Hi, I'm a full-time TAFE teacher. This is how it works with me.

As a teacher I absolutely recognise and totally respect that students have lives. Hey, students are people too, and so are teachers for that matter. When students have "issues" the key for me as a teacher to working through them is the student taking responsibility for their own learning and keeping lines of communication open, prompt and efficient.

For example: If you miss a lesson, give you teacher a quick phone call or email just to let them know you won't be in and when you think you'll be back. Remember it is your responsibly to organise to catch-up on any work you have missed, see your teacher as soon as you can. If you need an extension for something ask for it BEFORE the due date, not on the day it's due.

Your teacher will probably have quite strict policies about assessment that should be thoroughly explained to you at the beginning of your course. They may or may not strictly enforce the policy. For me, the more a student shows that are dedicated, proactive and communicative, the more flexible I am. It's when students hardly ever turn up with no explanation and constantly hand things in late with no explanation that I bring out the big guns (TAFE policy) and say, nope, not acceptable.

In my class at the moment I have a student that is taking 5 weeks holiday and missing a huge amount of class time and about 6 different assessment events. But, he has been incredibly organised and proactive and we have worked out an arrangement where he is attending some lessons with another class and sitting some special one-off resits for the assessments. So, anything can be organised if you give your teacher as much notice as you can and work with them on finding solutions.

Also, as a teacher I absolutely don't want to know any personal details about the situation. That is your business only, none of mine, and totally private.

All TAFEs have a counseling unit, so if things are getting really hectic and you're not coping, go and see them. Not only will they help you but they can let your teacher know that you've been to see them (no details) and ask you teacher to be flexible (if they're not being flexible already).

I hope that helps. I wish you all the very, very best for your studies. Good Luck! How exciting!