Kōtui: School & Policy Updates - Term 4 Issue 1 2024 (NZCEO)

TĒNĀ KOUTOU KATOA: Editorial by Dr Kevin Shore, CEO

Kia ora koutou 

Two years ago, the Board of the New Zealand Catholic Education Office (NZCEO) requested our office to develop a series of video resources to capture the history of the one hundred year battle to gain state support for what we now know as state integrated schools. The catalyst was the concern that many of the key people who advocated and fought hard to bring about the Private Schools Conditional Integration Act (1975) (PSCIA) were passing and there was a fear that our sector was in danger of not capturing our important history and stories. As a result, staff in our office began a research process to develop a story board that captured what we believed to be the key moments and important decisions that led to where we are today.

We did not realise, at the time, how much work would be involved in developing these videos but on a positive note we were able to capture many stories that may have been lost had we not started this project. The first video resource which provided a historical timeline of events was released to our sector in June 2024. It has received hundreds of viewings, so we are pleased that the sector has engaged with this resource.

Since June, the office has been working with CORE Education and a group of state integrated stakeholders to develop the final three videos. These videos were centred on capturing the following:

1. The History of Integration focusing on the key moments and the important decisions and issues that have led to where we are today.
2. Special Character and the role of the proprietor in maintaining and preserving special character.
3. Property in state integrated schools both before and after the PSCIA (1975).

These final videos are now ready to be released to our sector. They contain many very powerful stories that highlight that our current state integrated schools stand on the shoulders of the sacrifices made by those who started our journey as private schools. In the Catholic private education system established in 1877, it was the sacrifice of many young 17 and 18 year old brothers and sisters, and young priests, who left their homes in Europe from the late eighteen hundreds to come to Aotearoa and provide a free labour service that helped establish our Catholic private schools. Many of these individuals never got to return home to their families and their sacrifice, alongside those from Aotearoa who joined them, must not be forgotten.

The videos also highlight that without the support of the government in 1975, the large majority of our private schools would have been closed and the opportunity to provide an education where the whole school programme was imbued with our various special characters would have been lost to our parents and students. The state integrated sector should be very grateful to the government (and opposition parties) as the PSCIA (1975) was passed unanimously in parliament at the time. Attention to our relationship with the government and the Ministry of Education continues to be a crucial part of the Association of Proprietors of Integrated Schools (APIS) operation and these resources will be incredibly helpful as we work with those who are less familiar with our context and sector.

APIS is excited to finally release these last three videos to our stakeholders. As the saying goes ‘good things take time’ and we hope that you find these resources useful and a valuable addition to ensuring the service of those who have gone before us are not forgotten.

APIS Meeting with Minister Erica Stanford

A delegation from APIS and the Association of Integrated Schools (AIS) met with Minister Stanford on 6 August. The Minister spent almost an hour with us discussing a range of issues that are important to the sector. These issues included access to Policy Two funding and the increasing cost of building. We also raised our concerns over the escalating cost of insurance and its impact on attendance dues plus the difficulty for proprietors in exploring insurance risk strategies given that legislation covering insurance in the PSCIA (1975) was based on a model of insurance that is no longer suitable fifty years later. The other issue of importance to APIS that was discussed was a request of the Minister to provide more regional voice to proprietors in network planning and gaining her support to replicate the network planning model used in Christchurch by the Ministry of Education.

The Minister was very receptive to our views and is attempting to respond as soon as possible. APIS has been invited to meet with the Minister again in December and we are hoping that we will have some positive news for the sector at that point.

Finally

It was great to see many stakeholders attend the AIS conference in September. I would like to thank Mark Larson and Rhonda Thorpe for putting together such a comprehensive programme and for their superb facilitation. We were blessed to have the Minister of Education Erica Stanford and Associate Minister of Education David Seymour in attendance and both were very engaging and added value to the occasion. At the conference dinner, the sector was able to honour Mark Larson who has resigned after 14 years of service as AIS CEO. I enjoyed having both Sir Br Pat Lynch and Paul Ferris join with me in talking to, and thanking, Mark for his dedicated service and contribution. We wish Mark and his whānau every happiness and blessing in the years ahead.

 Kevin Shore, Chief Executive Officer 

The story of state integrated education; our journey, and where we are today – Video Resources

NZCEO have developed a series of video resources to capture the history of the one hundred year battle to gain state support for what we now know as state integrated schools. The catalyst was the concern that many of the key people who advocated and fought hard to bring about the Private Schools Conditional Integration Act (1975) (PSCIA) were passing and there was a fear that our sector was in danger of not capturing our important history and stories. As a result, staff in our office began a research process to develop a story board that captured what we believed to be the key moments and important decisions that led to where we are today. 

