Monday 2 November 2015

Be true to your school
Stuff.co.nz
According to the New Zealand Council for Educational Research, up to 40 percent of parents now choose a school that isn't local. Last year the PPTA reported a growing 'educational apartheid' in our schools, an unspoken racial and social segregation.

Decline in fluent speakers could impact Māori Language Strategy
Māori Television
Flavell says he is seeking services from the Māori Language Commision to measure the number of Māori speakers. The Commission as well as The New Zealand Council for Education Research (NZCER) have commissioned a new Māori language survey, ..

Education Act update gets underway.
Hekia Parata | Education
Education Minister Hekia Parata is urging New Zealanders to have their say on a revamp of education legislation that will help to shape the future of the education system. “When the reforms known as Tomorrow’s Schools were introduced in 1989 they transformed the way education was administered,” she says. “For the first time local communities, not a centralised bureaucracy became responsible for running schools. ...

MedTech Centre of Research Excellence opened in Auckland
Steven Joyce | Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment
The MedTech Centre of Research Excellence, based at the University of Auckland, has been officially opened this afternoon by Minister of Tertiary Education Skills and Employment Steven Joyce. New Zealand's medical devices and health IT industries are an emerging sector of around 150 companies with an estimated value of $1 billion. ...

Education Act review a farce
Scoop.co.nz (press release)
“It is impossible to have a genuine review of the Education Act if the Government has excluded all the most controversial aspects of itseducation reforms, including National Standards, Charter Schools, and the new undemocratic Education Council ...

Govt suggests rewards, punishments for schools
A new system of rewards for good schools and sanctions for those struggling has been proposed as part of a review of the Education Act.

New Zealand's education model to be revamped for first time since 1989 

The model determining how Kiwi children are educated will be reviewed for the first time since it was introduced 26 years ago.

NZQA urges parents to help students prepare for exams
Educators NZ
With NCEA exams beginning in a few weeks, the New Zealand Qualifications Authority (NZQA) is encourages parents to help their children prepare. Divisional manager Kristine Kilkelly says approximately 145,000 students will be preparing for the end-of ...

More charter school applications
3News NZ
The Partnership Schools Authorisation Board says it's received 25 applications from educators and community groups across the country in its third round application round. There are 10 from the Auckland region, 14 are from the rest of the North Island, ...
Enthusiastic Response to Partnership Schools Applicatication Scoop.co.nz (press release)
Charter school interest a 'vote of confidence' Radio New Zealand

Faltering schools may face closure
Schools with persistent student underachievement will face a broader range of action from officials, including possible closure, under a proposed revamp of education law.Education Minister Hekia Parata also wants to reward high-performing...

Gloriavale, girls, and the purpose of education
Stuff.co.nz
This week Green Party MP Catherine Delahunty took up the invitation from the women of Gloriavale to visit and see how their community andeducational opportunities work. OPINION: The welcome my colleague and I received could not have been more ...

Holiday through term rising trend: Principal
Hawke's Bay Today
Hawke's Bay's school absence rate was 11.3 per cent last year, up on the previous year's 9.8 per cent, according to the Ministry of Education'sAttendance in New Zealand Schools 2014 publication. The attendance survey is a snapshot of school attendance ...
Increase in pupils' absence at school Wanganui Chronicle

Education Minister Hekia Parata asks us to embrace our identity as Pacific...
Gisborne Herald
After education minister Hekia Parata officially opened the exhibition of school children's artworks based on first contact between Maori, Lieutenant James Cook and HMS Endeavour crew, educator Peter Jarratt said the week-long workshop was made up of ...

Maori school families send a message to Bishop of Auckland 

The families of Hato Petera boarding students are putting the Catholic Church and the Bishop of Auckland Patrick Dunn on notice.

Minister makes good on promise to student
Northern Advocate
Following controversy over the run-down state of Northland College, Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye visited the school in August to announce a $14 million rebuild. While there she met a group of senior students to ask what she could do to make ...

Students pocket profit from study by selling their detailed exam notes
Stuff.co.nz
A quick search of "university study notes" revealed 2,792 listings which ranged from personal study notes to books. Prices listed on Trade Me ranged from $9 to $30 and most users had sold multiple copies of study notes used for each exam paper. If a ...

