Vol. 3 No.
2
In this edition •
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Professional Rates of Pay Campaign Success Teacher Complaint Process Is Your Facebook Protected?
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Salaries and Wages
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Member Zone
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Work Intensification: Are you affected?
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Calling All Members Member Snapshot
Grad News
July 2010
The newsletter for graduates
Professional rates of pay for graduates
G
raduate teachers Paul Holmes and Anthony Fernando are two of approximately 300 IEUA-QNT graduates currently working in Catholic education who will receive significant wage gains from July 2011, following the Catholic sector campaign success achieved in May.
Following the fair wage deal endorsed by members in April, a ballot took place in June 2010 where members voted on the proposed collective enterprise agreement as agreed upon by employee representatives and Catholic employing authorities.
The member endorsed collective enterprise agreement will see graduate teachers in their first year of teaching in a Catholic school earning $56,900 per annum from July 2011 and $58,251 per annum in their second year of teaching.
This ballot vote in favour of the collective bargaining agreement was submitted to Fair Work Australia at the end of June for approval.
The agreement will also deliver the most experienced teachers an annual rate of $84,421 from April 2012 under a new classification of Experienced Teacher 6 (ET6). This new classification will be available in 2010 for any teacher with at least four years of experience at Band 3 Step 4. Significant other enhancements were also achieved over the 14 months of negotiations with increases to paid maternity and paternity leave most notable. Graduate teachers working in Catholic schools had joined the fight for professional rates of pay from February 2009 in a bid to have their employers recognise the work and commitment of experienced teachers in Catholic education.
As a graduate, there is a very important role to play within our union. By being an IEUA-QNT member and getting involved, you will be supporting the union voice to ensure the best possible working rights and conditions for all Queensland and Northern Territory teaching professionals are consistently achieved. For more information on current campaigns, please contact IEUA-QNT on FREECALL 1800 177 937 or email enquiries@qieu.asn.au
Paul Holmes from St Agnes’ School and Anthony Fernando from All Saints School said the professional rates of pay campaign success was essential to secure their future as teachers in Catholic education.
Left:
Paul Holmes from St Agnes’ School (Mt Gravatt) and Anthony Fernando from All Saints School (Boonah) at the graduate member orientation day in February.
“Being in my first year of teaching this is the first opportunity I’ve had to have a say on my rights at work. This campaign has demonstrated how the power of a collective can secure better wages for graduates and experienced teachers working in Catholic schools,” Paul said. “I feel I have experienced first hand how being a member of an active union like ours can really make a difference,” he said. “Queensland graduate teachers working in Catholic schools now have some of the best wages in the state, thanks to the support and determination from our union and members working together to achieve a successful outcome,” Anthony added.
Are you eligible for a QIEU Bursary? The 2010 QIEU Teacher Education Bursaries are currently open to eligible QIEU students. The QIEU Teacher Education Bursaries are once again being offered to encourage eligible students who are studying for a teaching qualification. Each year, four pre-service education students will be awarded general education bursaries of $1,000. The fifth bursary, the John Nash Bursary, will see $2,000 awarded to an outstanding applicant. In 2009, to celebrate our union’s 90th Anniversary, QIEU offered the bursaries for the first time.
Applying for the bursaries: Those interested in applying for the bursaries must abide by the eligibility criteria, which includes nomination by a family member who is a current or past member of QIEU. QIEU Executive will consider all applicants and select successful candidates. Consideration will be given to those in remote areas, of financial need and academic results. For those interested in applying for the 2010 bursaries, please download a form from www.qieu.asn.au/bursaries and mail it to QIEU Brisbane office, PO Box 418, Fortitude Valley QLD 4006 by Friday 1 October 2010.
Grad News Grad News Grad News Grad News Grad News Grad News Grad New
Responding to teacher complaints It is a reality in schools that parents, students and staff can and do raise concerns about teachers, and they have the right to have such complaints heard and addressed.
and other members of staff is: 1.
the determination about whether there has been any unsatisfactory/inappropriate practice or action, as early as possible and in the fairest and most objective manner possible;
In the absence of such a policy the school is vulnerable to individual complaints and runs the risk of reacting in a resource intensive way and being inconsistent in its treatment of individual complaints.
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the implementation of any necessary changes designed to bring about better educational, pastoral or administrative outcomes, as appropriate;
You have the right for any complaint to be handled in a fair and transparent manner consistent with the following guidelines:
3.
the achievement of reconciliation between the parties; and
4.
the establishment of a renewed confidence in the studentteacher (or other staff member) relationship.
A school should have a published policy or procedure detailing how parental complaints against teachers are to be dealt with.
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any complaint should be discussed professionally, in the appropriate forum and only with the relevant school staff;
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you should be provided with full details of the complaint and reasonable opportunity to respond;
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you should have the opportunity to seek advice from your union; and
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if required to attend a meeting, you should seek to have a support person attend with you.
