Supporting Small Schools

Supporting Small Schools: A Call to Action for Our Members

We are reaching out to highlight a critical issue affecting small schools in NSW – inadequate staffing support. Small schools, including K-6 schools, infant schools with limited enrolment, and Environmental Education Centres (EECs), form the backbone of public education in many regional, remote, and even urban areas. We represent a quarter of all public schools and play a vital role in fostering the social, cultural, and sporting life of our communities.

However, the current Department of Education staffing formulas fail to address the unique challenges faced by small schools.

This campaign is about advocating for a fairer staffing model for small schools. By filling in the form below we will add your voice to let the government know these concerns affect everyone in NSW.

Together, we can make a difference for our schools, our students, and the communities we serve. Let your voice be heard.

Fill in your details below and we’ll make them hear our collective voices!

Support Small Schools

Name(Required)

This is the email template that will be sent to both the Deputy Premier and Premier.

Dear Chris Minns/Prue Car

Small schools are a key provision within the NSW public education system which includes K-6 and infants schools with limited enrolments as well as Environmental Education Centres (EECs).

We make up 25 per cent of all public schools and are a vital part of our education system. We serve as the cornerstone of access to public education in rural, remote and urban areas contributing to the social, cultural and sporting life of the local community.

However, the NSW Department of Education school staffing entitlement formulas do not provide adequate support for our students who are often required to learn within multi-stage classes.

Further, inadequate staffing ratios contribute to unique WHS and Duty of Care pressures.

Meanwhile, the inequitable staffing model also results in difficulties in accessing and engaging in professional learning which exacerbates workload in a time of significant curriculum reform.

Multi-stage classes

The current entitlement formulas necessitate the use of composite classes of three or more academic years, requiring teachers to teach across both ages and curriculum stages. To address this need, teachers should be allocated in such a way as to ensure that, in cases where composite classes of three or more academic years are required, no class should exceed 15 students.

Professional development

Access to high quality professional learning is important for all teachers but especially so in small schools because of the difficulties in accessing collegial opportunities on site. Moreover, local curriculum design, policy development and professional learning in small schools is required to be implemented in the same manner as in larger schools. However, lower staffing numbers, places excessive demands on teachers in small schools.

WHS and Duty of Care

The unique context of small schools was recognised in 2006 when the Department of Education introduced funding to facilitate two adults to be on site each day. However, while this may have ameliorated some of the WHS risks associated with having only one adult in often isolated schools, this does not take into consideration the impact of unplanned absences. Further, as the two persons on site requirement does not extend to two teachers, legal obligations and duty of care requirements remain unsustainable.

To enable small schools to provide high quality education for all students in these settings, to address the unique WHS and duty of care demands and facilitate high quality, high impact professional learning, the Department should:

  • provide a base staffing entitlement of two full-time teachers as a minimum, and
  • deliver teaching principals a reduction in face-to-face teaching by a minimum of 50 per cent, regardless of the school’s enrolments to meet the ever-increasing demands of a Teaching Principal.

We call on the Government to act in the best interest of small schools and instruct the Department of Education to implement this necessary change in staffing and release time to ensure that we have adequate permanent staffing and resources necessary to meet the needs of all students.

We matter, our students matter, our schools matter.

Yours sincerely

[Your Name]
[Your Workplace]

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