There has been much discussion of teachers in the media recently with primary and secondary teachers’ unions having taken or considering strike action after negotiations over conditions of service  broke down with the ministry.

 

I attended a lecture about teacher retention earlier this year and learnt that among the most significant reasons for teachers staying in the profession include their commitment to teaching and their commitment to the school. In this regard I wish to thank our community for supporting our teachers and expressing whenever possible your appreciation for their efforts. These simple actions, along with our wonderful students, go a long way to ensuring MHJC remains a place which teachers hate to leave.

 

We are very fortunate at MHJC that we are currently fully staffed and enjoy a high number of applicants for every vacancy we advertise. For example we received 20 applications for one position recently. We are able to attract primary and secondary trained teachers both of whom fall into the SCTA or Secondary Teachers’ Collective Agreement which is why we were not on strike last week.

 

Some more information may interest the community.

We have a nice balance of youth and experience and have an average age well below the national average with:

• 8 teachers in the first 5 years of their career who bring new ideas from training college to enrich our practice;
• 34 teachers have between 5 and 15 years experience who help to fill the middle and senior leadership positions and
• 7 “master craftsmen and women” have 15 years experience or more who help to guide the less experienced teachers within our mentoring programme.

All our teachers are highly qualified with:

• 25 teachers holding a degree and teacher’s diploma;
• 11 with a postgraduate qualification and
• 13 with a masters qualification.

Our turnover is relatively low with:

• only 6 staff leaving last year. This includes two teachers who are on maternity leave and will be returning.
• At time of writing we are fully staffed for next year with only four teachers leaving us.

 

We closely track the reasons for leaving and in the last three years these include promotion opportunities at other schools, relocations (nationally and internationally) and retirement. I am pleased to report that MHJC continues to be a sought after school for teachers who, according to the latest community feedback survey, enjoy high levels of satisfaction within an innovative and supportive learning environment.

 

Growing greatness/Kia mana ake!