Advice for people starting in their first teaching role

If you are beginning your first teaching role, there are some important things that you should know to make sure you get the best start to your new career!

1. Join your union. When you sign your contract for your new job, you may be asked to complete the MBIE ‘Intention to join a union’ form. You will still need to enrol with the PPTA, even if you are a student member converting to being a full member. You can do this by clicking on the  ‘Join Us’ button at the top of this page. You will be a member as soon as you submit your membership form. It is important to check your first payslip for your membership subscription as well, just to make sure. If you have any questions about your PPTA membership, email our membership team at membership@ppta.org.nz 
2. There are only a few genuine reasons for you to be on a fixed-term contract rather than a permanent contract. These are things like covering parental leave or working on a specific short-term project. You can check our ‘Valid Reasons for Fixed-Term Appointments’ advice here.
3. You will need to get a salary assessment to determine your appropriate salary, and to account for any previous work experience you bring to your new role. Your school should give you information about this when you are sorting out your contractual paperwork. The salary assessment process can take a while and you may not receive your full salary until it is complete. However, all new trained teachers should default to the ‘Trained Teacher Scale’. To make sure this happens, it is important that you complete your Teaching Council provisional registration before doing the salary assessment. If you begin the salary assessment process without a teacher registration number, you may be considered an untrained teacher and default to the ‘untrained teacher scale’.
4. You must have a mentor for guidance and support. Schools are provided with additional funding to allow mentor teachers to have dedicated timetabled, face-to-face time to meet with you. You should set shared goals around teaching practice and curriculum, and you should keep a record of your meetings. We have an excellent guide to help you and your mentor with best practice - it’s called the ‘Effective Mentoring Guidelines’. Check it out on our website, here.
5. If you are having to move to take up your first permanent teaching job, you may be eligible for a relocation grant. This is covered in Part 8 and Appendix C of the STCA/Part 7 and Appendix B of the ASTCA. You can apply for this through the Ministry of Education. You can find the ‘transfer and removal expenses forms – TR1 and TR2’ on the Ministry of Education website here (scroll down to the “Moving” section). There is also the Overseas Relocation Grant which may be available if you’re moving to New Zealand to teach. 
6. This is your union. There are a lot of opportunities to engage with opportunities in the union. You should get to know who your branch are – including your Branch Chair and NET representative. We offer professional development through our ‘Mahi Tika’ training modules. There are dedicated PCT Mahi Tika courses that happen throughout the year. 2026 dates for these are up on our website here. Keep up with what is happening in the PPTA by following @nzppta on Facebook and Insta, and by ensuring your details are up to date on MyPage. On MyPage you can select ‘Interest Groups’. Sign up for the Network of Establishing Teachers to keep up to date with things happening in the network.