r/AskAustralianTeachers

My child recently sat the test for a fully selective school in VIC (still waiting on that outcome) and also for an academically selective class at a local high school.

We honestly assumed they'd get into the local class without much trouble. They are super bright — consistently near or at the top of the year, regular academic recognition awards, years in extension math classes, solid NAPLAN results in Year 5 (exceeding in every category except one that was strong), and selected for a small gifted-education program run at the high school, chosen by teachers across several feeder schools. Every school report has been strong across the board with high achievement for every subject.

Then a few weeks ago we found out they didn't make the class and are on a waitlist- but near the bottom of a long waitlist, well outside the number of places available. It seems they didn't do well on the entry test, while lots of kids they usually outperform did get a place.

My question is: what, if anything, should I do? Do I contact the high school to ask about it? Talk to the primary school for advice and see if they can talk to the high school? Or just leave it, trusting they'll do well anyway and eventually move into the top classes? The school expects some families to decline if they land selective-school offers, but given the waitlist position, there's no realistic chance of a spot opening up.

One more thing weighing on me: at the time of the test, our family was going through a very, very, very serious crisis that the primary school knew about. I didn't request any accommodations, because I thought they were coping fine at the time. Now I can't help wondering whether everything happening at home affected the result, and I feel guilty about it.

Is this a case of they didn't do well on that test, bad luck, learn from it, move on? Or is there a realistic chance to get them bumped up the list if i talk to the school?

Hello teachers!

I want to hear about the job, the nitty gritty, the pros and cons. I’m currently a paramedic who has become a mum, and the shift work, weekend work and fear of assault is making me strongly consider a career change. I get 12 weeks of annual leave a year in 4 week blocks so love that teaching is similar!

I am contemplating secondary, specialising in maybe bio/ health and pe. However my little one is making me think maybe primary - although I’ve always said I’d never do this 😅

Being a paramedic obviously has an emotional toll and many many hats, and I know teaching is the same so I’m not worried about that transition.
What unis do people recommend? (I am based in Melbourne) What is the work life balance like?

Please help - a first time mum with a mortgage and family to support who is scared to take the leap!

Just a quick question i have a degree in business, but i also have a license in teaching ( i took extra 18 units in order for me to take licensure exam for teaching) and a 2 years experience as a teacher in taiwan( still in taiwan but planning for the possible opportunitiesin Australia). Do you think that i am qualified to work in australia as a teacher? Since i have heard that there's a huge demand for this field. I have read somewhere that i should have a degree in education and not just extra teaching units, though i am not quite sure i just want to ask you guys, perhaps you may know if its true or not? Thanks, mate!

My husband and I are reminiscing on primary school and high-school.

I moved around a lot as a kid, 2x primary schools and 3x high-schools and every single time I was put in yellow house.

My husband didn’t move around a lot and was put in yellow house.

I joked that they put all the weirdos and outcasts in yellow house, smart kids in green, athletes in blue or red.

He was really shocked. But every school I moved to (in Victoria) was the same.

Is it an unspoken rule among teachers that some kids go into certain house colours?

Currently looking at a move from Brisbane to Perth.

Are part time jobs in Catholic secondary schools common in Perth? I have a great job currently: teacher librarian at 0.6, but husband might be relocated for work. Is it possible to find similar? Or am I stuck with relief teaching forevermore? Can’t work full time due to 3 kids. TIA!

Hello everyone!

I have previously worked in graphic design, which (as you can imagine with the rise of generative AI) is no longer a financially sound career path, and in office admin.

I have always wanted to be a primary educator, from as little as I can remember. I’m a mum of 4 variously neurodivergent kids (4. 5.5, 7, 9.5) and looking to start getting back into some work and/or study after being mostly a SAHM doing some graphic design on the side for a decade now that the Small One is in 4yo Kinder.

Is it worth it? I love children, especially in the K-2 age range, and I am very much able to adapt to a new career path. I’m torn between following my heart into teaching, even knowing the state of the present education system, or just settling for the soul crushing but safe admin job until retirement I suppose.

Income is not really a factor, as I’m lucky enough that I don’t have to work, but I very much want to.

Thanks in advance, friends (:

I start my final placement in a few weeks (!!!) and I’m trying to brainstorm how to gain a good understanding of the classes I’ll be teaching and hopefully to be able to build some rapport. I teach high school English and History, and would love some ideas on how to introduce myself to the students, and how to have them introduce themselves to me.

I’ve seen a few suggestions about a collaborative powerpoint where the students create a slide and write some things about themselves, or name cards with personalised details, or a survey, but I’m equally aware that not all classroom environments will respond to these types of tasks (e.g. not taken seriously or provided false information).

