School leadership vacancies ‘a sign of how demanding roles are’

The increasing demands being placed on school principals is partly to blame for a rise in leadership vacancies in Taranaki and throughout the country, a teacher’s advocacy group has said.

Four Taranaki schools are finishing the current term in search of a new principal, and another four are looking for deputy or assistant leaders.

Lynda Stuart, president of the New Zealand Educational Institute, which represents teachers’ interests, said she thought there were more principal vacancies than usual nationwide.

This is partly due to principals retiring after being in their positions for a long time, she said, but also because some have had enough of a demanding job.

‘‘We’ve got some people who are saying ‘this is not the lifestyle that I need’,’’ she said.

‘‘I think that that makes it really difficult to say ‘I really want to take on this position, because my work-life balance will be totally out of kilter’.

‘‘We’ve got a number of different aspects to it I think.’’

The Taranaki vacancies arose after Hawera High School’s Hans Konlechner left to take up a position with the Ministry of Education, while Bell Block School’s Roz Miller is to focus on coaching and mentoring other principals.

Dr Janelle Mckenzie resigned suddenly from Coastal Taranaki School in May, and Normanby principal Linda Jefferies has returned to Auckland.

Stuart, who took two years’ leave from her principal’s position in Auckland to head NZEI, said it had surveyed principals and found high levels of stress and sleep problems.

‘‘It’s a complex role. You’ve got demands from everyone really.

‘‘In saying all that, I love being a principal but it’s a hard, hard, demanding role.’’

She said despite more requirements being placed on principals there were several ways to help them, including strong supportive professional networks, coaching and mentoring.

‘‘We know we’ve got to look after our leaders. We know we’ve got to look after our teachers.’’

But not everyone agreed with Stuart’s assessment.

Deborah Burmeister, chair of the Board of Trustees at Coastal Taranaki School, said she did not think there was a shortage. ‘‘No, not from what we’ve seen. ‘‘We’re still waiting for some further applications.’’

She said there seemed to be an even split of applicants from within and outside the region.

‘‘There seems to be quite a few out of Taranaki.

‘‘I think, too, because we’re an area school, it’s a bit of a niche kind of job.’’

She said all situations were different, and often if deputies wanted the top job and they knew the principal was staying, they needed to move on.

‘‘Sometimes they’re there for five years and you’re looking for more challenging situations.’’

Eltham Primary School principal Kathryn Pick said they had not noticed any shortage in their search for a deputy principal.

‘‘We’ve had quite a bit of interest.’’

There are a total of 34 teaching roles available in the region, as listed in the Education Gazette, including roles for 2018.

There are also 97 leadership positions available across the country.