Kerikeri High School had to roster students home this month amid staff sickness. Photo / NZME
Kerikeri High School had to roster students home this month amid staff sickness. Photo / NZME
The worst is not yet over as sickness continues to take hold across Northland schools, forcing some to roster students home as a last resort.
Principals say it’s a mixture of short staffing, an ageing workforce, and little support that has exacerbated the issue.
A definitive shift in mindset on how health and wellbeing are treated within schools post Covid has also been identified as a trigger.
Despite efforts to remain fully open to all students, one of the region’s biggest schools was forced to roster students home amid staff sickness this month.
Kerikeri High School principal Mike Clent said since the beginning of term three, he had noticed increased staff sickness.
“I’d describe it as a perfect storm. We’ve got a lot of staff illness and not as many relievers available.
“We were using a significant amount of staff time to cover classes for unwell colleagues. We’ve reached a point where we can’t sustain that [in the] short term.”
On Thursday, August 8, the school announced it would roster students home on different days — not dissimilar to methods undertaken by Tikipunga High School during a similar crisis last term.
Clent described the initiative as a “circuit breaker” hoping to bring more staff back through the doors.
It was a last resort, but carefully considered amid a period of disruption, he said.
NCEA Level 1 students remained in school due to their upcoming assessments, and Year 7 and 8 students also remained because their age would force whanāu to make alternative work arrangements.
Clent said the school community had been “really understanding” and “supportive” during the time.
Until now the school had had a reasonable pool of relievers to call upon, he said.
Efforts to keep classrooms taught meant teachers were using non-timetabled time to cover classes for their colleagues.
Te Manihi Tumuaki Northland Principals’ Association chairwoman Natasha Hemara said staffing was at the “top of the agenda” for principals.
She identified Northland as a hard-to-staff area and said she had yet to see a strategic plan from the Government to address the shortage of relief teachers.
Furthermore, Hemara said the attitudes to teaching while sick had shifted post Covid.
“For many years teachers and schools just trucked on and I think we’re more aware now as a community that going to school sick is not okay.
“I was raised in a family household where you just went to work no matter what, you have that value system instilled in you. [But] we’ve had that reframed in the last few years.”
Te Manihi Tumuaki Northland Principals’ Association chairwoman Natasha Hemara, who is the principal at Kamo High School, cited a “disconnect” with pay scales for teaching graduates. Photo / Michael Cunningham
“You have to look at it [and question] was it really healthy asking people to suck it up and move forward?
“We have to be good employers and we have to be caring of our staff and our community.”
Despite the change in attitude, there weren’t necessarily enough staff to fill the gaps.
“The reality is we have to have someone in front of our young people, otherwise it can’t go on.”
It begged the question as to whether the framework used to run operations was still serving its purpose, she said.
She was not surprised schools were having to roster students home and cited a “disconnect” with pay scales for teaching graduates.
There were not enough students training to fill gaps and the workforce was ageing in large numbers.
“That’s been happening for 10 years and add on top of that a new framework for looking at wellbeing and health in our society.”
Ministry of Education Hautū (Leader) for Education Workforce Anna Welanyk said the ministry had received and approved three school closures in the past year due to staff shortage.
She was aware there were regional and local variations in reliever availability despite an increase of 1102 relievers over the past three years.
“We are aware that typically, teacher sickness peaks in the winter months and this may present as shortages in some areas.
“In locations where supply of permanent staff is usually tight, relievers are likely to be consistently in high demand.”
She said the introduction of additional classroom release time in the primary sector coupled with higher staff sickness meant schools struggled to allocate relief teachers.
Some schools had agreements in place where they use relievers in a pool across a cluster of schools.
Welanyk encouraged schools to contact their local Te Mahau office in the region for advice if they were experiencing ongoing challenges.
