Hi everyone - my name is Marnie Wilton - I'm Mum to Abe (Room 11) and Jim (Room 2). I'm very grateful that the school has let me post this blurb on the newsletter about an issue that I feel really concerned about - and I'm really hoping other Konini parents/whanau share my concern too. I'm talking about the huge teacher shortage that is happening at the moment - and I believe is only going to get worse unless the government does something to address it.
I absolutely love our school, I believe we have great teachers who are incredibly dedicated and work extremely hard. When I look around at what our teachers do every day- how much they do outside of class time, how much stress they are under to fulfill the demands of their job, and just how MUCH they put into educating our kids, I am really grateful. But at the same time, I'm worried - because the pay and conditions that the government offers teachers simply is not enough to attract or keep people teaching - and our kids are the ones who will suffer for it. Teacher trainee numbers are down, teachers are leaving - something needs to be done - and quick!
I was sitting at home wondering what I could do to help show our teachers that I'm 100% behind them, and then saw that a new facebook group had been started called "I back the teachers". I joined and started to spread the word - the group has grown in two days to over 1300 members - its heartening to see the posts on the group, from parents/whanau and our wider community who are all saying "its time to start valuing our teachers so we can value our kids".
I know there are LOADS of parents out there who support teachers and believe the government needs to step up and address the issues- but I think a lot of us are struggling to know HOW we can help and WHAT we can do...joining this group is a great way to show your support! So if you would like to join here is the link: https://www.facebook.com/groups/ibacktheteachers/ Thanks for reading this.