Recognising Our Unsung Education Heroes

School support staff are the unsung heroes of our education system.

They run the administration offices, support teachers in libraries, science labs, applied technology, tend the school grounds and assist teachers to look after indigenous students and students with learning difficulties.

In recognition of the outstanding work that school support staff do, the Public Service Association recently ran a competition to find the most outstanding school support staff member for 2009 in NSW.

We expected to get a handful of nominations. But we were wrong! In total, we received 415 nominations, and every single one spoke of the passion and commitment school support staff have for their jobs.

We were completely overwhelmed by the response. Some of the stories were inspiring – people who had overcome extreme difficulties themselves, but were determined to contribute to their local communities by helping children.

Others simply reminded us that the quietest people often do the most important work, without seeking attention or wanting to be thanked.

Out of all the nominations, and the wonderful stories, we finally had to pick one as our winner.

Kerry Bengson is a School Learning Support Officer (or Teacher’s Aide) at Keiraville Primary School in Wollongong. She has been looking after five children with a range of learning and behavioural difficulties, helping them to navigate their way through school life.

Her colleagues at Keiraville School spoke in glowing terms of the contribution that Mrs Bengson makes to her school community.

The PSA presented Mrs Bengson with a voucher for a weekend away in the Hunter Valley. We hope that the weekend is a just reward for her hard work, and that she enjoys the chance to spend some quiet time with Mr Bengson!

We took a video camera down to Keiraville for the presentation. The interview we did with Mrs Bengson gives a really good insight into the day-to-day work of our unsung school support heroes.

Of course, we would have loved to give weekends away to all the outstanding achievers who were nominated for the competition. The least we could do was list all the outstanding achievers on the Students Need Us web site – click here to see the full list.

Unfortunately, many of these hard working people do not have security of employment. They are employed from year to year as temps, and do not get the security and benefits that permanent employees enjoy.

Put simply, their hard work is taken for granted.

It’s time that school support staff are recognised for the amazing work they do, and given the job security they deserve.