Moree East Public School principal Kiernan Houlahan, Lynda Shearer, Peter James and John Irving under one of the school’s hanging art forms.

Staffing issues outlined to DET

By Owen Hasler

A joint Federation and Department of Education and Training fact-finding tour took place in the New England region May 12 to 14.

School Staffing relieving Assistant Director Lynda Shearer, school staffing liaison officer Peter James and Federation Assistant General Secretary (Schools) John Irving visited a number of schools including Bingara Central School, Ross Hill Public School, Warialda High School, Moree East Public School, Moree Secondary College, Pallamallawa Public School, Boggabilla Central School and Ashford Central School.

Principals and teachers in those schools were given the opportunity to raise individual matters pertaining to themselves or general staffing matters including recruitment and retention issues.

This interchange proved to be a valuable means of highlighting areas of concern and providing some possible means of addressing those concerns.

Ms Shearer emphasised that more than 8000 transactions were completed in the last staffing cycle and while there had been a number of matters which caused concern among members the overall operation could be considered, in her opinion, the best for a number of years.

Ms Shearer indicated she was pleased to be able to address a number of individual concerns during the trip and would be following them up upon her return to the Blacktown headquarters.

Major issues of general concern raised by various staff and schools included:

1. The availability of casual relief in their schools. Some teachers saw the introduction of the Local Area Relief Program as a good idea poorly implemented. More experienced staff and the offer of permanent employment for the teachers involved would ensure a better result for the schools involved.

2. Schools with teacher mentors believed that this had been a positive program achieving good results for the large numbers of beginning teachers in their schools.

3. The difficulty in attracting teachers to rural areas has produced shortages in some subject areas in some schools. The fact that one school had seen nine social science teachers decline a substantive position indicates the reluctance of many teachers to leave coastal locations for rural appointments.

This situation led to possible solutions including:

a) the re-introduction of compulsory rural service for teachers (akin to that which operated in NSW in the 1960s and 1970s and still operates in Queensland).

b) The need for staffing recruitment officers to fully inform teachers of the locations of schools, conditions pertaining to those schools and the different demands of teaching in isolated and rural communities as part of the recruitment process.

c)The need for both an induction program when commencing in many rural schools, particularly those with significant indigenous populations, and an exit program which prepares teachers for their return to larger urban schools.

4. The right of teachers to have two concurrent applications for transfer (including principals) at the same promotions level or a demotion. Recent events had pointed to contradictory advice in this area with the likely disadvantaging of some applicants, especially where schools were under review and reclassified when the current incumbent relinquished the position.

5. Succession plans for principals in hard to staff schools. The need for such a program is emphasised by high stress levels and demands on many principals as reflected by a number of principals being on sick leave for stress related illness at the present time.

One suggestion in this area included the right for principals operating under the Rural Leadership Program being able to negotiate a further extension of contract after completion of the minimum contractual period. Upon completion of this extended period, principals could then transfer at their higher status (and salary) level.

Such a program would recognize the extra demands that a wide number of school initiatives (for example pre schools, early literacy programs, crèches for mothers, Priority Action Schools Program and Priority Schools Funding Program and so on) place on the limited number of executives in these schools.

6. The availability and cost of teacher housing. This perennial issue was highlighted in Moree where houses range from $250 to $300 per week, significantly more than other rural communities such as Trangie (cost $120).

Teachers in Moree (which do not receive the recently introduced rental subsidy -- 90 per cent for 8 point schools and 70 per cent for 6 point schools -- as it is a 4 point school) see this as a distinct disincentive for experienced teachers to accept transfers to Moree. They believe that rents should be equitable across the state, not based on property values, and that teachers who utilise private accommodation should be eligible for the subsidy.

Whilst no immediate resolution to these issues is anticipated in the short term the opportunity to outline their concerns was appreciated by the teachers who attended and addressed the meetings.

Owen Hasler is a Country Organiser.