Filter Content
Kia tau te rangimārie ki a koutou
The announcement of the Essential Property Maintenance Package (EPMP) was rightly received by the state integrated education sector with joy and gratitude. The support of the Minister of Education Chris Hipkins was a key element in successfully negotiating this settlement. At the recent AIS conference in Wellington, he expressed his support for state integrated schools in a way that seemed genuine, opening a pathway to strengthening our relationship as a partner in state education provision.
I was looking at a recent international report on Global Catholic education provision (Global Catholic Education) which identifies some of the international trends that, in all probability, reflect the spectrum of special character education provision globally. From a social justice perspective, it is pleasing to see our special character schools are serving proportionally more students in low income countries. The challenges, however, are in responding to the fact that 55.3% of all 10-year-olds in this global study cannot understand age-appropriate text – sounds familiar even in our own context of Aotearoa. Responding to this is essential in ensuring all students can access their right to education beyond the primary and secondary education level. APIS is strongly supportive of our Ministry of Education in leading new initiatives to drive improvements in literacy which remains a stubborn barrier to equity of education and social outcomes here in Aotearoa.
The other interesting aspect of this study was the focus on educational pluralism which has implications in support of state integrated education. Article 26 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children” – this is a call for education pluralism. In education systems that support pluralism, students or parents can choose the type or special character of the school they attend. There are clear differences in the priorities of parents for what children should learn in school based on the type of schools they choose for their children and we see this reflected across the range of special character schools in APIS. As a result, the child and parents are connected to a value system and set of beliefs and assumptions that they share with the school community and learning is connected and relevant.
This report hypothesises that educational pluralism may also boost learning and achievement and there is certainly evidence of this if you equate this concept to New Zealand and the choice exercised by parents in choosing a state integrated school or kura kaupapa for their child. The premise in this report is that too much concentration in education provision on a single provider (i.e. state provision only) that does not provide the flavour that parents want may be detrimental to school choice as well as educational outcomes in much the same way as a monopoly in industry may be detrimental to customers. While I have some concerns with the theoretical approach of this study, the report does reinforce the need for a vibrant and effective state integrated school network in providing the choice to meet the diverse needs of our community. Current evidence of achievement outcomes in New Zealand schools highlights that having a choice in education provision including state integrated schools and Kura Kaupapa Māori is effective in raising educational achievement. As a result, our state integrated schools can come to the table of state education provision confident that our contribution is adding real and tangible value.
Having started this editorial acknowledging Minister Hipkins for his support of state integrated schools, I have taken a rather tortuous route to highlight that the Minister's support is not just in our interests but in the interests of the overall national education system. Partnership is after all a two way relationship.
A Time for Change
Jenny Gordon resigned from her position as Vicar of Education for the Archdiocese of Wellington (ADW) on Friday 23rd August. Jenny has held this position for the last 15 years and has been highly valued by Cardinal John Dew and the education team at ADW. She has also held the confidence of many principals of schools within the ADW and is highly valued as someone who practices with the utmost respect and integrity. Jenny will continue her roles as a board member of NZCEO and the current Chair of the APIS. APIS is grateful that Jenny with continue to generously share her knowledge and wisdom in serving the state integrated school sector at a national level. Kelly Ross has been appointed the new Vicar for Education and Director of Catholic School Services for the Archdiocese of Wellington and APIS wishes her every success in this new role
Callan Goodall the Education Manager for the Dunedin Diocese has also resigned and will be taking up the role of Principal at St Patrick’s in Invercargill. This community will not be new to him having previously served as principal before moving into the education manager role. Callan is looking forward to the dynamic environment of a school setting and we thank him for his service to Catholic education as an education manager and hope his family enjoys having him back at home. Paul Olsen the current principal of St Kevin’s College has been appointed as the Education Manager for the Dunedin Diocese and starts in January 2022. Congratulations, Paul.
Mā te Atua koutou katoa e tiaki, e manaaki.
Kevin Shore
Chief Executive Officer
Essential Property Maintenance Package (EPMP)
As you will know a formal agreement was signed between APIS and the Ministry of Education (MoE) for the provision of the Essential Property Maintenance Package (EPMP). This fund will be paid in two tranches to APIS. Unlike the state system School Investment Package (SIP) which was paid to boards, the EPMP funding allocation will be paid directly to Proprietors as the legal owner of the land and property.
For more information about the amount of funding, what is can be used for, types of eligible projects, timeframes and the approval process please see the APIS website.
For further clarification and information please email the EPMP mailbox.
For important information on the Essential Property Maintenance Package (EPMP) click here
Education Now - ERO’s upcoming research on school education
Education Now is a new research project that explores the performance of the education system, how it delivers for different children over time. This work is complementary to and builds off existing work. It will use a basket of indicators, including from existing research.
To gather information for Education Now, ERO will be surveying a sample of approximately 100 schools in English Medium across New Zealand. This will include leader, student, teacher, Board, and parent and whānau surveys. ERO will be inviting schools to complete the surveys in the first half of Term 3. Participation is voluntary. One key aim of Education Now is to help guide ERO’s work with schools and their national evaluations. It will also provide a useful resource for others by drawing together key information on the education system into one place. It will enable participating schools to have their voices heard in sharing our understanding of the performance of the education system.
ERO will also be providing participating schools with their information to support them to understand their schools – through information from leaders, teachers, and students. Education Now is not about judging schools or providing information on the performance of individual schools - the project is about exploring the education system overall.
Privacy resources
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner has put together a wide range of resources to help individuals and organisations understand the Privacy Act 2020:
- A series of information sheets, each covering one of the main changes in the new Privacy Act
- The Privacy Act 2020 is structured around 13 information privacy principles relating to how an organisation can collect, store, and use personal information. Here is a quick guide to the updated Privacy Principles. A full guide to the privacy principles is here.
- A summary of the key changes in the new Act and what they mean for individuals and organisations.
- 'Priv-o-matic' - a user friendly Privacy Statement Generator.
- A Privacy Impact Assessment Toolkit.
- 'NotifyUs' - an online tool to help work out if privacy breaches are notifiable and report them.
- A series of online training modules at the Privacy Commissioner's eLearning site. (Free registration required).
NZSTA
The NZSTA Knowledge Hub has wide range of learning materials organised around the four areas of governance (Leadership, Accountability, Representation, and Employer role). A helpful Board Task Checklist for Term 3 is now available.
A new Special Character School for Auckland, opening in 2022, seeks space for up to 3 classes.
If your school has surplus space and would be willing to explore the possibility of having a new school operating within your school for 2 - 3 years we would like to talk to you.
This will be a school that grows people equipped to take responsibility and leadership in the modern world: high in EQ, global in focus, proactive, with a service mindset, capable of working in teams and solution-focused. We integrate a combination of modern experiential learning methods and ancient wisdom including meditation practices to facilitate these outcomes.
The Special Character ethos will be shaped by the Art of Living Foundation. https://www.artofliving.org/nz-en/about-us
For more information contact carl@axis-startegies.co.nz 021 585 397
AIS Aotearoa NZ Conference Presentations
The Association of Integrated Schools (AIS NZ) held their Annual Conference on June 15 & 16 in Wellington. Audio recordings of Keynote addresses are available, including:
All the conference presentations including audio recordings of all keynote speakers are available in dropbox format by following the links below. A guide to speakers and presentations can be found in the Conference Brochure.