We did not realise, at the time, how much work would be involved in developing these videos but on a positive note we were able to capture many stories that may have been lost had we not started this project. The videos contain many very powerful stories that highlight that our current state integrated schools stand on the shoulders of the sacrifices made by those who started our journey as private schools.

The videos below are centred on capturing the following:

1. Historical timeline of events leading up to and beyond the Private Schools Conditional Integration Act (1975).
2. The History of Integration focusing on the key moments and the important decisions and issues that have led to where we are today.
3. Special Character and the role of the proprietor in maintaining and preserving special character.
4. Property in state integrated schools both before and after the PSCIA (1975).

NZCEO would like to thank Tātai Aho Rau Core Education and a group of state integrated stakeholders who helped make these videos possible.

NZCEO Scholarship for Leadership in Catholic Education 2025

Each year the New Zealand Catholic Education Office (NZCEO) makes a significant financial contribution to supporting the development of Catholic teachers in leadership and the teaching of Religious Education. The Board of NZCEO has generously allocated a limited fund to provide scholarships for teachers and aspiring leaders and those in leadership positions to undertake tertiary qualifications – in the main at post graduate level in support of our future Catholic leaders given their need to undertake qualifications in Catholic Leadership or Catholic special character including Theology and Religious Education.

These scholarships will be available again for 2025.

Further information about the application process, and the application form, are below:

Applications should be sent to Rosalie Connors (Manager, Special Character) at NZCEO: email r.connors@nzceo.org.nz by 28 February 2025.

NZCEO Aspiring Leaders Programme 2025-2026

NZCEO will facilitate a national Aspiring Leaders Programme in 2025-2026. This 18-month formation programme is to support, teachers, Directors of Religious Studies, Deputy/Assistant Principals who are seeking to grow their careers in Catholic Education. The focus is on growing faith leaders who have the capability to lead a Catholic school in the mission of the Church.

The programme is for those who are intending to move into the next leadership level in a Catholic school within the next three years. Applications can be submitted by teachers and senior leaders in either Catholic state integrated schools or schools outside the Catholic school network.

The Aspiring Leaders’ Programme 2025-2026 consists of:

• Two days in Wellington-May 12 & 13 2025 at the Home of Compassion, Island Bay.
• A series of regular online workshops and seminars providing further support and development opportunities for participants. These will be held via Zoom and outside teaching hours.
• Two final days in Wellington at the end of the programme in September 2026 (date to be advised).

For more information read the NZCEO Aspiring Leaders Programme Information Sheet and Application Form. (Links to both are below).

Applications close 1 November 2024.

If you have further questions about the programme please email Rosalie Connors, Manager, Special Character, NZCEO r.connors@nzceo.org.nz

Save the Date: Catholic Schools Day 2025

 The next Catholic Schools Day will be celebrated on 28 May 2025. Our Catholic schools are the outward sign of a long commitment from both the Church and parents of Catholic children in “helping form Christ in the lives of others”. Catholic Schools Day provides a wonderful opportunity to celebrate and showcase our unique identity to both our communities and our wider nation. We will provide further information in the next issue of Kōtui.

Three new titles added to Governance Video Resources

NZCEO are pleased to announce the addition of three video resources to our series of governance video resources for Catholic state-integrated school boards.  These short video resources have been designed to provide an overview of what is unique about Catholic school boards. As stewards of faith-based education, the board has the unique challenge and responsibility to safeguard and preserve the Catholic special character of the school. The video resources are aimed at providing key information and advice to support the board to navigate the complexities of governance in a Catholic state integrated school.  The new videos are:

1. Catholic special character
2. Safeguarding and strengthening Catholic special character
3. The religious content of the school programme

The video resources have been developed to be watched as a whole board at a board meeting, pausing when and where required to enable the board to discuss the content. Some videos are longer (10-12 minutes) and some are shorter but they have been designed to encourage discussion as a board. Each video resource has a slide pack available for those who like to access information by reading and reviewing the content.

