Your Union Helping Teachers

Your union can help you and your colleagues through its ongoing commitment to such issues as:

• Improving the salary and conditions of its members.
• Monitoring working conditions.
• Advocating on behalf of its members when difficulties arise.
• Engaging in decision making concerning curriculum, pedagogy, instruction, assessment and reporting and equity issues.
• Ensuring that systemic change is managed with appropriate resourcing and reasonable timelines.
• Providing you with support through Member Assist and Member Benefits - as well as through our Education and Training programs.
• Enhancing community understanding of industrial and professional matters.
• Promoting the provision of a quality public education system.

Member Services

Some of the services that Union membership entitles you to include:

• Free student membership in your final year of training.
• Comprehensive legal assistance through the Union’s lawyers.
• Access to the SSTUWA website.
• A grievance and advisory service.
• The Western Teacher magazine.
• Opportunities for professional development through the SSTUWA’s Professional Development and Training Unit.
• Journeycover Insurance.

Your support and active involvement will make the difference for your working conditions, your colleagues’ working conditions, your school community and for public education.

Our Website

Your union has the most comprehensive website of any education union anywhere - and if they find something that we haven’t got, we’ll find a way of getting it! To access as a member you have to register online.

TOPS Curriculum Planner

“Take the tears and time out of planning and assessing!” 

This is the theme of the union's Teachers’ Online Panning System (TOPS)®. The extensive planning product is now ready to deliver teachers planning and assessment for K to Yr 10.

The Teachers Online Planning System (TOPS)®is a free service to UNION MEMBERS ONLY.

Members can access the curriculum organiser package online via the union website now.

TOPS® is a software package that will help you effectively plan – long term and short term – at both the micro and macro level. TOPS®offers over 2000 pages of electronic curriculum support covering both the Western Australian curriculum requirements and the new Australian curriculum requirements as they are released.

What members like about the TOPS® package is that is so easy to navigate and use, it covers all the required curriculum and assessment tasks and it provides hundreds of lesson plans, ideas and links.

The union has started to offer training via a short 1 ½ hr workshop – FREE. “The TOPS® Taster”. In this workshop members are stepped through the online SSTUWA Website registration, guided through the program content while on line and in the program and shown how to access and work their own programs and plans.

Professional Development

All SSTUWA members are entitled to five days TUTA (Trade Union Training) leave per year to attend union training courses.

Other courses and conferences include:

• Union Representative and Women's Contact training.
• District Council.
• Specialist Teachers' training.
• SSTUWA Democratic Processes.
• Grievance Procedures.
• Members and the Law.
• Challenging Violence and Bullying.

The union also conducts short seminars of 30 - 90 minutes on  of the following topics: 

• Know your Industrial Rights.
• Conflict Resolution and Mediation in a school.
• Performance Management.
• The Complaints Management Process.
• Equal Employment Opportunity in Schools/Colleges.
• Surviving a Stressful Environment.
• Workplace Consultation in the TAFE Environment.

The unit also runs exceptional programs including Tribes, Classroom Management and Cooperative Learning.

For details on all courses and training call the SSTUWA Education and Training Centre on (08) 9210 6035, or visit our website for full details.

Women’s Contacts in Schools

The network of Women’s Contact positions within Western Australian workplaces reflects your union’s commitment to ensuring that women are more involved in their union.

Women’s contacts work closely with the union representatives in all their tasks.

They will ensure that information of importance to women members is disseminated and will raise issues of importance to womensome with union members and at staff meetings and forums.

Applying for a position with the Department of Education

The Department of Education should have provided you with an “Information for Applicants” booklet which includes a Teaching Application form for employment within Western Australian government schools.

They can also be found on the department’s website, at www.eddept.wa.edu.au under the “Teaching Career Information” section. If you experience problems obtaining employment with the Department of Education or you have questions regarding the recruitment and selection process, please contact your union.

Permanency

Your union is dedicated to increasing the number of permanent employees working within the teaching profession in Western Australia.

An offer of permanent work may depend on a variety of factors, including your suitability rating and the location preferences that you indicate on your application.

Both the department and the union have a commitment to aim for a permanent workforce of 90 per cent, to obviate the casualisation of labour and increase job security.

Probation and Induction

All new employees of the Department of Education are required to undergo a period of probation upon appointment. The length of this probationary period can vary according to the type and location of the position.

Upon the discretion of the employer (Department of Education) probation can last for up to two years. Appointment shall be reconfirmed by the department in writing two weeks prior to the completion of the probationary period.

The probationary period is also dependent upon the successful completion of a process of performance management, which is managed at the school/worksite level.

The length and content of a teacher’s performance management plan will depend on the type of contract that they are on and their background experience.

Performance management is intended for use as a guide to self reflection and planning for graduate teachers.

