I send a student who has just told me to go 'F*** Yourself' down to the office. Half the time they're back within ten minutes as no one wants to mind them down there. In one case, the deputy informed me "he was too busy" and hung up! I'm dead serious. Most parents don't seem to care. For them, contributing to their child's education ends when they drop their little one off at the school gate or bus stop. Where is the teacher-parent communication?
- The pay.
I can earn almost twice as much in the career I'm moving into now. Enough said.
- The Respect.
Yeah it matters. I saw a film called 'two million minutes" that compared different education systems in different countries. Face it, Australia in breeds anti-intellectualism. Beyond any anecdotal evidence, one should go and research how much other countries such as Singapore, Norway and (yes it's true) the US invest in education as part of GDP. The message is clear. Teaching is not valued.
Best wishes,
Z... M...
Soon-to-be non-teacher
St Margaret's Anglican Girl's School: 29 July 2010 update: Principal resigns.
Cynthia May, former deputy principal of St Margaret's Anglican Girl's School, forwarded an email to her partner, who works at Brisbane Boy's College.
The email was from the former events co-ordinator at St Margaret's.
The email highlighted issues at St Margaret's, primarily the dismissal of four other staff in the past two years.
I have worked in numerous careers in different coutries and I have never before come across so many sackings, resignations and general unhappiness amongst staff, " the email said.
Ms May was sacked for "serious misconduct" for forwarding the email to her partner.
In April 2010 Ms May was seeking $186,450 for lost wages, vehicle allowance, superannuation and damage to her reputation.
Another, anonymous email, is understood to have alleged a bullying culture within the school.
In May 2010 Ms May's claim was settled out of court.
In June 2010 the principal of St Margaret's resigned.
Asked about the allegations of a bullying culture at the school, school council chairman Joe Gibson said that the school council had recently "consulted widely with the staff, parents and other community members' on the matter.
"(The Council) had heard... things they were concerned about, " Mr Gibson said.
Email touches off school legal stouch, Alison Sandy, P.3 The Courier-Mail: April 3-4 2010. Historical link preserved from the original page.
St Margaret's Anglican Girl's School rocked by resignation of principal Susan Simon, Margaret Wenham, The Courier-Mail: 30 July 2010. Historical link preserved from the original page.
St Andrew's Christian School: July 2010 update: Hazel Bell, science teacher, claims she was made redundant two weeks after reporting concerns about behaviour of Frank Bailey, the school principal. Frank Bailey now found guilty of second offence.
Frank Bailey, now 46, became principal of St Andrew's Christian School at Clarenza, near Grafton, in 2005.
Hazel Bell, a science teacher at the school, became concerned about Frank Bailey's interaction with students in late 2005, when he openly flouted the 'no touching' rule at the school.
Her husband, Jefferson Bell, contacted the Presbyterian Church of Australia, NSW, with their concerns.
In an email sent to the church in March 2006, Ms Bell and her husband raised a series of concerns, including the relationship between Bailey and the victim.
Ms Bell said the red flag really started waving for her when an item appeared in the school newsletter saying students had free will to love whoever they liked, and girls from broken homes were in particular need of a father figure as that was how their s--uality was determined.
But it was when Mr Bell saw a 15-year-old female student sit on Bailey's lap while out bowling with the church's youth group that the couple decided to act.
Fearing nothing was being done, he emailed a church staff member to inform them that Bailey was breaking the 'no contact' rule and inviting students to come to his house in the hours between school and youth group.
By November 2006, Hazel Bell was becoming increasingly frustrated with the lack of action regarding Bailey's behaviour with students.
She made what she considered to be a formal complaint to deputy principal David Johnston and the board with her concerns about Frank Bailey's inappropriate behaviour with female students.
Mr Johnston told Frank Bailey about Hazel Bell's concerns.
Frank Bailey became enraged.
Hazel Bell received two disciplinary letters over the next few days.
Two weeks later her position at the school was made redundant.
And little or nothing appeared to have been done to address Bailey's behaviour.
In 2007 two Year 12 students also voiced their concerns about Frank Bailey's behaviour to other students and to the deputy principal.
Their reports were not checked.
Frank Bailey expelled both of these students.
