The new term begins with the promise of spring and much activity in schools for the next two terms. Professor John Richards said some years ago, “When you are up to your armpits in mud and surrounded by crocodiles it is hard to remember you came to drain the swamp. ”  I think he understood how all consuming some periods of school administration are.

I understand that you will be focused on your schools at this time but I encourage you to give thought to the massive exercise taking place in NZ education with the review of Tomorrow’s Schools. If we don’t engage in the process we may well find that what we set out to do has been highjacked by other education interests with particular agendas.

The review is looking at governance, finance, property, teacher supply, NCEA, Learning Support and Initial Teacher Training. Staying connected with all the themes of these reviews is not possible but keeping a watching brief on emerging themes is important.

Shortly the Ministry will seek the support of small numbers from across different groups in education to test ideas and to provide feedback to the Wellington based reviews. Despite your time pressure I urge you to give time to these activities and make a contribution.

Ngā mihi nui,
Paul Ferris
Chief Executive

SEND US YOUR NEWS

With the changes in many schools’ production and circulation of school newsletters, we now are not so able to keep up with items worthy of including in the Congratulations section of Lighting New Fires.

We would love to give your school national exposure for its successes. You might consider appointing a staff member to forward to us any national level achievements by students, so that we can share your good news. Send to nzceooffice@nzceo.org.nz.

Many persons have a wrong idea of what constitutes true happiness. It is not attained through self-gratification but through fidelity to a worthy purpose.
Helen Keller

PAYMENT BY PARENTS CIRCULAR

Boards of Trustees and proprietors need to be aware of this recent circular, which updates what may be charged for, and what can only be a donation. While the information has not changed the layout and explanatory information has been redeveloped. Read more.

FIREARM POLICY

Legislation allows firearms in schools under strict conditions. In partnership with NZSTA, the Ministry has prepared guidelines to support Boards of Trustees developing or reviewing policy around firearms. Read more.

EDUCATION SUMMIT INFORMATION

Excerpts from a press release on 11 July 2018 from Hon Chris Hipkins, Minister of Education, about the Summit:

“More than 14,000 New Zealanders have told us, via our online survey, how we can help every learner to be successful, and about the education changes they want to see,” Chris Hipkins said.
“Themes from the responses so far include:

• No students should be disadvantaged due to financial or family circumstances
• Children with additional learning needs require more funding and support
• Students should be resilient, capable, resourceful, independent, socially competent and curious
• Students need recognising for their contribution to family/whānau, hapu, iwi, and community
• Students need to be able to think critically, innovate, respect others, and take responsibility. They need good communication skills, and strong foundation skills in literacy and numeracy
• Young people feel there is too much focus on assessments; this is a burden on them and their teachers.
• Many parents identified reducing bullying as a priority
• Teachers need better remuneration and to have better supporting staff and strategies to improve teaching practice
• Many felt the curriculum should focus on progress rather than testing or benchmarking
• Differences in achievement between Māori and Pacific students and Pākehā need addressing, and there should be better teaching of Māori culture and history. Some felt te reo Māori should be compulsory, at least in primary schools.”

You can also read about these themes online here.

CHARTERS - STRATEGIC PLANS

Schools have recently been reminded that they must submit their Charters (to be renamed Strategic Plans) by 1 March 2019.  While the information provided by the Ministry does not specifically refer to Proprietors, they are part of the integrated school community and should be involved at the planning stage, to identify the shared vision for the school.  It is to be expected that there is specific reference to the school’s special character, and to a goal which involves special character.

STAND-DOWNS, SUSPENSIONS, EXCLUSIONS AND EXPULSIONS

This data has been updated through 2017 and shows that rates of age-standardised stand-downs, suspensions, exclusions, and expulsions had dropped significantly but are now rising again. The report may be accesed at EducationCounts.govt.nz, link here.

NEW AWARDS, WITH CATEGORIES SUITABLE FOR SCHOOLS

The inaugural GirlBoss Awards is a nationwide search for trailblazing young women (ages 11–18). Categories such as Emerging Leader and Community could be of particular interest to integrated schools. Link here.

RECENT ERO REPORTS

Building Genuine Learning partnerships with Parents – Teaching Approaches and Strategies that Work, July 2018. This looks like a particularly useful and helpful report. It includes simple strategies a few of the schools used to involve parents more in supporting the things children were learning in school. Read more.

What Drives Learning in the Senior Secondary School?, May 2018. Read more.

