By Lucy Carroll
Parents have criticised a move to introduce more pupil-free days from 2025, voicing frustration that families will be forced to cover the cost of alternative care due to a shortened school year.
The NSW government has announced the number of pupil-free days at public schools will increase from six to eight from next year, pushing back the start of term 1 to Thursday, February 6.
While some parents are concerned the decision puts more strain on families juggling work and care for young children, others say teachers need more time to prepare for lessons and the rollout of an overhauled curriculum.
Caleb Taylor says extra pupil free days is a strain on families with young children.Credit: Louie Douvis
The number of pupil-free “school development days” on the calendar will rise to four at the start of the year, two at the start of term 2 and a day at the start of terms 3 and 4.
The NSW Education Department had initially planned to cut student-free days back to five next year, returning to the same number as 2019. A sixth was added during the pandemic.
NSW Teachers Federation president Henry Rajendra has rejected suggestions that the extra pupil-free days would undermine student academic outcomes, saying they will allow teachers the time needed to offer the “best quality education for our kids”.
Lane Cove Public School P&C president Caleb Taylor believes more development days will be especially challenging for parents of primary-aged children.
“Parents need to pay for and find holiday care or they have to take the time off work. When they are struggling with rising household costs, it’s another burden on families,” he said.
Principals are yet to receive details of the training teachers will complete in the new development days, but the union claim half of allocated days will be “teacher directed”. The department say those days will be used for new curriculum delivery.
In August, the government abolished the accreditation system for all teacher professional development courses.
One principal, who spoke anonymously to speak freely about the issue, said four pupil-free days at the start of term 1 was “overkill”.
“It would be more helpful to spread them out. Two days at the start of the year would be more productive,” they said.
The new pupil-free days are part of a deal struck with the NSW Teachers Federation late last month which gives teachers a 10 per cent pay rise over three years. It brings graduate teacher salaries to $97,618, including superannuation, and top teachers to $140,226.
The deal caps weekly staff meetings outside 9am to 3pm to one hour. It also removes the department’s unilateral power to change teacher performance processes and monitoring.
Randwick parent Heather Shepherd says teachers need more classroom planning time, although questioned if some pupil-free days could be held at the end of the summer holidays.Credit: Louie Douvis
An auditor-general report in 2019 found the government was not collecting sufficient information to monitor teaching quality across the state.
Randwick Girls’ High School P&C president Leanne Bergen supported giving teachers more time out of the classroom, saying it acknowledged the need for extra planning time.
“I feel like teachers are finally being heard. They have so many workload and reporting demands. This gives them the time to prepare,” she said.
Victorian and South Australian public schools have five pupil-free days, while Western Australia and Queensland have six. From 2025, many Catholic schools will have nine pupil-free days.
NSW teachers are midway through rolling out radical changes to the primary and high school curriculum and dozens of new syllabuses.
Central Coast Council of P&Cs president Sharryn Brownlee said extra student-free days will put strain on parents with young children and sent “mixed messages” after the government’s intense focus on lifting school attendance.
“It’s so important to keep teenagers engaged in school, and if there are more days away from the classroom, parents need this clearly communicated and explained,” she said.
Randwick parent Heather Shepherd said teachers needed more classroom planning time and she questioned if some of the days could be held in the last days of summer holidays.
“There is a bigger conversation around the 9am to 3pm school day and how challenging it is to manage for working parents,” she said.
Another eastern suburbs primary school mother said she was “horrified” at the move, estimating it would cost $300 for her three children to attend holiday care for each day.
“After forced annual leave during corporate closure periods, and seven weeks of summer holidays, there is no more time off to cover the extra days,” she said.
NSW Department of Education Secretary Murat Dizdar said: “Additional school development days are being added to ensure the roll-out of the new knowledge-based curriculum is implemented effectively for all students. Minimal supervision is available for families on those days.”
However, NSW Teachers Federation deputy president Amber Flohm said there would be no minimal supervision for students.
“The additional days ensure teachers can properly plan and undertake professional learning. This is critically important under the new curriculum, so teachers can meet the needs of our students,” she said.
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