A group of Auckland secondary schools believe a teachers training programme they've created, targeting career changers, is already making a dent in staff shortages.
The Auckland Schools' Teachers Training Programme, which embeds students full-time in their chosen schools, is set to double its number of trainees next year.
Westlake Boys High School headmaster David Ferguson said within a couple of years, there'll be 100 people training on an annual basis.
The model, set up with the help of Waikato University, effectively means schools are selecting and training their own staff.
Ferguson calls it a "real game changer".
Around 50 people have successfully joined the sector through the scheme since the start of last year.
The jobs they've come from include set making, orchestra conducting and engineering.
Sidah Russell is just finishing her year training at Westlake Boys High School, after two decades working in communications and media.
"When I first decided to go into journalism and comms years ago, it was like a love language and a love of communicating with people, a lot of sharing ideas."
She said while the classroom is a different environment, the skills are much the same.
The new programme was the selling point, convincing Russell to switch jobs.
"I didn't want to waste my time and I thought being in the school for the whole year would just mean like, you know, I can start next year and I will be completely comfortable in the environment."
Schools pay your course fees, for distance learning through Waikato University, and they also provide a $10,000 stipend to trainee.
Russell said: "It's not like a salary, but it's enough to kind of make that decision a lot easier, especially for a career changer."
Ferguson said: "It probably costs schools about $20,000 per student teacher at the moment, but we're getting some significant assistance with that next year from from the Ministry of Education 'cause I think they see the value in this program."
The funding they've received is part of a wider $24 million support package to recruit 1000 new teachers.
Larissa Reddiex is training at Diocesan School for Girls in Epsom and said, "I think the program really has prepared me.
"You come in day one, which is fantastic because you get to know the students straight away.
"You're in classes with them all year round, Monday to Friday, 8 till five and you do your study on the side."
Waikato University's professor Don Klinger commented: "I have been fortunate to be involved in several teacher education initiatives over the years, and none have had the potential to positively impact the ongoing efforts to attract new teachers as this collaborative project."
Diocesan School for Girls principal Heather McRae think it's hugely beneficial that the student teachers get a broader perspective of school life.
"You know it's not just a six week drop in and I'm gone...which was the model I was trained in," she said.
McRae's employing both of her 2022 trainees next year.
She believes the programme has, "[put] them in a wonderful position to really enjoy their first year of teaching rather than feeling worried or fearsome about joining a school, that in some cases, they know nothing about".
In the first year of the programme in 2020 there were 12 schools involved, and next year it looks like there'll be at least 26 on board.
Ferguson said: "Just because teachers have been trained in a certain way previously doesn't mean it can't be done differently."
He said there's no reason other cities can't copy their programme.
"I know I'm talking to some schools in Wellington at the moment, that want to find out some more about it."
He believes the model is already making a real difference to school staff shortages.
Applications for next year are still open.
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