Thursday, 1 August 2013

Charter schools: Govt negotiates with final four

The Government is believed to be negotiating with a final four organisations over their proposals to set up charter schools, including a military prep school for teens which Act leader John Bank's son attended.APNZ understands the... 

Passions high over Bible in schools

Schools are going through the "hurtful" process of choosing to drop religious instruction, with boards of trustees working through passionate arguments from parents on both sides of the debate.The Herald was flooded with correspondence...

drop-out rates clear in new data

Stuff.co.nz
According to figures from the Tertiary Education Commission, released to the Waikato Times under the Official Information Act, an average of 4854 first-year students have dropped out each year between 2010 and 2012. Although the University of Waikato ...

Bad behaviour costly

A group of students with severe behavioural problems has cost taxpayers more than $10 million over four years, but a new support service is helping to keep them in mainstream schools. 

4700 school suspensions bring call for a new approach

Schools have handed down more than 4,700 suspensions in the past 18 months, with one high school using the punishment more than 100 times.The numbers have prompted a call for a major overhaul of the way schools keep difficult children... 

Law group wants change after claims of illegal expulsions

Schools are illegally pressuring difficult students to leave and an independent authority needs to be set up to review expulsions and exclusions, a community law advocate says.The push for change comes as figures obtained by the... 

Partnership Schools to lift education standards

Indian NewsLink
Partnership schools are targeted at lifting achievement in low decile areas and disadvantaged communities that have been underserved by the education system. These are groups such as Maori, Pasifika, low socio-economic and special needs children. 

Charter School Overreaction Narrow Minded

Scoop.co.nz (press release)
Charter School Overreaction Narrow Minded. Conservative Party Leader Colin Craig recommends David Shearer listens to Sir Ken Robinson's TED talk on schools and creativity, and considers a more broad minded approach to Partnership (Charter) schools. 

NZEI Te Riu Roa complaint forces charter schools revelation

Scoop.co.nz (press release)
The Ministry of Education has finally been forced to reveal the names of organisations who have shown an interest in setting up a charter school in New Zealand. The release follows a complaint from NZEI Te Riu Roa to the Ombudsman earlier this year ... 

School misses out on more funding

Stuff.co.nz
The school would also have had to attract more Maori, Pasifika, low-income and special needs pupils, whose better achievement the Government has said are the targets of partnership schools. Peter said "we already have those groups and they have ... 

Pacific students' performance lift strategy focus

Otago Daily Times
The ''Pacific Strategic Framework (2013-2020)'', which had been about two years in the making, was launched at an event attended by representatives from the Pacific community and the Ministry of Education at Otago University yesterday. Deputy vice ... 

Wireless school opens i-library

Stuff.co.nz
The school is the first in West Auckland to introduce tablets into the classroom. Year 9 students received Samsung Galaxies which they can take home and use for schoolwork and homework. In March students attended workshops with Waitakere Central ... 

Open access policy a first for university

Techday NZ
... alliance, and the potential to support literacy and the joy of reading in our district,” says Carnaby. “We want to connect to the 26 schools in the Selwyn district and extendlearning opportunities through both the University and the public ... 

Engineering students use technology to clean up environment

A smartphone app and website which the public can use to report incidents of environmental pollution have been developed by students at Victoria University’s School of Engineering and Computer Science. 

Students get on the ground access to region’s top biz minds

The Wellington Regional Strategy (WRS) Committee has teamed up with Victoria University and Grow Wellington to introduce a new initiative that will see students gain onsite industry experience as part of their studies by interviewing the region’s top business ... 

ACE Place – Building Learning Communities

What did you learn today? It’s a question often asked of children at the end of the school day but one we rarely ask an adult. ACE Aotearoa Director, Jo Lake says this is surprising given that learning doesn’t stop once people leave school or ...