EXTRA SUPPORT TO AUCKLAND SCHOOLS

The Government will have up to forty emergency standby primary teachers available in Auckland during the first month of the new school year.

Education Minister Wyatt Creech said the Auckland Teacher Supply Group will assist primary schools which had a serious staffing need despite doing everything possible to get teaching staff.

Mr Creech said the emergency teachers could cover vacancies not covered by other means or where a teacher due to fill a position was delayed until after the start of the term.

Former senior Auckland principal Bob Baird has been contracted to manage the last resort emergency pool. The majority of the teachers were from around New Zealand or Australians.

The Ministry of Education will provide the teachers with accommodation, transport, meals and other support during the month, said Mr Creech. We anticipate that some will move from the pool into long-term relieving or permanent jobs.

Mr Creech said Aucklands size, growth rate and school population increase of 4.9% had led to some schools facing staffing difficulties which were greater than elsewhere in the country.

The emergency teacher pool was part of a new package of assistance approved by the Government to help boards, principals and teachers in Auckland. In addition:

Three primary school principals have been seconded to the TeachNZ Northern Office for term one to help overseas teachers with classroom or personal problems or principals manage staffing pressures.

The Auckland College of Education Advisory Service has taken on two experienced senior educators for the first half of the year to support overseas teachers in the areas of the New Zealand curriculum, classroom management and classroom administration.
Settling into a new school, new city and new country all at once can be stressful, said Mr Creech. While many schools are very good at helping overseas teachers settle into their new lifestyles, numbers, time and circumstances may see some teachers or principals wanting to take advantage of this extra off-site advice.

Some schools will have several overseas teachers, and this assistance will ease the burden on principals and management teams in schools from the beginning of the term, he said.

The new support adds to the twenty other current initiatives to ensure every class has a teacher.

Mr Creech said information before Christmas showed there was enough local and overseas teachers available to fill demand.

It will become clearer in the next two weeks whether schools have acted quickly enough to fill the vacancies. Once principals return to their desks this week they will also have a better idea of how many teachers have picked up jobs over the holidays.

While schools may still have vacancies, there are also many good quality teachers seeking jobs - both from within New Zealand and overseas.

The Ministry of Education is also ensuring all schools have specific advice on how to deal with any unexpected vacancies.

END

For further information contact Anna Hughes work (04) 4719 819, home (04) 5628 216 or (025) 477 987.

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1997 Recruitment Support Checklist
This list summarises recruitment support initiatives announced in schools in previous newsletters, Education Gazette notices and circulars. Note the extension of the recruitment allowance to priority staffing schools to cover New Zealand trained teachers returning after an absence from the classroom.

All Schools
Overseas teacher relocation reimbursement up to $3000 (inc GST) for international relocation for a 20-week plus placement in any state/integrated school. Application forms from: School Staffing Section, National Office, Ministry of Education, PO Box 1666, Wellington. (See the principals checklist for overseas teacher recruitment in the December TeachNZ newsletter.)

Full credit for overseas teaching in state equivalent schools.

Beginning teacher release of 0.2 FTTE for 12 months overseas beginning teachers on same basis as domestic graduates.

Overseas teacher release of 0.1 FTTE for 10 school weeks on first appointment to a New Zealand school, if not a beginning teacher.

Education Gazette advertising reaches a national audience by post and a worldwide one via the Internet. Vacancy late listings column close one week after the main deadline.

Priority Staffing Schools
Priority staffing status establishes eligibility for some targeted initiatives. Applies to: all decile one schools and decile 2-4 schools in Northland, Auckland, Tokoroa, Gisborne, Wairoa, and South Island West Coast. Secondary positions have more than 80 percent of classroom time in hard-to-staff subjects. Other schools may apply for priority staffing status on a position-by-position basis.

Relocation reimbursement up to $3000 (inc GST) as above, for any domestic relocation of 20-weeks or more (up to $1500 (inc GST) for 6-20 weeks of relief teaching) to a priority staffing school. Paid when no eligibility to collective employment contract conditions exists.

Overseas finders fee up to $1300 (ex GST) reimbursed to priority staffing schools using Ministry-approved recruitment agencies for overseas recruitment or, with prior Ministry approval, for own international or domestic recruiting expenses.

Recruitment allowance of $2500 (inc GST) for priority staffing schools (not having staffing incentive allowance status) appointing New Zealand trained staff who either relocate to take up the position, or have been out of teaching for three or more years. Grant used as school sees fit, other than for salary enhancement, to help it settle the teacher in.

Help?!
Local Ministry of Education TeachNZ Liaison Officer (LO) or Manager National Operations (MNO) are available to assist schools with any teacher staffing matter. They also appreciate schools calls or faxes letting them know about developing staffing situations before they become acute. Northern: Ray Webb, Northern Manager TeachNZ; John Currie, LO; Ron Scott, MNO. Tel 09-377-7655, Fax 09-302-3020. Hamilton: Judy Fox, LO; Heather Colby, MNO. Tel 07-838 8823, Fax 07-838 3710. Wanganui: Charles Quirk, Liaison Officer; Anne Devonshire, MNO. Tel 06-345 5707, Fax 07-345 5817. Lower Hutt: Dave Carpenter, LO; Bruce Stephenson, LO; Alan Upston, MNO. Tel 04-566 1219, Fax 04-566 1944. Christchurch: Kelvin Smith, LO; John Mather, MNO. Tel 03-365 7386, Fax 03-364 1631. Dunedin: Dennis Hughes, LO; Michael Deaker, MNO. Tel 03-474 0152, Fax 03-479 0250.

Other useful contacts include: teacher advisory services, principals organisations, School Trustees Association and teacher union field officers.

Ministry Advice to Principals on Dealing with an Unexpected Vacancy
Principals returning to school to find an unexpected vacancy may need to act quickly. The Ministry of Education has provided this checklist to help them in their search for a relieving teacher:

Take time to analyse your position. How much time have you got? Does the position need to be filled on a short or long term basis?
Refer to your relievers list
Try your nearest College of Education. Are there any graduates still looking for jobs? Have they run a retraining course recently?
Ask your school staff to tap into their networks
Contact other colleagues/principals for possible relievers
Advertise in the local paper or on your local radio stations job line
Contact staffing agency for a local/overseas teacher to fill the vacancy
Advise your nearest Ministry of Education TeachNZ liaison officer about your difficulty.
Consider an uncertificated teacher until a certificated one is available
Consider a short term reorganisation to help cover the vacancy
Contact The Correspondence School. It can provide assignment resources and a phone link between one of its teachers and a school anywhere in the country at 24 hours notice.
In Auckland, call on the emergency standby pool via the Ministry of Education