SAS Staff News, 28 September, 2006

WORKLOAD ISSUES

SAS staff should not undertake any new duties. The PSA is working hard to have your jobs recognised. Say NO to work overload/ new duties.

STEMS, FM WEB, SSTARTS, SMART & CSA6 DATA ENTRY AND MANAGEMENT are not the role of SAS staff. It is the department's view that these duties should be performed by school executive members or teaching staff.

FM WEB

SAS Staff that they are not responsible for school site maintenance and management. You should not be using FM Web for these activities. Again it is the department's position that managing site maintenance is the responsibility of the Principal. The Principal cannot delegate this responsibility to SAS staff including the School Administrative Manager and General Assistant.

If the Department offers training on FM Web and you wish to undertake the training for information purposes the PSA has no objection. However, be warned that if you do the training then you are even more likely to be asked to undertake these responsibilities. Principals should be trained on how to use FM Web so that they can undertake these duties.

Site maintenance and management was discussed during the review of the work of Senior School Assistants (School Administrative Managers) and School Assistants (School Administrative Officers). The department wanted it to be part of the role of SAS staff. However, when the jobs were evaluated, with this role included, the salary rate was too high and the department removed it from further discussions. The department is not prepared to pay SAS staff to do site maintenance and management.

SCHOOL SITE MAINTENANCE AND MANAGEMENT USING FM WEB IS NOT THE ROLE OF SAS STAFF INCLUDING GENERAL ASSISTANTS. If SAS Staff were to do this work they should be paid a lot more than they currently are - if you do this work you are doing it for nothing. You have plenty of work to do without doing work you are not paid for.

SCHOOL REVIEWS

If a school review is being undertaken in your school it is unlikely that SAS Staff will need to be involved. In most cases school reviews aim to look at educational outcomes and PSA members should not need to be involved. If a review is going on in your school and you are asked to be involved but don't believe there is any need for you to take part please contact your PSA organiser for support.

SMS OF ABSENCES TO PARENTS

The PSA has been informed that some schools have purchased a system that notifies parents of their child's absence via an SMS to their mobile. We understand that the message asks the parent to telephone the school to discuss the matter. SAS staff should not get involved in dealing with parents regarding student absences.

If your school is using this system and it is making extra work for administrative staff please contact the PSA so that we can look into the matter further. Please contact us on (02) 92901555 or 1800 467 932 (free call) and ask for the Schools Team if there are any issues you want to raise about this system.

IT PAYS TO BE A PSA MEMBER!

The PSA has run campaigns and negotiated with the Department for SAS Staff, which has resulted in the creation of a large number of additional SAS Staff positions from 2005. We have also had SAS staff included in the crown employees salary award which achieved a 16% pay increase with the last 4% to be paid next July. Also we successfully secured an additional $2ml for training and development for SAS Staff.

The PSA communicates with SAS Staff members by newsletters faxstreamed or emailed to all schools. The newsletters provide an update on the PSA's activities. Remember that if you recruit a colleague to be a PSA member before 10 November you are eligible to enter in the recruitment competition - see below.

RECRUITMENT COMPETITION - Big prize to be won !!

RECOGNITION WEEK

We hope your school recognised your work in Recognition Week. If you have any stories and/or photographs of your Recognition Week activities please send them to us at the PSA by mail or email. Colour photographs are welcome and might make it into the next RED TAPE.

OTHER RELATED DUTIES

All SAS Staff have a Statement of Duties - it is available on the DET and the PSA websites. All Statements of Duties contain a section that says "Other related Duties" - this statement has caused some confusion amongst our members.

It does not mean the Principal or the School Administrative Manager can ask you to undertake any other duty they want you to do. The 'other duties' must be RELATED to the duties listed in the Statement of Duties. For example if you are a General Assistant - your Statement of Duties lists 'Minor maintenance of building, plant and equipment as directed' as one of your possible duties. This does not mean you can be asked to fix an electrical switch. While it is related to maintenance of the building it is NOT minor and you are NOT expected to be an electrical tradesman. Another example is a related duty to collection of money is counting the money.

SCIENCE AREA

A reminder that SAS staff who are required to work in the science area must have the appropriate training (eg safe handling and storage of chemicals, preparation & handling of biological specimens, safe use of lab equipment) before commencing duties. There is the potential for serious OH&S risks when working in the science area. You are not to work in this area without the appropriate training. It is the responsibility of the Department, as your employer, to ensure that you can undertake your work safely - in this circumstance training is critical.

NON-PRESCRIBED MEDICATIONS

Schools should not administer medication, which has not been specifically requested by a medical practitioner. In some cases the medical practitioner may not write 'a prescription' for such medication because it may be available 'over the counter'. NSW Health advises that this does not mean that the medication is not potentially harmful. SAS staff who have volunteered to administer medications should only administer prescribed medicines.

GENERAL ASSISTANTS - CLUSTERING

The PSA has commenced negotiations with the Department of Education and Training to gain permanency for long term temporary GAs working in the cluster system. The Department is providing information to the PSA on the numbers of people involved. We have another meeting scheduled with the Department in early November and we will provide an update again after that meeting.

The Schools Departmental Committee resolved that a working party of General Assistants meet to discuss a new structure for General Assistants' PSA meetings. Currently General Assistants are required to meet once a term in Sydney on a Wednesday evening. Clearly this is not possible for the majority of members. The working party will consider alternate arrangements, which will result in a better way for General Assistants to participate in the PSA. Members will be sent a letter to their home addresses with further details after the meeting.

TEACHER LEAVE FORMS

Sue Walsh
President

Kris Cruden
Senior Industrial Officer