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Read the full speech given by SSTUWA President Matt Jarman to November State Council Conference 2024.

Around 150 members, staff and speakers will gather for the second SSTUWA State Council Conference of 2024 on Friday and Saturday, 15-16 November.

Class sizes in Western Australian public schools are among some of the highest in the country.

The recent media coverage of NAPLAN 2024 has supported the long held SSTUWA view that NAPLAN is not fit for purpose.

One of the great things about the half-day action school members took on 23 April was the incredible sense of unity and commitment that shone through.

Read the full speech given by SSTUWA President Matt Jarman to June State Council Conference 2024.

From the President: Your actions on 23 April were critically important and resulted in a far better offer presented from the employer than had previously been on the table in negotiations for the 2023 General Agreement.

There is a myriad of issues in public education that are demanding more attention and resources, from workload, to teacher shortages and funding.

As the latest generation of Western Australian children start their education journey it is time to stop talking and start acting to address the problems facing public education. The announcement of a new funding agreement bringing $1.6 billion into WA public schools is a good start but there is more to do.

Read the full version of SSTUWA President Matt Jarman’s address to November State Council Conference, held on 10-11 November.

When the SSTUWA first discussed the option of commissioning a full review of public education in Western Australia it was with the intent of starting a conversation.

As a primary school leader for most of my career in country and metropolitan schools, I am often asked about the key lessons I have learned about leadership and how it applies to my current role.

Safety in schools has become a priority community concern. Members cite safety as the second most significant reason to leave the profession, after workload. Schools are often just a place where the violence manifests, not necessarily the root cause.

The following is a transcript of SSTUWA President Matt Jarman’s opening speech to June State Council Conference on 9 June 2023.

The latest area where teachers and school leaders should apparently take control over student behaviour is vaping. Vaping is rivalling artificial intelligence as the social panic hot topic. Whenever there is a crisis, it must be teachers who take action, apparently.

The latest results from the annual Australian Principal Occupational Health, Safety and Well-being Survey are of great concern and highlight the strain school leaders are under as they struggle to manage the ever-increasing workloads, demands and expectations of their jobs.

One of the core reasons for establishing a review into the public education system (led by former WA Premier and one-time federal education minister Dr Carmen Lawrence) was to encourage community debate about public education.

Welcome to 2023 – a year of immense challenges for the State School Teachers’ Union of Western Australia and of great opportunity for public education. In this, the SSTUWA’s 125th anniversary year, it is an incredible honour to succeed Pat Byrne as president of the SSTUWA; though I will admit it is also a little disconcerting to follow such an inspiring and dedicated servant to public educators and public education.

The State School Teachers’ Union of Western Australia welcomed the announcement of a new Education Minister in December’s cabinet reshuffle, with the division into separate ministerial portfolios of early childhood education and training suggesting the state government is giving education a higher priority.

The state government’s desperate plans to fix the state’s teacher shortage will not address the underlying issues in the public education system, according to the SSTUWA. The union said the government’s plan to send under qualified teachers into short- staffed schools (announced late last year) was a short-sighted move which had the potential to cause more harm than good.