Thursday 1 October 2015

Implacable opposition to charter schools continues
PPTA members stand against charter schools was reinforced this afternoon in an update on the association's fight against the unwelcome experiment. In his presentation of the charter schools paper PPTA executive member Austen Pageau described the ...

Another 940 in Trades Academies from 2016
More young people will have the opportunity to combine study and practical experience with 940 additional places in Trades Academies, Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce and Education Minister Hekia Parata announced today.

Auckand's Hato Petera Maori school could be restructured
Auckand's Hato Petera Māori boarding school could be in for a major restructuring.

Hekia Parata backs charter schools with anti-apartheid comment
The Education Minister has referenced anti-apartheid protests when calling for the PPTA to drop its ban on working with people involved with charter schools.A member of the audience at the education union's annual conference in..

Calls for judicial review into commissioner appointment at Rangiora High School - Stuff.co.nz
Members of the Rangiora High School (RHS) community are rallying behind principal Peggy Burrows as they await her fate. A Facebook page has been set up by father and daughter Robert and Trinity Thompson-Browne to support the principal who was ...

Thank You, School Trustees
This week marks the 26th anniversary of community-based boards of trustees in New Zealand and NZSTA is taking the opportunity to say thank you to over 150,000 people across New Zealand who have committed time and energy in the governance of New Zealand ...

MLC brings technology to over 100 low decile schools
One year on, the Mobile Learning Centre – a community initiative designed to share new technology to New Zealand’s most remote and least advantaged communities has travelled over 20,000kms across the North Island visiting over 100 low decile schools.

Seven Universities in NZ make Expanded World Rankings
London, 30th September 2015: The Times Higher Education has published the 12th edition of its World University Rankings. There are seven New Zealand institutions in the newly expanded World University Rankings top 800 ranking, with the University of ...

Employment forum findings: preparation of students for work
2. In NZ we need to be thinking differently about the transition from education to work and about the skills and capabilities that our young people are being taught. 3. Despite the digitalisation of the work environment there remains a huge demand for ...

Staff and students reject job outcome reports
Tertiary Update Vol 18 No 32 The government is under attack from students, institutions and TEU for its plan to make universities and polytechnics report on former students’ job and income outcomes. TEU warned, in a written statement earlier this week, that such reporting will end up distorting the way educators do their job.

Widespread caution on tertiary league tables justified - Scoop.co.nz
Steven Joyce's proposal to implement league tables for tertiary institutions takes a backward looking, short term view that could do more harm than good, Labour's Tertiary Education spokesperson David Cunliffe says. 

Waikato of University hosts free coding workshops for girls
The University of Waikato is hosting computing workshops for girls this October, with the aim of encouraging female students to consider a career in computer science. Taking place October 2 and 9, the free workshops have been designed to teach girls ...

Wednesday 30 September 2015

Third generation of Life Education classroom popular with Hutt Valley schools - Stuff.co.nz
It seems you can teach an old giraffe new tricks after all - if the overhaul of the Hutt Valley's Life Education Trust classroom is anything to go by. The classroom, home to Harold the Giraffe, received a significant upgrade before hitting its circuit ...

Virulent teacher education market tough on schools
In a bid to address this PPTA's executive, in consultation with the association's Otago region, has put together a paper for PPTA's annual conference to discuss this afternoon. The Initial teacher education in change: But is it for the better? paper ...

Middle leadership in crisis – PPTA - Scoop.co.nz
Middle managers play a vital role in curriculum delivery at secondary schools but the pressure is building with increasing workload demands (particularly around NCEA) compromising this. Following a resolution at last year's PPTA annual conference the ...

'No evidence' uni success correlates with later achievement
Businesses may be placing less importance on university degrees than in previous years but employees with tertiary education still earn more on average than those that don't, according to research by recruitment company absoluteIT.In...

Humanities deans warn against publishing job, salary data
The Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce has told all Universities, Wananga and Polytechnics that from 2017 they will have to publish information about the employment status and earnings of their graduates. Professor of Politics, Richard Shaw is Massey University's BA director, who has been looking at the role of universities in producing graduates who can meet the needs of the labour market.

Teachers in Wellington to discuss workloads, leadership, NCEA
Delegates will be discussing the future of NCEA, crisis in school middle leadership, workload issues, the threat of charter schools and changes in initial teacher education among other pressing issues. They will debate and vote on papers that will ...

