Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times / Lifestyle

Beck Vass: My daughter's teacher has 10 jobs, she deserves better pay

Beck Vass
By Beck Vass
NZ Herald·
11 Nov, 2018 06:09 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
Sure, not all teachers are as awesome as Mrs Reid. But there will be even less who are if we don't look after them. Photo / Getty Images

Sure, not all teachers are as awesome as Mrs Reid. But there will be even less who are if we don't look after them. Photo / Getty Images

The first year of school is coming to a close for our just-turned six-year-old daughter.

During this year, among many things, she has learned to read.

It happens so unbelievably quickly, you can barely believe the speed of it.

She is also asking questions I don't have answers to, leaping to places of curiosity I never expected so soon.

Her teacher, an amazing lady called Mrs Reid, has been instrumental in all of this.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Her enthusiasm, energy and patience for the kids in her class appears endless.

She works in her classroom before school and every day after school she remains, often at her desk, working.

Sometimes after school we play in the sun for an hour or two, but we always leave before Mrs Reid.

Photos of our kids having fun at school appear on the Seesaw app (used to communicate with families) late in the evenings and messages about upcoming trips, projects and reminders can appear early in the mornings.

She isn't just a teacher.

She and her colleagues organise all the fun things our girl has been able to do this year.

There have been trips out for cross country, to a local pa site, to the Art Gallery and for sports.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

They have learned about the earth, volcanoes and earthquakes. They have learned about Maori legends. For matariki, they had a hangi on the school field for the entire school.

They made baskets at Easter and came home with a stash of chocolate eggs. I don't think the school paid for those.

There are weekly "discovery" days every Friday. Fluffy-making, fairy bread, pancakes, pikelets and toast. Science projects, sports and craft sessions.

She is a project manager and organiser.

She listens carefully as parents come in with concerns about their kids.

She is both social worker and guidance counsellor.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Sometimes kids are hurt, or scared, during their first days of school and need a cuddle.

She is a stand-in mum.

Sometimes parents are sad too.

She is a friend and confidante.

All year, the classroom has been colourfully adorned with the children's art, celebrating their efforts and leaving them proud.

She is creative director and decorator.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

At parent-teacher interview time, I learned that every child is assessed and placed in reading and maths groups that teach and challenge them at their own level.

This tailored approach in a time of bigger class sizes and such wide-ranging student needs, is a far cry from the more generic approach I received at school in the 1980s.

Teachers have much more complex jobs than ever before. The net result being less time with each child.

Armed merely with her praise, the odd certificate, and a stash of rewards that are apparently the best thing ever (fruit-scented "smelly stickers" which are among many other things the kids have benefitted from that she will have paid for herself) Mrs Reid has made these kids excited about science, maths, reading and writing, giving them the best start to their education they could have asked for.

Mrs Reid is one example. She is just one of 50,000 teachers and support staff inspiring children across New Zealand from early childhood to intermediate education.

That does not include the secondary teachers and staff who, through their representative body the PPTA, are also battling for better pay and conditions.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Sure, not all teachers are as awesome as Mrs Reid. But there will be even less who are if we don't look after them.

The funding estimated by the New Zealand Educational Institute which represents teachers and called for this week's strike for better conditions and pay is more than $1 billion.

It's an expensive problem to fix because of course, if you fund primary teachers, then you have to fund secondary teachers, and early childhood educators, and so on.

But what will it cost us if we don't?

Save
    Share this article

Latest from Lifestyle

Bay of Plenty Times

Organic honey - from bush to boutique in Coromandel

Bay of Plenty Times

Stan Walker, L.A.B. gear up for epic summer shows in NZ, Australia

Bay of Plenty Times

'Evolving and innovating': New Zealand's top holiday park named


Sponsored

Revealed: The night driving ‘red flag’

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Lifestyle

Organic honey - from bush to boutique in Coromandel
Bay of Plenty Times

Organic honey - from bush to boutique in Coromandel

The Mackenzies won gold and silver at the Outstanding Food Producer Awards this year.

28 Jul 09:47 PM
Stan Walker, L.A.B. gear up for epic summer shows in NZ, Australia
Bay of Plenty Times

Stan Walker, L.A.B. gear up for epic summer shows in NZ, Australia

27 Jul 09:15 PM
'Evolving and innovating': New Zealand's top holiday park named
Bay of Plenty Times

'Evolving and innovating': New Zealand's top holiday park named

24 Jul 04:51 AM


Revealed: The night driving ‘red flag’
Sponsored

Revealed: The night driving ‘red flag’

04 Aug 11:37 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP