For PCA members facing challenges at work, their best support often comes from colleagues at nearby schools.
This isn’t to say there aren’t supportive regional or school staff nearby – rather, that there is a particularly reliable form of solidarity when a PCA member speaks to another PCA member.
Over Term 1 and 2 this year, the focus of our regional PCA meetings is contributing to a ‘log of claims’ for the next enterprise agreement. We have already generated a list of potential claims that could result in some downward pressure on workload for principals. But PCA members have also taken the opportunity to debrief about a wide range of unique and complex challenges.
Sometimes, members attending PCA meetings agree that issues relating to workload or health and safety should be raised at regional meetings as well, perhaps to reinforce the VGSA 2017 clause relating to consultation where there is a significant change to principal work.
So, next time a colleague raises a concern about the workload or health and safety implications of a particular aspect of work at a network meeting or area forum, show them some support – either publicly or privately. We are stronger together.
