This will be the last editorial for Lighting New Fires that I will write. My time as Chief Executive for APIS and NZCEO has come to an end. It all seems to have been very fast and the five years have gone quickly.

Many things have happened during these five years. We ran the 2018 Education Conference and travelled and spoke at meetings and schools all over New Zealand. We redrafted the Private Schools Conditional Integration Act, settled the quantity funding issue, developed new formats for applications for integration, updated the language in integration agreements, worked with the MoE on projects like the delivery of the Learning Support funding and non-preference enrolment, updated the NZCEO handbook for Boards of Trustees, prepared the integrated sector for working on line, planned and delivered at conferences across New Zealand, and regularly negotiated with Government for Proprietors seeking to integrate or increase the roll. It all seems to roll into a seamless piece of work that has been engaging and fulfilling.

I want to acknowledge the wonderful staff of NZCEO who play a key role in ensuring the detail of these pieces of work are put in place. I also want to acknowledge the members of the Diocesan adminstrations and other Proprietors (AIS) from all religious traditions who have worked so well with us. The APIS and NZCEO Board have played a key role in supporting initiatives and sustaining us in challenging times. Thank you all for your confidence and support.

It is important that I recognise the excellent relationship we have built with the Association of Integrated Schools (AIS) and in particular Mark Larson for his shared leadership in this space.

The most important part of all this work has been the interaction with people who work in our schools and on Proprietor Boards. What a gift you are to the Special Character of your schools. We can see the contribution you make to education in NZ by the respect that this sector has among education officials. The NZ Initiative report confirmed the success you have as an educational agency, but the real work you do is in educating the whole person with a values/faith base which provides a moral compass for their life. Thank you for the work you do and for the way you have welcomed and supported me in this role.

The great challenge going forward is that we are nearing the time when the people who first worked in the negotiation for Integration and the 1975 Integration Act are moving on and taking with them the history of the story of integration. We need to keep a focus on what was intended and how it was supposed to serve the faith communities of New Zealand. If we lose sight of our past we are at risk of not having a future.

In Te Reo I believe we might say;

“Ko nga tahu tapu wae inanhi

Hei tauira ora mo Apopo.”

We stand with our back to the future.

The footprints we lay down on the past create the paving stones of where we stand today.

The challenge for us now is to ensure that we look back to the footprints to ensure they continue to underpin our future. My very best wishes to you all as you continue to do that work.

I want to welcome Dr Kevin Shore to the CEO role. Kevin comes from school leadership to national leadership. He has been an excellent Principal and has the ability to work with groups to achieve consensus and progress. As Sir Brother Pat did for me, I will support him for a short period but I believe he has the commitment and determination to lead in this space. I am sure you will support him to do that.

Haere ra.

Paul Ferris

In 2019 the government announced a trial programme of lunches in schools for the most vulnerable children in our communities. The programme was trialled in three areas and the selection of the schools for the trial drew some reaction from state integrated schools who believed they had been overlooked. In 2020 the government announced an even bigger commitment to the programme based on funding 200,000 students for lunches across the most vulnerable 25%  of schools. In this expansion the provision was extended to include secondary schools.

A number of state integrated schools have contacted this office, with what appears to be genuine concerns, about their selection or non selection in the programme. Schools most commonly noted that neighbouring schools with the same decile were included and they were not.

Investigating this issue has not been easy. The Ministry were reluctant to share lists and engage in any discussion about the process. It took an OIA to get the information required, and that exposed the potential for damaging relationships because of the lack of transparency.

The Government still utilises deciles in some areas of funding and administration, but for this exercise the Ministry use the Equity Index which is anonymised data of factors that identify poverty based on residential addresses in school rolls. Schools have very little insight in to the data other than to find a payment in their operations grant to be used to address equity issues. Children are not identified in any way.

The most challenging aspect of this lunch programme is that Principals who have a passion for their students can see an injustice when one school in an area is selected over another on data that they cannot test or understand.

It may be that the data is accurate and that it does identify the right children but with such a large expense of public money this programme isn’t able to be rationalised. The resulting hurt and mistrust created by the lack of transparency causes distrust of the process and potentially limits the good that would have been created if the basis for decisions had been transparent.

Early in September the Government released the new guidelines for relationship management and sexuality education in schools. At the time of its release there was some publicity but because we didn’t enter in to a debate about some of the more challenging aspects of the programme, the media was less interested in our response.

Any programme that seeks to keep people safe is welcome. The programme asks schools to consult with their community and determine how this material can be shared. It recognises that there are both cultural and religious challenges to be met before schools attempt to implement any change. Faith based schools that work to give life to the full will not be afraid of reviewing their programme and determining what can or should change with this new approach. Proprietors have the right to determine a school’s Special Character and continue to influence what is consistent with the faith base of the school.

APIS encourages schools to review the documents and talk with Proprietors to ensure they have a process of consultation that can help support the school to be a safe place without compromising the tenets of their faith.

It’s the time of year to check the information held by the Ministry of Education about your integrated property to ensure the correct PMG is paid.  This funding is paid directly to school bank accounts in quarterly instalments.  PMG notices are updated in December (Indicative) and July (Confirmed) each year.  To view the information held for your school visit the Ministry property website.  It is the proprietor's responsibility to maintain an up to date school site plan with the Ministry. If this data is out of date the PMG received will not be accurate. The Ministry will not make back payments if the fault lies with the Proprietor, and will only pay reimbursements up to a maximum of three years.  If the information about your integrated property needs to be updated please contact the Ministry directly: EIS.Integratedschoolsproperty@education.govt.nz

The team at NZCEO are working our way through the resources on the NZCEO website and the content on the Handbook site.  The Employment section has been fully completed on the Handbook site and a table created listing all the Employment Factsheets and Forms (previously appendices from the 2016 BoT Handbook). 

We hope to have an updated pdf version of the revised 2020 BoT handbook available for download by 14 October. 

Our aim is to continuously improve the Handbook site and its contents, so please provide any feedback, errors and suggestions to nzceooffice@nzceo.org.nz.