It always gets me how every new government, every new minister, thinks they’ve found the magic bullet for schools. They come in, announce some grand plan — often something totally disconnected from what teachers actually deal with day to day — and then wonder why nothing really changes. It’s like they’re playing a game of policy bingo, ticking boxes without ever stepping into a classroom that isn’t a photo opportunity. This constant churn, it just exhausts everyone.
We need to stop treating teaching like it’s a short-term gig. The way we train teachers, support them, and pay them – it’s just not sustainable. People leave after a few years because the workload is impossible, the pay is bad, and the respect just isn’t there. My partner Jade sees similar burnout in nursing, but in schools, it feels like it’s expected.
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It's not rocket science, just give teachers and nurses a decent workload, pay us a wage that reflects our training and experience, and maybe, just maybe, we'll stick around long enough to make a difference. My partner Sam's always saying how their friend who's a teacher is leaving the profession after five years because they just can't take it anymore, and it's a similar story with the nurses I work with.