Splitting classes is the "new norm", principals say. (File photo)

Three staff off, no relievers in sight and two classes split across the school: Friday was a pretty standard day at Green Meadows Intermediate in Manurewa, Auckland.

One day earlier this week was even worse, with five staff off. The south Auckland school was able to get two relief teachers in, but that still left three classes without a teacher.

The students in these classes were divvied up across the school, an extra six children in each room.

"That's become our new norm," said principal Cathy Chalmers.

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"There hasn't been a day this week that we haven't had classes split."

At Auckland's Newton Central School, it's a similar story: classes were split twice this week.

So what does that mean for students' education?

It reduces the school to a "babysitting service," principal Riki Teteina said.

"They're not going to have a structured education experience if they're shoved into another class."

It's not just the kids sent to other classes who suffer, either; it's also hard on the class that accommodates them, and on the teacher suddenly faced with a large group who may not be familiar with their teaching style or programme, Teteina said.

Splitting classes has become more common as relief teachers have become harder to come by.

For the first time ever, relieving agency Oasis Education is declining requests due to "100 per cent teacher unavailability", it said in an email to school leaders.

"After almost 15 years in this business I have never known the supply of relief teachers to be so critically low," chief executive Martin Strang wrote in the email.

RAWPIXEL/UNSPLASH In an NZEI survey, 81 per cent of principals said they'd had sick teachers come to school.

This reflects the results of a survey by teachers' union New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI), which revealed 90 per cent of primary and intermediate principals were struggling to find relievers.

As well as splitting classes, principals reported senior leaders stepping in to teach and teachers coming to work while sick.

This was common practice in secondary schools, too, a survey of secondary principals by the Post Primary Teachers' Association (PPTA) showed.

In some cases schools reported using students to provide relief cover, leaving senior classes unsupervised, sending some students home, or closing entirely.

"There is no doubt that this is failing our students," said PPTA President Jack Boyle.

"Each time we merge two classes into one, or put an unqualified person in front of a class of students, or send them home, or supervise a class when we should be preparing for another one, students' education is suffering."

The education of students with special needs was a particular concern when classes were split, Teteina said.

With an unfamiliar teacher, students may not get the support they're used to, and it also placed an extra strain on the teacher.

The pressure on staff because of the teacher shortage was already huge, he said. Coming to school and being faced with an extra six students was "pretty difficult for staff morale".

It's a vicious circle: the additional workload meant even more teachers got run down and sick, he said.

This was something Chalmers had seen at Green Meadows, too - especially in the last few years.

"Teachers are weary. They're just tired. It comes from the pressure of the job, they're more susceptible to germs."

She encouraged staff to stay off work if they're ill, but across the country teachers were going in to work sick because they knew how difficult it was to find cover.

Eighty-one per cent of principals surveyed by NZEI said sick teachers had still come to school on occasion because they knew there were no relievers available to take their class.

Rosina Wikaira had seen this at Homai School in Manurewa, where she is the principal.

"They don't want to let their students down."

But, she said, "they're struggling to cope".

Parents had started to recognise the stress teachers were under, and some now volunteered in classrooms.

In the past, principals had the pick of teachers, she said - now it's just about getting an adult in front of a class. Any adult.

"Support staff, senior leaders [...] it's the only option we have at this time other than closing down classrooms and overcrowded classrooms."

They'd already closed the library so it could be used as a teaching space - the connecting door meant two teachers could share classes and team teach, which eased the pressure slightly.

It's not just a lack of relievers, but a lack of full-time staff that puts the pressure on.

When the school couldn't find a teacher for the new entrants class last term, they had to ask parents if they'd mind starting their children a term later. They've only just managed to recruit a teacher; for the first half of this term, two deputy principals took the class.

Retaining staff was also an issue. Teachers were moving away from Auckland or out of teaching because of the city's high cost of living, Wikaira said.

The principals were in agreement: unless something drastic happened, the problems they're facing would only get worse - and they're already at breaking point.

"The ministry has to recognise it's a crisis," Chalmers said.

Teteina agreed: "The crisis is here now, it's not in the future, it's already here."