This presentation provides information for teachers, principals and leaders in education regarding the recent important changes to teacher accreditation in NSW.
NESA has been implementing changes to simplify and strengthen accreditation processes. These changes are designed to ensure the right structures are in place so that schools/services and teachers can focus on teaching and student/child outcomes, instead of administrative tasks associated with accreditation.
The following changes to teacher accreditation have been introduced throughout 2023 and are designed to place greater emphasis on the importance of ongoing professional development while spending less time on administrative tasks.
Teachers who are maintaining their accreditation are responsible for recording their own Elective PD in a format that best suits them. It is now simpler and more flexible.
Principals and service directors no longer need to attest that a teacher is continuing to maintain their practice at Proficient Teacher.
A new optional NESA Accredited Professional Development priority area has been introduced: ‘Leadership to support the learning outcomes of students/children’, is available to assist teachers in completing their PD requirements.
Also, another category of accreditation, Non-practising accreditation, became available in December to keep qualified teachers who are no longer teaching in a school or service to stay connected to the profession.
In July 2023, NESA made recording Elective PD simpler and more flexible.
Elective PD helps teachers to meet their professional needs by choosing activities that are relevant to them. This allows teachers to direct their own learning, accounting for context, prior knowledge and personal interests.
Teachers can now keep a personal, high-level log that simply captures essential information, including:
- date PD was completed
- duration of each PD activity
- the Standard Descriptor(s) each activity addresses from the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers
- whether the activity was a Professional commitment activity (required by HALTs).
They can record Elective PD anytime and anyway that suits them in their daily practice – this could be as simple as notes in their teacher day book, diary entries or OneNote.
Teachers don’t have to provide their Elective PD record to their principal or service director when they submit their maintenance to NESA.
However, it is a professional responsibility to ensure they meet their required 100 hours of PD. Teachers may be required to provide their Elective record to NESA if they are selected as part of an audit. They don't have to provide their Elective PD record if they complete 100 hours or more of NESA Accredited PD.
Principals and service directors no longer need to attest that a teacher is continuing to maintain their practice at Proficient. All Proficient Teachers who meet their professional development requirements will be able to finalise their maintenance directly to NESA for an accreditation decision.
This brings NSW into line with all other states and territories who do not require a principal/service director attestation for Proficient Teachers to maintain their accreditation.
The change also recognises that Proficient Teachers:
- have already met rigorous standards to be accredited at the Proficient level<
- are qualified and meet child safety requirements
- continue to demonstrate competence through their work
- engage in ongoing professional development to suit their context and needs.
Principals and service directors will continue to inform NESA where a teacher is not demonstrating that their practice aligns with the Proficient Teacher level of the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers.
A new NESA Accredited Professional Development priority area has been introduced: Leadership to support the learning outcomes of students/children.
The Leadership priority area is an optional priority area, meaning teachers are not required to complete PD in this priority area. However, if they do complete PD in this priority area, it will contribute to their Accredited PD hours.
Courses accredited in any of the following five priority areas will contribute to teachers’ Accredited PD hours:
- Delivery and assessment of NSW Curriculum/Early Years Learning Framework (as applicable)
- Student/child mental health
- Students/children with disability
- Aboriginal education and supporting Aboriginal students/children
- Leadership to support the learning outcomes of students/children
It is the teacher’s responsibility to ensure that they complete PD in each of the mandatory priority areas. eTAMS has been updated to reflect this. When a teacher completes at least one course in each mandatory priority area and has completed their required hours of Accredited PD, they will meet the NESA Accredited PD requirements. This excludes teachers still under the transition process.
If a teacher is no longer teaching in a NSW school or service but wishes to remain accredited and connected to the teaching profession, they may choose Non-practising teacher accreditation. This puts their accreditation timeframe on hold indefinitely and provides for a seamless return to teaching in a school/service in the future. A teacher can return to active accreditation at any time to return to teach.
If a teacher is non-practising for more than 5 years, their maintenance timeframe will restart when they return to teach.
While a teacher is a Non-practising teacher, they:
- must pay their annual teacher accreditation fee
- must hold a current Working with Children Check (WWCC) clearance
- remain subject to suitability to teach requirements
- are not required to complete professional development (PD) (but may choose to) or to demonstrate practice against the Standards
- cannot finalise their maintenance requirements.
Importantly, teachers and principals who work in schools/service must remain actively accredited. Teachers with Non-practising accreditation cannot be employed to teach in a school/service in any capacity.
If you have any questions about the changes to teacher accreditation, please email NESA.
Thank you