From our Tumuaki / Principal

On Thursday last week many schools across Aotearoa New Zealand were closed as kaiako and tumuaki union members went on strike. This decision was not made lightly. Learning halted, families disrupted, a day's pay deducted; no-one wanted this. But it is needed. 

Here is an article written by a teacher who explains what they are struggling with in their teaching role, and how their argument is not about getting more pay but about getting more resourcing to support ākonga. This is what kaiako are fighting for.

Our primary kaiako and tumuaki are fighting for more learning support for our students with additional needs, and for more realistic staff to student ratios. The current ratios, created in 1996 when teaching looked very different, have our year 4-8 ākonga staffed on one teacher for every 29 students. For year 9 - 10 students this ratio drops to 1:23.5, for year 11 students it is 1:23, year 12 students are 1:18, and year 13 are 1:17. Somehow our year 4-8 tamariki are seen as needing fewer teachers than their younger and older counterparts. 

Teaching becomes more complex and increases in scope every year. More is added to the role as we understand more and we see what needs to be done. Increased anxiety and mental health issues for tamariki? Add this to the Health curriculum. Higher obesity rates and lower fitness levels? Increase PE and fitness in schools. Some students not getting what they need? Increase personalisation of learning. Higher drowning statistics? Water safety education in schools. Lower literacy rates? More literacy and increased testing in schools. Adding in the complexities brought about by Covid and the need for learning to be accessible offsite, this all makes teaching an increasingly complex role. 

Please don't confuse our fight with a lack of will to do this fantastic job. To be a teacher is a privilege. It is the most amazing role, keeping us laughing, learning and celebrating every day. But the will and moral drive to do this job should not be taken for granted. We need the resourcing to do the best we can for our tamariki. It's no more than our children deserve. 

Along with our kaiako, our tumuaki (principals) are fighting for better resourcing for our primary schools. Primary school staffing entitlements are 30% lower than secondary schools. Primary tumuaki wellbeing is suffering. This has been analysed through an annual principal survey since 2016, and over 72% of tumuaki work more than 50 hours per week. The government has been told for a number of years that more needs to be done to support school leaders. In 2019 the Tomorrow's Schools Review stated that the role of tumuaki is extremely demanding: “Our principals/tumuaki generally enjoy their work, and like the freedom they have to make decisions, but they often struggle with the size and complexity of their workload. They work long hours and have high stress levels.”

Most importantly, a road map exists to help the government with supporting tumuaki and schools. They do not have to come up with a plan or ask us what we need - it is already mapped out for them. In 2021 an independent review was commissioned into primary school staffing. The report, Pūaotanga, can be found here (I shared this in a previous editorial a few weeks ago). The report made a raft of recommendations, including schools receiving increased management staffing entitlement, an increase to administration support for principals, and financial and business management support, and a staged plan to reduce primary class sizes to align with the lower secondary school years. There were also recommendations for supporting Māori and Pacific ākonga and kaiako. 

Our fight is to begin enacting this plan. We hope you support us in getting what we need to ensure our tamariki have the best education we can give them. 

Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini - my strength is not that of an individual, but rather that of a collective. 

Ngā mihi, 

Urs Cunningham