Catholic Discovery | Tūhuratanga Katorika

By Rebecca Taylor-Hunt, Director of the Catholic Enquiry Centre

For over sixty years, the Catholic Enquiry Centre has evangelised the Good News of Jesus Christ, and supported individuals on their journey to explore and embrace the Catholic Church. This important work continues as we develop new digital ways to spread the Gospel and help people discover the peace and love that can be found in a relationship with God.

What does this mean for schools and colleges?

Our website, www.catholicdiscovery.nz, is fast becoming a treasure trove of knowledge about the Catholic faith. It includes information designed to answer the questions of newcomers and lifelong Catholics alike. Our ‘Sowing Seeds’ blog informs about special events and liturgical occasions that happen across Aotearoa New Zealand and beyond.

Of particular interest to teachers and members of school leadership teams are our weekly ‘This Sunday’ Catholic reflections. You can use our reflections as your own or adapt them as required. Our reflections are published to help the Catholic community, particularly those new to faith, understand scripture and apply the teachings of Jesus to their everyday lives.

We also produce printed resources, such as our booklets ‘What Catholics Believe’ that are ideal for the staffroom, and prayer cards and leaflets that would be a great addition to classroom prayer tables. Please find more information about these by visiting www.catholicdiscovery.nz/resources.

Ultimately, we would like to encourage schools and colleges to provide a link from their websites to ours. This would help teachers, especially those who are not Catholic, with prayer-time and information that would ease the anxiety about having to uphold the Special Character of a school. A link to our site may also help the whānau of students reconnect with their faith.

Most importantly, a quick and easy link would help students as they navigate their years through a Catholic education. Working together, we can provide our youth with the tools they need to walk a pathway to true and lasting discipleship.

The best part? As an agency of the New Zealand Bishops Conference, we are a non-profit charitable organisation, which means there is no subscription fee to www.catholicdiscovery.nz, and the costs of our printed resources are kept as low as possible.

For more information, please visit www.catholicdiscovery.nz or contact us at info@catholicenquiry.nz.

Association of Integrated Schools (AIS) Conference 2024

Professional Opportunity: Formation and Development Lead, Whānau Mercy Ministeries

Whānau Mercy Ministries Trust, a charitable trust within the Catholic Church in Aotearoa New Zealand, is seeking a Formation & Development Lead. This pivotal role involves developing  and implementing formation, governance, and leadership development strategies across our ministries, including education, health, and community services. 

See below for further details.

Early registration is open for the 2025 Australian Catholic Education Conference!

Registration is now open for the 2025 Australian Catholic Education Conference to be held at the Cairns Convention Centre from Wednesday 20 August to Friday 22 August 2025.

National Catholic Education Commission is partnering with host diocese, Catholic Education Diocese of Cairns to offer an engaging professional learning experience for an anticipated 1,500 Catholic educators, leaders, clergy, parents and others from the broader Church involved in Catholic education.

With the theme ‘hope, anchored in faith’, the conference will focus on the strategic vision and mission of Catholic education across three key areas – Faith, Excellence and Access. We will be featuring a broad range of speakers, presentations and workshops focused on Catholic identity, mission and formation; learning and teaching; leadership and governance; parent engagement; parish and community engagement; resourcing and infrastructure; advocacy and marketing; and more. See below for further details.

Congratulations to new principals

Our warm congratulations to the following new principals:

Wendie Hildred – St Joseph’s School, Stratford

Paul Wallace – St Mary’s School, Hastings

If you wish to notify us of a change of principal please email nzceooffice@nzceo.org.nz 

Tackle vaping in your school with integrated solutions from Gallagher Security

In recent years, the rise of e-cigarettes and vaping has been cause for concern among educators and parents. While vaping was initially perceived as a safer alternative to traditional cigarettes, recent studies have shown that the long-term health effects of vaping are still largely unknown. A joint 2021 survey of secondary school students conducted by Asthma and Respiratory Foundation New Zealand (ARFNZ) and the Secondary Principals’ Association of New Zealand (SPANZ) reveals just how significant the vaping problem among students has become. Of the over 19,000 student participants, 26% said they’d used e-cigarettes in the past week, 20% of which reported vaping daily. More concerningly, over 50%of participants said their vaping use had increased in the last year, including the use of higher nicotine products. With the growing popularity of vaping among young people, it’s more important now than ever for schools to educate students about the risks associated with vaping and promote the importance of health and wellbeing. But to be effective, educational methods need to be innovative and memorable enough to connect with a student body who may not be receptive to the message.

Read more about how Gallagher’s school solutions can help schools craft those memorable conversations and reduce vaping at the same time by clicking below: