The School Admin Improvement Program (SAIP) – originally set to wrap up in December 2023 – will now continue its positive impact into 2024, helping to alleviate workload in participating schools.

The extension will also pave the way for more schools to access learnings and participate in the program, as it switches to a new cohort in 2025.

The program has delivered extra support staff to 419 schools across NSW this year, trialling new ways of working to reduce, remove and improve school administration.

The Principal of Quakers Hill High School, Jason White, said the program had been a game changer for his school.

“I’m thrilled the program is being extended. For our school, having extra admin support has meant that we’ve been able to trial new ways of getting things done,” he said.

“Not only has it freed up valuable time for our teachers, but having well-trained support on hand has given us the space to think about our processes and how we can improve things for the future."

Evaluation of the program to date has found the extra staff are extremely effective in reducing the administrative workload for teachers, allowing them to spend more time teaching and preparing for lessons.

It has also allowed principals to think differently about how tasks are performed in their schools.

Some of the supports for teachers include managing events and excursions, parent communication, data entry and exam preparation.

Head Teacher at Quakers Hill High School, Phoebe Cobb, said the extra support was a huge timesaver.

“It’s meant we are able to completely rethink the way we do administrative work, such as formatting documents, reorganising our filing systems, and even editing learning videos,” she said.

“In our school, having someone manage these tasks helps me focus on my main role of providing quality education.”

The program also provides professional development for School Admin and Support Staff, equipping them with the tools needed to support the operations of a modern school.

Kim Silver, a School Administration Manager at North Rocks Public School, has been working in school administration for many years and said it was some of the best training she had received.

“It was amazing to be led through tailored training just for SASS, and really made me feel more confident that we were all on the same page in being able to support our schools,” she said.

The program will continue to work closely with schools in 2024 to gather and share learnings on how to address workload and improve operations. The intake process for a new cohort in 2025 will be announced in early 2024.

The program is part of a Department-wide effort to address workload. Currently, there are more than 60 initiatives underway to help reduce, remove and improve workload in public schools across the state.