Private schools offering higher pay and a reduced teaching load, when compared to public schools, is a key problem in attracting staff, NSW Secondary Principals’ Council president Craig Peterson said.
Killarney Heights High, which is recruiting for food and industrial technology teachers, is among 78 public schools in NSW that are receiving “priority recruitment support” this year, including financial incentives for hard-to-fill roles. The school can offer a $20,000 recruitment bonus and another $10,000 relocation payment after two previous attempts to fill the role were unsuccessful.
‘We’ve got to the stage where we are struggling to get teachers on the northern beaches, and often it’s just too expensive for young teachers to live there.’“There are a range of reasons why some schools can struggle with staffing, and we know that Technological and Applied Studies is a particularly challenging area,” she said. “Our teacher supply strategy is targeted towards TAS and STEM teachers.