Kōtui: School & Policy Updates - Term 3 Issue 1 2023 (NZCEO)

TĒNĀ KOUTOU KATOA: Editorial by Dr Kevin Shore, CEO

Kia ora koutou

It's amazing how quickly 2023 is progressing. Staff and students in our schools have just returned from a well-earned winter school holiday. The staff at APIS send the blessings of the season of Matariki to all of our stakeholders as we look forward with hope to the second half of the year. It is a time to remember and celebrate the lives of those who have passed on, a time to look forward to the future with hopefulness and a time to enjoy family and whānau as we gather in aroha to celebrate the wonders of our world and people.

Hari Matariki ki a koutou katoa!

The Role of Media in Reporting on Traumatic Events in Schools

In the life of the school there are times of great joy and celebration which build pride in the community and other times of deep sadness especially when there is a death in the school community. Events where there is a loss of life in a school event are thankfully rare but when it happens it forever changes the lives of whānau, friends, and school community. There will be feelings of anger, despair, sorry and regret, and maybe even blame, when a young person’s life or that of a staff member is tragically cut short, whether through accident, illness or suicide.

The loss of a child is something that parents carry with them for the rest of their life and it deeply affects the school community. The ability of the different communities they are part of to wrap them in a cloak of aroha and manaaki will help them walk their long and painful journey. The loss of a staff member can be equally distressing. Whether a student or staff member, the school has a responsibility to support both the whānau and its own community at such times. This role is important even in circumstances where the school may be directly involved and some may apportion a degree of responsibility on the school.

As a teacher and former principal who has practiced within the State and State Integrated Catholic education system for more than 32 years, I have experienced the untimely loss of the life of a student or staff member on too many occasions. It is a deeply emotional and difficult time. The specific responsibility of the school leadership team is to support the whānau in the best way possible, ensure students affected by the loss are cared for and attend to the staff who are deeply connected.

The immediate period after death is a time to let people grieve, celebrating and mourning a life tragically cut short while also keeping up the normal routines that are so important in engendering a sense of stability and emotional safety for the students at the school. The death of a student must be handled particularly carefully, with deep sensitivity and compassion, with every member of the school community looking after each other, something that takes time and effort.

Providing compassionate and effective pastoral care means treating everyone involved with dignity and respect. Above all, this involves creating an emotionally safe space for all involved. In this, the wider community also have an important role to play, including the media.

When a death of a member of the school community occurs that was potentially preventable, there is an extra dynamic at play. In such cases, especially for the whanau, their experience of grief resolution is bound up in ensuring accountability and justice are served. Such tragedies generate huge public interest and sympathy.  Our media in Aotearoa have a key responsibility to report the events and ask the difficult questions, ensuring organisations are held to account for decisions made.

While acknowledging the professionalism of the majority of our media organisations, I have watched on a number of occasions with deep concern the way that school tragedies can be reported. Rather than focusing on the event, an approach is taken that often involves needless and unhelpful speculation endeavouring to raise as many other issues as possible, linking them to the tragic event and attempting to court public opinion and reach a conclusion before the full facts are even known. It is an approach to journalism that, in my opinion, is lacking in compassion and shows very little empathy or support for those most affected.

Accountability is critically important for full healing to occur, but with respect to an accident that a school may share some responsibility for, the time for this to happen will be when a full report is carried out by the appropriate independent authority. In the initial aftermath of a tragedy, any community including a school, must be allowed to grieve so that all those affected are provided with an environment to grow stronger. In a school community, where so many individuals could be impacted, responsible journalism is critically important. Notwithstanding the immenseness of the tragedy, the school and its community of pupils, teachers and parents should never be defined by any one incident. It is important that the media not become the judge and jury in these events and allow time for a full and independent review to take place.

Reporting on the facts is not at issue for me. But the media need to carry out their professional roles of reporting on matters of public interest in ways that are sensitive and compassionate to the people most affected. I know from first-hand experience that the school community will struggle for some time when tragedy strikes; they need the time and space to ensure the ongoing wellbeing of their students and staff without what I have perceived on some occasions to be a constant and needlessly insensitive external interference that ultimately undermines this process.