Should kids take transgender classes?
Children as young as four are receiving lessons from transgender campaigners - including a man who revealed to primary school classes that he is a "trans man" and was "assigned female" at birth.Thousands of UK pupils have had the...

Future of learning discussion more important than flag debate
The review of the Education Act introduces an important opportunity to debate and build a strong national consensus around what is needed to ensure we have a high quality, free public education that meets the needs of every child.

NZEI supports moves to lift pay for thousands of working women 

NZEI is welcoming the government’s decision to begin negotiations over equal pay for women.

New Plymouth Boys' High school ransoms exam admission for ...
Judy Botha is upset that NPBHS is using NCEA exam admission forms as incentive to pay outstanding fees at the end of the school year. A New Plymouth high school ... New Plymouth Boys' High School was warned by the Ministry of Education on Friday after being told students were expected to complete leaving processes, including having to pay outstanding fees, in order to receive the necessary documentation to sit their final NCEAexams. In a statement, Katrina ...

Kids wait months for help to learn 

Almost half of preschoolers referred to a government service because of learning or behavioural difficulties are not getting help quickly enough.Children with a development or learning delay, a disability or behavioural difficulty...

Students create hoax letter for full body inspections 

Avondale College students have been reprimanded over a hoax letter outlining the need for full body inspection prior to entering their end of year exams. Principal Brent Lewis said the letter, which had been distributed to Year...

World Teachers Day protest over ECE funding cuts 

A crowd of about 100 braved Wellington’s early morning chill to celebrate World Teachers Day and call on the government to reverse funding cuts in early childhood education.

Research output contentious at University of Waikato 

Waikato academics are being judged by how much research they're putting out, the union says, especially those over 55.

Unlawful' students can still enrol in school

Auckland stuff.co.nz
The deadline for 2016 enrolment is drawing near and Ministry of Education refugee and migrant senior support adviser Adel Salmanzadeh is asking Kiwis to reach out. Anyone who knows an "unlawful" family should advise them their children could be ...

Time & Place: Students meditate their way to success
Stuff.co.nz
As the pressure of the exam period approaches and the weight of expectation increases, the students at Auckland's Diocesan School for Girls are taking time out to appreciate the things that really matter. And they're using meditation to do it. Deputy ...

Canterbury University predicts attracting more local students in 2016

Stuff.co.nz
Vice-chancellor Rod Carr said "very positive" feedback from schools, recruitment events and enrolment applications showed good signs of a rise in interest in studying locally by Canterbury school pupils. "It appears significantly more year 13 students ...

Autistic student excluded from school formal and camp
Stuff.co.nz
The family of 16-year-old Australian boy Tyran Fennell, who has Autism Spectrum Disorder, say he was "uninvited" to his Year 10 formal by a teacher who wondered "what he would get out of it". The teenager's mum, Deanne Fennell, of Kearsley, said Tyran ...

Hato Petera to close boarding hostel
Radio New Zealand
... without students, "and if you take away the boarding, you're effectively trying to shut the school down". Another parent, who didn't want to be named, said her daughter had a scholarship that paid her accommodation if she attended a Māori boarding ...
Capital E's 2016 Education Programme Announced
Scoop.co.nz
For students in years 5-9 Hinepau, directed by NZ theatre artist Jamie McCaskill, presents a mythological story about staying true and standing strong, respecting our environment, history, cultural traditions, and understanding how the choices we make ...

e-hubs replace desks at Tairua School
Scoop.co.nz (press release)
The challenge was to develop a “classroom of the future” where, alongside traditional literacy and numeracy programmes, Year 5-6 students would engage in “big question” studies. To support this, there has been significant investment in new technology ...

Friday 30 October 2015

School opened in key Auckland growth area - Auckland stuff.co.nz
a seamless transition between all the schools in this area." The terminology used at Ormiston Primary is unconventional. Students are referred to as learners, teachers as learning coaches, the principal as the leader of learning and classrooms as ...

Opposition say Maori Language Commission is gone
Known to many as the language police, Te Taura Whiri or the Maori Language Commission has dutifully promoted the use of Te Reo Maori for nearly 30 years.

