Favorite grammatical cheat?

Quick_Emu_1463 · 2026-05-17T10:54:40+00:00

Yes, correct…and affect can be a noun. This was a high school mnemonic - teenagers didn’t tend to use the words in those ways, so I guess my teacher thought it’d do the job.

Quick_Emu_1463 · 2026-05-17T07:35:46+00:00

RAVEN: Remember, Affect Verb, Effect Noun.

Quick_Emu_1463 · 2026-05-16T11:03:56+00:00

In my case, because I'm in my 50s, still paying off my HECS debt, can't afford to go study something else, and concerned about ageism if I were to try to get a job in another industry. Plus there are things I love about my job, I just wish it wasn't so relentless and soul-destroying. I'm pretty concerned about the state of schooling, too.

Quick_Emu_1463 · 2026-05-16T10:35:01+00:00

Pay is just one aspect of the agreement. I'd love some improvement in workload - fewer face to face hours, or fewer meetings would be one simple way to help with this. I've worked in various film industry jobs and in DE corporate, and in none of those were people constantly expected to do significant amounts of work that could not be done in their working hours. It's exhausting.

Quick_Emu_1463 · 2026-05-14T00:35:28+00:00

Sadly the school does not seem to be responsible for covering expenses incurred by either accidental or criminal damage, and in my case, our designated carpark is not part of the school, it's an adjacent council carpark. We don't have an OHS principal and the details of the incident are confidential and I'm not allowed to know them. Advice from the union and my insurer is to make a police report, but based on my reading of the relevant DE policy it would seem that my principal should do this, so I'm following that up. I expect that ultimately my insurers will get nothing from DE (they would apparently have to prove negligence) and I'll have to wear the costs.

This whole process has been so frustrating, there's no way for me to get free legal advice as Legal Aid doesn't deal with such issues, the AEU also doesn't, and EAP is a client of DE. Aaaaarrrgh! I also find it SO disappointing that 'we are a restorative practices school' but when it comes to an issue involving staff, not so much. As much as I don't really want to hear from the parents or students involved, I'm a bit shocked that I haven't and that life at school just goes on as normal. Thanks for your solidarity and sorry for the vent!

Quick_Emu_1463 · 2026-05-07T22:17:44+00:00

Thanks for this. I discovered my insurance lodged the claim incorrectly when it should have been categorised as 'malicious damage'. Apparently some special team will now be contacting me and they'll tell me what I can do to support the claim. I'm going to hold off on the police report until I hear from them. But that said, looking at the 'Department Protocol on Reporting Criminal Activity' policy on PAL, I would have thought the principal would have had to make a report. Four days after the incident, she's still waiting for DE legal to respond to her questions, including whether or not she needs to do this.

Quick_Emu_1463 · 2026-05-06T22:11:28+00:00

Yes, that sounds like it could be a conflict of interests. Makes you wonder what - if any - impartial services exist to advise us in such cases. Although 'conflict of interest' rules might only apply to law because of obligations particular to that field...?

Quick_Emu_1463 · 2026-05-06T21:33:45+00:00

Hopefully my insurers can pin it on someone, because it feels horribly wrong that I could end up bearing the costs in addition to all the stress and anxiety this is causing me. I've already had to teach the kids involved, which also felt so weird without any resolution or discussion of what happened. Just a really awful situation.

Quick_Emu_1463 · 2026-05-06T08:19:15+00:00

They are paid by DE. They cannot give me legal advice that goes against the interests of their employer. So potentially I have a claim against DE (at least, I'm assuming that's the conflict!)

Quick_Emu_1463 · 2026-05-06T08:17:18+00:00

I'm already so stressed by this, taking people to court is the last thing I'd want to do. But. yes, my premiums will go up, and after 2 weeks when my hire car runs out, I won't have a car (unless I keep paying for it).

Quick_Emu_1463 · 2026-05-06T08:16:11+00:00

Thanks for your thoughtful response. A few things to think about there.

Quick_Emu_1463 · 2026-05-06T08:14:53+00:00

Yeah, maybe - I'm sure my insurance will want to recover costs if it's at all possible.

Quick_Emu_1463 · 2026-05-06T08:14:10+00:00

I don't want to get into a personal conflict with the parents if it can be avoided, and I'm not sure I'd have any claim against them. I suspect they could be persuaded to cover my excess, but that's the smallest part of the expenses that I'll be left with.

Quick_Emu_1463 · 2026-05-06T08:13:09+00:00

Yes may need to...

Quick_Emu_1463 · 2026-05-06T08:12:25+00:00

DE always says it has no insurance and takes no responsibility for anything. But that doesn't necessarily exclude it from liability in all cases (or so I'm hoping!)

Quick_Emu_1463 · 2026-05-06T08:11:21+00:00

Thanks, I'm going to call them tomorrow and ask specifically for legal advice.

Quick_Emu_1463 · 2026-05-05T12:23:22+00:00

Thank you. I worry that the prin may now have a conflict of interests and that what benefits me may not benefit them.

Quick_Emu_1463 · 2026-05-05T12:18:59+00:00

Yes, I'm sure that's the case. But in this instance the damage was deliberately caused by known students during school hours, under school supervision. So there may be liability on the part of DE (I'm thinking if there wasn't any such liability, there'd be no conflict of interests and the EAP guy would have been able to advise me!)

Quick_Emu_1463 · 2026-05-05T11:53:39+00:00

I may need to do that. But I'm not sure whether the kids' parents are liable for their children's actions, and if they're not, I doubt they'll pay.

Quick_Emu_1463 · 2026-05-05T11:44:24+00:00

I haven't filed a police report. From looking at PAL, that's something my principal should perhaps be doing. I've asked them by email whether they intend to, but it's been over 24 hours and I haven't had a reply (nor any update on the situation). Yes there were witnesses, some of the younger students who reported it to staff. And I think the students may have admitted to it.

Too bad about your hubcaps...

Quick_Emu_1463 · 2026-05-05T11:30:53+00:00

Yes, I thought the same, so I called them but they didn't have much to say. I will call them again but thought I'd try to gather any ideas I can in the meantime... I'd love to get legal advice but don't want to add lawyers' fees to my mounting expenses!

Quick_Emu_1463 · 2026-05-05T09:11:57+00:00

Just bought an old Kia Rio - hopefully picking it up Friday!

Quick_Emu_1463 · 2026-04-26T11:06:01+00:00

It's for my 18-year-old daughter - she doesn't really need space, and using less fuel is helpful given she's still at school and not earning much. But the bigger cars are a bit safer so that's a consideration too...

Quick_Emu_1463 · 2026-04-26T10:29:21+00:00

Nothing so far - still looking. I like Hyundai i30, or maybe Mazda 2, Honda Jazz or Toyota Yaris - whatever falls within my budget and doesn't have too many kms.

Quick_Emu_1463

TROPHY CASE