What you said
Joanne, St Joseph’s Primary School, Schofields
I’m here to support support staff. We’re not paid the same as support staff in government schools, so we’ve got a bit of catching up to do. We do the same work to the same level of quality, but we don’t get paid the same, and our employers know it. I’m also here to support the teachers because I see every day what they do, and they need more recognition and more time to teach.
Chris, St Luke’s Catholic College, Marsden Park
Since the second Covid lockdown I’ve been feeling incredibly deflated with teaching as a profession and underappreciated by government and everyone outside of the teaching environment to the point I’ve seriously considered leaving the profession.
Tim, Parramatta Marist:
Teaching’s a thankless job and it can be very frustrating that we feel walked over when we should be rewarded for all the time and effort we put into teaching our students.
Jarryd, Parramatta Marist:
I work with a lot of colleagues who put in a lot of hours and do a lot of extras all the time, and it’s just becoming too much.
Candy, St Agnes, Matraville and Our Lady of the Annunciation, Pagewood
(front row, third from left, with colleagues from both schools) We’re here today because we’re tired of all the data, all the paperwork and all the time we have to spend out of the classroom doing other jobs.
Peter, Aquinas Catholic College, Menai
We need this. We’ve been waiting for so long to get the two unions together so we can get better conditions, get more students coming through to become teachers, better education, better economy, better future.
Jill, St Charles Catholic Primary School, Ryde:
I’m here so the young ones don’t lose pay in real terms and for the support staff, so they can get what they’re worth.
Sandra:
I’m at the end of my career. We’ve worked really hard for what we’ve got and it’s being taken away. The young ones deserve better
Tania, St Ursula’s College, Kingsgrove
We’re getting bogged down with more and more admin, we’re getting less time to spend on our classroom teaching.
Karen, St Ursula’s College, Kingsgrove
The amount of work we’re doing is untenable and it’s time to make a change
Mark, St Ursula’s College, Kingsgrove
We really need to address the staff shortages and poor working conditions, we need to fix it to make it better for all involved.
Staff from St Ursula’s College Kingsgrove
The signs say it all.
George, De La Salle, Caringbah
I’m here to get wage justice for support staff. They’ve been undervalued for too long
Jo, Marist Sisters College, Woolwich
Teachers deserve a better deal. I’ve been teaching for 23 years and I think we’ve never worked harder and longer, and I want all of our students to have the teachers they deserve.
John, Penola Catholic College, Emu Plains
I hate being away from the kids. But I’m here because we just don’t have the time to be with the kids. We need more teachers and more time to plan instead of all this paperwork.
Amanda, St John XXIII Stanhope Gardens
I’m passionate about my job and I put a lot of time into it. I want this to be my whole career but if I keep going at this rate, I’m going to burn out before I hit the 10-year mark.
Liz, St Mel’s Primary School Campsie
Teachers need a pay increase that keeps up with the complexity of our work. We need more planning time. We all do work home and on the weekends and it’s really eating into our lives. It’s not sustainable.
Theresa, St Therese’s Primary School, Lakemba
Learning support staff want the best for the children and we are stressed trying to give that support. In Catholic schools we're not paid equally to support staff in public schools and we want that heard.