Lack of time and having too many unnecessary administrative tasks to complete were barriers hindering teachers' ability to spend more time focusing on their students and student learning.
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These barriers were highlighted by Warilla High School deputy principal Veronica Luckman at a Teacher Advisory Group meeting at NSW Parliament House last week.
Ms Luckman was among 10 of the best teachers in NSW, invited to the roundtable to share ideas on improving learning outcomes for students, cutting red tape and increasing the time and resources teachers have to deliver the best education for students.
Premier Dominic Perrottet said the inaugural meeting had established a Teacher Advisory Group - one of several unique initiatives giving teachers, principals, and students a direct voice in education policy.
"It's so important we hear from a wide variety of stakeholders, particularly those considered the best in their profession, to help shape the future of education in our state," Mr Perrottet said.
"We can benefit from their experience and ideas on ways of better supporting their profession to modernise and grow."
Ms Luckman said the government was really keen to hear from teachers about what school success looked like and what were some of the barriers to it.
"And then to find out what tasks could be taken away from teachers so they could be spending more time on focusing on their students and student learning.
"It was a really great opportunity to be able to speak from the rock face about what it is like in schools and what it is like in the classrooms," she said.
The roundtable participants included teachers from government, Catholic, and independent schools, and featured a mix of primary and high schools across metro and regional areas, varying school sizes and cultural backgrounds.
Minister for Education and Early Learning Sarah Mitchell said the Teachers Advisory Group will bring diverse expertise and perspectives into the education decision-making process.
"I have been focused on increasing the time and resources teachers have to deliver a great education for their students," Ms Mitchell said.
"This group will help refine the work already underway and develop additional opportunities to slash the time teachers spend beyond their core duties."
Ms Luckman shared what school success was really about, with the Minister, Premier and participants.
"Success is you wanting students to attend school and you want them to be actively engaged in their learning and you wanting them to grow in their learning," she said.
"But for this to happen teachers need to be supported.
"We also discussed some admin tasks that can be removed to allow teachers the time needed to improve students' learning.
"I did talk about how difficult this was for one of our music teachers at Warilla who has 12 classes and each of those classes has 30 students
"At our school we create class profiles at the beginning of every year so we are really getting to know our students around their academic and wellbeing needs.
"Then obviously there is programming for those classes and creating resources, and looking at their needs in terms of learning and tracking and evidencing that and needing to report and get feedback as well.
"That is a huge load. Education has changed significantly over the last few years in terms of the amount of feedback and marking.
"These things are all important but it is important to ensure that teachers are supported and have the time to do what is most important and that is teach our students to the best of our ability."
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