Jodie Rimmer: As parents we need to get behind the teachers' strike

Opinion

COMMENT: I really can't believe I'm writing about this. I mean, jeepers, I have enough on my plate with two jobs and parenting two boys, however, we've got to talk about those bloody striking teachers - are they still banging on about more support for their students and more dosh for themselves?

Too right they are, and as parents we can't just sit on the sidelines. Those teachers are out there fighting for our kids' education and trying to make their job more manageable so our schools can actually find a teacher for every class.

As parents, we have to make it clear to the Government that we care too, and we support the primary teachers and principals going on strike. They're willingly losing a day's pay for our kids – that's how much they care.

We have to care too. There are six-year-olds not making good progress due to classroom sizes being too big. There are 12-year-olds getting behind in maths so they just start turning off and shutting down.

Teachers are stretched too thin and can't give every child the one-on-one attention they need. It's exhausting and frustrating for the teachers and not fair on the kids.

Class size is a real problem. Children can have up to 30 classmates, all vying for the teacher's attention. How do kids with additional needs cope? And that's on a good day.

On a bad day, a teacher gets sick and a reliever can't be found. The kids in those classes often have to be split up and spread round the school. It's massively disruptive for everyone. Such an event was rare even a few years ago, but it's increasingly common, whether you're rural or urban, high decile or low. Every school is feeling the pain of the teacher shortage.

The teachers themselves are not coping with their workload, why do we think they're crying out? Why are they leaving the profession? Why are teacher trainee numbers down 40 per cent in the past five years? Why would anyone choose to go to university for three or four years, take on long hours, huge responsibility and get paid peanuts?

Teachers are clearly at the end of their rope and they've decided that they can't wait any longer to address the issues that are hurting kids' education and creating a significant teacher shortage.

It is terrible that this situation has been getting worse and worse over many years and now the Labour-led Government has a huge mess to deal with. Bold action is a must. To borrow a phrase, let's do this.

I let my kids' teachers know they're getting my support when they go on strike this week. Please do the same for the teachers in your world. They need to know we parents have got their back.

• Jodie Rimmer has two sons at primary school in Auckland and is a TV and movie actress.