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This section applies to all NSW teachers who are accredited at Highly Accomplished or Lead Teacher (HALT).
To maintain HALT accreditation, teachers must:
All teachers must also meet the conditions of accreditation in Section 1 to remain accredited.
Teachers maintaining accreditation at HALT must participate in ongoing PD that relates to the Standards at or above their level of accreditation. To meet PD requirements for each maintenance period, teachers accredited at HALT must:
Any NESA Accredited PD a teacher completes in an optional priority area contributes to their minimum NESA Accredited PD requirement. Teachers who have completed Elective PD towards the minimum 100 hours required for their maintenance period must:
Professional commitment is PD that shows a HALT’s ongoing capacity to support the professional development and practice of their colleagues and the wider education community. Professional commitment activities6 include:
When finalising their maintenance of HALT accreditation, teachers must:
Teachers maintaining HALT accreditation must describe how they have maintained their practice by completing the Maintenance of Accreditation Report (Report) for their level of accreditation in their NESA online account (eTAMS).
The teacher’s Report must:
If a principal/service director becomes aware of issues with a teacher’s HALT practice at any time during the maintenance period, the principal/service director must inform the employer and the teacher within 28 days of becoming aware of such issue. The employer must have internal procedures to address issues relating to a teacher’s practice as and when they arise (see Section 14.7).
Once the teacher has completed and submitted their Maintenance of Accreditation Report (Report), the teacher’s current principal/service director8 must review the Report in their NESA online account (eTAMS) and:9
The principal/service director may:
Where a principal/service director is making an attestation for a teacher accredited at HALT who has held their current role for less than three months, the principal/service director, subject to consent from the teacher:
If the principal/service director determines that the teacher’s ongoing performance is satisfactory and their Report accurately reflects their practice, the principal/service director:
If the principal/service director determines that the teacher’s ongoing performance is unsatisfactory and/or their Report does not accurately reflect their practice, the principal/service director must:
A principal/service director cannot make a negative attestation for a teacher accredited at HALT unless the principal/service director has notified the teacher of the issues with their practice, including:
If a principal/service director is not able to make an attestation for a teacher finalising their maintenance at HALT, the principal/service director must:
A principal/service director may only record that they are unable to make a maintenance attestation for a HALT if:
Maintenance of HALT accreditation decisions are made by NESA based on the:
NESA will contact at least one of the teacher’s nominated referees when making the maintenance decision to verify that the teacher’s currency of knowledge and depth of practice meet the applicable Standards.
NESA makes the maintenance of accreditation decision by the end of the teacher’s maintenance period. NESA may decide that a HALT:
If NESA considers making a decision that does not align with the attestation, NESA will contact the principal/service director and, if necessary, the teacher, to discuss the attestation before making a decision.
Where a teacher reaches the end of a maintenance period and NESA decides that they have maintained their accreditation, the teacher will begin a new maintenance period the day after their current period ends.
A teacher accredited at HALT will fail to maintain their accreditation if:
If a principal/service director attests that a HALT’s ongoing performance is unsatisfactory and/or their Report does not accurately reflect the teacher’s practice, NESA will:
If NESA finds that the teacher has failed to maintain their HALT accreditation, NESA will issue 14 days’ written notice11 of an intention to suspend the teacher’s higher-level accreditation, in line with Section 11.9. A teacher in this situation may return to accreditation at Proficient Teacher, if they have met the requirements for maintaining Proficient Teacher accreditation, in line with Section 5.
A teacher’s first HALT maintenance period starts the day they are accredited at Highly Accomplished or Lead Teacher.
Teachers employed on a full-time basis have five years to complete maintenance requirements.
Teachers employed on a casual or part-time basis have seven years to complete maintenance requirements, in recognition of the nature of their employment.12
A teacher who gains accreditation at either Highly Accomplished or Lead Teacher will stop maintaining their current accreditation level and begin maintaining their accreditation against the Standard Descriptors for Highly Accomplished or Lead Teacher as applicable.
Teachers who have been limited in their opportunity to meet the requirements for maintenance by the end of their timeframe may apply for an extension in the final six months of their maintenance period, and as soon as possible within the final six months. Teachers must apply in their NESA online account, providing evidence of the grounds for their request. Grounds for an extension to a teacher’s maintenance period may include:
Highly Accomplished and Lead Teachers may choose to stop maintaining their higher-level accreditation at any time and return to accreditation at Proficient Teacher (or to Highly Accomplished Teacher in the case of Lead Teachers who were previously accredited at Highly Accomplished Teacher).
To return to a lower level of accreditation, teachers must advise NESA in writing.
Where a teacher returns to a lower level of accreditation, their maintenance period end date will not change and the teacher must meet the maintenance of accreditation requirements for the relevant level of accreditation.
1. There is no requirement for a specified number of hours or teaching load for Highly Accomplished and Lead Teachers to maintain accreditation.
2. Transition arrangements for PD requirements apply to some HALTs and are published on NESA's Maintenance transition arrangements page.
3. A list of appropriate activities that may be recorded as Elective PD is published on NESA's Professional development requirements page.
4. A template Elective PD log is available on NESA's Professional development requirements page.
5. Any request for a teacher to provide their Elective PD log to NESA will be made within 12 months following the end of the teacher’s previous maintenance period.
6. Professional commitment activities should only include activities where the HALT directly supports or mentors other teachers. For example, for a practicum placement, this would include discussions on practice and providing feedback, but not supervisory responsibilities.
7. For early childhood teachers maintaining HALT, all references to colleague(s) means an accredited teacher who works directly with the HALT. 91 Teachers employed on a casual basis should approach a school/service with whom they have an established relationship to seek a maintenance of accreditation attestation.
8. Teachers employed on a casual basis should approach a school/service with whom they have an established relationship to seek a maintenance of accreditation attestation.
9. Where there is no eligible teacher accredited at Proficient who can verify and attest for the teacher maintaining at HALT, or the teaching maintaining HALT is the principal/service director, NESA has alternate processes for judgements to be made for these teachers’ maintenance of accreditation.
10. For the purposes of maintenance of accreditation at the higher levels, satisfactory performance is considered to mean that the teacher is demonstrating practice at Proficient Teacher or above.
11. The 14-day written notice period includes school holidays and employer shutdown periods.
12. This includes teachers who have been employed on a casual or part-time basis at any point during their current maintenance period. Teachers must provide NESA with evidence of casual or part-time employment to adjust their timeframe.
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