Amanda from school

It could be 1998. Student Amanda, year 7 has behavioural issues. I pass out a problem solving sheet with the hopes of engaging students and providing rewards (merits). The answer to one is "Kylie Minogue" and Amanda calls out "Kylie!" and I say, ok, but give me more, what kind of Kylie? "It is Kylie!" another student calls out "Kylie Minogue" and I say yes. "How come you give it to her, but not me?" Because, Amanda you had no 'Minogue'. "Well you have no balls" I try to deflect that but she perseveres. So I send her outside, and after a few minutes go to talk to her. She has decided not to talk at all. I explain I'm not letting her back in until she can rationally tell me what was up. Silence. I go inside and come back a few minutes later, to see if she had calmed down. More silence. I can't leave her outside, so I refer her to my head teacher, Helen Best. Amanda disappeared and only showed at the end of class to get her things, with Best following her. Best told me to let her go without talking to her. Then, after Amanda had gone, she told me the student had alleged I had sexually assaulted her verbally, in front of the class. I needed to fill out a report as to what had happened for procedural fairness.

The next day, I'm at school over forty minutes early. The Principal, Garland, asks me if I told her she had little tits. I said no, that is not the way I speak about students, or to students. Amanda's parents met with the Principal and demanded my sacking. I gradually was able to piece together what had happened, as weeks passed and she was left in my classroom, still canvassing others to back her story about what I has said to her.

Instead of carrying a normal school bag with books, she had a small shoulder bag/purse. Amanda rarely had the books she needed for class, or equipment, because her bag was too small. I asked her year adviser about it, Sean Donaghue, and he would later joke it was good that he didn't search her out and ask about her little bag. During class I had asked her about her not having the equipment she needed. I was not aware of other students saying to her that her breasts were small. They ask me about it and I, not knowing what had passed, saying the bag was small.

Years passed, Amanda was in year 11 and I had sport supervision, and she was placed in my sport of beach volleyball. Deputy Principal Kathleen Seto advises me she needs to observe a class. Suggesting it was to observe Amanda's behaviour. Seto feels that I dismiss the class too early, which was routine because they needed to change to go home. I'm later told that Seto was not observing Amanda, but observing me, and noted that I was not capable of supervising the sport, which was an outrageous slur that was designed to fit in with other fabrications put forward by the Principal and Best to have me dismissed as a teacher. I could not appeal the validity of the observations because the Principal retired that year.