28: Department for Education, South Australia Employee Reviews

pretty good workplace back when i was there. not sure now. Management would have changed significantly over the years, but the overarching employer is the department, so policies are pretty transparent

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Great place to work

HR Business Partner (Current Employee) - Adelaide CBD SA - 11 September 2023

I love that my work directly contributes to improving education across South Australia. Leadership is supportive and approachable. They care about work-life balance, which keeps job satisfaction high.

Pros

Great collaborative team culture, Flexible working arrangements, Supportive leadership, Purposeful work

Cons

Nothing comes to mind

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Department for Education, South Australia insights

Based on 4 survey responses

What people like

Trust in colleagues
Sense of belonging
Clear sense of purpose

Areas for improvement

Energising work tasks
Ability to meet personal goals
Ability to learn new things

Supportive and caring environment

Aboriginal services engagement officer (Current Employee) - Mount Gambier SA - 9 September 2023

So many avenues to change and grow. Have changed and tried multiple options if positions and have been allowed to gain the training if required

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No Support from Leadership

Classroom Teacher (Former Employee) - South Australia - 24 July 2023

I worked for the DECD for more than 10 years in various teaching roles and one thing is for sure, they do not support their staff one bit if there is a situation involving a student. Regardless of what you have alleged to have done or said, you are immediately guilty until proven otherwise.

Pros

The annual holidays

Cons

Long hours, marking, interviews, staff and faculty meetings, all add to the overtime you're expected to do for free.

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Good staff

Teacher (Current Employee) - Adelaide - 4 January 2023

Staff all help each other out and share resources.Holidays are good.Great seeing children grow and develop.HR department very helpful

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Great work culture in my office

Student support Administration Officer (Current Employee) - Port Lincoln SA - 23 October 2022

Management are extremely supportive and care about you as a person. The entire office works collaboratively and support each other’s efforts. Performance reviews are held every 6 months helping both parties progress and develop. Entire office is provided funds towards further training and development.

Pros

Everything

Cons

None I can pick

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Demoralizing, stressful, toxic

Teacher (Former Employee) - Aberfoyle Park SA - 22 February 2022

Toxic, environment. Spy network, back stabbing, ruthlessly competitive, jobs and advancement jobs for the boys. Open , honest discussion not encouraged. Totalitarian leadership, would never recommend or work for this organisation again. Unfair biased assessment of employee work performance.

Pros

No such thing as a free lunch. You pay with long work hours and unrelenting work load.

Cons

Toxic, back stabbing, spying, unfair, demoralizing work environment where people are treated as canon fodder.

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A great learning experience

High School Teacher Mathematics (Former Employee) - Minto NSW - 5 September 2021

Having been out of academic studies for a long time before my role, the degree of difficulty with various teaching roles depended upon level that I was teaching atYounger grades at Top Level classes as well as more senior grades at a Bottom classes I felt more confident with a higher success rateWere as Year 10 grades Top Level classes I found more challenging as I myself relearning a lot of material before each lesson

Pros

Conditions and Pay Rate

Cons

Class room behaviour management can be challenging at times

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Working for Dept For Education

Casual Relief Education Support Officer (Current Employee) - Adelaide SA - 31 May 2020

Can take a while before you begin work as a casual reliever as you are registered online and many sites have their own relieving lists. Get paid fortnightly and award has just been increased so it is better than what it was before.

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very good at creating and meeting goals.

Manager (Former Employee) - Gawler SA - 22 April 2020

Challenging students that required, a team approach, to help support and create a successful environment. work with a individual work plan, for challenged sutdents.

Pros

Very Rewarding

Cons

Long hours

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Quite a stressful position with not much support from management

Education Support Officer (Former Employee) - Melbourne VIC - 19 March 2020

This position has sadly changed from when I first was employed. The position is working with students with disabilities in a main stream school. Depending on the student’s needs the position is very varied. The teaching staff are wonderful but is very hard to support a child with complex needs.

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Enjoyable work environment

Teacher (Former Employee) - Mt.Compass,OakbankAS,Brighton,Woodside,Heights,Morialta,Seaton,MitchamG - 26 February 2020

Work environments were as varied as schools and student cohort. Generally supportive and encouraging and one that offered an excellent start to a career in teaching. Best for young teachers who are creative and enthusiastic

Pros

Union-like work expectations, flexible in accomodating part-time expectations

Cons

Teachers not rewarded for outstanding achievements.