My wish is that in reporting on such issues that our media will continue to inform and ask the difficult questions without losing sight of the need to be compassionate and sensitive to the community who are attempting to navigate a significant loss.

Budget Announcement for Learning Support Modifications

Our stakeholders may be aware that APIS is currently in negotiations with the Ministry of Education regarding the Learning Support Modifications budget item that was announced in the Labour Government’s budget in May 2023. The government allocated $127M to state schools for the purchase and installation of modifications in schools to ensure accessibility for all students. This includes automatic doors, lifts, fencing, hoists, and bathroom modifications over a period of two years and is a response to meet the increased volume in demand on schools for such modifications.

APIS has advocated to the Minister and the Ministry of Education that this budget should also be available to state integrated schools and we have now received confirmation that this is the case. This is a very pleasing outcome and APIS would like to think a consequence of the arguments developed in reaching a successful conclusion for EPMP. APIS has recently met with the Ministry of Education to discuss this funding.

APIS must now prepare a 2024 Budget bid to the government for a sum of approximately $12M-$14M so that state integrated schools can access these funds from 2024. The Ministry would like to have a process in place that has similarities to the EPMP process which highlights a level of trust in our sector and affirms the effectiveness of that process. Staff at APIS would have preferred not to have this responsibility but having advocated for these funds for our proprietors we believe we need to step up in support of our sector.  

EPMP

APIS continues to receive positive feedback on the role Jenny Gordon has provided in supporting proprietors through the process of accessing their EPMP funds. I know Jenny has enjoyed the opportunity to connect with those who have worked on behalf of proprietors to complete all the positive outcomes that have come from this funding. Feedback from proprietors suggests that Jenny has responded to requests quickly and has been patient, helpful and effective in this role and it is important that I acknowledge her work on behalf of our sector. Well done, Jenny.

Ngā manaakitanga

Kevin Shore, Chief Executive Officer

Code of Conduct for Catholic State Integrated School Board Members

Under Section 166 of the Education and Training Act (2020) the Minister of Education issued the Code of Conduct for State School Board Members, setting out the minimum standards of conduct for state and state integrated school board members. This came into effect on 21 June 2023.

The Ministry of Education has allowed for expansion of these minimum standards, therefore, NZCEO has done so, thus creating a Code of Conduct for Catholic State Integrated School Board Members. By adopting this code board members are supporting the Catholic special character of their school. NZCEO has also set out for school boards Instructions for Implementation of Code of Conduct for Catholic State Integrated School Board Members.

These documents are also available on the NZCEO website Resources page:

NZCEO & Te Kupenga 2023 Symposium Series

You are warmly invited to participate in the ongoing NZCEO & Te Kupenga 2023 Symposium Series. You can join from the comfort of your office, staffroom or wherever you have access to the internet!

There are three sessions each focusing on one of the theological Te Rama Aroha: The Light of Love Cross Themes in the new Religious Education curriculum Tō Tātou Whakapono: Our Faith. The first in the series was held on 31 May. In this symposium, Fr Merv Duffy SM facilitated a discussion on Whakaaronui Wisdom. The video and PowerPoint presentations can be found here, and future sessions will be uploaded as they become available.

The second session will be held on Wednesday 2, August 3:30-5pm. Rev. Dr. Gerard Aynsley will facilitate a discussion on Tika Justice.  Tika Justice is the sacred principle that each person receives that which they deserve by right of their God-given human dignity. It is always understood in relationship to God, ourselves and all creation. It encompasses the generous aroha and mercy of God. Tika is essential to our faith and requires us to act. 

Please find a PDF flyer below to download and share for Session Two: Tika Justice:

Catholic Education Convention 2024

Please save Wednesday 19 June – Friday 21 June 2024 in your diary.  Planning is currently underway with more information to follow on speakers, seminars and much, much more!

