Support Staff Workforce Strategy
The Support Staff Working Group’s report Collectively making resources count has been released and will be a valuable resource for boards, principals, teachers, and support staff. Its focus is on ways that schools can better integrate the work of support and teaching staff to support educational outcomes.
Summary
The Support Staff Working Group comprises staff and representatives of NZEI Te Riu Roa (NZEI) including two support staff, New Zealand School Trustees Association (NZSTA) including two principals, and Ministry of Education officials.
The Working Group was established in 2009, to investigate potential workforce issues for support staff; and to recommend ways that schools can improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the workforce.
The first report, published in June 2010, identified the need for more information about support staff and the way they are managed in schools.
The Working Group then surveyed almost 700 principals and support staff, developed case studies of schools that are managing their support staff effectively, and formulated a number of recommendations for boards, principals, teachers and support staff.
There are over 20,000 support staff in New Zealand schools, undertaking a broad range of roles. They make up around a third of the schooling workforce, and contribute to students’ learning outcomes directly and indirectly.
The great diversity within New Zealand’s 2,477 state and integrated schools means that there’s no one model for ‘effective management’ that can be applied to every school. The Working Group has identified, though, that schools can usefully look at their:
- Induction and training of support staff
- Role definition, guidance, support and mentoring
- Right person/right job specialisation
- Teamwork and culture
- Productivity through effective systems and relationships, and
- Capability for change.
NZEI, NZSTA, and the Ministry are now working together to progress the recommendations in the report.
More information on the Support Staff Working Group, along with the full report Collectively making resources count, is available on the Educational Leaders website.