To apply for the allowance, the teacher and principal must apply to us to appoint the teacher as a:

• specialist classroom teacher in a secondary school, or
• specialist teacher in an area school.

Specialist classroom teachers – secondary schools

To be appointed as a specialist classroom teacher, a teacher must:

• be permanently appointed and registered
• have had at least 6 years’ total teaching experience, in New Zealand or overseas
• be a full- or part-time teacher with a significant classroom teaching load (as a guide, 12 hours a week)
• have 3 successive successful attestations against the experienced teacher standards in the Secondary Teachers’ Collective Agreement
• be paid from the Teachers' Salary Funding code.

Permanent and fixed-term specialist classroom teacher pay

Specialist classroom teachers cannot have permanent units added to their salary as well as the allowance. Any permanent salary units must be relinquished if they are already held. The teacher can keep 1 fixed-term unit if your school requires them to continue with a specific responsibility.

Apply for specialist classroom teachers – secondary schools

Fill in the form below and send it to us.

If your application is approved, you will see the staffing entitlement attached to the teacher in Pourato.

Pourato

Specialist teachers in area schools

To be appointed as a specialist teacher, a teacher must:

• be permanently appointed and registered
• have had at least 6 years’ total teaching experience, in New Zealand or overseas
• not hold any permanent units and hold no more than 1 fixed-term unit
• meet other criteria in the agreed guidelines
• have 3 successive successful attestations against the experienced teacher standards in supplement 1 of the Area Schools Teachers’ Collective Agreement
• be paid from the Teachers' Salary Funding code.

Permanent and fixed-term specialist teacher pay

U6 and above schools

Teachers employed in permanent and fixed-term specialist roles in U6 and above schools cannot hold permanent salary units as well as the allowance.

They can keep 1 fixed-term unit if the school:

• requires them to continue a specific responsibility
• chooses to extend the role and functions of the specialist teacher position.

U5 schools

A U5 composite school board may be able to hold 1 fixed-term unit together with the specialist teacher allowance.

U1 to U4 schools

Specialist teachers in U1 to U4 area schools can't hold more than 2 permanent units and no more than 1 fixed-term unit in conjunction with the specialist teacher allowance.

Apply for specialist teacher funding

Fill in the form below and send it to us.

If your application is approved, you will see the staffing entitlement attached to the teacher in Pourato.