The Convention will be held at TSB Arena in Wellington.

The Age of Social Influencing

By Nick Wilson, Diocesan Young Catholics Team Leader, Diocese of Palmerston North

What is Social Media influencing?

Many of you will be aware of the significant effect of social influencing on young people. Social influencing is defined as a marketing tactic that describes an individual's ability to affect other people's thinking in an online community. It can generate brand awareness or promote ideas and products en masse. The power of social media can be both good and bad. In the promotion of what is wholesome a mature adult who strives to be a follower of Christ can do much good in steering young people to what is good, beautiful and true.

Issues in Social Media Influencing.

However, in the largely unregulated world of social media, there are many exchanges and posts with a high potential for causing harm. Debates ensue about whether something is woke, hate-speech or a restriction of free-speech. These concepts feed the specific narrative of individualism, the social theory favouring the autonomy of thought and speech for individuals. If someone has something different to say, then the phenomenon of “cancel culture” can be invoked, most often via social media. Cancel culture, sometimes also referred to as “call-out culture” is defined as "cancelling" or mass shaming on social media platforms such as Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook.

Seldom do we see actual people being woke, cancelling and so on – it is more correct to say that the people behind profiles are. They are often key-board warriors, commenting on things behind the safety of screens. We might wonder, would these people be so strident, blunt, judgmental and condescending in person?

Guiding Young People

Young people are very impressionable. Therefore, this helps explain why the Church teaches that it is the responsibility of parents as first educators and teachers to enter into dialogue with their children and young people, for dialogue is one the key themes found in the documents of Vatican II. I would suggest this is true about the dialoguing of things children and young people encounter in the social media space. Ideally, young people should have the best influence from their families in terms of values, morals and the corresponding behaviours that reflect those values and morals. However, the influence of the pleasure-seeking, materialistic and secularised world in which we live is very seductive to impressionable young people. Ultimately, the world of social media is here to stay. However, as adults and more mature disciples, we have neither lost nor forfeited our ability to choose, to manage, and to intentionally ignore things we might encounter. What we may have lost is the awareness that we retain the ability to practise the discipline of exercising the faculties to choose, to manage and to accept or reject what we encounter and more.

The Role of Parents

What we can do as parents and educators is to participate in and accompany our young people in their engagement with what they see and hear. We should ask questions, pose challenges to those social network narratives our young people pick up and encourage them to think critically about those things. It is important for parents to look into the influences on our children and be aware of them, for what we are not aware of, we cannot counter. Parents are always teaching and showing their children things in ways both practical and general e.g., skills and worldviews and there should be no abdication of this responsibility, even if it gets harder as the years pass by. If you are a parent or teacher reading this, you will be well aware, that the phrase ‘that’s not fair’ is one children and adolescents especially often utter. For one universal truth of our humanity is the upholding and exacting of justice, particularly for impressionable young people who have a hyper-awareness of what is fair and just.

Justice as a Cardinal Virtue

Justice is one of the four cardinal virtues taught and held by the Church. The four cardinal virtues are those on which all other good actions depend. Virtues are the exercise of our natural rights and obligations to God, to others, to and for ourselves. What, then, informs and therefore influences these rights and obligations?

What are impressionable young people hearing? From whom? What makes those voices an authority? How do we know what those voices are saying is true? Key to the answers to those questions is to look at issues through the critical lens of the Gospel and to share those insights with our young persons.

Being critical is the antithesis of accepting anything (even including what the Church says) at face value. Teaching how to be analytically critical is a valuable life skill. Regardless of one’s position, a position holds no water, and it is indeed a cop-out when expressed as “I believe it because someone wrote it or said it.”

Part of being critical is using the process of discernment. Discernment is a methodology of prayerful determining to the point of making Gospel-informed decisions. Discernment has long been part of the Christian Tradition; an example of its most recent engagement by us all – The People of God, is in the global Synod on Synodality.

