Over the past few weeks there has been quite a bit of speculation as to the reasons behind Australia Street Infants School’s quite high staff turnover over the past 2 years. This speculation has also been heightened in light of one teacher’s permanent appointment early this term at our school necessitating yet another change of staff.

I understand the anxiety this causes any school community and I thought I would address these concerns publically as I feel that it is important for our community to understand the reasons for this.

Of the staff members who have left Australia Street Infants School, they have all been teaching at the school for between 3 years and 14 years. The usual time a teacher spends in any school early in their career tends to be on average between 3 – 5 years.  So we are doing well on this front!

In addition to this there is currently a very large number of teachers in schools in the Inner West who are taking accumulated long service leave with a view to retiring. This current situation has been something that has been predicted about 5 years ago as a real issue for schools by the Senior Officers of the NSW Department of Education and Training (DET). Once upon a time this was just a prediction …  now … it is actually happening and rapidly.

What does this mean to Australia Street you might ask? Well two things… Firstly the number of experienced staff in the Inner west is depleting  quickly making sourcing experienced staff quite challenging and secondly it is creating a large number of vacant positions in the executive levels of the school based teaching service at the level of Assistant Principal, Deputy Principal and Principal. These positions are attracting teachers with between 5 – 10 years experience as they seek to advance their teaching career which is what the Department of Education and Training as a system needs.  

So back to Australia Street  … Whilst I am committed to staff retention and continuity… equally it is my role to support the career development of teachers  who seek advancement of which I am proud of the achievements of our staff that have been presented with promotions positions in recent times. In this regard teachers who have left the school over the past 2 years…  under my guidance and mentorship …  all have been successful in gaining promotions positions both in primary schools and State office levels of the DET.

In fact through a rigorous program of staff professional development which I have implemented, teachers at Australia Street Infants School are recognised within the DET system as being outstanding teachers and as a result have achieved a range of promotions positions through their own merits at interview which have included:

Two teachers attaining promotions to Assistant Principal level Positions in both local and regional primary schools

One teacher attaining a Senior Education Officer – Level  1 Consultant Position in the NSW DET State Curriculum Directorate

One teacher attaining an Acting Principal Position in an Inner-west school

One teacher attaining a selective Year 6 teacher (OC) position in an Inner-west School.

This is in my view an excellent record that reflects on the standards we set at Australia Street Infants School. In addition my record of supporting teacher promotions and capacity for developing teachers to a very high standard has been recognised by the Teacher Accreditation Body  “The NSW Institute of Teachers” where I am an external assessor for the accreditation of new scheme teachers, whilst also being equally recognised by the DET through being appointed as a Principal Mentor for the Executive Development and Leadership Program for aspiring executives wishing to undertake either Deputy Principal or Principal positions, as well as being a Principal Mentor for the Principal Induction Program for newly appointed Principals held annually.

Whilst Australia Street has lost their expertise, we have also gained significant new expertise moving the school forward. I am very proud of the achievements of staff that have undertaken new challenges in new settings and excited to work with a range of new teachers that bring a renewed vigour and expertise to the school. This I feel  is a reflection of  both the way staff are appointed and professionally developed at Australia Street Infants School which as parents, are fortunate to have such outstanding teachers for your children.  

As to our new or recently appointmented staff… I only select the very best teachers in consultation with the ASSCO President (as it relates to permanent positions) in which I see a potential that can be developed to a very high standard. I have a commitment to the school that only the very best teachers are appointed who I feel are capable of delivering the highest standard of teaching and learning for our students.  

This has already been validated and evident with parents in Chelmsford being very disappointed in the departure of Stephanie Watson due to a permanent appointment to Kyeemagh Infants School which was out of the control of the school and a surprise to Stephanie who had not been expecting it either. 

Whilst I acknowledge the pace of change in our school staff has not been ideal as every new staff member does bring a level of induction, support and careful supervision, I do feel that again we have a stable team outstanding team of teachers of the highest order. A staff I am proud of.

I envisage that over the coming year,   our new and continuing staff will deliver academic and social programs that will meet and hopefully exceed the expectations of our community. It is inevitable  that there will be some bumps along way, although that is true of all schools.

The main task ahead is to ensure that everyone of our students reach their highest potential in a community that is committed and cares for them. This is what we need to focus our attention to and this is something I am confident that we will deliver together as a community over the course of the coming school year.

Mr.Bernard Cheng: Principal

If you would like to comment on this post, feel free to email the school principal at bernard.cheng@det.nsw.edu.au

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