Art students to showcase project-based learning
The first students to enrol in New Zealand's first project-based-learning arts and design degree are fine-tuning work for ideaschool's graduate exhibition A Feast for the Senses. The cohort of 34 students, the largest graduating class in EIT's three ...

Teachers get chance to network online
Online events and activities include forums and conversations with experts, webinars, virtual guided tours, Maori and Pasifika learning and live streams from the ULearn15 educators' conference. Western Heights High School teacher Alex Le Long is .

Teacher accused of striking children re-employed
Education officials are "extremely concerned" a Porirua early childhood centre has re-employed a teacher accused of striking children.The centre has again hired one of the teachers at the centre of allegations three years ago.Katrina..

Tuesday 29 September 2015

Connected Education NZ to provide online PD for educators worldwide - Māori Television
Māori Medium and Pasifika Administrator at CORE Education, Shannon Vulu says CENZ is a month-long online conference where educators worldwide can connect. “Basically how it works is that any company or any teacher can access sessions that can ...

Cameras for special-ed transport after assault
All Ministry of Education-contracted vehicles used to transport special needs children will have cameras installed following the case of a driver who sexually assaulted a girl he was tasked with driving to and from her school.The...

Head slams 'videos for field trips'
Schools are not taking field trips needed to teach core aspects of the curriculum in subjects like geography - instead having students watch videos."They just can't afford the field trip so they have a video to watch," said Patrick...

Pacific languages more popular with youth but funding cuts impact on role - Scoop.co.nz (press release)
A new report shows Pasifika families are reaching their goals with the help of the Whanau Ora programme. The programme is all about helping families become stronger in the areas of health, education, economic development and culture. Pasifika Futures ...

Transforming the learning experience in schools - Massey News (press release)
Massey University e-learning specialist Dr Maggie Hartnett is working with teachers of Year 5 and 6 classes at Palmerston North's Russell Street School and Ashhurst Primary School for the next 18 months in one of the Ministry of Education's Teacher-Led ...

Professional issues, politics and policy – PPTA
Secondary teachers from throughout the country have descended on Wellington to talk professional issues, politics and policy.

IT girls on campus
“It was a Nintendo Super Mario Brothers game. They tried to ban me but it didn’t work.”

Refugee education conference chance to celebrate success
Celebrating success stories from educators and former refugees and developing programmes that provide a strong platform for the future is the focus of a two-day conference being held later this week.

Israelis: 'we're students not soldiers'
Two Israeli university students were left "heart-broken" at a storm ofuniversity protest at their visit. Raphael Wein and Naftali Gross served and commanded troops in the Israeli army for two and three years respectively as part of the country's ...

Monday 28 September 2015

Christchurch's flight from low decile schools
A New Zealand Council for Education Research (NZCER) report found that 40 per cent of parents send their children to a secondary school that is not their closest one. In some cases, these choices will be religious but it is usually about finding a ...

Alternative education centre brings teens back from the brink
In 2015 the ministry made $606,058 available for 55 students to take part in alternative education on Auckland's North Shore. Most students at the school are Pakeha. Last year the centre had 11 European students, nine Maori, one Cook Islands Maori and

The digital divides persist in New Zealand - Stuff.co.nz
Research shows that the most digitally-excluded groups are adults with disabilities, children with special needs, Pasifika, Maori, senior citizens, people from low socio-economic backgrounds, and those living in regions or communities with low internet ...

Review of Child Youth and Family - Scoop.co.nz (press release)
Secure attachment protects against educational under-achievement, criminality, mental health problems, suicide behaviours and substance abuse. "Attachment focused psychotherapy is effective and would prove an worthwhile investment for Child Youth and .

Parents hopeful in push to be heard on special education
A successful campaign against a failure to include parents in an overhaul of the special education system has seen an extra 33 meetings held around the country.One of the petition organisers says being heard has left some parents...

Why New Zealand needs more C students, good all-rounders
Derek McCormack is the Vice-Chancellor of AUT, the Auckland University of Technology. He says students and universities need to be focusing not just on academic results but also on graduates having a range of 'C-skills'. He says employers are increasingly wanting people who are strong in a number of fields, including communication, creativity, curiosity, collaboration, cooperation and caring within a sense of community. Some of Auckland's top employers including banks, law firms, primary industry leaders and local government were canvassed and said grades are only one factor they look for in graduates.