I haven’t been allocated a school yet, so I’m unsure whether it’ll be Catholic, Independent or Government but I’ve done placements in both Catholic and Government and I haven’t quite succeeded in getting the students to care enough. I know that student teacher’s aren’t the most adored people, so if you have any suggestions on how to get them on my side, I would love to hear them!

Yours sincerely,
A very anxious pre-service teacher 😰
(Not sure if it’s relevant but I am 25, female and teaching in metro Melbourne).

Hey everyone,
Thinking about studying to become an Early Childhood Teacher (ECT) here in Aus, but I want a realistic vibe check before committing.
For anyone working in the sector right now:
How is the pay? Are the recent wage increases actually noticeable, or is the money still pretty low compared to primary school teaching?
What are the biggest pros and cons? Is the burnout and paperwork as bad as everyone says, or is it a rewarding gig if you find the right center?

Respectfully, is it viable to become a teacher for the money, occupational job security, and holidays and still have an enjoyable, long, and successful career? Why or why not? Evidently teaching is a profession with very high churn. What kind of people stay for the long term?

It's a little bit late to ask now but I'm doing my teaching masters with this frame of mind. I'm 24 now. With my liberal arts undergraduate background, I don't know what other profession there is that has high-ish salaries, is easy to pivot to, and has a relatively low barrier to entry. I taught English at a training centre in China for a year and a bit so I think I have some idea what it might be like but I want other perspectives.

Central to my anxiety is this idea that most teachers seem to really buy into the idea of teaching as this grand calling to cultivate the generation of the future rather than as something that pays the bills.

Hi all,

My son is 9 years old and has recently improved his reading and writing significantly. He is autistic with a moderate intellectual disability so he is doing incredibly well and exceeding expectations.

He's now started writing independently in class (without a scribe) and is gaining confidence but has told me today the he really wants to improve his handwriting. I asked him if he'd like me to print out some things for him to do in the holidays and he's excited by the idea.

I've just been looking at some free resources on Teachers Pay Teachers but I'm unsure whether there is a particular way he should be learning.

He attends a small public primary school in South Australia and they use the Playberry literacy model.

Are there different handwriting methods that I should be aware of or is there a particular style? He also mentioned that he is working on capitol letters and wants to improve.

I want to help him with what he's asked for but I don't want to introduce something that will confuse him or conflict with what he's learning but he asked once we got home so I didn't have a chance to ask his teacher.

Any help is appreciated,

Thanks 🙏

What's something you've been using for years that you'd happily recommend to another teacher?

Well only the morning since I cbf to type a whole day so here is a morning for a primary teacher.
- Wake up
- Get ready
- Go to school
- You are diligent, bright eyed and ready to change the world.
- You get in at 730 to prepare great lessons.
- Log on to ass slow laptop
-Read emails, answer emails (parents, co-workers executive)
-Get important email that must be answered
- Lose all planning time to email
- Quickly set up literacy session, lucky you stayed late night after the staff meeting and prepared half of it.
- Lucky you worked through the holidays to do a PD and prepared routine literacy exercises for the term including individualised activities.
- Set said activity, reading groups, with differentiated activities based on literacy levels you stayed back late to determine last week.
- Xander comes in and destroys his groups resources.
- Deputy is useless and won't help you correct behaviour since doing so might get them reported to the Human Rights Commission, get them in court or sued if they escalate the consequences to the needed level.
- Lucky you worked on Xanders ILP although unfortunate his druggie parents don't give a shit and can't support him.
- Oliver has also destroyed his groups materials, copying Xander.
- Lucky you have strict behaviour management and have spent all term building relationships with these boys, although every morning you have to reset the expectations.
- Enforce behaviour management, separate, enforce consistent consequences, Oliver corrects after a stern warning, Xander needs 1-1 attention.
- Quickly instruct rest of the class to do their activity. Lucky you spent weeks instructing them how to do it.
- Talk to Xander, use carrot and stick. Today he doesn't go ballistic and start destroying the classroom.
- Finish routine, the kid you wanted to instruct is done, oh well next time (never).
- Do second activity, read book, teach grammar, send three differentiated groups away to complete activities. Lucky you prepared those with your teaching buddy during the holidays (slacker)
- Xander loses the plot starts throwing chairs and destroying classroom.
- Follow emergency routine, evacuate classroom. Xander gets suspended. He'll be back tomorrow.
- Pre-prepared lesson you spent your personal time getting ready is done, try again tomorrow but will have to keep moving through the curriculum.
- Recess
- Duty
- Rebuild classroom after Xander destroyed it.
- Maths
- No time to eat, shit, drink, or piss.
- Exec and parents are pissed at you for not handling the Xander situation, colleagues are judging you but the real ones understand you are doing your best and are getting no support.
- Don't worry you will have plenty of follow up paper work for this morning, another long afternoon.