Good and Bad Influencers – Discernment and Algorithms

The People of God all have the ability to discern. The Catechism points to sensus fidei – the sense of faith and therefore belief, and the sensus fidelium - the sense of the faithful. This speaks to our inherent ability to know the truths found in life and faith, as the People of God. We know that there are all kinds of people, groups and platforms competing for our attention. So, how do we cut through the noise and distraction to ensure that those to whom we give the power to influence us are good, moral and just? Part of the answer is about the continuing formation of our moral conscience – the more we form our conscience, the more certainly we can ascertain whether or not this is something with which we should engage.

One such character of influence who is topical now is Andrew Tate. On social media he aims to influence his readers writing seemingly good messages about financial success and physical fitness but is also a misogynist and promotes his own version of masculinity built on his grievance that men are struggling with what it is to be a man because of the demise of traditional gender roles.

In the event that impressionable young people click into Tate’s world or even purportedly Catholic platforms, internet algorithms kick in and the feed that happens in a young person’s cyberspace keeps pointing them to more content of the same genre. It is especially important to understand that algorithms target people.

Catholic Influencers -There are many!

Growing a young person into an adult is a profound undertaking, a years long commitment. Psychologically, up to about age 12, a parent has the most influence. Then, the power of a child’s peers kicks in, and what a peer has to say carries more influence than any parent. So, it is vital in those first twelve years for our families to build a firm foundation of trust and dialogue with our young people.

As they go out and test the waters, try things and form their own ideas, the investment of the first 12 years becomes the bedrock from which their responses will be made. When a young person ventures out, that they are certain they can always return and be nurtured is an important precept.

As parents and caregivers, we can certainly suggest the social media platforms we think, but they will seek out those ones they want to hear and that their peers recommend, even if we collect phones at night and restrict internet access and so on.

Therefore, if we have fostered conversation and dialogue as a kaupapa of family life, then young people will develop the habit of talking about what is going on, and we will all be ever so glad that we laid the groundwork for that! As they practice discernment of the things they encounter, they learn to exercise wisdom, a gift of the Holy Spirit, then right judgment will come, albeit, with a few hiccups and stumbles along the way.

In his Post-Synodal Exhortation on Young People, Christus vivit! Pope Francis writes on the theme of accompaniment of young people as they journey. He presents a number of young saints that young people can reflect on and determine if their traits appeal to how they want to live holy lives.

Francis puts forward these as examples for young people to emulate, but we are the most immediate people as parents and educators, since we are the ‘wise elders,’ or to use St. Paul’s language, the saints, who can inspire and guide, despite our flaws, so that young people grow into discerning and thinking disciples of Jesus.

AIS Conference 2023

CONFERENCE 2023 – PUT THE DATES IN YOUR CALENDAR

Dates are Monday 4^th and Tuesday 5^th September at the Brentwood Hotel, Wellington.  It is shaping up to be a great two days. The Keynote Address will be by Hon Jan Tinetti, Minister of Education.  APIS/NZCEO staff will be attending, and presenting a workshop. You can view the draft programme here.

 The conference cost is - registration $300 (for full 2 days), conference dinner $65 (includes 3 course buffet meal plus drinks), Brentwood Hotel $159 per night (plus breakfast). 

2022 Prime Minister’s Science Teacher of the Year Prize

Reproduced with permission from Welcom, June/ July 2023

Dr Doug Walker, Head of Science at St Patrick’s College, Wellington, has won Te Puiaki Kaiwhakaako Pūtaiao – the 2022 Prime Minister’s Science Teacher of the Year Prize, valued at $150,000. His was one of five prizes, announced in May, awarded to top emerging and established researchers, science communicators and educators. Doug, who is President of the New Zealand Association of Science Educators, won the award for building a large online student following of his experiments and NCEA exam paper tutorials and establishing a network of teachers providing online classes for akonga throughout Aotearoa.

