Members at the Penrith/Blue Mountains Sub Branch meeting.
Penrith/Blue Mountains
The Penrith/Blue Mountains Sub Branch covers Penrith to Glenbrook, Katoomba and Blackheath.
Our Term 3 sub branch meeting was very well attended on 7 August at Nepean Rowers Club. We were glad to welcome some new attendees who were either new reps in their schools or filling in for reps that were unable to attend.
The ‘second chance’ election for Council delegates was successful and we have now filled five of our six spots. It is encouraging to have more members involved at this level of
the union.
Schools are still experiencing pressures due to teacher shortages as well as the ever-increasing workloads. There were some questions around the Catholic Schools Parramatta Diocese (CSPD) Teacher Scholarship program and how the ‘Teacher Associates’ should be managed in schools. There doesn’t seem to be any allowance of time and/or pay for staff to supervise them. Organisers will take these concerns to their next meeting with the diocesan office.
Two other major issues discussed were the expectation of part-time staff in independent schools to attend professional development during non-term time or their non-work days and the new payroll system being implemented by CSPD (called Employee Connect). The sub-branch passed unanimous motions in relation to both of these issues for further clarification and action. The outcomes of these motions will be communicated in the next report.
Elizabeth Heggart Sub Branch President
Principals
Principal representatives from across NSW and the ACT convened on Saturday 3 August, both in person at the IEU’s Sydney office and online. The gathering aimed to reflect and discuss crucial matters of governance, change management and workflow parameters.
The discussions were informed by data from two surveys conducted across two dioceses. Key topics included the use of centralised casual cover arrangements and the impact of principals having a teaching load on top of their overall workload.
The survey results were unsurprising to many. Numerous principals reported teaching up to 20 hours a week, with over 20 hours on administrative tasks, many of which were duplicative.
Principal members celebrated the recent IEU negotiations that resulted in a 4% pay increase for all Broken Bay principals effective from 1 July 2024. A comparison table of current pay rates across the three Catholic systemic principals’ enterprise agreements (EAs) was presented, revealing a differential of between 1.4% and 5.3% in 10 of the 11 dioceses.
The Sydney Catholic Schools Principals’ EA and the NSW and ACT Catholic Schools Principals’ EA are set to expire on 9 October 2024. Meetings with principal members in each of the 10 dioceses will be scheduled to establish a log of claims.
Principal members also identified the need for increased release time for middle management and promotions positions. Increasing hours for support staff was another key recommendation.
Presentations by Professional Engagement Coordinator Pat Devery and Assistant Secretary Amanda Hioe provided members with the opportunity to seek clarity on various professional and industrial topics.
The next Principals’ Sub Branch meeting will be held in Sydney on Saturday 9 November. All are welcome to attend.
Lyn Caton, Assistant Secretary and Principals Organiser
Riverina
The Riverina Sub Branch covers Wagga Wagga, Albury, Griffith, West Wyalong, Leeton, Hay and Thurgoona.
The Riverina Sub Branch meeting was held in Griffith on Friday 26 July. Members extended a warm welcome to Assistant Secretary Lyn Caton, who had been the Sub Branch’s organiser for many years.
Not surprisingly, workloads and related issues were of most concern to members in all the schools represented at the meeting.
There was a great deal of interest in the outcomes from the June Council workshops and follow-up at the August Council meeting. The consensus was that the greatest driver for the next Catholic campaign would be workloads.
Challenging behaviours from students in both primary and secondary schools, the failure of behaviour management policies and the lack of appropriate support for both the student and the teacher involved were also of concern. These students are often returned to the classroom without any advice to staff regarding practices for managing the students.
Discussion then segued into work health and safety issues around psychosocial harm, including the powers of health and safety reps and work health and safety committees.
Reps have expressed concern that early career teachers are not receiving their reduced load as agreed with Catholic Education Wagga Wagga. Organiser Jackie Groom contacted CEWW and was advised the schools are receiving the allocation and if the names of the schools are provided to them, they will ensure compliance.
An update was provided on the various current campaigns including independent schools, Christians, early childhood education and care and the upcoming Catholic systemic campaign. Lyn gave an update on the IEU’s negotiations with the Association of Independent Schools.
Jackie Groom, Organiser
South Coast
The South Coast Sub Branch covers the Macarthur region, the Southern Highlands, Wollongong and the Illawarra region and the northern end of the Shoalhaven region.
The Term 3 South Coast Sub Branch meeting was held at Campbelltown RSL on Wednesday 31 July. The meeting welcomed Emma Ford from the IEU’s industrial team, and while we’d like more reps from the region to join us, the meeting was still rich in the sharing of school-based matters, including:
- support staff requesting provision of a laptop for their work as
the requirement to record information online is becoming more
and more prevalent - access to the fitness passport as a wellbeing initiative
- the continuation, or not, of twilight meetings in 2024 and beyond.
- an increase in meetings for teaching and leadership in 2024
where electronic means would be more efficient - diverse learning needs – members are seeing a significant
increase in the amount of paperwork and information learning
support teachers are required to collect - South Coast reps were looking forward to training.
We’d love to welcome more reps to our sub branch meetings, so feel free to join us for the Term 4 meeting and bring another member with you. It’s a great way to have your voice heard.
Luke Breen Organiser
South East
The South East Sub Branch covers Batlow, Yass, Young, Broulee, Bega, Goulburn, Tumut, Pambula, Googong, Batehaven, Cooma, Queanbeyan.
The South East Sub Branch meeting, held on Friday 2 August, was well attended, with members from Anglican, Islamic, other independent schools and Catholic systemic schools all attending. Reps travelled from Batlow, Young, Jindabyne, Googong, Pambula, Goulburn, Grenfell, Boorowa, and Queanbeyan.
The meeting welcomed acting Assistant Secretary Kendall Warren, who reported on negotiations for new agreements for teachers and professional and operational staff in the independent schools represented by the Association of Independent Schools (see page ).
The following issues were raised:
- staff shortages and the increase in teacher
workloads - members are experiencing loss/changes to
RFF without consultation, unsafe work
practices, changes to work hours and
increased co-curricular demands - ‘grace and favour’ allocation of classes is
leading to inequitable workloads and a lack of
opportunities for professional growth
(with some staff consistently allocated
“difficult” classes) affecting staff morale and
wellbeing - lack of information on payslips
- redundancy and the implications for members
– the process for deciding who is to be made
redundant.
There are also ongoing issues around reporting for NCCD and Teacher Professional Development. There is still duplication and excessive demands on teachers in Catholic systemic schools, with requirements varying across schools. Organisers agreed to meet with the employer to determine what they are requiring of schools and whether it complies with NCCD and NESA/TQI requirements.
Jackie Groom Organiser
