As students head back to school this week, teachers are set to have their demanding workload reduced by the state government.
It's welcome news to Warilla High School teacher Renee Pettit who knows the workload juggle between teaching and admin all too well.
"Look the current workload is extremely difficult to be able to balance," Mrs Pettit, head teacher, teaching and learning at Wailla High School, said.
"The impact of that is that the quality of that teaching and learning that gets delivered is obviously compromised because of the additional layers of administrative burden and additional policies and processes etcetera."
The NSW Labor Government said teachers would start term two of the school year with a lighter administrative workload by pausing some policy changes and programs that were set to start in the new school term.
NSW Premier Chris Minns and Deputy Premier Prue Car revealed today all pilots and programs starting in term two would be paused and reviewed. The state government said it would consult teachers on which programs should continue.
They will also hold off on half of their mandated changes to policies and processes which were set to begin this term.
"We've heard loud and clear that teachers are swamped with endless requirements to implement policy updates that cut into the time they should be spending with students and planning lessons," Deputy Premier and Minister for Education and Early Learning Prue Car said.
"We need to act urgently to address this, which is why I have told the department to make changes right away to support our teachers. This is just the start."
Mrs Pettit said she welcomes any announcement that gives teachers more time to prepare and deliver quality teaching for students.
"For me personally, over the course of the 24 years that I have been teaching, I've seen a huge increase and a huge difference in the administrative burden over that time," Mrs Pettit said.
"The most important thing in our schools is students! They deserve the best learning opportunities and the best teachers. With the current workload it is extremely difficult to give them the quality that they deserve".
During the NSW election campaign Labor announced it would conduct a line-by-line audit of all administrative tasks teachers are required to do, to reduce administrative work by five hours per week.
The NSW Teachers Federation has welcomed the announcement to reign in the teacher and principal workload that the president said has been 'spiralling out of control'.
"Teachers must be freed from a crippling administrative burden to allow them to focus on that which matters most; teaching and learning," president of NSW Teachers Federation (NSWTF) Angelo Gavrielatos said.
"We are confident that this is but the beginning of further action to come."
Illawarra teachers have been feeling the burden of administrative tasks, along with teachers across the state.
"We've been saying for the last few years that teachers are overworked and these sorts of things take away from our core business, which is why people became teachers - to teach," Elizabeth Scott, the president of Illawarra Teachers Association NSWTF, said.
"It takes us away from lesson preparation from assessment reporting all of those other things that don't go away."
Ms Scott, who is also a local teacher but speaking as a union member, said in most cases the administrative work could be completed if more administrative staff were hired in schools.
"There are not enough hours in a day to do what we need to do and do our face-to-face teaching and do these other things," Ms Scott said.
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Marlene Even
Journalist at the Illawarra Mercury. Previously a radio and podcast host at 2SER Radio.
Journalist at the Illawarra Mercury. Previously a radio and podcast host at 2SER Radio.
