Gathering in the Kyeamba-Smith Hall at the Wagga Showground, the NSW Teachers Federation members were a sea of red shirts, flags and placards.

Attending the strike, Wagga head teacher Joel Lowrie said it was about more than politics.

"The worry I have is often the message we have gets lost in playing politics, but I don't think it's about that," Mr Lowrie said.

"As a manager of staff, I see some who are strung out and barely hanging on to the profession they love because it's just too hard," he said.

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Wagga primary teacher Micheala Collins also turned out for the protest and said the main issue for her was about student welfare.

"It's about the kids in our schools having needs that just cannot be met," Ms Collins said.

"We have very limited school counselling services, kids with increasing mental health issues," she said.

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