Coonabarabran teachers have had their say on a new NSW Government program that, amid a workforce crisis, is a low priority for local teachers being stretched to their limits. 

Roundtables are being held around the state to get a feel for the ‘Rewarding Excellence in Teaching’ initiative, which will assign certain teachers as ‘experts’ to guide and teach other staff in the workplace. 

Coonabarabran High School deputy principal Duncan Graham said that after the recent roundtable, it’s not obvious that the benefits would outweigh the challenges.  

“My concern remains, where are they going to find the staff to backfill anyone who comes out of the school and goes into that position, and secondly what does that say to the staff who don’t get the position that are in the same school, doing the same job?” Mr Graham said. 



Under the initiative, certain teachers would take on extra responsibilities to help other teachers learn, from sharing resources and to observing other teachers’ lessons to give feedback. 

While some smaller but additional responsibilities could fetch a payday of $117 thousand per year, teachers taking on bigger forms of the role such as collaborations with lesson plans and team teaching could see a new salary of $147 thousand per year. 

The reform is to use the skills of effective teachers to benefit students across the board, as well as create a more attractive career path for teachers by offering positions to climb with a higher pay grade. 

Mr Graham said that finding teachers to fill current roles is a bigger priority. 

“We are looking for five staff at the moment for next year and are not getting a lot of responses,” Mr Graham said. 

“The feeling across the board is that a lot of the stuff that the ‘expert’ teachers would be expected to do is what they’re doing as day to day practice right now,” he said. 

“I can’t see it making a fundamental difference to 9-3 on a Thursday afternoon.”

The new initiative was formed after a recent survey of teachers and school leaders found around three out of four are interested in pursuing a new career pathway that would keep them in the classroom. 

Minister for Education and Early Learning Sarah Mitchell said the Rewarding Excellence in Teaching program was a key component of the NSW Government’s focus on building a modern education system that recognises and rewards excellence in our classrooms.

“This approach is about recognising and rewarding the great teachers we have in our public schools, with the aim of keeping them in the classroom where they do their magic,” Ms Mitchell said. 

The program is set to begin implementation in 2023.

Teachers who were unable to take part in the roundtable event can provide feedback through an online survey. Members of the public are also being encouraged to share their views on the NSW Government’s Have Your Say website.