“On the day of my mother’s funeral, I went home and wrote reports”, Kate says. She’s a public high school teacher and, along with 50,000 others, many also from Catholic schools, she’s striking to demand better pay and reduced workloads from the New South Wales government.

The first major teachers’ strike in NSW for ten years is set to go ahead on 7 December. All indications are that it will be well supported among the Teachers Federation’s 60,000 plus members and bring widespread stoppage to schools across the state.