Kids wait months for help to learn
Almost half of preschoolers referred to a government service because of learning or behavioural difficulties are not getting help quickly enough.Children with a development or learning delay, a disability or behavioural difficulty...

School watchlist hits new low, concerns remains
The number of schools on the government's poor performance watchlist is at a new low - but has the system actually improved?

Waitoa School to close after 111 years
The school bell will ring for the last time at Waitoa School, near Te Aroha, on December 16.

Thursday 29 October 2015

Parliament protest over cuts to early childhood education
Teachers, children and concerned parents will be gathering outside Parliament early on Friday morning to protest ongoing funding cuts that are starting to bite in early childhood services. Concerned parents and teachers want to send a message to ...

Green MP unconvinced girls getting decent education following Gloriavale visit
A Green Party MP has been welcomed into the reclusive religious community of Gloriavale but is still not satisfied girls are receiving a broadeducation. Catherine Delahunty, the Greens education spokeswoman, was invited to a lunch with the ladies of ...

New scholarship for European Union students
Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Steven Joyce today announced a new scholarship for European Union (EU) students that will allow them to study for a semester at a New Zealand university. The announcement comes during Prime Minister John Key’s visit to Europe to advance the bilateral and trade relationship between the EU and New Zealand. ..

Fund boosts sister school ties with China
Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce today announced that 25 schools across New Zealand will each receive up to $2,500 to build sister school relationships with China. “The China-New Zealand Sister School Fund enables schools to support staff or student exchanges, curriculum-based collaborative projects, and to offer enhanced Chinese language programmes with New Zealand’s largest trading partner,” Mr Joyce says. .

$2.7 million for international education in regions and new markets
Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce today announced that the Government will be investing an additional $2.76 million into initiatives to boost the international education industry in regional New Zealand, and help develop new international markets. The Export Education Levy funding will strengthen regional partnerships and diversify the spread of international students across New Zealand.

Why 5+5+5 doesn't always make 15
Working out the answer to 5x3 may seem simple enough but the solution one student gave has sparked an online debate.The maths question, which asks pupils to work out 5x3 using the repeated addition strategy, was posted on Reddit

Pay boost for high school teachers - 3News NZ
Secondary school teachers who are a part of the Post Primary Teachers' Association are set to get a pay bump after they ratified a new salary deal. The PPTA announced they had ratified a three-year agreement with the Ministry of Education today, which ...

Massey University may sell part of campus
Massey University has announced plans to sell or lease a section of its Auckland campus to help fund the next stage of its development.

Marlborough Boys' College under fire for charging $28 to attend prizegiving ...
A secondary school in Marlborough has come under fire from the community for charging students and parents to attend prizegiving ceremonies. Residents have written letters of support for parent Vonny Paul after she spoke out against a $28 attendance ...

Wednesday 28 October 2015

New evidence shows charter school experiment not working
The Green Party is calling on the Government to stop plans to open another round of charter schools after documents reveal existing charters are failing to achieve agreed targets for NCEA Level 2. Budget documents show that on average only 41.5 percent ...

Group school starts and special classes recommended for New Zealand
"This advice is particularly relevant for children who have had no formal early childhood education before coming to school." National Standardshad also prompted "a downward push in assessment practices", which affects how pupils feel about their ...

Wanganui Collegiate teams up for primary sector careers - Stuff.co.nz
His commitment to his career and hard work was this year recognised by a Dairy NZ Award. ... Students will live in housing on nearby Landcorp or Shanghai Pengxin farms and combine classroom study with working on the Ariki dairy farm. Following the ...

Education Minister heads to Finland
Education Minister Hekia Parata has returned from the Global EducationIndustry Summit, and says she is 'delighted' with the reception the collaborative Communities of Learning model received. The summit, held on October 19 and 20 in Helsinki, brought ...

The Chinese education market - it's all happening
The matter of fact is that this won't happen soon, though many othereducational arrangements run concurrently alongside export education. The most basic model is an exchange programme. The exchange programme allows a Chinese student to study in a ...

Student innovation wins this year's Sysmex Award - Scoop.co.nz (press release)
The innovations offered covered a diverse range of topics as shown in the six shortlisted essays, with business cases presented for an app to assist in the management of asthma in Maori children in a primary care setting; a medication management app ...

