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Dear Parents and Caregivers

NZEI Full Day Strike

The New Zealand Primary teachers' and principals' union, the NZEI, has confirmed a full day strike for Wednesday 15th August. As a result, the Board of Trustees has decided to close the school on this day, due to there being no teachers. Please note, do not send your children to school on this day as there will be no teachers here. If an agreement is reached in negotiations between today and the strike day that changes this in any way, you will be notified immediately. 

So why are Teachers and Principals striking?

To ensure we have high quality teachers, lower class sizes and more resources for your children. I have outlined below details of the claim that will make significant differences for your children. They are as follows.

We need more teachers!

Schools are struggling to attract and retain great teachers. There is also a drop in the number of people choosing to train as teachers. This is happening because of years of political undervaluing of the profession. It won't just fix itself. Here at Riccarton we have seen a steady decline in the number of teachers applying for jobs over the last decade, with numbers applying once being around 50-70 people, to now less than 5-6 for some jobs.

Our claim

• Significant pay increases for teachers and principals over the course of the agreement, to entice new teachers to train and stay in the profession.

• Ensuring that primary school teachers retain pay parity with secondary teachers.

We need time to teach and time to lead.

Teachers and Principals are facing immense pressure, due to enormous workloads and more responsibilities, without any additional staffing or time.

Our Claim

Significant increases to staffing available to all schools to support leaders, classroom teachers and teachers working with students with additional learning needs. This will include;

• A new teacher staffing and resourcing entitlement for schools to employ and train a SENCO (a specific teacher to coordinate the learning of children with special educational needs).

• More resource teacher positions nationwide, to better reflect student need.

• Reducing the teacher:student ratio for year 4-8 students from 1:29 down to 1:25.

• Increasing the professional leadership staffing entitlement for schools

• More teacher resourcing for each class to give the regular teacher time to complete professional responsibilities, such as assessment, that are difficult to do whilst teaching a class.

Teachers and Principals are taking this action because we want the best for your children. New Zealand education has suffered from under resourcing over the last decade. It is interesting to note, that over the weekend the National Party introduced a new policy, with the aim of lowering class sizes! So it seems that both major political parties are in agreement about the need for improved funding for education. It seems that now is the time for action! 

Ngā mihi

Paul Irving

Principal - Tumuaki