STAFF

IN 2022, 315 STAFF MEMBERS CONTRIBUTED TO AND ACTIVELY SUPPORTED MENTONE GRAMMAR’S DIVERSE RANGE OF EDUCATIONAL AND WELLBEING PROGRAMS WHICH, IN 2022, RETURNED TO FULL ONSITE OPERATION.

Staff Profile

The School employed 217 academic staff members, 38 academic support staff and 60 operations staff.

Mentone Grammar staff comprised:

69 per cent teaching staff

12 per cent teaching support staff

19 per cent operations staff.

In 2022, no staff members, who identify as Indigenous, worked at the School.

In 2022, 33.3 per cent of the academic staff worked part-time. This enabled staff the opportunity to blend their professional and family responsibilities. For other staff, working part-time enabled them to assist with the care of their parents, return to work after extended leave or facilitate specific transition to retirement plans. This created some job-share opportunities.

The Mentone Grammar 2022 Staff Register comprised 71 per cent female and 29 per cent male staff members with the gender composition varying significantly between the different campuses, year levels, faculties and operational departments.

STAFF ATTENDANCE & RETENTION

There were 187 academic days in the 2022 school year with academic staff attending an amount commensurate to their full-time or part-time fraction. In total, academic staff were absent for an average of 5.8 days in 2022. Absences included Personal Leave that included Sick and Carer’s Leave and COVID-19 contact-related isolation, as required. Extended Personal Leave, Bereavement and Compassionate Leave were also approved in 2022. Long Service Leave is not considered an absence, but rather planned leave, therefore it has not been included in the calculations. Long Service Leave may be taken by long-term staff members after 7.5 years of service to our School Community. The turnover rate of academic staff in 2022 was 18.74 per cent, which equates to an 81.26 per cent retention rate.

Academic Staff Qualifications

All teachers at Mentone Grammar are registered with the Victorian Institute of Teaching (VIT). A full register of Teaching staff and their qualifications are listed as an addendum to this Community Report. Staff are invited annually to advise of any additional formal qualifications they have successfully completed. Formal qualifications of all staff members are also listed annually in our School yearbook, The Mentonian

SUPERVISING PRE-SERVICE TEACHERS

Mentone Grammar reinvigorated its program of hosting and supervising Pre-Service Teachers in 2022. This program is an opportunity for our teachers to give back and enrich the education sector by guiding, coaching and shadowing the next generation of teachers. We recognise the reciprocal benefits, that learning runs both ways from the teacher to the student and vice versa, as the students expose our teachers to new methodologies, research and technology. Hosting university students also provides the School with the opportunity to identify high quality Graduates for future vacancies. In 2022, Mentone Grammar hosted 20 pre-service teachers from Victorian Tertiary Institutions including The University of Melbourne, Monash University, Deakin University and Swinburne University.

Professional Learning

Professional Learning continued to be available for all staff, both academic and operational, in 2022. Teaching staff at the School participated in regular Teacher Learning Communities with a focus on their pedagogical practice, alongside regular professional learning within their Faculties, and this was complemented by access to a range of external Professional Learning opportunities that addressed their specific goals and learning priorities. Staff were encouraged to identify and attend targeted professional learning in line with the strategic direction of the School.

The School invested $215,525.36 in Professional Learning for staff in 2022, which equated to an average of $684.20 per staff member.

EXAMPLES OF FORMAL AND INFORMAL PROFESSIONAL LEARNING UNDERTAKEN IN 2022 INCLUDED:

TEACHING AND LEARNING FOCUS

Professional Learning undertaken:

Postgraduate, Graduate and Certificate IV qualifications

Visible Learning: formative assessment and feedback

Peer classroom observations and feedback

Learning walks

VCE curriculum updates:

Examiners’ Reports and Study Designs

Data interpretation

Curriculum development

Literacy and Reading

Numeracy

Coaching

Early Childhood Education

Team Building

Internal conferences: including guest speakers and workshops on curriculum development and skill enhancement (face-to-face and online)

Subjects or Year Level workshops: facilitated by internal staff or by relevant professional associations

Local, interstate and international educational leadership and development conferences (in person or online).

Study Assistance

During 2022, 10 staff continued additional post graduate Masters Level studies, each being supported financially with a study assistance payment to contribute toward their university tuition fees, with the premise of sharing knowledge and skills with Faculty colleagues. This is consistent with the number of staff who undertook Post Graduate Studies in 2021.

WELLBEING FOCUS (INCLUDING ONLINE)

Student Health, Pastoral Care and Wellbeing

RULER Program

The Resilience Project

R U OK? Day

Mental Health First Aid

Students with Additional Needs.

GOVERNANCE FOCUS (INCLUDING ONLINE)

Governance Compliance (biannual-164 participants)

Induction Program for New Staff (131 participants)

Mentone Grammar Executive Team and Middle Management conferences

Educational Leadership and Management forums

Child Safe Standards training sessions (annual requirement 477 participants)

Occupational Health and Safety updates

School Law, Governance and Compliance

MG Policies and Procedures

Emergency Management (annual requirement 349 participants).

All staff members were expected to prepare a report or presentation to share their professional learning with relevant colleagues so that the benefit of attending and the return on investment on the training is maximised, across the School. Staff continued to attend ongoing First Aid and health related training sessions facilitated by our accredited School Nurses and agencies.

In total:

140 staff completed Apply First Aid (Level II)

271 staff completed CPR training

184 staff completed Emergency Management of Allergy and Anaphylaxis training.