Professional Registration

Initially your teacher registration is “provisional”. To obtain full registration you will need to satisfy the requirements stipulated within the performance management process and fulfil the terms of your probationary period.

All teachers are also required to register with the Western Australian College of Teaching (WACOT).

This registration has been legislated by the State Government and is therefore mandatory.

You can contact WACOT on (08) 9230 0600 or 1300 652 911.

They can be visited online at www.wacot.wa.edu.au

The Teacher Placement Systems

The department has a comprehensive book entitled “Transfer and Deployment of Teaching Staff”. It details the Western Australian transfer system comprehensively. It can be accessed through the department’s website www.eddept.wa.edu.au

• Central

The central placement system allows for Western Australian school students across the State to have equitable access to teachers with a variety of expertise.

• Local Selection

Local selection is used in some schools for staff placement

• Independent Public Schools

These use local selection only and are not part of the central transfer system

Remote Teaching Service

The purpose of the Remote Teaching Service (RTS) in Western Australian is to enhance educational equity and the achievement of student outcomes in the most remote schools in the State.

The ideal mix is a stable, motivated staff comprising teachers with a range of experience, skills and abilities.

 

Hence applications are encouraged from a wide pool of interested teachers including prospective graduates and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders.

The conditions outlined in our agreement have been designed to attract a large pool of quality teachers and compensate those who are selected for the unique working conditions in RTS schools.

RTS schools are distinctly different from other schools in terms of:

• Isolation.
• Distance from regional centre or distance from Perth.
• Situation i.e. typically in a community setting or very small town.
• Educational needs of the students.
• Cultural, social, climatic and recreational environment.

The incentives offered to the teachers in the RTS have been structured to address the requirements of teachers working and living in what, by any standards, are “remote locations”.

Graduate Entitlements

• Graduate teachers in their first two years of employment are entitled to an allowance of $1,600 per annum.
• Because of distance, isolation and other factors many country schools automatically carry a salary loading. These can range from $517 per annum in some schools to as much as $19,000 per annum at a number of remote locations.
• Some metropolitan schools also carry loadings of between $2,000 and $3,000 per annum.
• You’re entitled to lease a laptop computer.
• You are entitled to extra DOTT - around 77 extra minutes per week in primary and 80  minutes per week in secondary.
• You’ll get four days a year for Graduate Teacher Professional Development during your first two years.
• You are also entitled to a Coach/Mentor.
• You should receive a letter from the department with all details of your posting including details concerning your travelling to your school, your accommodation and the transporting of your furniture and effects.
• If you are required to take temporary accommodation in a hotel or motel or similar you are entitled to allowances while you live there.

Teaching hours

The maximum face to face teaching hours each week for 2011 are:

• Secondary 21 hours 20 min.
• Primary 21 hours 50 min
• Pre-Primary 21 hours 20 min.

DOTT (Duties Other than Teaching)

The purpose of DOTT is to undertake duties focussing on preparation of teaching, learning and assessment.

• DOTT time for teachers each week is: Secondary 320 min.
• Primary 240 min.
• Pre-Primary 320 min.

NB. First year teachers get additional DOTT

Yard duty

All teachers are required to undertake supervision of students outside of official instruction hours in order to fulfil each school’s duty of care to students.

This duty should be shared out to all teaching and administration staff in a fair and equitable manner.

Meeting attendance

Teachers are not required to attend more than two whole-of-staff meetings per term outside of school hours and these meetings should not last longer than one hour.

Employee Requested Transfer (ERT)

A permanent teacher in Western Australia needs to teach for two years in a country school or centre or for three years in a metropolitan school or centre to be eligible for a transfer to another school. Teachers considering a transfer need to complete a Placement Request form and forward it to staffing at the Department of Education. Teachers must also notify their principals of their intention to apply for a transfer.

Employer Initiated Placement (EIP)

An EIP is a placement by the department of permanent teachers into substantive positions at the same classification level because they have been identified as being surplus to requirement at any particular location.
Such status has arisen from the staff member relinquishing a position, school closure, school reclassification, school amalgamation, departmental restructuring or changes to the staff profile.

Compassionate Transfer

Compassionate grounds constitute extreme personal or family hardship. A request for a transfer on compassionate grounds may be made at any time.

The particular circumstances of each request will be considered and assessed equitably, taking into account the needs of the organisation and the department’s procedures and guidelines.

Transfer Points

Transfer points enable teachers to accrue points on a differential basis, based on their previous and current school placements.

Points are allocated based on location and in some cases the duration at a particular location, or the nature of the school.

A higher number of transfer points results in a teacher being able to transfer to a preferred location. The system of using points for transfer is designed to provide incentives for teaching in rural, remote and less preferred locations.