No increase for Pacific achievement rates in tertiary
A Pacific academic at Auckland University says achievement rates for Pacific students are not increasing at tertiary level.

Cannons Creek School dish the dirt on gardening - Stuff.co.nz
Cannons Creek School was the first Porirua school to get involved in the national Garden to Table project and the garden it planted in last June was growing enough produce to feed the 25 pupils involved. The programme teaches youngsters how to grow, ...

Secondary school science students problem-solve for NZ - Scoop.co.nz
Forty of the brightest secondary school science students have been selected to attend the inaugural event Powering Potential in Wellington from 13 – 16 December, which will seek answers to some of New Zealand's future problems. Organised by the Royal ...

Parents sentenced for not enrolling son at school - Stuff.co.nz
Two parents have been ordered to come up for sentence if called upon within 12 months for failing to ensure their son was enrolled in a registeredschool. The pair, who have final name suppression, appeared before Judge Mark Callaghan in the ...

'We need school buddies' - Interest.co.nz
Ministry support of these schools is at best fragmented – from singling out one aspect of the school's performance and targeting, it to appointing a commissioner as a statutory intervention option. The Ministry opts for the latter usually on ...

Sensory resource centre opens at Hamilton North School
Specialist teachers who work with kids from Taumarunui to Mercer now have a central hub, and say it may help more children get help.

Troubled Linwood College names new leader
Linwood College has appointed a new principal to deal with its declining roll and establish closer community ties.

Former refugees making the most of life at Selwyn College
Two Selwyn College students with refugee backgrounds have shared their experiences of how their lives have changed. Lis Haraqia and Haadi Sarwari, 18, presented as part of a panel of four at the AUT Refugee Education Conference on October 1 and 2.

Tuesday 27 October 2015

Seven myths about dyslexia put to rest - Stuff.co.nz

As a result, some children who appear to have a form of dyslexia are struggling because of classroom teaching methods. Phonics helps children learn to read by teaching them how to convert letters into sounds and then blend those sounds into words.

School visit brings back memories - Stuff.co.nz
There was the classroom in which we accused our new male teacher of being too touchy-feely. The toilet block where I was bullied by a girl with outrageous hair and Black Power connections. There was the courtyard where I bullied a small boy named after ...

International education providers move into Wellington's commercial property scene
However, training providers often faced hurdles when trying to lease space for their businesses, as some landlords were reluctant to have certaineducation providers in their buildings, Bayleys national director commercial real estate John Church said.

Minister meets with education experts in UK
Education Minister Hekia Parata says that her meetings with leading British education experts have confirmed the critical importance of good data and school to school support. Ms Parata met with several leading education experts in London this week, including Chief Inspector of Schools Sir Michael Wilshaw; Minister of State for Schools Nick Gibb; and former Chief Advisor for London Schools Professor David Woods CBE. ...

Waikato-Tainui releases new Poukai App - Māori Television
It was developed in collaboration with the Ministry of Education. The App is an interactive digital story-book that focuses on poukai through the eyes of a kuia which shares its history and proceedings in reo Māori sentences. Any of the words that are ...

Nine of 30 inaugural Kupe Scholarships go to Wellingtonian high achievers - The Press West Coast
The Miramar resident is one of nine Wellingtonians who took out prestigious education scholarships - the inaugural Kupe Scholarships - last month. The scholarships celebrate the top 30 Maori and Pasifika student teachers in New Zealand, and support ...

Assessment practices – an early childhood perspective - Scoop.co.nz (press release)
The speaker said that the aim of her research was to explore NZ EC teachers' understandings in their assessment of four year old children's learning, and spoke about why she thought assessment of four year old children is important. She called it a tool ...

University of Auckland students rally against fee rises
Carrying lunches and the occasional placard, the students crowded the quad to protest those increases. A stage and PA system were set up for speakers, who included student representatives and politicians. 

Wellington College student dies in tree fall
Wellington College headmaster Roger Moses today faces his grimmest task - telling the school a friend and classmate has died.
Rohan Watts, 15, was climbing a tree at a friend's rural property in Makara on Sunday when he fell. He never regained consciousness, Moses said.

