Y05W39RC Get Help Is Smart

This week, you are exploring what it looks like to recognise a problem and make the smart decision to get help. You will read a short story to discover how one character works through hesitation and chooses to act — and what happens as a result. As you read, pay close attention to the moment the character makes her decision, and what tips the balance.

Literary — Realistic short story

A realistic short story is a made-up story that feels true to life because it places ordinary characters in everyday situations that many readers will recognise. Writers use this form to help readers connect emotionally and reflect on how people think and act when they face small but meaningful decisions. You will encounter a character's inner thoughts alongside what she observes and what she chooses to do, all unfolding in a natural sequence from noticing something to responding to it. The story moves forward in time through a single episode, and its meaning often builds through the gap between what a character almost does and what she actually does. As you read, your job is to track how the character's thinking shifts and what drives her to act the way she does.

Before You Read

  • The title names a specific action — think about what kind of situation might lead someone to walk over to a yard duty teacher, and what might make a person hesitate before doing so.
  • Think about situations where something does not look quite right — most people have experienced that quiet sense that something could go wrong, even when nothing has happened yet.
  • Because this story is told through a mix of a character's private thoughts and her actions, pay attention to both — what she thinks and what she does are equally important to understanding why the story ends the way it does.

While You Read

  • Follow the sequence of events carefully — notice what the character sees first, what she considers doing, and what she finally chooses.
  • Pay close attention to the character's inner thoughts during her moments of hesitation — these reveal the reasoning behind her eventual decision.
  • When the character reflects on what happened at the end of the story, slow down and read those lines carefully — this is where the story explains what it means.
  • If a moment feels brief or simple, do not rush past it — in stories like this, small decisions carry the most meaning.

Read With Purpose

  • Notice what the character says to herself before she decides to act — pay attention to which thoughts move her towards helping and which pull her away.
  • Follow what happens after the character gets help — notice how quickly the situation is resolved compared to how long she spent uncertain about what to do.
  • Pay attention to how the character feels at the very end — notice whether it matches what she expected to feel, and what that difference suggests about the decision she made.

Now read

The short story

~3 min read · ~457 words

Telling the Yard Duty Teacher

Amara had been watching the situation for a few minutes from across the playground. Two younger students were climbing the old storage shed at the far edge of the oval — the one with the loose roof panels that the maintenance team had been meaning to fix for weeks. One of them was already halfway up the side wall, gripping a rusted pipe for balance.

She felt a pull in two directions. Part of her said it was not her business. Part of her said it was.

She had seen things go wrong before. Not dramatically, not in any way she could easily describe — just the quiet sense that something was heading in a direction it should not. This felt like that.

For a moment she thought about calling out to the students herself, or about walking away and assuming a teacher had already seen. Both felt like easier options. But calling out might startle them, and walking away meant relying on something she could not be certain of.

There was a yard duty teacher — Ms Ellroy — standing near the canteen about forty metres away. Amara looked at her, then back at the shed, then at her again.

She walked over.

‘Ms Ellroy,’ she said, ‘I think there are a couple of younger kids climbing the storage shed. The one near the back fence. They’re pretty high up.’

Ms Ellroy did not dismiss her or ask if she was sure. She simply said, ‘Thank you, Amara,’ and moved in that direction with the calm, purposeful stride of someone who knew what to do.

Amara watched from where she stood.

Within a couple of minutes, the students were down, unhurt, and Ms Ellroy had radioed for someone to put a temporary barrier around the shed until it could be inspected. It had taken less time than Amara had spent hesitating.

Afterwards, Amara sat on the bench near the water bubblers and thought about the pull she had felt earlier. The part that said ‘it is not your business’ had not been wrong, exactly — she had not caused the situation and it had not been her responsibility to manage it. But it had been within her power to pass on what she could see to someone who was responsible.

That was different from interfering. That was just noticing and telling.

She thought about the time it had taken. Less than a minute to walk over. A few sentences. And the thing she had been uncertain about was already resolved.

She had wondered whether she would feel strange about it — like she had done something awkward or unnecessary. Instead she felt something quieter: the ordinary satisfaction of having made a sensible decision at a moment when it was easy not to.

Check your vocabulary knowledge

purposeful adj.
moving or acting with a clear, confident intention
hesitating v.
pausing because of uncertainty or doubt before acting
inspected v.
looked at carefully and officially to check for safety or problems
interfering v.
getting involved in a situation in a way that is unwanted or unhelpful
resolved v.
brought to a solution or conclusion so that it no longer causes concern