Kaitaia principal says staff shortage means classes split when teachers sick

Kaitaia Primary School is one of many schools short of teachers and relievers. Photo / Peter Jackson

A Far North principal says a shortage of teachers and relievers means he has to split up classrooms at least once a week.

Brendon Morrissey, the Kaitaia Primary School principal, is one of many Northland teachers feeling the effect of the staffing shortage.

He advertised for two teaching positions at the end of term two (which ended in July) and received only one application - from someone overseas who had no primary school teaching experience.

As a result he had to ask four relief teachers to "job share" - two working part time in one classroom and two working part time in another.

"I would say that we are splitting a class at least once a week. Yesterday we had two classrooms we had to split - so that's 50 kids we have to put into other classrooms around the school," Morrissey said.

"It's going to impact on how much time a teacher can give to each student. The higher the numbers are, the less time a kid will get."

A staffing survey by the NZ Educational Institute (NZEI) found of the 40 Northland primary and intermediate principals who responded, 36 struggled to find relievers; 36 had to split classes because they couldn't find relievers; 37 had teachers coming to school sick because they could not get relief cover; 13 had advertised for teaching staff but had no suitable applicants; nine said they would be short of teaching staff next term while 19 said it was too early to say.

Morrissey said the effect of having to ask four relievers to teach meant he now had only two relievers, who could do only a couple of days each week.

"So if we can't get a reliever we have to split the classes. The upshot of that is that I have teachers coming to work sick because they don't want their class split, so that just makes things worse."

The survey comes after primary teachers and principals went on strike last month campaigning for better pay and working conditions.

Morrissey said pay was only part of the reason principals were struggling to find teachers.

"Teaching has changed drastically in the last 10 years. It used to be you could just show up for work and teach your class. Now you've got to take care of the kid, the whole kid.

"They come to school with all sorts of things that are or are not happening in their little lives. If you don't take time to look after those kids the last thing they're going to be concentrating on is learning."