As an IEUA-QNT member, you have access to public liability/ professional indemnity insurance, expert legal advice from IEUA-QNT industrial services officers are always at hand to help guide you through complex problems and procedures. The most desirable outcome in cases of complaints against teachers
Salaries and Conditions By acting collectively, IEUA-QNT members have won significant gains in wages and conditions across the non-government education sector. Recently, our professional rates of pay campaign win for teachers in the Catholic sector highlights our strong union collective. Graduate salaries in schools with a union negotiated agreement are up to 20 per cent more per year compared to schools without a union negotiated collective agreement. Employment conditions and salaries can vary between schools but your award conditions and union negotiated agreement usually provide: • • • • • • • • •
Fully cumulative paid sick leave Enhanced employer superannuation contributions Long service leave Paid school vacation breaks Paid and unpaid maternity leave Family carers leave Job share opportunities Access to enhanced superannuation Access to salary packaging arrangements
Please contact your Chapter representative at your school for full details of the salaries and employment conditions you are entitled to in your school. For further information, please see our website www.qieu.asn.au or email IEUA-QNT at enquiries@qieu.asn.au
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At the end of the process a document would be produced which identifies the mutually agreed outcomes and processes and a letter would be sent to the employee indicating the matter is now resolved. Contact your IEUA-QNT office immediately if you face any allegation which is of a job-threatening or of a criminal nature in your workplace. In such cases, do not make any written or verbal statement before you have obtained legal and/or industrial advice from one of our industrial services officers. If you have received a complaint or need advice, please contact one of IEUA-QNT’s industrial services officers by FREECALL 1800 177 937 or email enquiries@qieu.asn.au
Practise safe social networking: Is your acebook protected? You would never leave your front door unlocked, so why log off your Facebook account without knowing there are secure privacy settings in place to protect your profile information? In Australia alone, Facebook counts millions of active users each day. As a graduate teacher you may need to consider whether your Facebook profile has adequate privacy settings in place to protect your profile and contact information from unwanted visitors. Online privacy is a prominent issue for teachers in the education sector. In 2003, a non-government teacher took legal action to recover damages for a work accident, only to have her Facebook account used against her as visual evidence. In this case, the teacher’s out-of-school activities were questioned using her online photographs as evidence in an effort to refute workplace compensation claims. In another case, a teacher was subject to cyberbullying when a Facebook page was created by a group of students aiming to exploit the teacher by posting compromising photographs without their consent. As a result, the Facebook group was investigated by police. Like any social media platform, there are a range of positive experiences Facebook offers if your privacy and friends list are properly administered. When using Facebook, always consider the range of privacy options that can keep your information safe and secure.
ws Grad News Grad News Grad News Grad News Grad News Grad News Grad
Member Zone What advice would you give to other graduates who are just starting their career? Justin Smith
Kate Cochrane
Year 3/4 Teacher St Francis School - Ayr
“T
Year 1 Teacher Mary Immaculate Primary School
here are going to be days when your class is disruptive, they are children. Remember when you thought it was funny to give the teacher a hard time? The shoe is now on the other foot! Despite this, make sure your children know that you love and respect them and these will be returned tenfold. If you plan to teach something, teach it. If it isn’t going well, move onto something else. There is no one sitting in the corner now making notes about your performance, you’re now the ‘sage on the stage’ for real!
“M
The only question that is a ‘stupid’ question is the one you don’t ask. Mentors are selected for a reason, nine times out of ten they can answer your question. If not, they can point you in the right direction! Finally, don’t go looking for answers to everything in a text book from university, most of the time it is ‘on the job’ learning and experience that will provide you with a far more in-depth, satisfying answer.”
I’ve also had to learn very quickly not to take on too many things, I have plenty of years to “make my mark” so to speak. Take all the opportunities that are thrown your way, but also remember that at the end of the day, you’re a classroom teacher and your head, heart and hands needs to be with those students 100% between 8.30 - 3.30 every day!”
y advice to graduate teachers just starting out would be to listen to all the advice people give with an open mind... they really are trying to help you not criticise you! The biggest learning curve for me in the first six months of teaching was to realise it is okay to have questions... to struggle... to have good days and bad. You’ll love your students with all your heart... they’ll drive you crazy at times... you’ll feel overwhelmed, underwhelmed and all the ‘whelms’ in between - and it is all perfectly normal!
Work intensification: Are you affected? Work intensification is an issue which confronts education professionals as they struggle with a changing curriculum, increased levels of accountability, reporting, expanding pastoral care demands and calls for additional hours.