Peer reviewing research
The peer-review process, where a scientific paper gets read and reviewed by other independent academics, is a tried and trusted way to scrutinise research before it gets published. Just because it's been done this way for centuries doesn't necessarily mean it's the best way to go. Now a NZ company Publons is changing peer-reviewing of papers. Andrew Preston studied in Wellington and the US before founding Publons.com

All change at Nelson schools as seven new principals start new roles - Stuff.co.nz
Freya Hogarth has been acting principal at Nelson Central since Paul Potaka retired at the end of term one and Hogarth is moving to Hope School to fill the principal role, after Dave Pritchard's retirement. She had been at Central School for almost ...

Long-time educators honoured at NZEI Annual Conference
Eight educators have been acknowledged for their outstanding contribution to quality public education and social justice.

VUW educators protest against Israeli 'propaganda' in Student Union Building
Scoop.co.nz (press release)
As academics, researchers and educators associated with Victoria University, we are dismayed to learn that the Student Union Building will play host this week to soldiers from the Israeli Defense Force, touring Aotearoa/New Zealand as part of a nation ...

College students petition for a national holiday to recognise Land Wars
More than 10,000 signatures on a petition show New Zealand is ready to set aside a day to remember the Land Wars. Otorohanga College students have collected the signatures in support of a national holiday to commemorate the 19th-century battles.

Students start petition to reinstate philosophy lecturer
A much-loved Victoria University lecturer is bowing out though not without a last ditch effort to stay.

Prof Harlene Hayne - Celebrating Academic Success
Does the tall poppy syndrome really exist? Professor Harlene Hayne, Vice Chancellor of Otago University, believes it does and says it's time we started celebrating our academic successes in the same way we celebrate our sporting ones.

Kids helping crack cyber crime - Stuff.co.nz
Both belong to their college computer coding club and spend most of their time writing games. Adam is head boy at View Road School in ... Through several rounds of challenges, each more difficult than the last, the scores of hackers from schools ...

Friday 25 September 2015

$566000 for environmental education
Efforts to inspire young people to get involved with protecting New Zealand's natural world will benefit from $566,000 of funding announced today, Conservation Minister Maggie Barry says. “Six significant environmental education projects will receive ...

Waikato Tainui encourage self sufficient Marae - Māori Television
Ike Rākena, Kaitiaki of Te Kōhanga Reo o Makaurau says, “The desire to set up our own Kōhanga Reo came from our elders, who saw that our grandchildren were attending Kōhanga reo outside their area, and that they had the facilities, they should teach ...

Few Shore public high schools offer NCEA alternatives - Auckland stuff.co.nz
Just two North Shore public high schools will offer alternatives to NCEA following Westlake Boy's High School's decision to phase out Cambridge exams. From next year Takapuna Grammar School and Rangitoto College will be the only Shore public high ...

Agriculture to go in more school homework - Stuff.co.nz
Over the next few years this will be phased in to NCEA Levels 1, 2 and 3 students and cover a range of curriculum areas based on school and teacher feedback. The agriculture material will be mainly based around the red meat industry, but programme ...

Chorus of experts call for universal age of state child care to be raised to 21 - Stuff.co.nz
Almost 80 per cent did not have NCEA Level 2. More than 30 per cent had a youth justice referral by the age of 18, while nearly 20 per cent had had a custodial sentence. Almost 40 per cent had a community sentence. Wills said the age of care should be ...
Tolley 'ashamed' of 'horrific' stats in CYF report3News NZ
Speech to Fostering Kids New Zealand ConferenceScoop.co.nz (press release)

New project highlights gaps in literacy programmes - Stuff.co.nz
Ministry student achievement and investing in educational success deputy secretary Graham Stoop said their approach recognised that all students learned in different ways and at different stages. "We know a one-size-fits-all approach doesn't work.

Steve Maharey: Assessment as learning
Sir Richard Taylor of Weta Workshop fame tells an interesting story about the New Zealand education system. Weta employs a large number of young people who he characterises as intelligent, self-motivated, creative, hardworking and...

