Are you planning to achieve accreditation at proficient teacher level? Next year is when you should be looking to finalise your proficient teacher application.
Now that you’ve had two full cycles of assessing and reporting, the professional work you have completed in Term 4, along with 2024 programming you’ve developed, should be used to form the basis of your evidence to annotate and submit next year.
Keep your eye out for IEU information sessions on accreditation in early 2024 and contact your organiser to obtain the IEU’s Accreditation at Proficient Teacher Handbook and Workbook.
Maintenance of accreditation update
A reminder to members that it can take up to 28 days for NESA to decide on your maintenance of accreditation submission. If you require a decision to secure employment for next year, you are advised to submit immediately.
Members are reminded that they only need to work one day as a casual or part-time employee in the five-year maintenance period to qualify for an extended seven-year maintenance of accreditation period.
Leave of absence
If you are planning on taking a break from teaching for a period of six months to five years, you should consider taking a leave of absence. Teachers with any level of accreditation can take a leave of absence.
A leave of absence may suit someone who needs a break due to illness/misadventure, taking parental leave, travel, or working in a different industry.
While on a leave of absence you do not have to undertake PD and your name will not appear on the NSW public register of teachers. You will not be eligible to teach in a NSW school. The $100 fee is still applicable, however you may qualify for a fee waiver.
Non-practising teacher category
NESA has introduced a non-practising accreditation category that may be of interest to members accredited at Proficient or higher in NSW who are no longer working in a school or service.
This might include non-school based roles in an education sector office, non-service based roles in an early childhood employer office, education union employees, NESA employees, early intervention, inclusion support and university lecturers.
Non-practising teachers will remain on the NSW public register of teachers, however, they will not be required to undertake ongoing professional development and will not be eligible to teach in a NSW school. The $100 fee will continue to apply.