The recent lockdown in Auckland has reminded us of the seriousness of this COVID challenge and the way it can quickly impact on our lives. As Auckland schools reopen we are mindful of the stress the latest lockdown has created and the fears that staff, students and parents face as they return students to school. Finding a new normal will be hard. We continue to hear of the wonderful leadership and support Principals and staff are giving in our state integrated schools to their communities. There will be a period where students will struggle to return. Welcoming them back again and ensuring that we have the right protocols in place to support them, not just in their health needs, but in managing the pressure on those students who are worried about such things as NZCEA assessments will take a great deal of energy for the remainder of the year. We wish you every blessing as you manage these challenges.

Challenging Decisions.

In these strange times it is even more important that people making decisions get most of them right, because our ability to accept a mistake and move on is not as forthcoming in the this  pandemic.

It is not strange then that state and state integrated schools have reacted strongly to the provision of $11.5 million to a private school as a shovel ready project. It is especially hard to accept when the Government has been unwilling to provide Policy 2 funding for state integrated schools which are being built to contribute to the state network provision of schools at no capital cost to the government. In 2019 NZCEO calculated that $2.6 billion dollars of assets are given to the state to use, free of charge each year, to educate 60,000 students. The government pays the operating costs and some maintenance but the capital is given by the parents of these children to the Government free of cost. In 2020 we have had five new integrated schools from a range of special characters added to the state integrated network. These schools include Hamilton Christian, Iqra School (Auckland) Suzanne Aubert Catholic School (Papamoa), St Ignatius of Loyola Catholic College, (Drury) and Motueka Steiner. The combined capital value of these schools would be in exceess of $200 million given to the state to support their network.

It is not surprising then that state and state integrated schools reacted angrily to the announcement of the Green Party Leader that they had found $11.5 million for a single private school. 

It is a mistake and it has caused great concern at a time when anxiety and tension are elevated. APIS will continue to work with Government to address the maintenance challenges for  state integrated schools and to see a more realistic response regarding Policy 2 funding in the future.

Non Preference Enrolments in State Integrated Schools.

During the later part of August APIS ran a five zoom workshops which included over 75 Proprietors, Board members and Principals. The focus of these workshops was to ensure that all our enrolment materials are criteria based and transparent in the way they process the enrolments of those students who are seeking an open place. APIS has advice for Proprietors to help them manage the expectations of the work. APIS and NZCEO websites soon have the original documents available which contain the rationale and the expectations the Minister has for this work being completed. APIS staff will assist Proprietors or Principals to review drafts of enrolment policies before they are posted on the school website if that is helpful to your work.

Guidelines for Covid-19 Alert Level 2

The latest advice for schools at Alert level 2 (which now includes Auckland) was made available by the Ministry on September 1. A summary of the key points is below:

Face Masks

• Anyone who chooses to wear a face covering will be supported to do so (students cannot be required to wear face coverings in schools).
• Students aged 12 and above are required to wear a face covering when on public transport (there are some exemptions including for health reasons).
• For school transport, bus drivers are wearing face coverings, but children and young people are not required to wear face coverings.

Assemblies at Alert Level 2

• Assemblies can go ahead but you should maintain sufficient distance between students so they aren’t touching or breathing directly on each other. Where practicable and reasonable 1 metre can be used as a guide, particularly between adults.

Detailed guidance around education outside the classroom (including school camps) can be found here.

Guidelines for managing staff leave at Alert Level 2 can be found here.

Education (School Trustee Elections) Regulations 2000 update

The Education (School Trustee Elections) Amendment Regulations 2020 came into effect on 1 September 2020.

Most of the changes involve bringing the regulations into line with modern practice. For example, removing references to the postal system when calling for nominations and issuing voting papers, and removing the requirement for returning officers to publish election related notices in a local newspaper.

Recognising the reality of recent changes to the postal system has meant extending the timeframes at certain points in the election timetable. In particular the voting period has been extended from 9 days to 28 days.

Full details of the Amendment Regulation can be found here.

