I cannot think of another period of my lifetime where the resilience of school staff and their communities has been tested to the extent that we are currently witnessing in New Zealand. Before the arrival of the COVID pandemic in 2020, I had only experienced facilitating the closure of a school on two occasions and that was for one day only in each case. These events were due to a water pipe bursting on one occasion and a civil defence emergency due to flooding on a second occasion. The arrival of the COVID pandemic has almost made such a significant decision part of the daily operating manual for leaders in our schools. Our schools are wonderful, vibrant, faith filled communities but they can be complex beasts to lead even when the sun is shining so the challenges of the last two or three years have been, and continue to be, immense.

During the pandemic firefighting has become the leadership norm and our team at APIS take our hats off to our school leaders and staff who have somehow made it all work. If you add to the daily challenges of operating a school in normal times lockdowns, COVID-19 infections, school closures, vaccination mandates, employment issues, staff shortages, the wearing of masks, staff and student health and safety, rising levels of anxiety for some staff and students, the challenges of facilitating hybrid models of teaching and learning, constant changes of guidelines and regulations, constant communication to reassure communities, and increasing instances of abuse and threats directed at schools then it is little wonder that we have so much to be thankful for regarding the continuing generous service of our principals, staff and school boards. Add to this the two state integrated schools in Wellington that were so negatively affected by the recent anti-mandate protest it must feel like some school communities are inside a perfect storm that never seems to pass.

Despite all of this, somehow our state integrated schools continue to be places where our students, wrapped within a cloak of love expressed through our special character, can thrive and express themselves. APIS has the pleasure of office space which backs on to two state integrated schools and watching and hearing the students play and laugh, enjoy education outside the classroom and dance to music are just some of the activities that highlight the joy that exists because of the efforts of our school principals, staff and their communities.

As I write this column, the Minister of Health (and Education) has just announced a move to phase three of the omicron playbook. Once more the rules are changing – hopefully relieving schools of some of the burdensome tasks that have caused great stress such as contact tracing and communicating to their community over every case of COVID-19. It should also help reduce the number of staff and students who need to go into isolation and is the start of a major change in our COVID-19 approach here in Aotearoa. We are now moving to a phase of ‘Living With It’ rather than ‘Hiding From It’ and it will require our school leaders to move gently and with empathy for our students, whanau and school staff to navigate this transition. No doubt this new phase will bring about a new set of unique challenges for schools to navigate but it may just be the start of a final phase back to normality – let’s hope so anyway. It is a time when we need to continue to recognise the efforts of our school leaders and staff as ‘essential workers’ without the title for their resilience and generosity of spirit. APIS wishes you every blessing in the times ahead.

Kia hora te marino, kia whakapapa pounamu te moana.

Kia tere karohirohi i mua i tou huarahi

Essential Property Maintenance Package (EPMP)

APIS continues to receive EPMP applications for property projects from proprietors. It is an exciting time for property in state integrated schools. We are hearing of a number of schools who have been able to develop projects that were dreams that they were struggling to bring into reality. It gives the team here at NZCEO a great deal of satisfaction supporting our schools and we look forward to hearing many more of these stories over the next few years.

APIS would like to make a plea to all of those proprietors that are yet to make contact with APIS about an EPMP project. To be able to access the EPMP funds every proprietor must submit a pre-approval application to APIS by 30 August 2022. The pre-approval process has been designed to be as simple as possible in recognition of the challenges of obtaining quotes from contractors. If a proprietor has not yet made contact with the EPMP team at APIS then I would encourage you to do that urgently. Jenny Gordon and Karen Raitt (EPMP APIS) are currently developing a communication strategy to ensure any proprietor who has yet to submit a pre-approval application is contacted by APIS. The clock is ticking- and there is only six months left to submit a pre-approval application if proprietors wish to access these EPMP funds.

Ngā mihi manahau

Kevin Shore

Chief Executive Officer

NZCEO are delighted to now be partnering with Teamturf. In this issue of Lighting New Fires we share who they are and include some examples of how they add value to our school network.

Teamturf was founded in 2006 and specialises in the supply and installation of artificial grass surfaces throughout New Zealand. The company proudly offers a wide selection of artificial turf surfaces for sports, playground and landscaping areas including the largest colour range of artificial turf surfaces available in New Zealand.

The owner and founder of the company Phil Lewis has a wealth of experience in the sports construction and surfacing industry having worked in the industry since 2002. Keith Ratcliffe joined Teamturf in 2019 having previously worked in the education sector, previously as a classroom teacher, followed by owner of a tutoring company, and finally as sports co-ordinator and head of OCT at a large Auckland primary School. Most recently Keith has spent three years as general manager at College Rifles Rugby Club where he managed  the replacement of  17,000 square metres of artificial turf. This uniquely positions Keith to understand the challenges that customers face when undertaking a synthetic turf project.

Teamturf have extensive major project experience from initial design through to project management. They understand a school's responsibility to cater for the development and promotion of school sport in New Zealand; not only for the sporting benefits, but also for the educational, cultural and social benefits sport provides. Teamturf multi-use sports courts eliminates wet and muddy winter sports fields or old and worn asphalt/concrete surfaces, and provides an all-weather surface ready for play all-year round.

Their highly popular Probounce Coolplus, Elite Coolplus and Coolplay turf range feature exclusive COOLplay® technology. This technology  was developed with the harsh environmental conditions of  New Zealand in mind and is designed to improve the comfort as well as the durability of artificial grass by reflecting infrared pigment and reducing the surface temperature of the grass by up to 20%.

Teamturf will assist in choosing colours and linemarkings for a multi-use turf and can provide CAD drawings and a 3D render to help you visualise your new surface.

For further information email info@teamturf.co.nz or see the website for more information.

Below are a few examples of Teamturf projects in schools around New Zealand

St Francis De Sales School in Wellington

Elim Christian Centre, Auckland

St Joseph's Catholic School in Te Kuiti

The APIS EPMP office is fully functioning and processing applications. Time is of the essence as all EPMP projects need to have prior approval by August 2022.  To ensure every eligible school takes advantage of their full entitlement we would encourage proprietors to work with their School Boards about identifying projects which facilitate the school’s Essential Property Maintenance and for proprietors to submit their application to the APIS EPMP Office as soon as is possible.    We would also encourage proprietors to consider utilising all of their eligible EPMP funds by topping up one large project.

Proprietors needing further information please make contact with the APIS EPMP Office for assistance and advice or visit our webpage for more information about how to apply for EPMP funds.

By way of examples of the type of EPMP projects that have been completed we have included the photo’s below.

Sonrise School Gisborne, new perimeter fencing

Cornerstone Christian School Palmerston North, Block D veranda roof has new clearlite

Taikura Rudolf Steiner School Hastings, new pathway leading to the woodwork classroom