2024 TEACHER SHORTAGES

I’m writing to update and inform you of one of the greatest challenges we face in education today.

Undoubtedly most parents would be aware that there is a pressing shortage of teachers in Australian schools at present, and the evolving landscape suggests that this situation is poised to deteriorate further into the future.

I’ve taken the time to put together a summary of available statistics and information to illuminate the current climate we are dealing with.

Monash University has recently unveiled significant insights into the challenging environment within which teachers operate, shedding light on several key concerns linked to the current shortage:

• Lack of Respect: A staggering 7 in 10 teachers admit to not feeling respected by the Australian public. This pervasive sentiment can undoubtedly influence their performance and job satisfaction.
• Safety Concerns: 1 in 4 teachers do not feel safe in their workplace, underscoring a serious issue that demands attention and resolution.
• Unmanageable Workload: Less than 14% of teachers report that their workload is manageable. This alarming statistic points to a systemic issue affecting the well-being and effectiveness of educators.
• Dwindling Satisfaction: The satisfaction levels among teachers have plummeted from 65.9% to 45.8% since 2019. Such a decline is concerning, especially considering the pivotal role teachers play in shaping the future of our children through education.
• Desire for Influence: Teachers express a collective desire for a voice in policy-making, emphasizing the need for their perspectives to be considered in shaping the educational landscape.

For the reasons above, schools across Australia are desperately trying to fill thousands of teacher vacancies which currently exist. And the greatest concern is we simply don’t have enough teachers to fill the vacancies that exist.

In 2022 a teacher supply and demand report confirmed:

• The forecast demand for teachers is expected to outpace supply by 2028 with a shortfall of 5036 teachers expected over this period.
• The number of teacher vacancies grew 49% in primary schools and 68% for secondary schools between 2021-2022.
• The number of applications per vacancy plummeted in primary school from 14.7 in 2021 to 5.3 in 2022 and 6.4 in 2021 to 2.8 in 2022 for secondary schools.
• The teacher attrition rate grew by almost 20% between 2021 and 2022.
• Nine out of ten school principals have reported facing extreme staffing challenges due to the current teacher shortages.

WHAT THIS MEANS FOR ST ITAS?

At St Ita’s we have definitely felt the impact of the current teacher shortages, however we have been fortunate that we have maintained a strong base of Casual Relief Teachers (CRT’S) that enjoy working in the St Ita’s learning community.

Casual Relief Teachers (CRT’s) are qualified teachers who chose to work on selected days they chose to work based on their capacity and lifestyle. Unlike full or part time classroom teachers, CRT’s work for a daily rate, do not have outside of hours teacher responsibilities such as parent teacher interviews, planning, meetings etc. They also forgo holiday pay, sick leave and holiday loading.

One of the biggest challenges we face at St Ita’s is building and maintaining a strong bank of CRT’s that we use to support staff who are in leadership roles, staff who are on sick leave, staff who are on long service leave or staff completing mandated assessments across a specific grade level. An example of this is when the class teacher performs a one-to-one assessment task with a student in their level whilst a CRT takes and teaches the class based on the lessons the class teacher has planned.

An important side note is that the replacement of teachers and education support staff takes place before the school day actually begins, from 6.00 am, and can take anywhere up to an hour and a half to fill positions. If we cannot source teachers, we have no option but to split classes or close down a specialist class for the day. We acknowledge that this can be disruptive as well as increasing the workload of teachers who are onsite working, but this is the only way we can provide a duty of care to all students.

LEADERSHIP STRUCTURE AT ST ITAS

Below is an outline of our staff who have a leadership role in our school and as part of the new award, are entitled to time out of the classroom to work on their leadership responsibilities. The school improvement staff will also step into the role of Principal or Deputy Principal if Steve or I are out. (Please see the leadership/school improvement framework below)

ST ITA’S EXECUTIVE LEADERSHIP TEAM

• Andrew Osler Principal
• Stephen Pitt Deputy Principal
• Robyn Lewry Religious Education Leader / Grade 5-6 teacher

ST ITA’S SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT TEAM

• Caitlin Noonan Learning Adjustment Leader/Curriculum Collective Leader F-2
• Jacqui Greco Collective Leader Grade 3-4/Numeracy Literacy Leader
• Kristy Boettcher: Collective leader Grade 5-6
• Hayden Davies: WSAPBS Whole school approach to positive behaviours support

I hope this goes some way to explain the current educational challenges we face. The upside to this is we will continue to navigate this challenging space and do our best to make sure all our students are given every opportunity to develop socially, emotionally, academically, physically and spiritually.

We thank you for your continued support and if you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s classroom teacher or myself for further clarity.

APPROPRIATE USE OF COMPUTERS AND DEVICES AT HOME

Last week we had to deal with an issue of concern with several of our senior students sharing inappropriate Audio and Video clips related to the topic “Bloody Mary”. Bloody Mary is a TikTok craze that is the legend of a ghost, who appears when the name Bloody Mary is chanted repeatedly into a mirror. Teachers were given feedback that senior kids were mucking around in the toilets and scaring younger students within our community.

I’ve spoken with all staff and asked them to speak with students using their devices at home to explore inappropriate content and reminded them of the responsibility signed off on the student user agreement.

Could I please ask all parents of students with devices at home to monitor the appropriateness of what their children are searching for and watching? The Bloody Mary craze is definitely not for primary-age students and we certainly don’t want it being shared around our learning community.

Whilst can strictly monitor what kids are looking up whilst at school, we need parent support to help us with what’s happening at home on their devices.

SCHOOL PHOTO FEEDBACK

Last week we had our school photos and our school captains and vice captains supported School Pix with the coordination of getting grades and family groups to the photographers via a fairly extensive timetable.

The feedback from the School Pix manager was really positive. He was amazed by our student leadership team in terms of organisation, support for other students, manners, and respect. He said in his 15 years on the job he has never worked with such a great bunch of students.

The manager made a point of meeting with the team at the end of the day to give them this excellent feedback personally and he presented them with a special award to show his appreciation.

Feedback like this shows that our Whole School Approach to Positive Behaviours is ingrained in our students and lived in our school. I'm so proud of our student leaders and congratulate all of them on behalf of the St Ita's learning community.

SCHOOLPIX WILL BE ONSITE THIS FRIDAY 7^th JJUNE FROM 9.30am – 11.30am TO TAKE INDIVIDUAL AND SIBLING PHOTOS OF CHILDREN WHO WERE ABSENT LAST WEEK

NEW SCHOOL BUILD

Some great build news, the block work has started on the new build and it looks amazing. The good news is that most of the external work is completed and a lot of the work going forward will be interior fit-outs which won’t be affected by rain. According to “Ben the Builder” we are on track for completion by October. It’s a great addition to our school and I’ve asked the architect James if I can have a floor plan to share with our community. Watch this space ?

IMPORTANT DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

1. Monday 10th June - King's Birthday
2. Tuesday 11th June - Pupil Free day
3. Thursday 27th June - Last day Term 2
4. Friday 28th June - Pupil free day
5. Monday 15th July - Pupil free day
6. Tuesday 16th July - Term 3 starts all students
7. Friday 20th Sept - Last day Term 3
8. Monday 7th Oct - Term 4 starts all students
9. Monday 4th Nov - Pupil free day
10. Tuesday 5th Nov - Melbourne Cup
11. Tuesday 17th Dec - Last day term 4