Kids learning code make a connection with future
Among Malcolm Turnbull's first words as the newly elected leader of Australia's Liberal Party, and hence heading for the Prime Minister's job, were: "The Australia of the future has to be a nation that is agile, that is innovative,...

Teacher spat in Down's Syndrome child's face
An Auckland teacher who spat on a five-year-old Down's Syndrome boy's face will be allowed to keep teaching.Marion Johnson was charged with serious misconduct after another teacher at Mt Richmond Special School in south Auckland...

Digital learning teachers awarded - Educators NZ
Kristin School teacher Nathan Calvert was awarded the inaugural NEXT Foundation Expert Teacher Award at the ceremony. ... “I take my hat off to our first cohort of teachers for taking this crucial step to develop their digital and collaborative ...

Parents will fight school closure
The parents of pupils at a school being closed over concerns for student safety will present the Education Minister with a petition calling for it to be kept open.

School closure consult 'farce' says principal
The decision to close an East Cape kura next year was already rubber-stamped and the consultation process was a farce, its principal says.

Te Reo first for new bill
The Te Reo Māori bill has been held up because Minister of Māori Development Te Ururoa Flavell wants to translate the piece of legislation into Māori, he says.

School's $5.3m redevelopment underway - Scoop.co.nz (press release)
and commitment of Avonhead School and its community as they celebrate the start of the school's $5.3m redevelopment. “It was a privilege to share this special day with Avonhead ...

Education leaders gather in Rotorua
More than 350 leaders in education will descend on the Rotorua Convention Centre for the NZEI Te Riu Roa Annual Conference from 28-30 September.

Vic students vote to keep their national voice
Students at Victoria University of Wellington have voted to stay in the national student movement by a 45-point margin in a referendum held this week.

Thursday 24 September 2015

Poor student performance in Northland and East Coast a target for Government
Failing students in Northland and the East Coast have been targeted by the Education Minister in a new roll-out of Professional Learning and Development (PLD) for teachers. The changes in the way ... Priority would also be given to communities of ...
PLD changes will lift student achievementScoop.co.nz (press release)

Rotorua mayor launches taskforce for youth - Māori Television
The taskforce will kick off at 1pm today at Rotorua Lakes Council and will be facilitated by Dave Turner, an international expert on employer engagement in education. The workforce will link employers and young people and will mean that "employers ..

Ministry wants $2.5 million Novopay debt cleared - Māori Television
Debt collectors could be chasing over 2000 school teachers around the country to reclaim money they were overpaid when the payroll system switched to Novopay. The Ministry of Education says teachers owe around $2.5 million dollars and it wants the debt ...

'Horrifying' outcomes for CYF kids warrant a 'whole new model' - Tolley - Stuff.co.nz
Almost 80 per cent did not have NCEA Level 2. More than 30 per cent had a youth justice referral by the age of 18, [and] almost 20 per cent had had a custodial sentence. almost 40 per cent had a community sentence. "Overall, six out of every ten ...
Speech to Fostering Kids New Zealand ConferenceScoop.co.nz (press release)

Call for men to experience teaching first-hand - Stuff.co.nz
Head of student achievement Graham Stoop says the Ministry of Education attempts to influence teacher supply where it can. He says scholarships and marketing materials focus on raising the profile of teaching to attract the best talent, including more men.

Teacher training focus on key subjects, regions
Nearly $80 million in teacher training funding is to be re-focused on high-priority subjects and poorly performing regions.

Schools warned against using third parties to collect voluntary donations - Stuff.co.nz
Stuff.co.nz
It said: "We have been informed by the Office of the Auditor General that some schools are entering into a contract with a third party, for the purposes of collecting fees and donations on the school's behalf. "Schoolsentering into these contracts may ...

Wednesday 23 September 2015

Support our Maori Boarding schools - waateanews.com
And while our school is not supported by a number of people who are involved in mainstream education the principles we run on are no different to our Maori boarding schools. We want to turn around the negative Maoristatistics which has always been the ...

Government rules out targetted funding for gaming Industry
The government has ruled out extending digital subsidies to include New Zealand video game developers, despite a warning the industry could stagnate.

Sweeteners to lure students south
Auckland's best and brightest are being schmoozed with $5000 sweeteners, rugby tickets and ski trips in a bid to boost university student numbers in earthquake-affected Christchurch.The University of Canterbury (UC) wants to poach...

