08/03/2023
Dear Parents or Guardians,
Budget Cuts
On behalf of Winmalee High Schools P&C Association, I would like you to know that the school’s budget has been slashed by $130K each year for the next 3 years. Where normally our school would have $150K pa available to sponsor all co-curricular programs (see below), we now only have $20K. If you’re interested, I’ll explain below, otherwise I just request that you strongly consider voting for a political party that will resolve all the issues plaguing Public Education including this one, at the upcoming NSW State Election.
Affected Programs
Duke of Ed, Pulse, Schools Spectacular, Debating
Sport Representation (all competitions like Rugby & Futsal),
Zone Sport; Swimming, Athletics, Cross Country,
University Days, Swim School, Gala Bags for Sport,
Community programs like ANZAC and Remembrance days,
Dance Festivals, Drama Festivals, School Musical
Reason
I appreciate you reading further so I’ll get right to the point. The outcome of the teachers strike action last year resulted in teachers earning a guaranteed allocation of 5 hours per term to prepare for the new syllabuses that are being introduced. This means that each teacher takes the time out of face-to-face classroom teaching to spend on administration and programming as part of curricula reform. To cover this shortfall in face-to-face teaching hours, the school must employ substitute (casual) teachers.
Substitute teachers are paid for by the school. Even though it’s public money, it’s deducted from the schools budget. This is not the case for permanent staff. Therefore, on top of the ordinary days when teachers are sick, all NSW public high schools must now pay (or budget for) an additional 5 hours per teacher per term’s worth of substitute teachers to cover syllabus and program planning.
Most substitute teachers are retired teachers, and that resource pool was already in short supply before this policy introduction and will be impossible to fulfil since every high school now has a sudden demand to cover this guaranteed (mandatory) program. This problem is further compounded by the fact we also have a teacher shortage affecting capacity to fill permanent staff positions.
Ultimately, our kids will miss out on the invaluable programs, many of them focused on student well-being, that we have traditionally offered and participated in. I ask that you to join me in putting a stop to the destruction of our public education system and make your vote count at this state election.
Thank you for reading this.
Sincerely,
Dean Goddard
President
