The term has begun with much energy. We are fortunate to be in a country where life can be relatively normal and watch with great empathy the challenges of other countries as they try to manage the fall out of COVID-19.  

Thank you for the work you have done to bring a sense of normality back to the schools and colleges. There are things to deal with and big challenges ahead. We know that the worst impacts for unemployment will hit the community from October through to mid 2021. With that in mind we should be looking out for the people who have never faced unemployment before and who may be reluctant to disclose their distress to the community. Schools need plans to support the students and ensure they stay in their school supported by the strong pastoral care of the integrated schools they belong to.  

Responses to COVID-19 Issues.  

The Minstry of Education has advised that extra money will be available in regions for supporting pastoral care and special needs of school communities. School Boards and Principals will need to be watchful for the details of these funds appearing in regular bulletins from the Ministry.  

All schools will get some extra funding, related to roll size, to help cover the extra costs of relievers, cleaning and other lockdown impacts. The Ministry has also developed a plan to support schools who have international students so that some of the infrastructure we have in place to run these programmes is protected and available when borders open. Again you should be mindful of the information coming from the Ministry.  

School Lunch Programmes 

NZCEO and APIS are aware of two cases where state integrated schools appear to have been disadvantaged by the failure to include them in localised school lunch programmes. The Ministry has been very defensive of their decisions which were a mixture of equity data and judgements. The lack of transparency has been a challenge for us to determine just why some schools were not included. The exclusion of state integrated schools could appear to be a breach of human rights where faith based schools were excluded from the programme. One school has reported losing enrolments as a result of all the neighbouring schools receiving the funding excluding just the faith based school. I am advised that more funding will be coming on stream in 2021. We will need to be vigilant to ensure that these issues are addressed in the future.   

Maintenance Funding 2020 

NZCEO and APIS are aware of the pressure you are feeling to have the same building upgrades as your state colleagues. Negotiations have been taking place for some time with the Ministry on behalf of the Minister of Education. I am aware that the Minister has a proposal he is considering at present and we have asked him to give this some priority as the process has been extended by the many COVID-19 related responsibilities that he has.  

I am grateful for the way Principals and Boards have restrained themselves from vocalising their frustrations while we work through this process. During the past few months we have been aware of a rising frustration from communities as they look at their state school colleagues undertaking building work that is important to staff and students. We remain hopeful that this will be resolved without legal action.  

New Integrated Schools 2020 

Of note is the fact that during the year the Minister has agreed to five new Integrated Schools. These include Hamilton Christian School, Suzanne Aubert Catholic School, Papamoa, Iqra School, Auckland (Islamic), Motueka Steiner School, St Ignatius of Loyola Catholic College, Drury. While the government has not contributed any Policy 2 money to the builds they have been open to the aspirations of our communities to offer faith based education within New Zealand.  

Enjoy the term and the opportunity we have to be in communities. Celebrate the advantage we have, and help students to see that while all this comes at a cost it has saved the lives of many people in New Zealand.  

Ngā mihi nui  

Paul Ferris

Chief Executive Officer

COVID-19 Urgent Response Fund

Schools and early learning services can now apply for funds to help address attendance issues, or support well-being, and engagement in learning, for children and young people following the COVID-19 lockdown.

More detailed information about the Urgent Response Fund can be found here

Applications for support can be made by completing the form at this link

2020 Decile Review

If you believe there has been a significant change in your school's roll profile since deciles were last recalculated in 2014, you can apply for a review of your school's decile rating. 

Follow this link to start an application for a Decile Review. Please note that applications must be received before 5 pm on Monday 21 September 2020.

Expert Panel Applications

The Ministry of Education is looking for an independent panel of experts to assess portfolios from teachers seeking recognition as an Advanced Classroom Expertise Teacher (ACET).

Panellists will need to be available full time for two weeks from 12 October 2020.

To apply to be a panel member, please call the ACET recognition process team on 0800 165 225 or email them for a guide and application form; your completed form and CV must then be emailed to them by Wednesday 19 August.

Support Staff at Overnight Camps

New requirements for paying support staff attending overnight school camps and trips came into effect in December 2019. As a transitional arrangement, the Ministry of Education will reimburse you for the cost of paying your support staff for overnight hours at camps attended from December 2019 up to the end of Term 2 2020.

You must submit a claim for reimbursement by 1 September 2020 and transitional funding will be provided as part of your October 2020 Operational Grant.

Guidance is available here

QR Codes at School Entrances

Please support contact tracing efforts by displaying QR code posters for the NZ Covid Tracer App at your entrance points and reception area.

