A roofline with real character at one of our favourite Scottish castles, Elcho Castle, close to the River Tay a few miles south-east of Perth. The castle is believed to date back to about 1570 and was built by the Wemyss family. More pics and info: https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/perth/elchocastle/index.html
Wander up Kinnoull Hill in Perth today. I don't think I've been up here before, but it had really good paths and was pretty quiet so reckon we'll be back.
Today, like many other West Australian teachers, I'm not going to work this morning.
It's interesting that our industrial action is represented in the media as about pay. We're not striking over salary - we're striking because the system is broken.
My son has had no Phys Ed teacher all year. He's had a procession of relief teachers which, for a special needs child, is extremely distressing. He attends an inner city public school, but staffing shortages are statewide.
Speaking of special needs students, I'd like to look after my own without having to skip lunch to ensure their needs are met.
I'd like the Education Department to give me a personal device so I can do my job
(more efficiently). If I want a laptop, I have to lease one.
I'd like an acknowledgement of how teaching has recently become more difficult and demanding, especially during #COVID19, when we kept schools open and tried to keep students safe.
I enforced the mask mandate far more often than a rank-and-file police officer. I've probably been threatened and assaulted more times than many police officers too. And the statewide mobile phone ban? Guess who enforces that every single day.
So many of my colleagues have left teaching: re-trained or resigned due to burnout and stress. Who suffers? The students.
It's not about the pay. We're tired, and we need support. We're underfunded and under-resourced. We need to improve conditions for students. We need to fix the system.
A well-known scene: long-exposure light trails, red from the brake lights and white from oncoming headlights, of traffic travelling over Friarton Bridge, taken from the bridge over the M90 at Rhynd on the outskirts of Perth.
I'm really excited! I've just purchased tickets to see Eddi Reader in concert at The Perth Concert Hall. The gig is on Sunday, April 21st, 2024. This will be the first time I've seen her perform.
A review, hopefully with photos, will follow shortly afterwards.
I have not been sharing many garden updates because a more typical #Melbourne summer has arrived and we are battling weeks of no rain and some days over 35 degrees (nowhere near as bad as #Perth though).
I have been very busy with family and community projects but fortunately my husband has stepped in to water plants. Even so, as you can see in this photo of our #StreetGarden, the plants have shrunk and are really holding on quite grimly.
At Parliament House in #Perth Western Australia for a rally of civil society against proposed changes to the Environment Protection Act, making it easier for businesses to destroy our precious land.
The Fergusson Gallery, housed in Perth's old waterworks building. It displays the world's largest collection of artwork by the renowned Scottish artist, John Duncan Fergusson, in a building that is in many ways itself a work of art. More pics and info: https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/perth/fergussongallery/index.html
A Perth set of windows for #FensterFreitag - within the somewhat bizarre mock-Tudor shopping arcade, London Court. The gent in the middle is Raleigh, I believe.
Will be going to various museums, Rottnest Island/wadjemup and the Busso pier underwater experience, plus some beaches and breweries. No hiking/really long walks. Open to other tips!
New at my Patreon... I spent two days in the middle of nowhere, rolling across the Nullarbor Plain aboard the Indian Pacific train. Here's what it was like:
WWE ELIMINATION CHAMBER Discussion Thread 02/24/24
Tonight/This morning, WWE is LIVE from Perth, Australia with Elimination Chamber! The card includes:...