CRoSR workforce design phase
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 129 No 7, 27 September 2024, page 13.
School community engagement with diverse learners − from the highly able to those with complex individual needs or those who have been impacted by trauma − is intense, time-consuming, and multidimensional. All schools are struggling to self-fund these dynamic and emerging demands on top of complex and intense system expectations.
In EB10, the QTU secured agreement that the department would conduct the Comprehensive Review of School Resourcing (CRoSR). Implicit within this was a review of the role descriptions and work functions that exist in our schools and the need for a newly designed model of school resourcing.
Extensive member feedback from teachers and school leaders highlights the increasing complexity of their daily work and the increasing systemic and societal demands on their roles. For many years now, school leaders have had to use flexible (school-purchased) resourcing to create roles that more effectively meet the emerging needs of students and their families. This plainly indicates that the current model is not fit for purpose.
QTU input into the CRoSR review clearly outlines the emerging needs of our system, the urgent demand for additional resourcing, and the critical need for our system to recognise the breadth of complex roles that are no longer “optional” school-purchased roles, but which in fact form the very basis of the core work teams in our schools.
The department is currently undertaking specific statewide consultation on the workforce architecture of a proposed model. In each region, selected school teams, including the principal, a deputy principal and the business manager, are being invited to take part in this work. A range of schools across the sectors of varying size and complexity are to be engaged, with small schools and diverse schooling settings being engaged separately.
The workforce design process will look at the current nature and context of roles that schools identify as critical in a school-based workforce. Each “job function” (the core tasks of the role) is allocated to a “job family” (the team needed to do this work), with a direct focus on the precise nature of the work required in that role.
The intent is to build a concrete picture of the workforce roles and functions necessary for schools to operate and meet legislative, industrial and policy requirements. The QTU also contends that this workforce design needs to highlight the complex engagement needs being driven by changing school community, societal and systemic demands.
Where to next?
The department committed to completing the review by December 2024. It is anticipated that a report will be provided to stakeholders recommending a detailed future model that responds to stakeholder feedback and secures their agreement.
QTU representation in this project continues with a singular purpose: to achieve a high quality, future-focused, equitable and sustainably funded state school system.