Schools celebrate Support Staff Day

Did you celebrate Support Staff Day on 13 June? The day celebrates and acknowledges the tireless work of support and operational staff.

Support and operational staff should celebrate each others’ achievements.

The annual Support Staff Day is an initiative of the IEUA and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) TE RIU ROA, reflecting a resolution passed at the seventh Education International (EI) World Congress in 2015 to create a global celebration held every June known as World Support Staff Day.

IEU Secretary John Quessy said without the tireless efforts of support and operational staff, schools would grind to a halt and learning would cease.

“These unsung heroes work tirelessly every day caring for sick children, making sure classrooms are prepared, clearing up rubbish and storm damage, ensuring the bills are paid, answering the phone, assisting teachers in the classroom with students with disabilities, setting up experiments, making sure the technology is running smoothly, sorting out those who forgot their lunch, and a myriad of other crucial things too numerous to list,” Quessy said.

The Union for all support staff, the IEU, hopes you had a great day on 13 June. Don’t forget, if you have any problems about your pay or conditions, contact your IEU organiser.

The best way for support staff to improve their positions is to have lots of members in the Union, so encourage your colleagues to find out about the IEU. We'd love to see what you did to celebrate. Send your photos to newsmonth@ieu.asn.au