The government recently announced its plans to fast-track a mandated structured maths curriculum and introduce it at the start of next year.
Pembroke School principal Brent Godfery said he decided to write an open letter to Education Minister Erica Stanford after seeing the huge pressure teachers were under learning how to teach two new curriculums in about four months.
"I just don’t want my teachers to say ‘this isn’t the game for me’ because it’s too hard."
Overworked teachers were already struggling with "extreme" behavioural issues and operating without the specialist support they needed and there were more important issues the government should be addressing.
He said mental health, family dysfunction, drugs and alcohol were the issues having an impact on pupils.
"Supporting homes to send to school children who are not so traumatised, anxious about what they will go home to" and who were given plenty of preschool learning would help more than a rushed new mathematics curriculum, he said in his letter.
New entrants were starting school on the back foot — worse than he had ever seen.
"More and more kids are arriving at school unable to talk.
"I blame it on devices ... Children aren’t getting the same face-to-face contact that actually develops language."
It was very difficult for schools to hire speech therapists because there were not many around.
Mr Godfery said he also had four pupils at his school on a waiting list to see a psychologist for behavioural issues that inhibited them from sitting still focusing on work and getting along with their peers.
"They expect us to teach a curriculum and get kids to a certain level when there is not enough support to help teachers with children who are off the walls sometimes."
One disruptive child could prevent a whole classroom from learning.
Pembroke had to teach pupils how to use their "ignoring muscle" to tune out what was happening around them so they could focus on their work.
He could see some benefits from structured literacy, but in his 40 years of teaching he had seen many teaching fads come and go, he said.
"Structured literacy has its place ... My worry around structured literacy and teaching it in a formulaic way is it doesn’t cater as easily for individual needs.
"Really bright kids are going to be bored and the kids who need more help are still going to miss out. It’s good for the middle band."
In his letter, Mr Godfery pleaded with Ms Stanford to reconsider her plans.
"I hope you can redirect resources and pull back on the speed of curriculum roll-out or I fear we will not have the skilled staff to do our jobs in a way that will result in improved student learning.
"The choice to help us succeed is in your hands."
Ms Stanford was unable to reply to questions from the ODT by deadline.
