I wish to advise that a paid union meeting (PUM), an entitlement under 26 of the Employment Relations Act 2000, will be held at the Claudelands Arena on Monday 12 September 2016, commencing at 9 a.m. and concluding at 11 a.m. with staff expected to return to school by 12:25 at the latest. These are legal meetings and not industrial action.
The majority of staff will be attending the PUM and I am unable to provide for more than the supervision of students who attend until normal classes re-establish in the afternoon. Our school is open on this day and students who attend will be supervised until staff return for afternoon classes.
I support the holding of these regional meetings and am grateful that some staff have chosen to remain at school with the leadership team to provide for the supervision of students who attend.
I would encourage the whole community to take interest in the proposals being muted in education particularly around funding models and other possible changes. Teachers are concerned that these may eventuate in staffing reductions and increased class sizes. Proposed changes include the possible redistribution of funding within education including, for instance, the potential reduction in funding for ‘special needs students’ as finite funding is redirected out of our sector, and, the proposal that new criteria is used for calculating funding for priority students possibly replacing the ‘decile’ funding formulae.
At this stage these are just proposals and the Minister has indicated that the voice of the public and the profession (hence this PUM) will be considered in the process.
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