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inhibits involvement in and control over long-term planning;
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leads to reductions in the “quality” of teaching;
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creates and reinforces declining preparation time; and
For most teachers, early morning coaching and a weekend full of marking is standard practice. However, it also highlights the growing work intensification concerns held by educational professionals alike.
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forces teachers to resort to excessive dependency on outside expertise and further reductions in the “quality of service”.
All elements of work intensification are increasing problems. Understaffing, the imposition of change without consultation or adequate resourcing, the introduction of new technology with limited training and without appropriate systems operational and functioning are all commonly identified by IEUA-QNT members as negatively impacting on their work intensification. “Work intensification” is an academic international term used to describe not only increased work load, but also “working longer hours and working harder within each hour at the workplace”. There are a few simple ways to determine if work intensification is affecting your teaching duties. A study conducted by Andy Hargreaves found that work intensification: •
cuts out individual planning and personal time during the working day, including “no time at all” for lunch;
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leads to a lack of time to “critique one’s skills and keep up with one’s field”;
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creates “chronic and persistent overload” that reduces the amount of time teachers have to meet competing deadlines;
Teachers are entitled to a fair balance between work demands and their personal life, and often on busy weekends that involve marking assignments and working in the classroom on a Sunday, workload management can be difficult to control. Graduate teachers are likely in their first year of teaching to find work intensification plays a significant role in their ability to adjust to the busyness of fulltime teaching. It is important for graduates to ensure that their work/life balance is fair and reasonable. Industrial provisions stipulate that: •
extra-curricular activities are honorary and voluntary unless your collective agreement says otherwise;
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teachers are entitled to a minimum amount of time for preparation and correction; and
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there are a maximum number of hours of directed duty that teachers can be asked to perform.
Should you feel under unnecessary work pressure or subject to unrealistic demands at your school, please contact your Chapter representative or your IEUA-QNT office on FREECALL 1800 177 937. Hargreaves, Andy. “Changing teachers, changing times.” London : Continuum, 2000.
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M ember Snapshot
Grad News Grad News Grad News Grad News Grad News Grad News Grad New and pastoral matters. However, all of the staff at Carmel are helpful and everyone is very supportive, all you have to do is ask! What do you see as your greatest teaching challenges ahead? The biggest, ongoing challenge for me is managing time and getting used to the busyness of teaching. Every day poses a new challenge and I am learning so much as the year progresses! What issues are of most concern to you as a graduate? As a graduate I am most concerned about being informed on my responsibilities and expectations in and outside the classroom. I have great mentor and buddy teachers to help with this, but I would also be keen to hear of information sessions as part of my professional development.
Amy Weeks
Carmel College Amy is a graduate teacher at Carmel College, in
the Redlands. She teaches Secondary English, PE and Study of Religion. Amy completed her final prac at Carmel and is involved in co-curricular activities, particularly coaching netball. Why did you become a teacher? I became a teacher because I wanted to work with people in a positive and interactive environment. I am lucky enough to be teaching in both my preferred subject areas, PE and English which offer vastly different experiences for both the teacher and students. What is it like now teaching at the school where you undertook your prac work? I am lucky in the sense that the ‘stress of the unknown’ was minimal, compared to what it would have been going into a completely new school. It was nice having some background on how the school community operated and knowing staff. Do you have a mentor this year? If so, what’s been your most memorable learning experience? Yes, I do have mentor and buddy teachers. They have both been great in offering advice and support across curriculum
JOIN YOUR UNION TODAY Help build strength in order to enhance the working rights and conditions of all GRADUATES and EDUCATION PROFESSIONALS in schools. To join IEUA-QNT, download a membership form from www.qieu.asn.au or call our membership department on FREECALL1800 177 937. Page 4
Why was it important for you to become an IEUA-QNT member and what has your union achieved for you so far? It was always a priority of mine to become a member of IEUA-QNT. It is important to be in touch with a union that is promoting your interests and the interests of those you work with. Finally, if you could give one piece of advice to undergraduate teachers what would it be? I’d tell undergraduates to get involved in co-curricular activities, it is great way to get to know students and build a positive rapport outside the classroom. Don’t be afraid to ask questions!
Calling All Graduate Members! The IEUA-QNT Call Centre will be contacting recently graduated associate members and first year graduate members in the coming weeks. The purpose of this contact is to update our membership database and to ask you some questions about your transition from study to your education career. Our call centre operates between 4.30pm and 8.00pm Monday to Thursday.
ISSN: 1835-9612 Grad News was prepared by Lauren Bremner and Rebecca Sisson Editor: Mr Terry Burke, Branch Secretary IEUA-QNT PO BOX 418, FORTITUDE VALLEY QLD 4006 PHONE: 1800 177 937 FAX: (07) 3839 7021 Email: enquiries@qieu.asn.au Website:www.qieu.asn.au ABN: 74 662 601 045