The tragic shootings in Christchurch in which 50 people died and 48 were injured has shown us that just because we live at the bottom of the world and a long way from areas which are perceived to be more dangerous, we are not immune from the violence of people who have no moral compass.

While tragic in every way, I have been heartened by the leadership of our young people. They have not talked about revenge or retribution – only love and peace. They want an inclusive and peaceful society where all are safe and welcome. In every tragedy we look for a light in the darkness and the leadership of our young has been the affirming moment for me.

Integrated schools have played a part in this leadership and demonstrated that the religious frameworks of our schools does provide a moral compass in these times. As we negotiate the future organisation of schools with the government I trust that they will see the important part these schools play in building a community with strong values. 

Schooling Futures – Stronger together

APIS has provided a strong submission to the taskforce in response to Our Schooling Futures: Stronger Together report.  Our submission praised the aspirations of the report but questioned the link between the aspirations and the recommendations, especially in light of the major investment that reorgansing the education sector will incur.

The APIS submission also focussed on lack of consultation with the integrated sector and obvious misunderstandings about the state integrated school legislation. I have since met with Bali Haque who acknowledges that there are matters to address for us.

We continue to encourage all Boards to make a submission on the areas they think are important and to point out the misconceptions and challenges for integrated schools in the proposed report. Copies of our submission may be downloaded from the APIS and NZCEO website, or click here to read the submission.

Ngā mihi nui,
Paul Ferris

UNDERSTANDING THE PRIVACY ACT

The Education Gazette recently released guidelines for schools around the Privacy Act, Click here to read more.

LOCKDOWN PROCEDURES BEING REVIEWED

The MoE has advised that a full review of lockdown procedures will take place. A reference group from CHCH has been formed with representatives from the education sector, NZ Police and MoE.  Recommendations will come out towards the end of term 2 which will guide schools in developing procedures for lockdowns. Read more here.

SUPPORT FOR GIFTED CHILDREN

The Ministry has introduced a new package to support gifted education. This includes part-funding for one-day schools, awards for gifted students, a programme of events, experiences and opportunities, expansion of online modules and additional guidelines for teachers and kaiako. Read more here.

SCHOOLS' CENSUS

The Schools' Census Survey is an international project designed to enhance statistical literacy.  Teachers can now sign up and resources include workshops, presentations, classroom activities, research papers, interactive data analysis tools, realtime student data sets and essential statistics website link.  This year the 30-question anonymous survey covers subjects such as climate change, social media, feet measurement, the weight of backpacks, and whether student lunches include litter.  Find out more online.

BULLYING-FREE NZ WEEK 13-17 MAY

The School Activity book has been released for Bullying-Free NZ Week, click here to find out more on their website.

TECHWEEK 2019 20-26 MAY 2019

Techweek19 aims to build enthusiasm around new technologies being developed in New Zealand.  A number of Education Technology sector events are being held throughout New Zealand and the whole event itself is an opportunity for schools to look at what the future of work may hold.  Click here for more.

Every year a group of Kiwis head to West Africa to volunteer onboard an enormous hospital ship run by a Christian charity called Mercy Ships.

They help with surgeries to thousands of patients from the world’s poorest countries.

TVNZ’s SUNDAY current affairs programme travelled to Guinea, West Africa, to profile this remarkable group of Kiwis. 

Click the link below to view the programme:

Paul Ferris, Chief Executive Officer of the NZ Catholic Education Officer, was invited by Holy Family School, Porirua to attend their Careers Expo.  Each student had a family member present with them, and they had a list of questions they could ask the guests about their job, and after asking them at least two questions about their job, they got a stamp in their passport, once they had spoken to 14 people they were given a prize. 

The expo was to encourage the dreams and the potential of each student at Holy Family School into believing that they have limitless potential. To find more about The Family So’otaga  click on the link below.

Holy Family Catholic School Wanaka has had an exemplar of their Creativity Deep Learning inquiry selected to be showcased on the Global Exemplars page of the Deep Learning Hub for New Pedagogies for Deep Learning (NPDL). The Exemplar was one of 13 selected from throughout the NPDL knowledge-building partnership to be moderated by educators from Australia, Canada, Finland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the United States, and Uruguay.   

Moderators provided feedback on an Exemplar related to the four dimensions of learning design: Learning Partnerships, Learning Environments, Pedagogical Practices, and Leveraging Digital. 

To have the teachers and student’s learning shared, discussed, and celebrated at a global level is an incredible accomplishment. 

Last week, two groups of students were able to present the banners that were signed with messages of love and hope for Zayed College in Mangere, and Cashmere High School in Christchurch. On Tuesday a group of students and staff attended the Zayed College Memorial Service, and were able to gift the banner and a box full of heart-felt messages on pink and red hearts.

On the same day, our Lawn Bowls team were competing in a national competition, and the Cashmere High School Boys Triples team was there. Our girls presented them with our banner for them as well as another box of heart messages. Here is an excerpt from the manager of that team, in his email to us:

We appreciate your thoughts and prayers in what is a tough time for Cashmere High School, and the wider Christchurch community,

I myself the 'Bowls Coach' work as a doctor at Christchurch Hospital and was incredibly touched by your thoughts. We look forward to catching up at the 2020 bowls nationals.”

Aquinas College, Tauranga

Jack Egan competed in the Canoe Salom at the Oceania Champs and won the title of Oceania Champion U18 C1 Men for the second year running.  This is the first time this trophy has been won twice in a row by the same paddler.

Brodie Cox (Y13) won gold in every Junior event at the Archery NZ Nationals.  He won gold in the Field, Target 1440 and 720.  He set a NZ and National tournament record in the Cadet Men’s Compound Division scoring 388.

Sacred Heart Girl's College, Hamilton

At the NZ Athletic Championships Krystie Solomon won gold in the U18 800m.

Kayla Goodwin won gold in the following U20 100m hurdles, U20 Long Jump, U20 Triple Jump (also a NZ record), Senior Women Long Jump, Senior Women Triple Jump, 4x100m relay.

Francis Douglas Memorial College, New Plymouth

Francis Douglas Memorial College have had five students selected to represent New Zealand at their chosen sport.

Photo Andy Jackson/Stuff

This article appeard on Stuff.  To read the full article Click here.

Click here to read more about the amazing work happening in state-integrated Schools.

Dunedin's Queen's High School student Jordyn Katipa-Martin has clear messages for her teachers and peers in her 2018 Korimako/Senior English Ngā Manu Kōrero speech.

To read her speech Click Here

The speech appears in the latest edition of the PPTA News 

The following op-ed was written by Cardinal John and originally posted on Stuff.co.nz.

We have provided an excerpt below.

OPINION: Young people are protesting on Friday about the slow pace of international action on climate change. We need to listen to them.

Many decision-makers in the governments, businesses, community organisations and churches of the world won’t be alive to experience the impact of climate change. But today’s school students will be.

They will have to live with the consequences if we over consume the world’s resources now, and if we do not find ways to keep temperature increases in check.