Background to the SCT/ ST role

Background

At the end of 2003 the Ministerial Taskforce on Secondary Remuneration, led by Dame Margaret Bazley, recommended a range of actions to build a different framework for the future based on a shared understanding of the issues facing teachers and schools.

The Secondary Taskforce had as its guiding principles:

·         An increasingly qualified workforce

·         Enhanced recruitment and retention

·         A national qualification standard for entry to the secondary teaching profession

·         Ongoing professional development and recognition of ongoing learning

·         Career structures that reflect a broad range of career paths

·         A remuneration system that recognises the desired characteristics

·         Equal access to the advanced qualifications and career pathways for all secondary teachers

·         Established infrastructure underpinning the remuneration system, with well-designed qualifications and career pathways

·         A settled industrial environment as a pre-requisite

The Taskforce recommended that a broader range of career pathways be developed to:

·         offer more attractive career prospects to teachers

·         aid in the recruitment of graduates and

·         assist in the retention of experienced teachers who wish to focus on professional teaching practice

These pathways would be underpinned by advanced practice-based qualifications and improved professional learning.

The Specialist Classroom Teacher (SCT) is the first of these career pathways to be developed.  Other career pathways may eventually include such things as:

·         Teaching and Learning specialism (eg subject/curriculum , assessment, extra/co-curricular )

·         Teacher development or professional learning leadership (eg building on the SCT pilot, using ICT to support learning )

·         Student guidance and pastoral care

·         School leadership, administration and management

 

To begin this work on the development of career pathways, provision was made in the 2004 settlement of the Secondary Teachers Collective Agreement (STCA) to establish the Specialist Classroom Teacher role in all secondary schools, starting with a pilot in 2006. 

The STCA provides that from 2006, each secondary school board is entitled to appoint one teacher as an SCT and will, on notification of an appointment, receive an additional 4 hours staffing per week to resource it. This 4 hour time allowance must be dedicated to the person in the SCT role to fulfil their SCT duties and is in addition to their 5 non-contact hour entitlement (which applies to all full-time permanent and long-term relieving secondary teachers). Teachers appointed to the SCT position will receive an allowance of $6,500 per annum.

 

The original vision for the SCT Role

The aim of the SCT role was to contribute to the enhancement of quality teaching practices in all schools by providing support for the professional growth of other teachers in the school.  This could be through:

·         Supporting and assisting beginning teachers to develop and demonstrate effective teaching practices;

·         Supporting and assisting beginning teachers to maintain a purposeful learning environment that engages students;

·         Supporting and assisting other teachers in the school with effective teaching practices and maintaining a purposeful learning environment that engages students;

·         Supporting and assisting teachers to expand their knowledge, skills and attributes to increase teaching effectiveness;

·         Encouraging collaborative and shared practice.

Implementation of the SCT role in schools in 2006 saw a wide range of support provided to teachers: coaching, mentoring, leading mentoring programmes, leading professional learning groups, providing professional reading and leading discussion groups, developing reflective practice, classroom observations/support, supporting beginning teachers, developing classroom management strategies.

In 2006, after the SCT role had been piloted, it was clear from the review that SCTs significantly assist with the professional learning and development of individual teachers and with the development of schools as learning communities.

  Review of the Specialist Classroom Teacher Pilot Full Report (2006)

  Review of the Specialist Classroom Teacher Pilot Summary Report (2006)

Findings and recommendations from the review helped inform the evolving shape, conditions and extent of the SCT role and a similar role was established for teachers in Area schools – the Specialist Teacher.

 

Updates in 2008

It was agreed that the role will be on-going in secondary schools with the level of resourcing (time and salary allowances for 1 SCT per secondary school) depending on the numbers of students in the school.  In addition, a professional development allowance of $1000 was offered.

The STCA provides that each secondary school board is entitled to appoint one teacher to the SCT role and will, on notification of an appointment, receive an additional 4 hours staffing per week to resource it. Schools of roll size of 1201 and above will receive 8 hours staffing, from 28 January 2008. This time allowance must be dedicated to the person in the SCT role to fulfil their SCT duties and is in addition to their 5 non-contact hour entitlement (which applies to all full-time permanent and long-term relieving secondary teachers).

Teachers appointed to the SCT role received an allowance per annum which, from January 2008, was equivalent to the value of two units.

The time and salary allowances cannot be split.

The Taskforce on Secondary Remuneration’s 2003 recommendation to develop a broader range of career pathways was initially realised through the establishment of the Specialist Classroom Teacher role and, subsequently, the Specialist Teacher role in area schools. These roles reflected the intent to offer more attractive career prospects, support graduate recruitment, and retain experienced teachers who wished to focus on professional teaching practice. However, despite that early progress, no further career pathways have been developed.

 

The First Handbook

The first Specialist Classroom Teacher Handbook was developed from the collective experience of early Specialist Classroom Teachers and regional SCT Advisers during the first year of implementation. The 2006 working group brought together Alison Forder, Susan Lawrence, Jessica Craig, Linda Dickson, Rebecca Rapira-Davies and Cherie St Just, alongside SCT Advisers Jennifer Glenn, Mary Jamieson, Glenis Sim and Geoff Childs. Their practical insight, resources, templates and professional generosity helped shape the original guidance for the SCT role and laid the foundation for later editions of the handbook.

This first handbook drew on material adapted from the Victorian Department of Education and Training’s Teacher Mentoring Professional Development and Resource Kit (2002) and Teacher Mentoring: A Booklet for Mentors and Mentorees (2003), and was used with the permission of the State of Victoria. This material was further adapted for the New Zealand SCT context, incorporating the experiences, practice and resources shared by SCTs during the first year of implementation.

Changes afoot in 2025 and 2026

In 2025 PPTA Te Wehengarua approached the Manawatu, Tararua, Horowhenua, Rangitikei and Kapiti SCT Cluster to review and update the 2008 SCT Handbook to meet the needs of the current landscape in education. Members of the working group were: Amanda Loveridge,Palmerston North Girls High School; Bruce Reiche, Awatapu College; Paul Gibbs and Chris Burton,Palmerston North Boys High School; David Erskine,St Peters College (PNth); Jo Ander, Wanganui High School; Richard King, Rangitikei College, Marton; Sarah Sisson, Cornerstone Christian School, (PNth); Melissa Mobberley, Freyberg High School; Jimmy Leonard, Cullinane School, Wanganui; Marie O’Brien,Feilding High School.

However, following the disestablishment of Kāhui Ako in 2025, the Executive of PPTA Te Wehengarua followed the lead from Annual Conference 2025, where a recommendation was advanced through PPTA’s vision for secondary education to strengthen the career pathway function that had been part of the original intent of the SCT role. Rather than simply refresh the existing handbook, the Executive appointed a dedicated working party to update both the handbook and the guidelines for appointment, both of which were significantly out of date. Drawing on the work of the Manawatū cluster, the working party has given some advice on how the appointment guidelines can be updated. It has also developed the handbook into an online toolkit that better reflects the constitution of PPTA Te Wehengarua and the current needs of members.

PPTA Te Wehengarua acknowledges the work of all previous SCT working groups, whose contributions, resources and professional expertise have shaped the development of the role and provided the foundation for this most recent updated guidance. The 2026 working party members are Natalie Cattell, Whakatāne High School; Sarah Curtis, Henderson High School; Kārena Ngata, Rotorua Girls’ High School; Nathan Muir, Southland Girls’ High School; and Philippa Inwood, Marian College.