Fifty local teachers stop work

This left local public schools with minimal supervision while the 90 minute meeting took place.

Local teachers met at Young Services Club, joining their colleagues at 209 venues across NSW for the meeting.

There members “overwhelmingly” endorsed the terms of settlement for a new three year Salaries and Conditions Award for public school teachers.

The new award provides annual salary increases, preserves all current working conditions, and protects the teaching standards and qualifications. A key feature included the maximum annual increases to 2.5 per cent.

Members also voted fo no changes to principal positions in small primary schools up to 2016, as per an agreement reached between the NSW Teachers Federation and the state government.

There was heightened concern a government proposal seeking to downgrade small school principals to “leading teacher” status and moving managerial duties to a bigger ‘hub’ school, would lead to small school closures.

But local NSW Teachers Federation representative Mark Jankovics said “no small school closures are on the table”.

He said the NSW Teachers Federation successfully negotiated, with members voting in favour, for small school principals to retain their existing conditions and entitlements or opt into new principal classifications from 2016.

This means individual principals will get to choose to fall under “leading teacher” status after this period.

However if a principal is to retire after 2016, the director of the school can choose whether to keep its principal position or move it to a hub school.

“None of the principals today said they would be keen to opt in [to new principal classifications],” Mr Jankovics said.

He also said members of the Teachers Federation will also be supporting their small school colleagues from 2021.