Two updated inclusive education guides

The refreshed Dyslexia and Learning and Technology Tools for Learning guides are now available on the Inclusive Education website. The website has 28 guides that provide practical support for teachers and school leaders and includes up to date, evidence-based strategies and resources of particular interest to teachers, learning support coordinators, SENCo and support staff.

Education and Training Act 2020

The Education and Training Act 2020 came into effect on 1 August 2020. It incorporates and replaces the Education Acts 1964 and 1989, and implements changes from the Education Work Programme.

The Act repeals and replaces all major existing education and training legislation. It is intended to be simpler, more user-friendly and less prescriptive than the previous legislative framework.

What is the Education and Training Act?

The Act is the biggest rewrite of education legislation in decades. Much of its content gives effect to the Government’s plans to transform the education system, following the Kōrero Mātauranga | Education Conversation and the Tomorrow’s Schools Taskforce report.

Information for boards of trustees, principals, and teachers

The Act implements a range of changes and includes the following:

School Board objectives.  Section 127 of the Act sets out the board's primary objectives including to ensure that every student at the school is able to attain their highest possible standard in education. The new objectives take effect from August 2020, except for the new objective for school boards to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi. The Tiriti provision commences on 1 January 2021, so that boards have time to understand and prepare for the changes they need to make to their school to give effect to the new objective. 

Right to attend and transitional plans to allow reduced hours of attendance.  Sections 33 and 34 of the Act explicitly state the right of all enrolled students, including those with learning support needs and disabilities, to attend school for all the hours the school is open. Some students and their parents and whānau have found that schools only allow them to attend part time.

Physical restraint framework. The physical restraint framework is updated in the Act (sections 99 to 101) to make it clear that teachers and authorised staff members must not physically restrain unless it is necessary to prevent imminent harm to the health, safety or wellbeing of a child or young person, or to another person, and they reasonably believe there is no other option available in the circumstances.

New eligibility criteria for principal appointments. The Act requires (in section 617) that the Minister of Education (or delegated authority) set minimum eligibility criteria for appointment as a school principal, in State and State-integrated schools.  The new criteria will assist in ensuring consistency in the skills, competencies, knowledge and expertise of principals.  School boards will still be responsible for appointing principals.

Renewing practising certificates. Clause 10, Schedule 3 of the Act enables the Teaching Council to renew practising certificates for teachers without satisfactory recent teaching experience, if they agree to a refresh process approved by the Teaching Council.

New complaint and disputes resolution panels. The Act enables the establishment of new local complaint and dispute panels to hear serious disputes where these cannot be resolved at the school level. Panels will be accessible, free, flexible, and membership will reflect local school communities.  The provisions can be located in sections 216 to 236 of the Act.

Religious instruction to become opt-in. The Act (section 58) provides that if the board of a State primary or intermediate school chooses to close their school for religious instruction to take place, then the principal  must have written permission from students’ parents that they may attend  and ensure that the other, pre-existing, conditions are met.

New powers for the Secretary of Education. The Secretary for Education has new powers to act when a state of emergency or transition period is declared, or an epidemic notice is in place. These powers can be found in sections 653 to 658.

School enrolment schemes. Under the Act, the Ministry of Education will take over the development of, and consultation on, enrolment schemes. The Ministry will be required to consult schools’ boards when developing a proposed enrolment scheme and must take all reasonable steps to consult the relevant school community and affected parties in the wider local community on the proposed enrolment scheme.

School rules consultation. Boards must consult their students (where appropriate), staff and school community when making school rules (section 126 of the new Act). This will help to ensure that a school’s rules are appropriate for, and supported by, their community.

Board Code of Conduct. Section 166 of the Act provides that the Minister of Education can issue a mandatory national code of conduct for Board members at State and State-integrated schools. The Code of Conduct will set minimum standards of behaviour and bring boards into line with other education sector governing bodies.

Find more information about the Education and Training Act 2020 on the Ministry of Education site here.

Source: Ministry of Education website, Sept 2020

Student Wellbeing in the Digital World -
Supporting Your School Community

Linewize in association with the New Zealand Principals' Federation will be presenting a free roundtable webinar discussion for School Leaders
Tuesday 8th September 2020 @ 3:45pm NZST.

