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.
My anenome is up and open. Bulbs are so great! It survived out on the #verge in #Perth over the summer, asleep under the mulch, and then comes back better than ever. #bloomscrolling
I'm feeling it's time for another picture from Australia.
When I was last there, this enormous sculpture by Marcus Canning stood at the entrance to Fremantle WA. It weighs about 66 tonnes and is known as Containbow (for obvious reasons).
It's a popular and cheery piece, but I believe there are plans to move it to make way for a new road bridge across the Swan River.
Almost hidden, yet in the heart of Perth, the Greyfriars Burial Ground is home to one of the best collections of post-Reformation gravestones anywhere in Scotland. It was established in 1580 on the site of a Franciscan friary. More pics and info: https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/perth/greyfriars/index.html
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.
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.
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
Huntingtower Castle, west of Perth, is a beautifully atmospheric time capsule. It was originally two separate tower houses built three metres apart that were joined together in the 1600s to form one. More pics and info: https://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/perth/huntingtower/index.html
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.
WWE ELIMINATION CHAMBER Discussion Thread 02/24/24
Tonight/This morning, WWE is LIVE from Perth, Australia with Elimination Chamber! The card includes:...