The BOSTES bulletin (of late May) has provided certainty of understanding regarding the transition of pre 2004 teachers into BOSTES as of 1 January, 2018.
The bulletin states:
“The pre 2004 school teacher accreditation scheme will recognise that your skills, knowledge and expertise meet the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers at the level of Proficient Teacher . . . the scheme does not involve provisional/conditional accreditation, or a Proficient Teacher report demonstrating achievement against the Standards. The scheme is only available to pre 2004 teachers who have not had a break of five years or more and are accredited by 31 December 2017”.
BOSTES clarity to be reflected in practice
As part of the recently completed negotiations with the Catholic Commission for Employment Relations (CCER), the IEU will be meeting with the various Catholic dioceses to ensure that what BOSTES has clearly enunciated is reflected in practice.
Commonality of expectations is achievable as all teachers, permanent, temporary and casual classroom teachers, executive teachers, principals responsible for teaching and learning; teachers who may teach outside the classroom, such as teacher counsellors, teacher librarians and teacher careers advisors, will (by NSW legislation) have to be accredited to teach. It is critical that unwieldy processes (not required by BOSTES) do not gain credence.
Must get the process right
An imperative exists to get this process correct. That is the smooth transition of a loyal workforce. A further dimension of the understandings reached in discussions with CCER will be a joint IEU/CCER briefing with BOSTES to clarify any misinterpretations which may exist.
In addition, BOSTES is convening a Working Party to develop the Policy to Accredit Non-Accredited Teachers. The IEU will be part of this process and will be insisting on fair procedures to support a seamless transition.