Temporary and retired teachers can now apply for the NSW Government’s free tuition program announced this month in the state budget.
Already more than 8,000 people have expressed their interest to take part in the program.
Minister for Education Sarah Mitchell said the enthusiasm for the program was fantastic, and she was excited that people can now apply for roles.
“There have been steady expressions of interest in the program, and applications are now open for temporary and retired teachers with applications for university tutors and ITE students opening Monday,” Ms Mitchell said.
“Everyone who has expressed an interest will receive an email letting them know how to progress to the next step.
“Possible candidates have provided their postcodes, and we will work through the locations of the candidates and match them with local schools.
“We are also working on digital solutions to ensure that more remote schools can access free tuition.”
The $377 million program was announced this month in the NSW 2020-21 Budget, increasing the ongoing support for students’ education after a disruptive school year.
The NSW Government also created optional online reading and numeracy check-in assessments designed to assist teachers in the classroom to identify where students were up to in their learning.
The assessments cover similar aspects of literacy and numeracy as in NAPLAN reading and numeracy tests.
Ms Mitchell said the assessments were widely used at schools and that the feedback was very positive. 88 per cent of Year 3 students, 86 per cent of Year 5 students and 61 per cent of Year 9 students completed one or more of the check-in assessments.
“The assessments provided teachers with initial results within 48 hours, enabling them to address learning gaps quickly,” Ms Mitchell said.
The assessments show that students were able maintain their development during learning from home but did not progress at the same speed they would have if they were in the classroom.
“I believe that without the incredible efforts from everyone during the learning from home period and the support provided by schools, parents and the department these results would look very different,” Ms Mitchell said.
“Knowing where students are up to allows us to help them in the areas of their education where it is needed most.
“The results from the assessments came with targeted professional development for teachers, helping them to be as prepared as possible to explicitly address the challenges in their classrooms.”
Teachers who would like to register their interest in the tuition program should visit https://www.teach.nsw.edu.au/find-teaching-jobs/covid-learning-support-program
Skip to content