I am so tired of the endless compliance tracking and documentation that seems to take up more time than actual lesson planning. If you could instantly eliminate just one piece of bureaucracy or paperwork from your weekly routine without any professional consequences, what are you getting rid of?

Hi, I'm in 10th grade and from south India. I'm looking through colleges for education and I heard a lot of people saying Australia had a good education system. While I am keeping my options open, I wanted to know how life is in Australia for Indian teachers as I have heard some people say Australia is good but others like my mom have told that Australians are racist. Let me know soon.

I’ve heard it happens on Fridays at the end of the day but wondered if anyone has ever done so on different days or sooner in the day

Hi everyone,

I’m a 29M and have been working in finance in Sydney for the past 5 years. Lately, I’ve been seriously considering a career change into primary teaching and would love to hear some honest perspectives from current teachers, especially anyone who has made a similar transition.

Corporate has given me a lot of opportunities, but I’ve found that the stress and pressure haven’t really aligned with what I want long term, and I’m looking for something that feels more meaningful and people-focused.

One thing that’s drawing me towards teaching is that I’ve always enjoyed working with kids. Before going into corporate, I worked for a tutoring company and also did private tutoring for a number of years. I genuinely enjoyed helping students learn, building their confidence, and being a positive role model for them. Those experiences are some of the most fulfilling work I’ve done.

I’m currently considering doing a Master of Teaching (Primary) at UNSW, but I want to make sure I have realistic expectations before committing to such a big career change. I know tutoring and classroom teaching are very different, so I’d love some honest insights from people in the profession.

For primary teachers in Sydney:
- What is the day-to-day reality of the job?
-What are the biggest challenges or downsides that people don’t talk about enough?
-How much work do you realistically take home?
-How stressful is classroom behaviour management?
-If you’ve worked in both corporate and teaching, how do the stresses compare?
- Do you still find the work rewarding despite the challenges?
-If you could go back, would you still choose teaching?
- What’s your most favourite thing about your job?

I’m not looking for anyone to sugarcoat things—I genuinely want to understand both the good and the bad so I can make an informed decision.

Thanks in advance for any advice!

Hi everyone,

I had a question about becoming a secondary teacher. I have a bachelor of commerce (economics and marketing) but want to become a secondary maths teacher (more years 7-10 and general mathematics rather than methods and specialist). I only completed one maths subject in my degree (calculus 1) and need a minor or major specialisation in maths to qualify.

Now, I could do the masters right now with the learning areas I have (economics, business or media) but I really dont want to do anything but economics and maths in the degree. I have also looked into completing a diploma of maths to get the credits, but lots are either quite long degrees, are not CSPs, or do quite high levels of maths I don't want to teach...

I was looking today and found a Bachelor of Educational Studies, which at some unis lets me just complete the needed subjects in maths, then I can transfer into the university's masters program. But I've also seen some unis use this program to help people begin a bachelor of teaching, and use it as a bridging course.

So my main questions are: for Victoria, are there any degrees/certs that I can complete to bridge to a Masters of Teaching that will let me do maths as a learning area, is a CSP, and/or is about 1 year full time equivalent?

Sorry for the rambling, thanks so much!

Hi all

My son, 5 this year, turning 6 next year, has Global Development Delay and Lv3 ASD, as well is non verbal (doesn’t speak at all and has only 2 signs, *some* receptive language).

I originally wanted to see if we could ask for a formal exception to delay him starting school as long as possible (oct 2027 at least, or even term 1 2028) so he could just get a bit more time in his therapies and let him catch up a bit more.

But I’ve been told by other parents that this isn’t possible?

Online it says we can apply for formal exception for up to 6 months after he is 6yo, and otherwise we can escalate to the executive director.

What has been your experience?
Any advice or experiences would be appreciated

Thank you so much in advance!

So let my registration lapse cause I was CRTing with seasonal emergency fire work over summer, but went full time in forestry in 2020. Would like to get it back, but the 80 days in two years is hard to work around annual leave, how hard is it to get back in? Don't really wanna do whole portfolio again

I am a year 12 student in Perth, about to graduate. Getting the minimum amount of Cs for my WACE certificate plus one, am I good? What should I be worrying about? What pathway is open to me, or is it over? Literally any advice would help, it's daily stress for me atm