The warm glow of a successful convention has permeated much of our work over the last month. We have appreciated the feedback from such a large number of delegates and the encouragement you have given to the work of the convention. Work begins now on finding keynote speakers and booking them in for 2021.

While the positive vibes of Convention continue I ask you to ensure that you share with your staff some of the formation videos shown at Convention and use that sharing as a time to keep reminding us of the essential mission of the school. I would also ask that you look at the website and use the promotion videos prepared to help encourage our young people to think of a career in teaching in a Catholic School. These videos are suitable for senior primary and all of secondary as a way of showing the distinct role of teaching in a Catholic School. A great deal of effort has gone in to preparing this resource. Like the Dilmah Tea Ad  “Do try them!”

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)

As part of the reworking of our publications we are combining Aoraki and Good News and the News into a once a year publication, which will encompass both shorter articles, such as have been previous published in Good News and the News, and the longer articles which were presented in Aoraki. Photos can be included. While the publication will be available electronically, we are not sure if it will also be available as a printed periodical. We welcome your feedback on your preferences.

We are currently seeking articles. A number of those who presented seminars at the recent convention might wish to provide an article, and we would welcome these. We know that some TCI staff will be presenting articles, and we know there are a lot of other possibilities out there.

Please send Susan Apáthy articles by 31 August. Email s.apathy@nzceo.org.nz.

NZCEO offers a number of online resources and have summarised these below. Head to our website or use the links below to access.

Formation videos: over forty short videos (two to four minutes) to help all teachers, but particularly Religious Education teachers. Topics include Scripture, Sacraments, Bioethics, Catholic Social Teaching, Teaching in a Catholic School, Liturgy, Being Catholic and Mass. Read more

Catholic Special Character Review for Development: a guide for schools and reviewers to support the internal and external Catholic character review that happens in their school. Read more

Board of Trustees Handbook: A comprehensive guide to governance in a Catholic school intended to help Boards of Trustees focus on those aspects of a state-integrated school that differ from a standard (non-integrated) state school. Read more

Why teach in a Catholic school videos: these short videos (three to four minutes) feature teachers from Catholic schools throughout New Zealand talking about why they chose to become a teacher and their experience of teaching in a Catholic school. Read more

Standards for the Teaching Profession: Catholic Elaborations: this document provides Catholic elaborations to the Standards for the Teaching Profession and will be a helpful addition to the discussions that take place during discussions around job descriptions and appraisals. Read more

Excellent reporting of the Convention occurred in NZ Catholic and in WelCom, the paper of the Palmerston North diocese and the Wellington Archdiocese, and we thank them for this. Schools and proprietors have been alerted to the material on the NZCEO website, which includes keynote speeches, photographs, citations for the Laureates and the Tertiary Education Awardees.  At least one keynote, and other material is still to go up.

The Office expresses its thanks to all who contributed to the success of the convention, including keynote speakers, seminar presenters, those in diocesan and national offices (particularly Wellington CES staff) who worked with NZCEO staff to develop a wonderful programme and liturgies, the Sisters of Compassion, Caritas, schools who provided wonderful musicians, Conference Innovators, who managed the administration of the convention, the venue staff, the caterers, and our loyal and enthusiastic sponsors and advertisers.  We thank every one of you that attended and made the event such a success. 

We are already beginning planning for the next convention, and welcome any ideas you may have. Email nzceooffice@nzceo.org.nz.

The recent annual conference of Catholic Education Administrators enabled leaders of education in the six dioceses, and leaders of NZCEO, NCRS and TCI to meet, discuss their work, and plan tasks for the future.  Bishop Charles Drennan attended the whole conference, and will take back a report to the NZCBC.

Bishop Michael Dooley opened the conference with a reflection on the spiritual formation of Catholic educators.  He spoke of the need for educators to continue their formation and for school leaders to ensure this happens for staff. Spiritual formation, according to Lonergan, is conversion of heart. “The Holy Spirit fills our hearts with love.” He gave four pillars for spiritual development: it is human – balanced, strong, free and able to bear the weight of responsibilities; spiritual – involving a life of prayer and spiritual mentorship; intellectual – gaining wisdom which opens the individual to know God, and having a developing knowledge of theology; pastoral – living by serving in community with a pastoral hear, not simply exercising authority. 

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.

In a speech to to participants at the international conference marking the 3rd anniversary of the encyclical Laudato Si’ on 6 July Pope Francis said, “Along with states, local authorities, civil society, and economic and religious institutions can promote the culture and practice of an integral ecology. I trust that events such as the Global Climate Action Summit, to be held from 12-14 September in San Francisco, will provide suitable responses, with the support of citizens’ pressure groups worldwide."

Read the full document here. It is quite short and very telling. 

Famous US academic, media person and founder of the Magis Center Robert Spitzer has launched a website for teens and adults, with seven essential modules and a number of other modules providing fundamental apologetics in the light of current scientific knowledge.  It will be very helpful.  See www.CredibleCatholic.com.

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

• Kristina Couch, St Michael’s Catholic School, Rotorua

• Helen McGuigan, St Mary’s Catholic School, Gisborne

• Suzanne Harrison, St Patrick’s School, Inglewood

• Deborah Marshall-Lobb, Chanel College, Masterton