Presented by NZPF & Linewize, this free webinar addresses these concerns by bringing together key stakeholders and experts to discuss the issue of student wellbeing in the digital world.

You can register at this link.

School leaders will come away from this event equipped with a better understanding of how to identify and respond to areas of concern related to digital wellbeing, and practical ways to engage and support their school community in cyber safety.

The roundtable discussion will feature:
Perry Rush - NZPF President
Paul Engles - Principal, Kohimarama School
Jordan Foster - Clinical psychologist and founder of ySafe, cyber safety education
Rob Cope & Zareen Sheikh-Cope - Parents and creators of the documentary 'Our Kids Online: Porn, Predators & How to keep them safe'
Saunil Hagler - NZ Education Director of Linewize by Family Zone

From a Key Sponsor: Alsco Sustainability Initiatives Gaining Momentum

 Alsco is committed to sustainability. We are working towards four bold and meaningful goals for 2030:

Alsco is a proud supporter of the Million Metres Streams Project, NZ’s only dedicated programme for connecting local waterway restoration projects with large scale funding and resources. The long-term dream is to see the people of Aotearoa united to restore the mauri (life force) of their precious waterways. Million Metres has so far supported more than 58 waterway restoration projects, fundraising over $1.6 million, and replanting more than 68,000 metres of waterways with over half a million plants and trees. Read more about this project here.

 We are investing in new technology too, saving energy, time and water consumption.  Last year Dunedin, this year Auckland, and next year Nelson will benefit from the installation of Continuous Batch Washers (CBWs). These are expensive at over $2 million each, but are the most efficient laundry machinery for large volumes. CBWs have inherent water recycling attributes built into the machine when compared to conventional washer/extractors. Typically water consumption is reduced by 30%, and energy consumption is reduced by 25% Check out Dunedin’s progress here. 

 Alsco has just launched New Zealand’s first inter-city Heavy EV (100% Electric Vehicle) too, helping significantly drive down vehicle emissions and positively impact on climate change. The launch event took place at Eden Park, and was attended by the Energy and Resources Minister, the Hon Dr Megan Woods; the Minister for Climate Change, the Hon James Shaw; as well as the Chief Executive of EECA, Andrew Caseley. You can learn more here.

We know schools are doing their bit too. Alsco loves learning about environmental programs and sustainability initiatives that are making a difference in our communities. Send us your story and we might feature it in our news posts, and will be sponsoring Sustainability Action Awards in selected schools in 2021. Get in touch with Gavin Smith (gsmith@alsco.co.nz). 

The success of our state-integrated schools has been highlighted recently by a new report published The New Zealand Initiative (an independent think tank).

The report by policy analyst Joel Hernandez pulled data from Statistics New Zealand’s Integrated Data Infrastructure (IDI) – New Zealand’s largest research database.
 
Hernandez used the Initiative’s IDI school performance tool to reveal a schools' effect on a student's learning. It removes confounding factors like a parents’ education and income.
 
He uses university entrance (UE) attainment as a metric to see if a school is successful.
 
“We found that, on average, students at state-integrated schools are more likely to gain UE attainment,” Hernandez said.
 
“For instance, while the average student at a state school has a 30.5% chance of gaining UE, those at state-integrated schools had a 38.8% chance. Private schools were almost as good at 37.4%.”

There are about 42 private secondary schools in the country, 93 state-integrated and 330 state schools. On balance, New Zealand has more high-performing private schools (66.7%) than state-integrated (45.2%) and state schools (15.5%).
 
“Of course, education isn’t just about gaining UE. Yet, giving kids opportunities is a key part of a school’s role. If educators don’t believe every kid can gain UE, then we must lift our expectations.”
 
“If parents are saving up to get their child into a private school, this report shows state-integrated schools might be the best bang for their buck,” Hernandez said.

Listen to Joel Hernandez talk about why state-integrated schools are doing so well in this podcast. 

Listen to the success of state-integrated schools on Morning Report.

You can read a copy of the full report here.