Mike Savali, St Pat’s Tumuaki–Rector, congratulated Doug on receiving the prize. I would like to congratulate Doug on behalf of our kura on this incredible achievement. Doug’s passion for teaching science and his enthusiasm for sharing his love of science and making it real for his students is undeniable. Doug has also developed a number of NCEA webinars and YouTube science demonstration videos, which have supported the teaching and learning for students and teachers both regionally and nationally. The prize comes with $150,000 and Doug is hoping to use it to enable St Patrick’s teachers to travel to learn from other kura, and to support students that might be lacking financial means to get involved in science trips or competitions. Congratulations Doug and thank you for keeping the faith and doing the mahi.

Doug graduated with a BSc in Biology with first class honours at the University of Paisley, Scotland, before going on to graduate with a Masters of Education in Science from the University of Cambridge, United Kingdom. His teaching approach is varied and fun. It has seen increasing numbers of pupils continuing with science during his 11 years at St Pat’s. It is great to see a lot more akonga (students) pursuing science and getting excited by it, he said. When he noticed that many lower achieving students at his school were dropping science from year 11, he made changes. He introduced new general science subjects and a pathway to study and gain UE science in 2017. That involved developing a new general science course. He also collaborates with other organisations such as Wellington Zoo, Te Papa and NIWA. This way he brings science out of the classroom and into real life. Hands-on experiments, exciting demonstrations and getting students involved in making predictions are the cornerstones of his science teaching philosophy. 

Te Kupenga Catholic Theological College webinar

Challenging the Status Quo

In preparation for Social Justice Week in September, Te Kupenga Catholic Theological College is running an online event entitled "Challenging the Status Quo!" on Thursday, 31 August 6-7:30PM via Zoom. This is a free event and you can register at the link below:  

Caritas update

YCC Day  

Thank you to all the amazing schools who took part in YCC Day at the end of term 2. YCC Day is a special occasion where Catholic schools from across Aotearoa join forces to stand in solidarity for a worthy cause. Together, we raise funds and awareness to support a selected school that is in desperate need of our help. This year, our focus was on Oecusse School in Timor Leste, which has no working toilets despite having over 800 students! 

YCC Day has been a resounding success, with numerous schools from all dioceses enthusiastically participating in the event. Some schools are planning to hold their events during term 3, and we eagerly anticipate hearing about their efforts. On our CANZ Education Facebook page, we have proudly showcased some of the creative and impactful ways in which schools celebrated YCC Day. We’d love to see any more photos of your school and how you celebrated the day.  

We have been incredibly inspired by the unwavering support, energy, passion, and dedication displayed by our Catholic schools throughout this initiative. Together, we are making a significant difference. We’ll send out updates as soon as we can to show the new toilets and the impact they are having on the students and the school. 

For any fundraising contributions, please send them directly to Caritas using the following account details: 

Caritas

03-0518-0211216-00 

Particulars: Your school name, Caritas code, and YCC Day 

Once all fundraising has been received, we will promptly transfer the total raised through to Timor-Leste, so that the toilets can be completed. 

SINGout4Justice – Performance Year  

The Caritas SINGout4JUSTICE competition has a fresh new format this year, putting the spotlight on students who choose and perform a song that embodies justice, love, or peace. It's an incredible opportunity for young talent to showcase their creativity and passion through music. 

Don't miss out on the chance to participate! The competition will be closing on Tuesday, 1 August. We can't wait to see the incredible performances from our talented youth. 

For more details about the competition and how to register, please visit our website. It contains all the information you need to be a part of this exciting event. 

Join us in celebrating the power of music and the values that inspire positive change. Let's unite through SINGout4JUSTICE! 

Social Justice Week  

Social Justice Week takes place from the 3-9 September and we are delighted to let you know that the Caritas education resources are now available online.    

This year marks the beginning of something different and very special because we are moving to a three-year focus with each year then having a theme which builds on from the learning and understanding of the previous year(s).  

The overarching focus for Social Justice Week is: 'Imagine Peace For All / Pohewatia te Rangimārie mō te Katoa,' and the unique theme for 2023 is: 'Peace begins with you! / Ka tīmata tonu te Rangimārie i roto i ā koe!'.  

