“The vision for 2032 is that “Aotearoa New Zealand will have a strong, culturally
competent, education workforce that drives
a world leading, learner- focused education system”, including one that
plays a significant role in fostering Māori and Pacific identity,
language and culture with the confidence and capability to
support te reo and te ao learning for all”.
Draft Education Workforce Strategy 2021
Module Objectives:
Understand employment law:
- Legislation
- NAG 3
- Employment agreements
Understand staffing best practice:
- Banked staffing
- Staffing allocations
- Payroll
- Develop effective recruitment strategies
Section 1: Staffing Provision
Staffing provision in our schools is complex and bound by both legislation and collective agreements. A summary of the legal requirements, Ministry of Education regulations and agreements is given below:
Legislation
Education and Training Act 2020 – key sections: 585-621
Children’s Act 2014 – sets out the requirements for safety checking children’s workers
Health and Safety at Work Act 2015 – sets out the requirements for keeping people at work safe from harm
State Sector Act 1988, repealed and replaced by Public Service Act 2020 – has relevance
Employment Relations Act 2000 – has relevance
NAG 3
NAG 3 relates to board and management legal responsibilities for personnel and employment matters, industrial policies, and being a good employer.
Employment agreements
Employment agreements confirm the conditions of staff employment. Each staff member must have an employment agreement.
You can find the collective agreements and templates for individual employment agreements on the Ministry of Education website:
Against this background schools are tasked to appoint, resource, and support a professional workforce that can deliver the best quality educational outcomes to the learners in their care so that all New Zealand children have opportunities to reach their potential — for themselves and society as a whole. This workforce is inclusive of teachers being supported and equipped to teach, and Principals to lead and manage their schools, so that children learn in the ways that work best for them.
Section 2: The Current Staffing Provision for New Zealand Schools
Background reading:
Annual Calculation of Staffing Allowances by the Ministry of Education
At its core, staffing of schools is roll dependent, and for that reason, and because the allocation of staffing is also formula driven, with a variety of allowances, may fluctuate both year to year and during the year. The resource “Entitlement Staffing”, attached to this assignment, is sourced from the Ministry of Education website and outlines how provisional rolls are determined and confirmed for schools, including the impact of various allowances for leadership, management and specialist teacher rolls:
Banked Staffing
Banking staffing is one tool, in a system that is otherwise inflexible that allows schools use to manage their annual staffing entitlement, and the possibility of ‘unders and overs’ of spending, a little like ‘planning your annual budget’. Banking staffing allows you to either:
- a) store up ‘underuse’ (credit) for times when you know you’ll need extra staffing, or
- b) go into ‘overuse’ (overdraft) when you need extra staffing before you have enough credit stored.
The resources ‘Banked Staffing’ and ‘Your-Easy-Guide-to-Banked-Staffing”, also sourced from the MoE website, provide an outline of how this dimension of funding works.
Section 3: Payroll
The regular arrival of correct pay means staff can meet their financial commitments. Even a few dollars missed off a payment or, even worse, having to wait for pay can result in financial difficulties for people.
The list below, supplied by the MoE, is designed to help Principals check that a school is using all the staffing it is entitled to and staff members are getting paid.
- Confirm the staffing levels determined and paid for by the Ministry of Education.
- Confirm who is paid directly by the Ministry of Education from Teachers Salaries (TS).
- Confirm other staffing determined and paid for by the board of trustees.
- Confirm who is paid from the Operational Grant (BG).
- Confirm the full cost of wages and salaries to be paid from the Operational Grant for the year matches budget expectations.
- Check the SUE (Staff Usage and Expenditure) reports to see that all staff members have been paid correctly. Their level of pay must fit the conditions of their employment agreement. This includes special allowances, responsibility payments, and any adjustments from a previous pay period.
- Confirm that your school’s banking staffing processes follow the pattern you expect.
- Ensure pay adjustments for the next pay period are made before the “cut-off” time laid down by your pay authority.
Section 4: Appointing Staff
As mentioned earlier school staffing can be fluid, needing to respond to the changing roll during the year and between years. As an educational leader the Principal seeks the best appointees for any position, those who are able and ready to advance school development.
A good appointment process will ensure that the best choices are made and an overview list of what to consider and to do can be found on the educational leader website, with further background material on the NZSTA site:
Activity:
Respond to one of the following scenarios:
EITHER How banking staffing links to leading learning:
“It is 26 April. You need additional teacher hours to deliver a 10-day gifted and talented programme during August. Make a practice copy of your banking staffing spreadsheet and set this up so that in August you can employ another full teacher for the equivalent of 10 days”.
OR How staff changes link to leading learning:
It is 29 June. A permanent teacher resigned yesterday, taking effect from the end of term 3. She is teaching a composite year 3–4 class if you are in a primary school, or a teacher of health and physical education if you are in a secondary school. Some members of staff and your board chair lobby you to immediately advertise the position in the Education Gazette. It closes at 5.00pm tomorrow.
What are you, as the educational leader, going to do about this by noon tomorrow?
Assessment:
- Completion of all readings.
- Participation in the online forum discussion.
2 Responses
Hi there,
I looked at this scenario – How Staff changes link to leading learning:
It is 29 June. A permanent teacher resigned yesterday, taking effect from the end of term 3. She is teaching a composite year 3–4 class. Some members of staff and your board chair lobby you to immediately advertise the position in the Education Gazette. It closes at 5.00pm tomorrow.
What are you, as the educational leader, going to do about this by noon tomorrow?
Before making a decision on advertising the Year 3/4 teaching position in the Education Gazette there are a number of factors I would want to consider and investigate to support making an informed decision regarding the advertising of the teaching position.
I would begin by checking that I’m in a position to offer a position. I would consider curriculum needs, Ministry of Education regulations, staffing levels, and the board of trustees’ budget. Any decision making needs to align with the strategic direction and goals of the school.
I feel this scenario would be considered a genuine reason for a fixed term appointment (reason – Filling a temporary vacancy that has arisen on short notice where it is not practically possible to run a full recruitment process until later in the year – NZEI). A full recruitment process would allow the leadership team time to consider curriculum needs and support the selection of a candidate that best suited the strategic goals and direction of the school. This would ensure the appointment of a new permanent teacher meets the needs of the school.
The immediate need would be to limit the disruption for the class by ensuring a smooth transition to a new class teacher. I would discuss the situation with other management team members, the Presiding Member and other key stakeholders. I would look at the current staffing situation which includes part timers and regular relievers that are familiar with the school. I would also network with other principals from within the cluster to identify possible candidates that would be suitable for the position in the short term. This could avoid having to have three class teachers for these learners in one year. If a permanent position was advertised a reliever would be needed to take the class until the appointment process was complete and the new permanent teacher could start.
I would consider the different groups within the school that need to be communicated with ie. other staff and parents of the children in the class. A clear action plan would alleviate anxiety among parents.
I would discuss the above factors with the Presiding Member and make an informed decision that has the best possible outcome for the class and the school in the long term.
Hi, some interesting readings. I’ve worked on the Activity regarding Bank Staffing for a GATE programme. I specifically chose this as it’s not something I do in my DP role. It was a good experience to put into action what I read and I got a lot out of the discussion with our Principal after creating it. A good practice for a future real-life situation! Thanks