John Powter has taught maths at Vincentia High School for a decade. In that time, he has never seen a full complement of teachers in his department.
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At Bomaderry High School, head English teacher Laura Oliver-Graham has not received a pay rise since the union last went on strike in 2011.
When Nowra High School history teacher Zac Morgan caught COVID last term, he still had to teach lessons remotely while on sick leave.
Today they were among 230 local teachers who rallied at Bomaderry for the state-wide teachers strike.
Thousands of public school teachers across New South Wales took part in today's industrial action, calling on the state government to address the critical teacher shortage, increase wages, and improve conditions.
The teachers say they are overworked, and their wages have effectively gone backwards; public sector salary increases have been capped at 2.5 percent, while inflation is at 5.1 per cent.
Facing higher workloads than ever, and a growing teacher shortage, Mr Morgan said the inability to get enough teachers had severe impacts on his students, as well as his colleagues.
"It has been a really difficult period for teachers at our high school... we have had plenty of senior classes left with no supervision, which really is disgraceful,: he said.
"Our classroom teachers and executives from the top down are taking extra lessons, and sick teachers have been running lessons online whilst on sick leave.
"When I was sick with COVID, my senior lessons were left uncovered while my junior lessons were taken by my colleagues, putting further pressure on them - and on me to return to school before I was properly ready."
In the Shoalhaven, 70 per cent of teachers have considered leaving the profession because of current issues, according to a NSW Teachers Federation survey of teachers and principals.
The survey also found 69 per cent of Shoalhaven teachers were contending with 'unmanageable' workloads; in some cases teachers' work weeks were 60 hours or more.
83 per cent of Shoalhaven teachers and principals also said their schools were facing significant shortages - that is four out of five schools in the region.
Mr Morgan has seen the reality of those statistics on campus.
"I have watched plenty of talented young teachers leave for the private sector because of workload and pain in the public system. I've seen colleagues become statistics of attrition in enormous numbers," he said.
"I've seen wonderful colleagues retire early or change profession, feeling under-appreciated, under-resourced, or overworked; their health and wellbeing suffering.
"I, myself, am exhausted."
As a result of the strike, more than 250 schools were closed, including Nowra East Public School, Budawang School, and Milton Public School.
Those which remained open were providing minimal supervision to students.
Ulladulla High School principal Denise Lofts attended the rally.
Her school has around 100 teachers and 1250 students, including 12 support classes .
Like all public school principals, she is struggling to fill both permanent and temporary positions. Ms Lofts believes it is because teachers are undervalued, and the salary doesn't reflect their qualifications or responsibilities.
"We are never going to attract anyone when the pay is not correct, and there is a crippling workload. So why would you want to do it?" she said
"I am doing my PhD, I'm highly qualified, as are my people in my school - there has to be competitive salaries."
Also in attendance was Vincentia High School teacher and Shoalhaven City Councillor John Kotlash.
Mr Kotlash has been a special education teacher at Vincentia since 1999. Before then, his career had taken him from western NSW and remote parts of the Northern Territory.
During his time as an educator, Mr Kotlash said pay had kept up with inflation until the state government capped public sector salaries.
He has experienced workloads going up over the years, and said when combined with teacher shortages, it made life difficult for everyone.
"At my school we can't get casual teachers, we have classes that have to be split. We have teachers taking extra students into their classes from others, which means they can't progress with the lesson that they had planned," Mr Kotlash said.
"It's very difficult for teachers. [The Department] expect us to pivot from online learning back to classroom; they expect people who are off sick with COVID to plan lessons and put them up onto a Google classroom, as well as planned lessons for a casual if they're lucky enough to have one.
"It's an unacceptable ask."
While Mr Kotlash expects there is a pay rise on the horizon in the wake of the teachers strike, he doesn't believe the pay will match up with their qualifications or workloads.
The Labor councillor thinks a solution will come out of upcoming elections.
"The change will come politically when the federal government changes..." he said.
"And there is, of course, a state election coming in March 2023, so I'm hoping that education will be firmly on the agenda there."