As always there is a wealth of education resources that have been created to help you bring Social Justice Week alive in your school and classrooms. Resources include background notes for teachers, daily prayers, learning activities, a liturgy, a poster, a peace placemat for younger students, a primary and secondary peace Kahoot! and three action templates.

Teachers are encouraged to join a special online workshop on Monday August 21 from 3:30pm-4:30pm where the Caritas education team will explore how the resources can be used effectively in the classroom. To join this free workshop send us a message at education@caritas.org.nz to get the link. 

Caritas Justice Chat Reunions 

The Caritas education team is excited to extend another invitation to student leaders from Catholic schools across New Zealand for our 2023 Caritas Justice Chat Reunion sessions.  

During these online sessions, student leaders will have the opportunity to connect with their peers, exchange ideas, and reflect on the progress they have made in promoting social justice within their school communities. By coming together, we can learn from one another's experiences and inspire an even greater impact. 

We have scheduled two sessions, each lasting for one hour, to accommodate both primary and secondary student leaders: 

• Primary Session - Wednesday, 30 August from 9.30am to 10.30am
• Secondary Session - Thursday, 31 August from 9.30am to 10.30am

We look forward to hearing what has been happening next month. 

Congratulations to New Principals

Our warm congratulations to the following new principals:

Wellington Diocese

Bridget Comer at St Mary's School, Blenheim

Christchurch Diocese

Vicki Zonnevylle at St Joseph's School, Pleasant Point

Dunedin Diocese 

Teenaka Kennedy, St Brigid's School, Dunedin

Mallory Hood at St Mary's School, Gore

Te Akatea Māori Leadership Kaupapa

From Te Akatea, the New Zealand Māori Principals Association

Te Akatea, the New Zealand Māori Principals Association, has now opened applications for the 2024 cohorts of the Tētēkura Pitomata (Emerging Māori Leaders) and Tumuaki Hou (Māori First Time Principals) kaupapa. Supporting Māori leaders to successfully lead as Māori and respond to the aspirations of mana whenua so that the visions of He Whakaputanga o te Rangatira and Te Tiriti o Waitangi might finally be realised are fundamental tenets of both leadership kaupapa.

There will be a national tira (cohort) of participants who will engage in a two-year programme of professional learning and development. This two-year cycle will include collective learning opportunities through wānanga (national and regional) and regular individual, tailored learning opportunities through in-school support and online learning. 

For further information download the PDF flyer below, click here.

Professional development opportunities with ISNZ (Independent Schools of New Zealand)

ISNZ (Independent Schools of New Zealand) are offering two professional development opportunities in Auckland on 7 September which may be of interest. 

Financial Governance Masterclass, facilitated by John Somerset, Director of Somerset Education.

Explore key attributes of a financially sustainable school. Learn how to critically assess your school’s current financial health and develop strategies to address the key financial questions. This includes how to monetise strategies, analyse the financial risks, and how best to monitor progressive performance. While this is targeted for independent schools, I anticipate much of what will be covered will also be applicable to integrated schools.

Positive School Culture, facilitated by Neil MacDonald CEO of the Queensland Educational Leadership Institute

The Positive School Culture Masterclass is a one-day face-to-face workshop designed to unpack the fundamental principles that underpin the building of a positive school culture so that students and staff feel accepted, valued, respected and included. This programme is built on evidence-based practices focused on the development of high performing teams and a culture of feedback. This programme is relevant to all schools – state, state-integrated and private.

Our ongoing partnership with Teamturf

Teamturf has been working in partnership with NZCEO / APIS for around 14 months and over this period have worked with several schools within the state integrated sector. They have installed their artificial grass surfacing in a variety of areas, ranging from school courts, to playgrounds, landscaping areas, courtyards and cricket wickets. This video highlights a few of these projects and provides a brief overview of the variety of surfacing options they can offer our network.

If you would like more information about what Teamturf can offer you can visit their website by clicking here or email the team at info@teamturf.co.nz.