Salvatore Gargiulo: 90 seconds of stupidity makes the news; years of positive gains feature rarely
It has been a challenging week at Manurewa High School.When the news broke of a group of our girls behaving badly, I was attending a Principals' Conference, listening to a presentation by Lisa Rodgers, Deputy Secretary of Education.Lisa's...

Concerns about hungry kids dismissed
Prime Minister John Key has dismissed concerns about the amount of money schools are spending on hungry kids, saying the government is working hard to provide support.The Herald

English: Working foreign students 'good for the economy'
A surge in student numbers was a main reason why another migration record was set in the year to August, when there was a net gain of 60,3000 migrants. NZ First's Ron Mark says because they're allowed to work they take up low-paid jobs to the detriment ...

Wellington teacher named New Zealand's most inspiring
A Wellington school teacher is "gobsmacked" after being honoured as New Zealand's most inspiring educator.

Tuesday 22 September 2015

Inside the world of text bullying
Seventy-five percent of parents surveyed recently said they didn't know what their child did online, and half said they'd never had a conversation with their child about cyber bullying.

Minister challenges Ngā Manu Kōrero orators
Māori Development Minister, Te Ururoa Flavell, is challenging Māori speakers to use te reo everywhere. Mr Flavell laid down the wero (challenge) today at the pōwhiri of the National speech competition, Ngā Manu Kōrero, which is being held in Porirua this week. Ngā Manu Kōrero is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. “I want to wish all of the 60 or so competing students the best of luck in the secondary school competition”, says Mr Flavell.

Second day of school disrupted for Gisborne students
A school principal in the Gisborne region is hoping flood waters have receded enough for school to open today.

John Morris: NCEA / Cambridge debate - clearly the blinkers are still on at PPTA headquarters
The decision by WBHS to gradually phase out the opportunity for its students to enter the Cambridge International Examinations (CIE) made headlines in the

Angela Roberts: Education is about more than measuring grades
There was a good question in the Herald editorial yesterday about the National Certificate in Educational Achievement (NCEA), amongst a fair bit of confusion and misinformation. The writer asks, "Without a national achievement target,.

Massey literacy project sees young readers shine - Massey News (press release)
The model is based on a teaching resource developed by Porirua educationalist and project leader Joy Allcock, who completed a Masters inEducation through Massey's Institute of Education. Literacy specialist Professor James Chapman, based at Massey's ...

Would kids benefit from a four-day week? - Stuff.co.nz
Researchers from Montana State University and Georgia State University have been investigating the impact of a four-day school week at schools in Colorado who have adopted a four-day week to cut transport and utility costs. During the study ...

Auckland uni falls behind on ethical investment ranking
Auckland University is being called out for its complete lack of an ethical investment policy in its $80 million endowment fund, and for falling behind competitors Victoria and Otago by not divesting from fossil fuels.

Rents rise in Auckland ahead of expected influx of international students
ASB chief economist Nick Tuffley said migration figures were already showing a sharp lift in student numbers. The latest Statistics NZ data showed more than 60,000 people migrated to New Zealand in the August 2015 year. But Tuffley said students would ...

Morven School set to apply for voluntary closure
Morven School's Board of Trustees has made the call to apply for the school's voluntary closure, a decision its chairman says has been difficult to make.

Monday 21 September 2015

Bonsai parenting: Why so many children end up in therapy - Stuff.co.nz
Locke says a bonsai upbringing stunts children's development, as they never learn how to adapt to different or difficult circumstances. ... "A child who has been given the perfect childhood can't cope with the less than perfect realities of adult life ...

Unitec staff face job cuts - Stuff.co.nz
While Unitec was a "profitable financially healthy institution," student numbers had dropped recently but the changes were primarily about modernising the institution, Joyce said. "Students these days, especially adult learners, want a more flexible ...

Te reo 'is in good hands' - Stuff.co.nz
... Why I learned te reo Learning te reo for the first time OPINION: Is change finally coming for ...

Gloriavale School teaching Victorian-era values
New information on Gloriavale Christian Community School shows that they are teaching a Victorian-era agenda of domestic servitude that should not be funded by the Government, the Green Party revealed today. Official Information Act documents obtained ...

