentioned that she tends to play quietly by herself. She follows instructions but doesn’t respond.

I understand why they brought it up, and I do want to support her. But I also felt a bit confused because at home she is a completely different child.

At home, she talks constantly. She tells us when she is hungry, what she wants and doesn’t want, where she wants to go, how she feels, and what she thinks. She will say things like “I don’t want this” or “I want to go there.” She talks about her friends from kinder. She engages in pretend play. Recently she was the teacher and I was the student, and then we swapped roles. She creates conversations and expresses herself really well with us.

Her language has actually exploded recently. She is learning new words and forming new sentences so quickly that I can barely keep up. Since she started talking, I have kept a little list of words and sentences she has said because I was interested in watching her development.

When I told the educators this, they were surprised. They asked me if she speaks in full sentences at home, and when I explained the things she says and does, they said that this is what they would like to see from her at kinder.

I explained to them that I don’t want to change who she is. She has always been a thoughtful, observant, reserved child. I want to encourage her and help her build confidence, but I also want them to understand that this is part of her temperament.

Our family is not very social. We don’t have extended family nearby, and both my husband and I are busy with work (and I’m also studying), so we don’t have a huge social circle or lots of gatherings. I did wonder if that has contributed to her taking longer to feel comfortable with others.

She only attends kinder around 12 hours a
week, and we usually drop her later and pick her up earlier. I do wonder if she simply hasn’t had enough time yet to build a strong relationship with her educators and feel safe enough to show them the same side of herself she shows us.
We have agreed to increase her time at kinder so she gets more opportunities to build those relationships.

I’m just wondering if this sounds like a typical reserved/slow-to-warm-up child? Is it normal for a child to communicate so openly at home but become quiet around educators? Am I overthinking this, or should I be looking into it more?
I’m not against helping her grow. I just want to understand her and support her in the right way.

Hi everyone,

I’m a Malayali woman currently living in Australia and will be travelling to Kerala in the near future. I’m looking for genuine advice about the process of selling my wedding gold.

I’m planning to leave an abusive marriage. I’m currently completing my Master’s degree in Australia and working part-time. I’m considering selling my wedding jewellery to support myself and my daughter during the transition period.

The jewellery was purchased by my family before my wedding. Unfortunately, I no longer have the original paper bills, but I do have photos of the purchase receipts and wedding photos showing me wearing the jewellery.

I wanted to ask about the procedure for selling gold in Kerala. Can I sell my wedding gold to a reputable jeweller with only photos of the purchase receipts? What documents are usually required? Do jewellers generally pay by bank transfer if requested? Are there any legal or tax issues I should be aware of?

Also, I would appreciate recommendations for jewellers who offer a fair and transparent process.
I’m mainly looking for practical information from anyone who has gone through this process or knows how it works.

Thank you.

I’m starting my first teaching placement soon and I think my anxiety is making me overanalyse the lack of communication beforehand, so I wanted some outside perspective.

My placement starts soon and the school itself replied to my initial email with arrival time and dress code. They declined pre-placement visit stating time constraints. They also cc’d my supervising teacher into the email.

Soon after I emailed my supervising teacher introducing myself and politely asked if it would be possible to know the year level or timetable. I also said I’d be happy to review any materials they recommend.

It’s been more than a week with no reply at all and I’m starting soon.

I genuinely can’t tell if this is completely normal for teaching placements and teachers are just overloaded/busy or if no reply beforehand is usually a sign that the mentor teacher is disengaged or unfriendly.

I’ve never done a placement before, so I have no reference point. I wanted to show that I’m proactive and taking it seriously.

Has anyone else started placement with little to no communication beforehand? What was your supervising teacher like once placement actually started?

I need some outside perspective on a situation at work because it’s been affecting me a lot emotionally.

I work in a role where my boss is basically the only person who can give certain instructions. Up until recently, he used to respond quickly in our group chat and give regular feedback.

There was an incident where I got upset due to being yelled at by the manager for a minor mistake, but I still finished my shift, then resigned and left. After that, both boss and manager contacted me, apologised, and asked me to come back, so I returned to the job.

Since coming back, my boss’s behaviour towards me has changed noticeably. He no longer replies to my messages in the group chat (even when they require his input), and he has stopped giving me feedback or correcting me like he used to.

What makes it harder is that my messages just sit there in the group chat with no response, which feels awkward and visible. In person, he’s not openly rude, but he’s more distant and minimal.

On the other hand, my manager is completely fine with me and supportive, so it’s not like the whole workplace is against me.

This situation has been making me feel constantly stressed and sad, and I keep wondering if he’s doing this intentionally or if I’m overthinking it.

Has anyone experienced something like this after leaving and returning to a workplace? How did you handle it, especially when that person is the main point of contact for your work? Was going back to this place a mistake?