Year 3 student Lacey-Mae Kaden only learned about persuasive writing this term.
Last Monday, after a school gala day was cancelled due to ongoing industrial action by ACT public school staff, she sat down to write a letter to the government titled "Why Teachers Should Be Given What They Deserve".
"The strikes are impacting students' learning harshly as well as teachers' health," she wrote.
All ACT public schools will shut for two hours on Thursday, September 24, to accommodate for a work stoppage by public school staff between 8.30am and 10.30am.
The ACT Education Directorate sent a letter to parents and carers last Thursday notifying them of the school closures, acknowledging that "school closures have significant impacts on families and these decisions are not taken lightly".
Many parents and carers of children at public schools across the ACT also received emails last week from schools explaining that parent-teacher interviews and learning journeys had been cancelled.
Learning journeys are student-led conferences between parents, students, and teachers that include classroom tours.
Angela Burroughs, president of the Australian Education Union's ACT branch, confirmed that the union had advised of a ban starting next week on these meetings, as well as other student-led and three-way conferences and written comments on formal reports.
"We encourage parents to continue communicating with teachers as they usually do," Ms Burroughs said. "You don't have to wait for a formal reporting period to make contact."
Veronica Elliot, executive officer of ACT Parents, said "parents and carers are disappointed" by the cancellation of these meetings.
"Everyday communication with teachers is important, but it isn't a complete substitute. A dedicated parent-teacher interview or learning journey creates time specifically to discuss and share a student's learning and progress.
"ACT Parents is asking the Canberra community to add its voice to our call to stop disruptions to teaching and learning. We want the Government to resolve bargaining and end the routine use of split, collapsed and flexed classes."
Lacey-Mae's letter argued for the government to address the practice of splitting and collapsing classes, which has become "chronic" in ACT public schools, according to Ms Burroughs.
At her school, Macgregor Primary School, Lacey-Mae has been in many split classes, where students are moved into other classes due to absent teachers and unavailability of relief teachers.
"We can't learn new things in split classes, because we don't stay doing the same [topic]," she told The Canberra Times.
"Because we keep going to new things, we make more mistakes and our grades go down."
Lacey-Mae also saw how split classes affected her teachers.
"My teacher has three kidneys meaning he gets sick easier so extra students in his class will make him more tired and more likely to get sick and be away from school," she wrote in her letter.
Lacey-Mae's parents said her passion in the letter is the result of a long year of working around industrial action.
"It's been a struggle figuring out alternative care during strike days," said Lacey-Mae's dad, Ash Kaden.
"She just thrives on learning and we don't want that to be limited in any way."
As learning journeys were not scheduled for this term, Macgregor Primary School has not been affected by the ban yet.
However, Mr Kaden said that teachers made contact last term, expecting industrial action to affect future learning journeys.
"It was quite hard on the teachers as well," he said.
"They had to make extra plans and then meet with us about progress they could predict for the student, as well as what's already been happening."
For Lacey-Mae, the most important thing is improving working conditions for her teachers.
"Remember the happier teachers are, the happier students are, the happier schools are," she concluded in her letter.
Why teachers should be given what they deserve!
I am writing to the government to tell them why teachers definitely deserve a pay rise and better working conditions as soon as possible. The strikes are impacting students' learning harshly as well as teachers' health. Students are over being disappointed when sports days and excursions are cancelled last minute due to strikes. Teachers are also getting tired from students being split meaning extra students are put in with different classes. Students are annoyed with normal learning interrupted due to being split. All of this leads to teacher exhaustion and sickness.
Firstly if teachers are at school regularly without strike disruptions less events will be cancelled like fun gala days and amazing excursions. It is very upsetting when these events get cancelled even for the teachers. These events are usually trained for and prepared for by students and teachers. Meaning the work was a waste of time. Especially when cancelled last minute. My sports teacher Tara has put in so much effort to prepare for a multi school gala day this week, which has been cancelled due to the stop work meeting this Thursday. That is not only wasted time for her but the many students who gave up lunch time to attend training in preparation for the special day.
Secondly, if schools are meeting the needs of teachers schools should have the ability to find a relief teacher when teachers are away. As we know when teachers are away classes are usually split. Meaning more students are put into other classes making it more difficult for the other teachers and students. Then normal learning is disrupted then students can't learn as much as they should. When teachers are regularly having more students they get tired which can lead to teachers getting sick more often and need even more days off from being exhausted. My teacher has three kidneys meaning he gets sick easier so extra students in his class will make him more tired and more likely to get sick and be away from school.
Thirdly, if teachers have a better work environment teachers will feel happier at work and students will have more time to focus on learning. Then teachers will be at school more often so students can get better results and have time to work on their mistakes instead of having to keep making the same mistakes over and over again. We all know the more time spent consistently learning new things in the right learning environment without disruptions like strikes will give the best results for students.
Finally, the sooner we think of the teachers and support them the sooner students' learning can be uninterrupted. Remember the happier teachers are, the happier students are, the happier schools are and this means more learning is happening in schools.
Lacey-Mae Kaden
Macgregor Primary School ACT
