APPA COLUMN // MALCOLM ELLIOT
What is next after COVID-19
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APPA PRESIDENT MALCOLM ELLIOT DISCUSSES WHAT’S NEXT AFTER COVID-19 FOR SCHOOLS, STUDENTS AND TEACHERS.
The attention of more than 7600 primary school leaders is turning to the question of “what next?” We could all do with some certainty about the future. It is for this reason that I put forward the idea of multi-year resourcing agreements as a pivotal strategic consideration for decision makers. Before the pandemic (BTP) there was, I thought, something of a blind spot in regard to the underpinnings of school effectiveness. We know that children do best in environments where there is a strong sense of routine and order. They need stability in relationships and order in their lives. We also know that for many Australian children, no matter where they live, this is not the case. This is also true of what children need from their schools. Professionally effective and caring relationships and trust are at the heart of high achieving schools. Stability and sufficiency of staffing and other resourcing is critical. This is why I am putting forward the notion that school resourcing be considered over four-year cycles, rather than the typically annually adjusted formulae with which so many of us are familiar. Elliot beliebes there is a strong case to provide certainty for schools.
Malcolm Elliot has been a teacher for over 40 years. From 2015-2018 he was president of the Tasmanian Principals Association, representing government primary and secondary school principals. He is now president of the Australian Primary Principals Association (APPA).
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education matters primary
The school’s staffing establishment would be set at the end of 2021 and be sustained at that level for the period of 2022 to 2025, for example. School organisation and programming are vulnerable to shifts in student population. In some schools a diminution of 15 students from one year to the next results in a staffing loss of a full-time teacher. Unless the school is able to sustain this loss from its own financial resources ie pay for a teacher, the school will have to be re-organised. This often means that the library, art, language, music or other important programmes are affected or even lost; or that a composite class is created for financial, rather than educationally strategic, reasons. If a resourcing agreement is in place a school would not lose any funding over the four-year period, thus insulating the school from the effect of transience in its population and providing stability in planning and implementation of teaching programmes. Should there be a change in population upwards, schools should gain funding commensurately. And, if there is a change in policy such as additional funding to