You can create your own QR code poster here

If you need help contact help@covidtracer.min.health.nz  

The Ministry of Education have released their Action Plan for Pacific Education 2020 – 2030. The overarching vision for 2030 is a future where

“Diverse Pacific learners and their families are safe, valued, and equipped to achieve their education aspirations”

The Action Plan identifies six key objectives for the Education System, and five key actions to achieve these objectives.

Objectives

• Overarching objectives for the Education System
• Barrier-Free Access
• World class Inclusive Public Education
• Quality Teaching and Leadership
• Learners at the centre
• Future of learning and work
• Quality Teaching and Leadership

 Key Actions

• work reciprocally with diverse Pacific communities to respond to unmet needs, with an initial focus on needs arising from the COVID-19 pandemic;
• confront systemic racism and discrimination in education;
• enable every teacher, leader and educational professional to take coordinated action to become culturally competent with diverse Pacific learners;
• partner with families to design education opportunities together with teachers, leaders and educational professionals so aspirations for learning and employment can be met; and
• grow, retain and value highly competent teachers, leaders and educational professionals with diverse Pacific whakapapa.

The Ministry of Education has made several resouces available on their website:

A summary of the Action Plan is here

An online PDF version of the full Action Plan is here

The Action Plan for Pacific Education Launch Video can be viewed here

Further resources including an FAQ are available here

The Ministry of Education have updated their Guide to Dyslexia and Learning. This follows a significant review and the adoption of new evidence-based recommendations. The full guide can be found online here. The Ministry of Education website now offers information and resources which are in line with what science tells us is best practice for learning to read and write.

A Structured Literacy approach explicitly teaches systematic word identification and decoding strategies, which benefit all students but are essential for those with dyslexia.

This is supported by using reading books known as ‘decodable texts’ which support this sequence. This is particularly important for dyslexic children.

The New Zealand National Commission for UNESCO is holding a free panel discussion on Global Citizenship Education (GCED) at the National Library in Wellington on 20^th August. St John’s College has been invited to participate in the GCED, which will be streamed live to a national audience.

GCED is about empowering people to face and resolve local and global challenges, and to become proactive contributors to a more peaceful, tolerant, inclusive and secure world.

The two students who will represent the College are: Josh Villanueva (College Captain) and Fred Devereux (Special Character Leader). Both students have been heavily involved in both Social Enterprise and Special Project work throughout their journey at St Johns.

This year had been difficult for the College with lockdown but a group of students (PEAR I), working within the constraints of lockdown were able to make a functional ventilator (learn more here).

Post-lockdown these same students are constructing a completely sustainable, and low cost, external light: powered by solar and wind turbine, to bring light to a variety of environments – keeping workers and community safe.

 

New Kid on the Block: Kai’s Clan

We’re excited to be one of the first companies in New Zealand to bring Kai’s Clan, the latest in AR/VR coding technology for the classroom, to the market.

Kai’s Clan, owned and operated right here in New Zealand, has developed a new immersive AR VR coding platform for students aged 7-14 years old, and are proud to be teaming up with Noel Leeming Commercial to launch the latest robotics/coding platform for schools.

 It’s 35+ cross-curricular lessons allow educators to create their own projects which they can share with the community of educators, while students can create a range of AR/VR experiences, and jump into the driver’s seat of a rover on Mars, a forklift in a busy warehouse, or the pilot’s seat in a plane high over a thriving metropolis.

Not only does Kai’s Clan bring together educators to share lessons and learn from each other, but Kai’s Clan also breaks the traditional geographical barriers to bring kids from around the world together and allow them to solve challenges in exciting new ways.

Kai’s Clan STEM toolbox integrates features such as collaborative/multiplayer coding, Augmented & Virtual Reality, Internet of Things and Artificial Intelligence to create an immersive learning experience for your students. Pairing physical adventure mats with virtual worlds, Kai’s Clan brings computational thinking to life!

Over the last year, Kai’s Clan has been continuously improving the experience by listening to educators for feedback. The feedback has allowed Kai’s Clan to become a recognised teaching resource, winning Top Pick for Learning from Common Sense Education, that provides educators with a toolbox of different tools to help prepare our students for their future jobs.

If you’d like a live demo of Kai’s Clan, you can book a demo with Ronel, the education specialist here.

If you’d like to learn more about Kai’s Clan, you can visit www.kaisclan.ai

To read more about the products we have available for purchase, click here.

 To talk to your local Education Account Manager, click here or phone 0800 737 5223