Shepparton Secondary College staff unable to complete student reports

Victoria’s teacher shortage is at “breaking point”, with some educators unable to complete student reports, leaving parents in the dark.

Teacher shortages are so dire that educators are unable to complete student reports, leaving parents in the dark about their children’s progress.

Families at one Victorian secondary college have been told their recent reports are incomplete and do not reflect student achievements because of a lack of consistent teachers.

The Herald Sun has seen a list of more than 10 teaching staff at the trouble-plagued Greater Shepparton Secondary College that are unable to complete student reports.

There are also dozens of Victorian schools still experiencing teacher shortages, with principals saying the situation was almost at “breaking point”.

Some Greater Shepparton Secondary College students are receiving incomplete reports. Picture: David Caird

More than 800 positions at public schools across the state are being advertised amid the staffing crisis.

Parents whose children attend the Greater Shepparton school said they were “angered” about the teacher shortage at the school.

One mother, whose daughter attends the school, said shortages were dire.

“It’s unfair that students can’t have their reports completed,” she said.

“My daughter has come from school and told me that there have been several occasions where a casual relief teacher takes the class, there is no consistency.

“This is really disappointing as they are missing out on learning.”

A former Greater Shepparton teacher said educators were being “overworked”.

“There’s major areas that are not being covered including numeracy, literacy and VCE,” the teacher said.

“There’s chronic shortages at the school because nobody wants to work in such a dysfunctional and unsafe environment.

“Another concern is that kids are at school and they are refusing to go to class.”

Colin Axup, president of the Victorian Association of State Secondary Principals, said student reports “will be affected by not having the same teacher assess student growth over an extended period of time”.

“Students benefit from consistency in their learning, in particular having the same teachers for each subject. Schools are endeavouring to ensure as much accuracy as possible in assessment and reporting,” he said.

Gail McHardy, chief executive officer of Parents Victoria, said that with “ongoing school workforce shortages in Australia, it isn’t a shock or surprise that some class reporting could be disrupted.”

The Herald Sun has also seen several recent school newsletters where Victorian principals have highlighted widespread shortages.

This includes Beaconsfield Primary School principal Heidi Inglis, who addressed the issue in a newsletter last month.

“I can report that this is a smaller pool (of teachers) than before the pandemic and we also only have a few people who are available for a whole week, most people can only offer us a few days a week,” Ms Inglis wrote.

“We then look at cancelling our tutoring program, leadership will step in and take the grade or the grade will be split among a number of similar aged grades,” she said.

Berwick Lodge Primary School principal Henry Grossek said teacher shortages were stressful on the school community.

“The situation is almost at breaking point,” he said.

“The teacher shortages and the number of disruptions with casual relief teachers has made assessment very difficult.

“We’ve managed but some schools through no fault of their own have been unable to give the level of accuracy on student assessments.”

A Department of Education spokesman said: “We are providing full support to Greater Shepparton Secondary College with staffing – including attracting and retaining great teaching and education support staff, as well as supporting school leadership to make sure students have a smooth and consistent learning experience.”

The Victorian Budget 2023-24 provides $4.0m to continue the targeted recruitment campaign to attract more people into the teaching profession to continue to keep this ratio proportionate as the state grows.

Tina King, Victorian president of the Australian Principals Federation, said schools impacted by teacher shortages “have tried in earnest to ensure the continuity of learning has not been disrupted for extended periods of time”.

Originally published as Shepparton Secondary College staff unable to complete student reports