Former Salford School principal Marlene Campbell awarded $158,000
The former principal of Invercargill's Salford School has received more than $158,000 after court battles to clear her name.

Aiesha Ross is working to create a new normal and make a more accepting society
After being bullied so badly she had to change schools, Aiesha Ross is working to create a "new normal".

No hiding another tertiary provider going belly up - Scoop.co.nz (press release)
"Cynically dumping news of the liquidation of rort-ridden AgribusinessTraining Ltd (ABT) over a long weekend can't hide the fact that the tertiarysector is in a compliance crisis", Labour's Tertiary Education spokesperson David Cunliffe says. ABT has ...

How to build a learning worker mindset | Learning in the Social ...
Participants on the workshop automatically become members of the MWL Association, which provides an opportunity for ongoing discussion of the wider implications of ModernWorkplace Learning with learning professionals ...

Teacher deregistered for sexual comments - Auckland stuff.co.nz
The committee's just-released decision said Palmer's classroom sexual "banter" included repeatedly talking about his penis, talking about sexual positions, talking about celebrities in a sexual way and telling students he watched too much pornography.

Friday 23 October 2015

NZ Minister launches OECD education report
Hekia Parata | Education
Education Minister Hekia Parata today launched an OECD report on innovative learning systems at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Paris headquarters. Ms Parata, who is in Europe to meet with international education experts, says the invitation to launch the report is recognition of the high-esteem in which the New Zealand education system is held internationally. ...

Single-sex schools offer girls more and deliver higher paid futures: principal
Stuff.co.nz
Boys could also be a distraction in the classroom, she said. Boys also do better at single-sex schools according to 2014 NCEA results. SUPPLIED. Boys also do better at single-sex schools according to 2014 NCEA results. Girls were more likely to ...

Charter schools planning expansion
Charter schools have been pilloried for enrolling fewer students than they're being paid for this year, but some are talking about growth and expansion.

Public schools starve as charter schools get funded
Scoop.co.nz (press release)
Many school principals are appalled at reports that charter schools are receiving funding for students they don't have enrolled while public schools are desperately short of resources for vulnerable children. It's been estimated that more than a ...

ChildForum raises concerns about NZ's early childhood education
Educators NZ
In New Zealand there is a growing concern about early childhood education(ECE) and the lack of response from the Government, according to ChildForum. Earlier this month, the ChildForum ECE Service National Network released the results of a survey on ...

Digital transformation driving IT spending in higher education
Educators NZ
Higher education IT spending in the Asia Pacific region (excluding Japan) is expected to significantly increase by 2019, thanks to digital transformation initiatives, according to new research from IDC. The research, Best Practices: Enabling Tomorrow's ...

Refugee students call Porirua's Bishop Viard College home
Bishop Viard College's multi-cultural environment continues to grow as more children from refugee backgrounds are welcomed as students.

Silverdale Normal School back under its own board of trustees
Stuff.co.nz
Silverdale Normal School no longer has a commissioner and its next ERO review will be in three years' time. Pictured are deputy principal Gavin Clark, left, Ayvaa McGreevy 11, Mikaela Blackett 10, Lucie Scarle 10, principal Stuart Armistead and Levi ...

Thursday 22 October 2015

Finalists showcase strength of NZ content in educational publishing
Booksellers.co.nz
New Zealand students need strong local content to help them think critically, engage in their own environment and learn. The finalists in this year's CLNZ Education Awards showcase the very real strength and breadth of our home-grown educational ...

Minister meets with Finland’s education experts
Hekia Parata | Education

Education Minister Hekia Parata is delighted with the reception that the collaborative Communities of Learning model received at the Global Education Industry Summit in Helsinki, as well as with having had the opportunity to meet with a number of experts in Finland’s education system. The Summit on October 19 and 20 brought together ministers of education and international education experts to discuss and engage in education issues and strategies for innovation. ...

NZ/Korea joint qualification recognition one step closer
Steven Joyce | Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment
A joint research project between New Zealand and Korea has brought formal senior secondary school qualification recognition between the two countries one step closer. Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce and the Republic of Korea's Minister of Education HE Hwang Woo Yea met in Seoul today and announced the completion of the research project, which confirmed senior secondary school curricula between the two countries is comparable.

