The Principal is on the front desk and the Deputy Principal is teaching in the classroom - what's happening?!?

I wanted to touch base with you all because I know you've probably noticed that we've had a lot of different relievers around school recently. And sometimes the phone rings and rings and rings. We are being hit heavily by winter bugs - as is the whole community.

It's a tough old time at the moment, with influenza and COVID doing the rounds. This is having a huge impact on our amazing teaching and support staff, who are also parents themselves so sometimes they get sick and just as they are recovering, there are children in the house with coughs and sneezes!

We are so lucky to have a brilliant pool of relievers who are a real part of our school community, but even they are being impacted by sickness. Add onto that, we find ourselves in yet another teacher shortage. This is something we're feeling regularly, every year now. The long-term answer is to attract lots of bright, passionate young people into the profession. But why would they join when there are greener pastures and sunnier skies across the Tasman or more money in different industries?

My son, at 23, works in a trade and is on roughly $80,000 per year, with no formal training or qualifications - no apprenticeship completed (disappointing, but that's another story). A teacher with 1-2 years experience, and a degree behind them, is on $64,000. A teacher with 5-8 years experience might be on roughly $80,000. It's disappointing that our most experienced teachers, some of whom have been in the classroom for 30+ years and are at the top of the pay scale, have to rely on industrial action to get regular, reasonable pay increases. This is a problem that is not going away.

I've been thinking about this a lot, and it's kind of like trying to build a new house for our community. The teachers and nurses are the people who lay the foundation, build the walls, and put on the roof. They are the essential parts. We need to pay them properly for their expertise, skill, and sheer hard work. You can't expect to build a safe, secure house for a growing family if you don't invest in the foundation.

Unfortunately, it feels like the government is offering half-a-bag of cement for the whole house. Offering a 1% pay increase for three years to teachers is not an investment in the foundation. It devalues the people who are so important to our children's future.

We will keep doing our absolute best for your kids, but it's important that you know we are dealing with a really challenging situation. Thanks for your understanding and for being such a supportive community.

Nga mihi,

Andrea