Kerikeri High School and Northland College have had to roster students from home because of staff shortages caused by several factors including illness.
Two Northland schools have been forced to roster students to learn from home because of significant teacher shortages.
Northland College and Kerikeri High School told parents their children would be rostered at home at various times from the end of July and into August.
Kerikeri High School principal Mike Clent wrote to parents on July 28 about the disruption the school would experience.
Clent said significant teacher shortages nationwide meant Kerikeri had relied on casual relief teachers to take up fixed-term teacher positions.
That meant the available pool of relievers had shrunk, he said.
Clent said a difficult decision was made to roster year levels to learn from home on different days so the school could staff and teach classes that remained at school.
“We have not taken this decision lightly, and we are very mindful of the potential impact of this for families and whānau.”
Clent told the Northern Advocate Year 10, 11, 12 and 13 students had been rostered at home one day each from July 31 until last Wednesday.
Year 7, 8 and 9 students were not included in the roster because of the disruption it would have caused parents and caregivers, he said.
“We’re through the worst of it and we’re okay for the rest of the week and beyond.”
Clent said the school had taken the same approach this time last year because of an enormous amount of staff sickness.
“It’s always a last resort.”
Clent said a combination of factors including the lack of casual relievers, staff retirements and resignations, and staff on long-term leave had exacerbated the problem.
But staff sickness “was the straw that broke the camel’s back”, he said.
“The situation was made harder because of teacher shortages.
“We’ve had a few positions we haven’t been able to appoint to.
“Day-to-day relief staff have stepped in, but what that means is when the flu season hits, we haven’t had as many relievers to draw on.”
A message on Northland College’s Facebook page said the Kaikohe school planned to roster Year 9-13 students at home at different times from last Monday to the end of the month because of staff leave.
Principal Duane Allen said this was caused by “a culmination of things” including illness and staff attending professional development training.
“At this stage of the year it’s the illness that’s really hit us. We’ve had a lot of staff hit with the flu.
“We have a certain number of staff we can manage and cover with our limited relief pool but once we get up to seven to nine staff members ... it gets really challenging for us to manage.”
Allen said students were rostered from home last winter for similar reasons.
Allen said traditionally, the school struggled to fill vacancies.
Three staff were currently on a limited authority to teach, which enables people without a teaching qualification to teach in positions where there is need for specialist skills or skills are in short supply.
“The vacancies are still there but we don’t have applications from registered teachers to fill them,” Allen said.
“We’re not the only school that advertises and doesn’t necessarily receive any applications. That’s not uncommon.
“There’s a staffing crisis in the north.”
Ministry of Education leader of education workforce, Anna Welanyk, said schools often faced increased staff absences because of illness during winter.
“Rostering students home may be the only viable option to ensure safety and continuity of learning.”
Welanyk said the decisions were not taken lightly and were made at the discretion of each school.
“We understand the impact this can have on students and whānau, and we support schools in making the best decisions for their communities.”
Northland MP Grant McCallum said the student home rosters were an operational matter for schools to manage.
“Noone wants that to happen, but it can happen in winter with sickness.
“It’s clearly not ideal, but I’m sure the high schools are doing their best to manage it appropriately.”
McCallum said the Government was committed to boosting the workforce, along with improving the qualification system.
“The Government is working hard to train more teachers to have more teachers available.”
On Monday the Government announced a radical shake-up of NCEA that will see it abolished and replaced with two new qualifications at Year 12 and 13.
In May, Education Minister Erica Stanford said full-time equivalent teaching and learning support roles will grow by more than 1600 by 2028.
The minister’s office could not say how many of these roles would be for Northland.
Clent said secondary school teacher supply was “an issue nationally” and he would like to see it increased.
“We know the best learning happens when young people have a teacher in front of them.”
Jenny Ling is a senior journalist at the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering human interest stories, along with finance, roading, and social issues.