Teaching Strategies that Work: Reading, May 2018. Read more.

Responding to Language Diversity in Auckland, May 2018. Read more.

Evaluation at a glance – a decade of assessment in New Zealand Primary Schools – Practice and Trends, April 2018. Read more.

Resource Teachers Learning and Behaviour, Governing and Managing RTLB Clusters, April 2018. Read more.

Leading Innovative Learning in New Zealand Schools, April 2018. Congratulations to St Thomas of Canterbury College, Christchurch, one of the twelve schools featured in this publication. Read more.

Appraisal as a Catalyst for Learning – Two Years On, March 2018. Read more.

OTHER LINKS

NCEA have your say (link here)
Curriculum progress and achievement (link here)
Early learning strategic plan (link here)
International education strategy (link here)

The latest report from the Growing Up in New Zealand study reveals:

• Our families are ethnically diverse: a third of children are born to at least one parent who did not grow up in New Zealand and where at least one parent is multilingual.
• Almost half of all families are living in rental accommodation when their child is born, and many families move frequently.
• Although current guidelines recommend exclusive breastfeeding for six months, most newborns are exclusively breastfed for only four months.
• Nearly one in three newborns lives in a house with a smoker.
• The number of children living with a single parent increases as the children grow older, with a greater proportion of Māori children living in single-parent households compared with other ethnic groups.
• By age two, 92 percent of children are fully immunised.
• By age four, 97 percent of children spend time away from their parent, such as in early childhood education or organised home-based care. Most mothers feel that their child has the pre-reading or writing skills to start school.
• Fourteen percent of the children were classified as overweight or obese.

The report is available online here.

We can make a big difference with our four bold long term goals. Our goal by 2030 is… 

1. to completely eliminate coal as an energy source

Reduction of our carbon emissions is an important facet of our Environmental Management Program. Alsco uses 3 coal fired boilers in the South Island (apart from Nelson which runs on wood pellets). We will convert these alternate energy sources.

2. to convert a third of our vehicle fleet to full electric vehicles

Alsco has nearly 350 vehicles on the road in New Zealand, predominantly light diesel vans and trucks. Many of our routes are less than 200 kms daily, and are ideally suited for EV’s (electric vehicles ). We want to an industry leader in this field.

3. to reduce water use by a third

Water in New Zealand, comparative to other countries, is both plentiful and inexpensive.  But we want to do our bit and want to get more efficient and reduce the water use in our laundries, and we are investing in world leading technologies to lower our water use.

4. to generate zero waste

All industries in New Zealand are wanting to reduce waste to landfill but we want to do more than just recycling and repurposing our waste.  New solutions will be thoroughly investigated by Alsco to process 100% of our waste - including sanitary and hospital waste - with the goal of 100% diversion from landfill.

For more information request a copy of our Sustainability Review by emailing GSmith@alsco.co.nz or call 0800 4 ALSCO

Longburn Adventist College: was featured in national news for their online learning programme allowing them to link with others digitally. Read more.

Bullying-Free Awards:
Performance category: Joint Winner: Year 4, Elim Christian College, Auckland, Highly Commended: Year 6, St Joseph’s Catholic School, Matamata, link here.
Print category: Special Merit: Siobhan Taylor, Year 8, St Bernadette’s School, Christchurch, link here.
PowerPoint category: Winner: Kate Timbers, Gina Devcich, Grace Coxhead & Molly O’Sullivan, Sacred Heart Girls’ College, Hamilton, link here.

Holy Family School, Porirua: The Education Gazette of 21 June 2018 featured a story on the school’s project the Family So’otaga, which has been running since since 2016. The project fosters strong relationships between the school, parents and whānau to create a sense of community that supports educational involvement and achievement for their Māori and Pacific students. Read more.

St Bernard’s College, Lower Hutt: Pfuma Mahowa and Seth Fitzgerald, both 15, are to attend a youth summit in Boston on creative technologies and how they can be applied to important social issues, both now and in the future. Read more. Jack Tetley, 13 years old, has been invited to the Trust for Sustainability Living school debate in the Seychelles to debate ocean conservation. Read more.

Garin College, Nelson: Tiare Donelan was selected to go to Chile on a Business field trip as part of a partnership between the Lion Foundation Young Enterprise Scheme (YES) and the Latin America Centre for Asia Pacific Excellence. Read more.

Click here to read about the many more impressive results from teachers and students in integrated schools.