Charter schools paid for students that aren't there 

Latest figures show the Government has been paying charter schools for students they don't have.

Govt funding schools' 'ghost students'

For the second year in a row, the government has funded charter schools for more students than they actually have.

Government funding of charter school rolls questioned
Stuff.co.nz
The seven charter schools who had not met minimum rolls were funded for 669 students but only had 490 students in September. Post Primary Teachers Association president Angela Roberts told Radio NZ charter schools should not be funded for students ...

Complaints about early childcare education centres on the rise
Stuff.co.nz
Complaints against early childhood education centres are increasing every year, with most relating to governance and health and safety concerns. The Ministry of Education has revealed 360 complaints were lodged in 2014 against centres and kohanga reo, ...
Concerns Remain for Children in Early Childhood Education

Scoop.co.nz

Early childhood complaints rise
Complaints about early learning services jumped almost 50 per cent in a year, with children's health and safety the leading cause for concern.Understaffing issues almost tripled, justified behavioural complaints more than doubled...

Support service: Māori education under threat
Radio New Zealand
... this initiative would mean that I would no longer receive the support of mentoring, a whānau environment to work in, career information evenings, and most importantly the opportunity to help close the inequality gap for Māori and Pasifika students ...

Funding cuts threaten Pasifika centre
Auckland stuff.co.nz
New Zealand's oldest Pacific community education provider could be forced to shut because of funding cuts. The Pasifika Education Centre in Papatoetoe was founded in 1974 to help educate the country's rising Pacific Island population. But its future is ...
Students get second chance at education
Māori Television
Coleman believes the Māori aspect of learning plays a big part. “We use whare tapawhā as a model, even though it's a health model it fits very nicely into education and its actually good for all kids, the majority of our kids are Pākeha,” said Coleman.

Handling stress at exam time: A message for all senior secondary students
Stuff.co.nz

School balls: more trouble than they're worth?
Stuff.co.nz
"Simply if a school's ball becomes problematic because of student behaviour ... it's only natural for schools to say 'Well, why are we doing this?' "And we have made it clear in the past and in the present, that if we hear that there are large scale ...

Supporting teen parents into education and training
Scoop.co.nz (press release)
“A range of supports has contributed to 48 per cent fewer teen mums being on a main benefit at the end of 2014 compared to 2009, and we are continually looking at how we can offer them more support to get into education, training and employment,” says ...

People's History: education for freedom – or conformity?
Scoop.co.nz
Inspired by the centennial of the Workers' Educational Association (WEA), the organisers asked presenters to look at aspects of education history in New Zealand, through the critical lens shaped by educator Paulo Freire: iseducation for freedom, or ...

One in 400 Auckland students turns up to fees protest | Kiwiblog

Carrying lunches and the occasional placard, the students crowded the quad to protest those increases. A stage and PA system were set up for speakers, who included student representatives and politicians. Probably wasn't ...

New prisoner education programmes launched
Scoop.co.nz (press release)
Te Wānanga o Aotearoa and Methodist Mission Southern have been contracted by Corrections to deliver the intensive literacy and numeracy programmes in all Corrections-run prisons, giving priority to learners with the highest educational needs.

New ICT grad school set to pump NZ tech industry
Educators NZ
These include a Master of Software Development focused on developing real-world software-based systems and a Master of Information Technology, which is designed to sharpen the technical skills and knowledge of those already in industry or who have a ...

NZ universities seeking more opportunities with China
All eight New Zealand universities are in China this week as part of a Ministerial delegation led by Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce. Their goal is to deepen links between the education systems of both countries in line with the importance ...

Limited Statutory Manager appointed to rural Palmerston North school
Stuff.co.nz
A Ministry of Education manager has been appointed to address a number of curriculm and assessment issues at a small rural school near Palmerston North. The Ministry of Education has confirmed that it has appointed Laura Snowden as a Limited Statutory ...

Ex-truckie rewarded for teaching role
New Zealand Herald
Whangarei's Regan Reti was recently awarded a Ministry of Education Kupe Scholarship as one of the country's top 30 Maori and Pasifika student teachers. He's pictured with 4-year-old Durome Henry and 3-year-old Chloe Valentine (on the slide).