Monday 8 July 2013

Minister congratulates principals on awards

Hekia Parata | Education
Education Minister Hekia Parata says the two principals who have been awarded Sir Peter Blake Leadership Awards tonight are outstanding examples of what inspirational leadership in schools can do for raising achievement. The Sir Peter Blake Leadership Awards recognise six emerging New Zealand leaders each year who show outstanding leadership and demonstrate the ability to build and lead successful teams. The Blake Medal is also awarded to an exceptional New Zealand leader at the annual Awards event. ...

Leading educational expert Andreas Schleicher to visit New Zealand

Hekia Parata | Education
Leading world expert on educational achievement and best practice, Andreas Schleicher, will visit New Zealand next week. Mr Schleicher will be in New Zealand from 8-11 July as a guest of Education Minister, Hekia Parata. Mr Schleicher is the Deputy Director for Education and Skills and Special Advisor on Education Policy to the OECD's Secretary-General. ...

Education under huge pressure to cut costs

Scoop.co.nz (press release)
Documents released by Treasury confirm the Government is dampening demand fortertiary education to balance the books, says Labour's Tertiary Education spokesperson Megan Woods. “The documents note that 'even if pressures are scaled back ... from ...

Novopay blamed for hold-ups

The Novopay debacle is being blamed for delaying the release of National Standards data - an excuse described as odd by a leading unionist.Education Minister Hekia Parata said last month the national schools performance reports...

Study at odds with teachers' union claims

MSN NZ News
A US study, which a New Zealand teachers' union has used to back up its claims thatcharter schools are failing, says they are actually helping struggling students. A study by Stanford University's Centre for Research on Educational Outcomes was ...

Charter school operators in waiting game

NZ City
Providers to operate the country's first charter schools will be chosen within weeks, but opponents are warning of a step backwards for public education. Legislation to establish the controversial publicly-funded, privately-run schools passed its final ...

Pre-adolescents forced into high schools

The Press
He is encouraged that acting education secretary Peter Hughes was recently made Longstone's permanent replacement. He says that neither Parata nor Hughes has "ruled out the notion" of a year 7 to 10 middle school being included in the plans for a new ..

HELO supports the Ministry of Education decision

New Zealand’s home-based childcare providers have welcomed the Government’s decision to work more closely with the sector, rather than putting it through a review process.

Association supports increased Homebased EC

The NZ Homebased ECE Association has today expressed regret that the Ministry of Education has cancelled the Homebased ECE Review as announced last December but is happy to see that they are taking a measured approach to continue working with the ...

Review of funds for learning disabled

Stuff.co.nz
"And their confused parents wonder why the classroom teachers were unable to tell them what was going wrong earlier. "The teachers probably didn't know themselves as they are not adequately trained to recognise specific learning disabilities." Dyslexia ...

Where are the jobs, teaching graduates ask

Stuff.co.nz
She waits for the call from a school asking if she's available to work. "I have to be ready by seven every day, because most schools will call between 6.30 and seven and I never know where I might be going to that day. So taking into consideration ...

Sleepy, slack and bored - why some NZ pupils lag behind

Being underprepared and not getting enough sleep are reasons why New Zealand school children are lagging behind their international counterparts, research has found.Maths is a particular problem area, with more than two-thirds of...

High staff turnover for Maori immersion teachers

Radio New Zealand
High staff turnover for Maori immersion teachers. Updated at 6:33 am on 17 June 2013. The national body for Maori medium education says its teachers are sticking with the job for only about five years. Te Runanga Nui o Nga Kura Kaupapa Maori o Aotearoa ...

Speaking te reo normal in class

Auckland stuff.co.nz
Similar to the difference between a preschool and a primary school, kaupapa offer more structured learning, focused more closely on student achievement, than kohanga reo, which enrol young children (mokupuna) aged 1 to 6, Mrs Waitoa-Paki said. TKKM o ...

Te reo promoted in artworks

Waikato Times
Latisha Moke-Davis, 8, said Old Man Tree would stand outside their classroom door and they would get to see it every day, including small green shapes all over the pou's hair. "They're slugs," she said. "They're crawling up Old Man Tree's dreads ...

UCOL student roll dives

Stuff.co.nz
The Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) last year put $38 million of its $115m pool of Special Achievement Criteria funding up for tender to private training establishments for the first time. Just $6m was distributed among New Zealand's polytechnics ...

Region's school-leavers gaining better marks

Manawatu Standard
The college's statistics reflect national trends of under-achievement by Maori and Pasifika learners, who were noted to be lagging behind in the school's Education Review Office reports. ERO's 2013 report found Rangitikei College had made strides in ...

Frustration grows over students' web antics

Teenagers trashing their peers online is a growing problem for school principals, who say learning is hindered by after-hours issues spilling into the schoolyard.

Teachers' union is 'crazy'

Waikato Times
There was no mention of the freedom partnership schools will give Maori and Pacific communities to try new and different ways of engaging their children (many of whom currently make up that tail) in education. She did, however, discuss how partnership ...

No-fear maths a winner

Stuff.co.nz
She said Mr Sharpe had customised some of the centre's assessment tools in a way that personalised them for adult learners and his templates were now being used by other tutors. Mr Sharpe said former Witt literacy and numeracy tutors Jan Brown and ...

Students glimpse future at careers day | Stuff.co.nz

A world of opportunity was opened up to budding students looking to further their education at the annual Nelson Futures Conference. ... students made their own pizza. Nelson College for Girls year 12 studentKalida Hamilton took part in the construction workshop, as well as three others including forestry. She aims to join the New Zealand Defence Force after she ... All hands on deck as pupils give fence artistic makeover · Motueka looking sharp on TV · Parents' joy ...

School repairs out in the cold

Stuff.co.nz
On rainy days, her school had buckets scattered around classrooms catching drips from a leaky roof. The school needed a new roof, but staff could only afford to plug holes. "It's very frustrating because these kids have substandard buildings and they ...