Hazel Bell laid a complaint about Bailey with the NSW Ombudsman's office, DOCS and Presbyterian Social Services.
Ms Bell said she wasn't notified of the outcome of the Ombudsman's investigation.
But four months later, in October 2007, Bailey resigned from the school, effective from the end of the year.
A month after tending his resignation, Bailey repeatedly assaulted a 16-year-old female student in his home over the course of a week.
In October 2009 Frank Bailey pleaded guilty to five counts of s-xual intercourse with a 16-year-old under his care over four days in 2007.
The girl's mother only found out about the assaults three months after they happened.
Her daughter wanted to tell her, but couldn't.
Instead, the daughter asked her boyfriend to tell her mother.
The mother said her reaction was instant and instinctive: “I told him to hang up the phone so I could call the police.”
Bailey was charged two months later.
During his cross-examination in the NSW District Court in Sydney yesterday, Bailey cried and shook uncontrollably as he expressed his remorse.
At the time of the offences, he thought he was in love with the victim and that she loved him, Bailey said.
Ms Shead noted that when Bailey saw a psychiatrist he had denied having feelings of romantic love for the teenager.
His barrister, Bob Webb, submitted Bailey was a candidate for parole.
He said Bailey had shown "the deepest contrition and remorse".
In July 2010 Frank Bailey was found guilty of of having non-consensual s-x with another 14-year-old female student in August 2006.
Bailey had convinced the girl's parents to let her stay in his family's home in 2006 'to sort out her behavioural problems'.
The girl did not initially report the assault because she was afraid no one would believe her.
Hazel Bell said she was sickened to have her suspicions about Frank Bailey confirmed.
And she feels angry because she did what she was legally required to do as a teacher but other people did nothing.
Hazel Bell and the two Year 12 students are taking legal action against the Presbyterian Church for the damage caused to their reputations, their potential career paths and their earning capacity by the failure to respond appropriately to their concerns.
Hazel Bell seems to have been driven out of work for trying to report a problem with the behaviour of her school principal.
In 2004 I also reported my concerns about the mental health of a Queensland school principal to Ken Smith, the Director-General of Education.
I discovered several years later, after a Freedom of Information search, that all copies of my letters to Ken Smith had simply been 'lost'.
There is a need to develop a safe and effective process by which a Queensland teacher - and a NSW Catholic school teacher - can report a problem with the behaviour of a school principal.
Teacher claims she raised alarm, Kirsty Allen, The Daily Examiner, 17 April 2009: http://www.dailyexaminer.com.au/story/2009/04/17/frank-bailey-hazel-bell-st-andrews-principal/ Historical link preserved from the original page.
Brave girls pay high price for exposing evil, Les Kennedy, The Sydney Morning Herald, 19 April, 2009.
Ex-principal Frank Bailey 'sorry' about s-x with pupil, AAP, The Australian, 16 October 2009: http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/ex-principal-frank-bailey-sorry-about-sex-with-pupil/story-e6frg6o6-1225787364244 Historical link preserved from the original page.
Bailey 'blamed victim' for s-x, (includes a copy of the teenage victim's testimony), finda, Sunshine Coast: 21 November 2009: http://www.finda.com.au/features/2009/11/21/bailey-said-this-is-your-fault-and-i-believed-him/ Historical link preserved from the original page.
Former principal Frank Bailey guilty of sex with student, AAP, 23 July 2010: http://www.news.com.au/breaking-news/former-principal-guilty-of-sex-with-student/story-e6frfku0-1225896199035 Historical link preserved from the original page.
Principal guilty of teen sexual assault, ABC News, 23 July 2010: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2010/07/23/2962836.htm Historical link preserved from the original page.
Teachers and their families discuss their working conditions.
I was a high school History and English teacher for 20 years.
I left in 2002 as I had lost my sense of humour and will to get up in the morning.
I now run a public library which presents different challenges.
I loved teaching, but found the endless paperwork and continuing increase of 'duties' to be overly onerous.
The current Junior History syllabus had been distorted to the point political correctness gone mad.
I found myself apologising to the children for the continued repetition and irrelevance and resorting to a meaningless magazine collage in a vague attempt to make the topic engaging in some small way.
I have nothing but praise for those who have stuck with teaching, but make sure you take care of your personal health.