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Productive & KPI

TRIM SUPPORT OFFICER, DIR (Former Employee) - Parramatta NSW - 4 February 2020

Friendly collaborative culture. The training was provided for performing the digitisation of hard-copy files. One of the team members was always trying to control and dictate others because he was at the Education Department, longest. Even the team leader was able to tell him anything even though he was inappropriately interrupting when two persons were in the middle of a work-related conversation.

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Classroom Teacher

Teacher (Current Employee) - Adelaide SA - 20 October 2019

Very rewarding occupation. A fast passed job with a high expectation for quality. I thoroughly enjoyed my time as a classroom teacher, however, my passion lies predominately with literacy and phonics.

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ok to work

Accounts and Business Support (Former Employee) - Adelaide SA - 14 October 2019

ok to work in, very big organisation. office politics sometimes most people are lovely and helpful. caring and sharing. peoples professional development needs to be improved

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Competitive work place

SS02 - Case Manager (Current Employee) - South Australia - 18 December 2018

I personally had a bad experience due to my trusting nature, and was taken advantage of. My line manager did not offer supervision and i would need to chase her up for support.

Pros

Close to home

Cons

Unsuported by upline

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Negative leadership culture

Teacher (Current Employee) - Adelaide SA - 10 August 2018

The work place culture in many schools is one of top down leadership without concern for the individual. Management and leadership have far too much scope to make decisions which impact on teaching and learning on a site level rather than at a state level.

Pros

Good money

Cons

Don’t get old.

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They see education as a science; it's no longer an art.

Teacher (Current Employee) - Adelaide SA - 25 September 2017

DECD is a very unwieldy organisation which is riddled with"mates" and nepotism. The students are great, as are most of the teachers. But management and leadership is closed to anyone who doesn't toe the line. Buzz words are at the heart of everything DECD does. Those who toe the line will be fine. Those who do not will be ignored. - I have never applied for leadership in DECD, so please note that this is not the rant of an embittered applicant! The culture is pretty toxic though.

Pros

You can fulfil the goal of educating for the future, and making a difference.

Cons

You're caught up in a kind of Soviet machine.

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Mixed

Field Worker (Current Employee) - Adelaide SA - 23 May 2017

I enjoy working with my colleagues, as well as the sometimes autonomous nature of the work. Also, the variety that every day generally brings. Unfortunately there is not really any possibility of career advancement in my position. It can be highly stressful and the workload is basically impossible. Restructures happen on quite a regular basis which can make people feel very unsettled, and concerned about their job security. Management varies, depending on where you work.

Pros

Daily variety

Cons

Highly stressful

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Upper Primary teaching

Teacher (Current Employee) - Adelaide SA - 5 April 2017

A typical day includes teaching, student support, collaboration with colleagues, yard duties, student behaviour management. Working as a teacher in DECD is rewarding and fun, but also challenging. If you you enjoy working with students aged 11 years and older then you should enjoy day to day teaching as most students are serious about their work and commitments. Challenging student however, can be VERY challenging and often the same can be said of indulging- and helicopter parents. DECD is also in the midst (at the time of the writing of this review) of significant systemic changes that is going to demand much of staff, students and parents/carers and other stakeholders. These changes will place much pressure and expectation on teachers, but those who embrace change and love challenges should succeed. A down-side of working for DECD is how hard it is to become a permanent teacher. One has to start out as a TRT (Temporary Relief Teacher), then obtain contracts ranging from a few weeks up to a calendar year. One only stand a chance of permanency once you start to get contracts. I'm aware of other teachers who have been contract teacher for 10 years+ without ever getting to the interview stage of application processes, and I'm referring to good, highly skilled/experienced teacher.

Pros

To watch student grow and reach their goals.

Cons

Long hours, a 6 hour school day plus hours of after school meetings, PD's preparation and assessments.

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table tennis

High School Maths Teacher (Former Employee) - Adelaide SA - 10 February 2017

I am happy to start at any time. I have a good skill to management my class room, modify and differentiate the subject to be suitable for each student. I have long time working with multicultural environment. Nothing hard, any hard area can be easy with learn and with a little bet of patios. my enjoy area is the Mathematics for all levels.