Nov 14 2023
New educator wellbeing: Part 1
In this episode hear from Growth Team officer Chloe Hosking about wellbeing for new educators.Something that you might find handy as a teacher in your first five years of teaching (or at any stage of your career) is getting to know the SSTUWA’s current Agreement and Award, which can be found at sstuwa.org.auPlus - do you know what your graduate entitlements are?Graduate teachers are entitled to:A start up allowance ($1,600 pro-rata at the start of your first and second years of teaching).Eight days additional non-contact time/graduate release time over your first year of teaching (timetabled as additional DOTT or two full release days per term).Eight days of relief funding paid to your school so you can attend your graduate modules. (This is payable to you as PTOIL if you did your modules in the holidays or online.)$150 curriculum materials allowance.Contingency allowance or travel and accommodation costs incurred to attend graduate modules (amount varies based on distance to Perth, starting at $115.91 for metro graduates).And if you are in your first 30 months of teaching, have completed graduate module one and have a contract with the DoE for the duration of the program, you are also eligible for the In-Class Coaching Program.Have you heard of the right to disconnect? Outside of school hours, i.e. on the weekend, during the school holidays or when you have sick leave, you have the right to disconnect. So, unless there’s an emergency you are not required to respond to electronic communications such as phone calls, emails or text messages. (See General Agreement clause 32 for full wording of this entitlement.) This gives you some boundaries to work out when and how you are going to get your work done.Plus know your DOTT time allocations: secondary, kindy and pre-primary teachers are entitled to 320 minutes per week while primary teachers have 270 mins per week. A win from the 2019 Agreement negotiations, from the hard work of you and your fellow members, saw an extra 30 minutes of DOTT time gained for primary teachers.If you’re having issues at your school you can start with talking to your union rep, deputy rep or women’s contact officer or give Member Assist a call for confidential advice.Have a topic you'd like us to chat about? Email editor@sstuwa.org.auAuthorised by Mary Franklyn, General Secretary, The State School Teachers' Union of W.A. 2023.
