Changes to the Primary Principals' Collective Agreement 2023-25

All full-time primary principals bound by this collective agreement or an IEA based off this agreement, who are employed as at 3 July 2023 will receive a one-off gross payment of $1,500.

This payment will be pro-rated for part-time principals based on their full-time teaching equivalent (FFTE) as at 3 July 2023. Members of NZEI Te Riu Roa will have received this payment in pay period 09 (25 July 2023).

Schools must ensure that both the principal and employer have signed the new IEA by 3 November 2023 in order to receive this payment if the principal is not a member of NZEI Te Riu Roa. The earliest payment for those who were employed as at 3 July 2023 and who have signed the new IEA, is expected to be pay period 17 (14 November 2023).

Schools are responsible for ensuring that the payroll system reflects the IEA change, enabling principals to receive the payment. Depending on when paperwork is submitted to EdPay, the lump sum may be paid later than 14 November 2023.

Principals who were on approved unpaid leave as at 3 July 2023 are entitled, upon application to receive the $1,500 payment on their return to their position providing that they return on or before the end of Term 3 2024, or on or before the start of Term 1, 2025 for those on parental leave. The amount payable will be based on the principal’s FTTE as at their last working day before going on leave.

The parties to this collective agreement recognise the value in their ongoing and productive relationship, including their joint efforts to build an environment in which the teaching profession is highly regarded, sustainable, and is fit for now and the future of learning. Collective bargaining is a key part of those joint efforts.

In recognition of the benefits arising out of the parties’ relationship, including the role of NZEI Te Riu Roa in negotiating terms and conditions for primary principals, each principal who is a member of NZEI Te Riu Roa as at 29 June 2023 will have received two additional payments in pay period 9 (25 July 2023).

These payments are as follows:

• $710 payable to each NZEI Te Riu Roa member bound by this Collective Agreement as at 29 June 2023. The payment is not pro-rated, it will be paid in full to all eligible principals. The payment has been calculated to provide a net amount broadly equivalent to the cost of renewing a teaching practicing certificate.
• $2,000 payable to each NZEI Te Riu Roa member who is bound by this Collective Agreement as at 29 June 2023. The payment for eligible part time principals will be based on their full-time teacher equivalent (FTTE) hours as at 29 June 2023.
• Additionally, if a principal is a member of NZEI Te Riu Roa as at 1 December 2023, a further payment of $1,000 is payable. The payment for eligible part time principals will be based on their full-time teacher equivalent (FTTE) hours as at 1 December 2023.

Principals who were on approved unpaid leave as at 3 July 2023 are entitled upon application to receive the payments on their return to their position providing that they return on or before the end of Term 3 2024, or on or before the start of Term 1, 2025 for those on parental leave. The amount payable will be based on the principal’s FTTE as at their last working day before going on leave.

For each of the 2023 and 2024 school years, primary principals will have access to funding of up to $6,000 per annum for professional coaching and support for their leadership role. This is intended to support ongoing coaching, professional learning and development that assist with principals’ leadership capability.

The $6,000 in funding will be held by school boards and will be tagged in primary schools’ operational funding grants for the purposes of professional coaching and support for principals in their leadership role.

More information and guidance on how the allowance can be used is now available.

Professional coaching and wellbeing support funding access – Education in New Zealand

The purpose of the Māori Immersion Teaching Allowance (MITA) is to recognise te reo Māori as a taonga to be actively protected under Te Tiriti o Waitangi and to recognise the skills and knowledge kaiako must have to teach the curriculum in te reo Māori.

Principals are eligible for the MITA if they meet the following requirements: 

1. They must teach te reo Māori immersion classes.
2. They need to meet the minimum teaching time requirements for the specific level of immersion.
3. They must have the language proficiency necessary to effectively teach the curriculum in te reo Māori for the period required by the language immersion level they are teaching in.  

From 3 July 2023, the MITA will increase for levels 1 and 2. Rates will increase to a maximum of $12,000 per annum for immersion level 1 and a maximum of $8,000 per annum for immersion level 2. The rates’ increase from the base to the maximum rates will depend on years of service at that level. Rates for level 3 are unchanged.

Years of service teaching at a level shall remain continuous, unaffected by any periods of unpaid leave, breaks in teaching service and/or teaching service in classes other than Māori immersion level 1.

The purpose of sabbatical leave is to provide a paid period of leave during a principal's career, to engage in a balance of professional learning, reflection and rejuvenation.

From the start of the 2024 school year, there will be 20 newly created paid sabbaticals available nationally each year to eligible primary principals. These sabbaticals will be for 20 school weeks. These sabbaticals are in addition to the existing 105 (10 week) paid sabbaticals available to eligible principals each year.

To be considered for a 20-week sabbatical, principals must not have previously been awarded a sabbatical and must have at least 15 years or more of service as a principal in state or state-integrated schools and kura.

The application period for the 2024 10-week Primary Principals' Sabbaticals has recently closed. Information on how to apply for the 2024 20-week Primary Principals' Sabbaticals will be available shortly on the TeachNZ website.

Primary principals' sabbatical – TeachNZ(external link)

The parties of this collective agreement agree in principle that the agreement should be updated to acknowledge the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand’s new Professional Growth Cycle (PGC) for principals, tumuaki and ECE professionals.

The parties will work together to review clauses relating to professional growth, performance matters, and the principal’s relationship with the board.

Specifically, the parties will consider the future of performance agreements and mandatory appraisal in light of the PGC. The parties may agree to make changes to performance agreements and appraisals during the term of this agreement.

More detailed guidance for the following provisions will be provided closer to the effective dates:

• Cultural Leadership allowance, effective 28 January 2024.
• Pacific Bilingual Immersion Teaching allowance, effective 28 January 2024.
• Replacement of decile-based payments with an Equity Index based payment, effective 28 January 2024.
• Improved sick leave entitlement, effective 28 January 2024.
• Specialist School Principals’ Allowance rates will increase to $10,000 (Specialist Residential School principals), and to $5,000 (Specialist School principals), effective 28 January 2024.
• Base payment component of the Leadership in Literacy and Numeracy Allowance increase to $4,000 from 22 July 2024, and to $8,000 on 28 January 2025.