Types Of Leave Entitlements

Without going in to all of the details be aware that teachers are entitled to:

• Sick Leave
• Bereavement Leave
• Cultural/Ceremonial Leave
• Defence Forces Reserves Leave have
• Emergency Services Leave
• Carer’s leave
• International Sporting Events Leave 
• Leave Without Pay
• Local Government Leave
• Long Service Leave
• Parental Leave
• Short Leave
• Study/Exeamination Leave
• Vacation Leave
• Witness/Jury Service Leave
• Candidates for Parliament Leave
• Trade Union Training Leave
• Public Holiday Leave
• Remote Teaching Service Leave

Remote Teaching Service Leave

Teachers who are posted to remote schools are entitled to additional leave based upon their length of service in remote areas. This can accumulate up to 22 weeks for those who have spent eight semesters of continuous and good service.

Workers Compensation

In addition to sick pay, if you are injured at work you are entitled to workers compensation.

SSTUWA Journey Cover

Members of the SSTUWA Journey Cover Insurance provided free of charge covering any injuries sustained while travelling to or from work.

Successful Teaching Teaching is a rewarding and satisfying profession, but also complex and demanding. On the first day of employment, new educators are expected to undertake essentially the same work as experienced teachers.

Make sure you reach out to your colleagues and line manager for support and advice.

Interpersonal Relationships It is important to be able to work positively with your work colleagues. Teachers should maintain a good working relationship with the principal/ line manager and colleagues at their school as they will offer the greatest support.

Clarify with the principal or workplace representative what support and advice structures exist within the school.

It is important that you set realistic goals for yourself and ensure that your induction program is working for you.

Huge Learning Curve Realise that you will probably learn more in your first year of teaching than you did in all four years of your university education.

Always Ask Don't be afraid to ask for help from “seasoned” teachers. Most teachers are very willing to share their secrets. If you have the opportunity to visit other classrooms, do so. The more you witness teaching taking place, the greater chance you will have of knowing what will work for you.

You're not alone. At some stage every teacher has been in the same boat. An experienced teacher can help show a new teacher the ropes.

Join your union. You will certainly need help from them over the first few weeks of starting out. Don’t wait until you have a problem with wages or allowances or conditions to think about joining your union. Do it before you start.

Make A Great Start Getting off on the right foot can make a world of difference. A good start can mean the difference between a successful year and a year of total distress. You're the boss, you have the degree, this is your classroom, and a strong plan and adequate preparation can set you up to achieve your goals.

Have A Plan Have a plan in place for the first day of school. The plan should include rules and consequences, as well as procedures for sharpening pencils, going to the toilet, handing in papers, and so on. The rules and consequences should be limited to three to five of the ones that are most important to you personally.

Classroom Rules Print up your classroom rules for students to keep, and for them to take home with them for parents to read and maybe even to sign and bring back to you.

Know Your Students Getting to know parents early in the school year should be an essential part of a new teacher's plan. Send a letter home the first week of school introducing yourself. In that letter you might explain what you will be doing the first few weeks of school. You might even include some information about your expectations of students and parents. Then keep the communication lines open at all times.

Parent Contact Stay in touch with parents - with good news and bad news. Parents want to know what is going on. They really do appreciate hearing from teachers.

Be Prepared Be prepared with the day's learning objectives. You will impart an air of confidence. Students need to see that in a new teacher.

Take chargeHave a clear discipline plan set up, with both rewards and consequences. Explain it to the kids on day one and review throughout the first week. Send home a copy of the discipline plan. I asked parents to read it with their child and for parents and children to sign and return a contract stating that they agreed to the rules.

Keep students busy and engaged I have one big piece of advice for first year Before the first day of school, have plenty of activities prepared for emergency use. I learned the hard way that kids will misbehave if they have nothing to do. A class full of bored kids won't all sit quietly for 10 minutes waiting for you to figure out what is next.

Organise yourself Find an organisation system that you can live and work with and stick with it. It's crucial that you stay organised!

Organise your students Don't assume they know how to organise themselves, because they don't. Show them how to organise their notebooks and folders. Show them exactly what you want on their papers and homework.

Write and reflect.

Start keeping a professional journal. After the course of the year, this journal will allow you to  After the course of the year,   reflect on your professional practices and to witness what is probably going to be enormous personal growth.

School Policies and Procedures

Actively seek out as much information as possible on the school’s procedures and policies. Ask the administration at the workplace for your own copies of the relevant policy documents. Learn more about the workplace by attending meetings. Keep a diary!

Identify your strengths and areas of need Look for ways to utilise your strengths.Observe your colleagues and undertake professional development wherever possible.

Professional Approach Look after yourself. Maintain a friendly and respectful relationship with students but be sure to maintain professionalism in this relationship.