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Dear Mr. Baillieu,

I’m incredibly disappointed that our state government is not responding to teachers’ pleas for adequate remuneration and firm support.

Teachers are an extremely valuable part of Victoria, working hard to ensure our youngest Victorians have a positive,...

An open letter to Ted Baillieu:

Dear Mr. Baillieu,

I'm incredibly disappointed that our state government is not responding to teachers' pleas for adequate remuneration and firm support.

Teachers are an extremely valuable part of Victoria, working hard to ensure our youngest Victorians have a positive, enriching experience at school. They are also responsible for helping mould the leaders of tomorrow.

As a parent of a child at primary school, I have witnessed the dedication and enthusiasm of my school's staff on many different occasions.

I have seen teachers all around the school working tirelessly to make the learning environment at Spensley Street PS as engaging and enriching as possible and school life a positive experience for everyone.

I have seen the extra hours they put into collaborative projects between classes, lunchtimes and after-hours work spent creating colourful displays so that our children’s work is validated and their classroom space is beautiful to be in. I have seen them chatting to concerned parents before and after school, attending camps, weekend excursions and school festivals to bolster the community spirit.

I know that beyond these few things, there are many other demands on our teachers, outside of classroom teaching, that we parents never see: the regular meetings, the curriculum planning, the corrections and the report writing. Teachers do a lot more than their 38 hour pay week allows.

As a parent, I have felt the disappointing by-products of industrial action keenly, too – receiving my son's report without written comments last year was incredibly frustrating, and now we are faced with a year of cutbacks to teacher time, and student opportunity. Already the students at our school are missing out on aspects of school life that are imperative to their learning. However, as inconvenient and frustrating as it is, for me it serves to highlight the value of all our school staff and the work they do. I firmly support their stop work tomorrow. All Victorian teachers deserve the pay deal that your government promised. They deserve a working environment that helps them continue to create the best learning environment for our children.

I’ll be marching alongside them on Thursday, and I urge you to think about our kids as you negotiate with the AEU. Supporting teachers means supporting kids too.

Regards,

Kate Turner

A letter to the fantastic teachers and support staff at my son's school:

To all teachers and staff at SSPS, I’m a relatively new(ish) parent to the SSPS family, as my son began his school journey in Prep last year. But as a parent who has witnessed your dedication and enthusiasm on many different occasions, I’d like to offer this small letter to show my family’s support for your continued industrial action this week. As a parent, I have seen teachers working tirelessly to make the learning environment at SSPS as engaging and enriching as possible, and school life a positive experience for everyone. I have seen the extra hours you put into collaborative projects between classes, the lunchtimes and after-hours work spent creating colourful displays so that our children’s work is validated and their classroom space is beautiful to be in. I have seen you chatting to concerned parents before and after school, attending camps, weekend excursions and school festivals to bolster the community spirit. And we do have such a great community spirit at SSPS, don’t we?! I know that beyond these few things, there are many other demands on teachers that we parents never see: the regular meetings, the curriculum planning, the corrections and the report writing, to name a few. As a parent, I have felt the disappointing by-products of industrial action keenly. However, as inconvenient and frustrating as it is, for me it serves to highlight the value of all our school staff and the work you do. I firmly support your stop work this week. All Victorian teachers deserve the pay deal that the Baillieu government promised, and a positive working environment that helps you continue to create the best school environment for our children. I’ll be marching alongside you all on Thursday, and I wish you well for a positive outcome as negotiations for better conditions continue. I’m sure there are many other parents who would echo my sentiments. Kind regards, Kate Turner

#teacher #teacher strike #industrial action #Baillieu #keep the promise #victoria #pay #conditions #education #children #work #learning #AEU

acekidscakes-blog

And here is my own version of the castle cake, made a couple of years ago for my son’s birthday. Definitely not as dreamy and whimsical as the colour palette of my friend Sally’s, but my son was adamant it had to be grey (like a REAL castle). I’m surprised I got away with the colourful turrets to be honest. Most likely his love of lollies outweighed his desire for authenticity!

acekidscakes-blog

This brilliant cake was made by a very talented friend, Sally Harris, for her daughter’s recent birthday. Isn’t it just the cake of childhood dreams? It’s exactly the kind of cake I’d have swooned over as a child, and I definitely know my daughter would have adored it. Not only because it’s pink and purple AND sparkly, but the details are sure to spark the imaginations of any child (big or small!). My favourites are the marshmallow trees. I’m a musk stick fan from way back!

Love your work Sal. Look forward to blogging more of your creations in the future. But it’s a few more months until October (luckily for you!)

Kate x