Teachers need to pay up before the debt collectors call - Joyce
The government is resorting to debt collectors to retrieve more than 2.5 million dollars, which was paid to teachers three years ago during the Novopay fiasco.

Editorial: Assessment not just for students
The secondary teachers' union has welcomed one Auckland school's decision to abandon international examinations and offer only the NCEA. The Post Primary Teachers' Association would like to ban schools using the International Baccalaureate...

Xequals web developers win video game startup
A Wellington game developer hopes to become the next digital export after winning a game startup competition.
Rox Flame, director of web development company Xequals, won the KiwiGameStarter prize for his puzzle platform game Dynabrick.

Girls studying the 'soft' options?
Schools should persuade girls to ditch studying psychology and switch to "hard sciences", an education leader says.Barnaby Lenon, who chairs the Independent Schools Council and was headmaster at Harrow, said too many girls were...

Small syllabus, big cost sinks Destiny bid
Destiny School's bid to become state-integrated was rejected because the proposed syllabus was too small and the cost of conversion too high, education papers reveal.Documents show the Education Ministry was not prepared to inject...

Gloriavale's science ban
Not one student at Gloriavale school has gone beyond Year 11 in the past three years and they have only 17 subjects to choose from, sparking fresh calls for an investigation.Documents obtained by the Herald on Sunday show the...

Science programme shines light on bright future for Kiwi kids
When it comes to hooking young Kiwis on science, there might be no brighter way than making things glow in the dark. Over the next week, pupils and scientists across the country will be taking part in Illuminating NZ - Te Koanga,...

Ngā Manu Kōrero celebrates 50 years
Past winners of Ngā Manu Kōrero will be in Porirua today, marking 50 years since the speech competition began.

Message of ground-breaking classroom resource: we all belong
RainbowYOUTH today announced the launch of Inside Out , the first ever curriculum-aligned resource in New Zealand created by Kiwis at a national scale. Inside Out ’s aim: to help increase understanding and support of sex, gender and sexuality diversity .

NZ migration number increase driven by students
Foreign students have been a boon to New Zealand education businesses, with their contribution growing faster compared to fees generated by localstudents. In the latest year, student visas rose by 6400 to 26,800. Of those, 10,600 were from India and ...

Friday 18 September 2015

Te Awamutu Primary School matches kids' passions with class focus - Stuff.co.nz
Senior kids use their interests to pick a classroom at Te Awamutu Primary School. Pictured from left are ... Te Awamutu Primary School has six "passion classrooms" where the interests of year five and six students are the context for study. The ...

Taping child to his chair was a 'joke', Education Council says
It is understood this was one of the incidents investigated. The mother said the investigation was "unjust", since the Education Council never once contacted her to hear her son's side of the story. "She might have thought it was a joke, but we ...

Maori Education Trust in trouble - Radio New Zealand
The Maori Education Trust has had to sell its only assets, its farms, putting at risk the grants it is required to make to Maori students. It has allocated education grants since 1961because of the generosity of a number of private bequests, but after ...

Government wants new rules for young foreign primary pupils
The government wants to stop foreign children under the age of 11 from enrolling in New Zealand schools without having a parent or legal guardian in the country.

Top school drops Cambridge exams
One of the country's top state schools is ditching the highly renowned Cambridge exams to "fully embrace" the controversial New Zealand NCEA qualification.Westlake Boys High School, on Auckland's North Shore, says it believes NCEA...

Marking 25 years of irrelevant research
A study showing that nearly all mammals take the same amount of time to urinate has won a prize in the 25th year of Ig Nobel awards at Harvard University.

Victoria University to address bullying in schools - Educators NZ
According to a recent Trends in International Mathematics and Science report, New Zealand is one of the worst countries for incidences of recurrent bullying, ranked 46 out of 50 for bullying in primary schools and 24 at lower secondary school. Of Year ...

Charitable Giving to Universities in Australia and NZ
Universities in Australia and New Zealand reported significant growth in the number of donors in 2014, according to a report on higher education philanthropic giving in the two countries.

Universities express unease over plan to make graduate pay data public
The country's peak university body is uneasy about a government move to force universities and polytechnics to publish information on graduates' pay and employment status. Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce said the data, which will be available ...

Thursday 17 September 2015

$5.5m projects see new classrooms open at Auckland schools - Scoop.co.nz (press release)
Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye has welcomed the opening of new state-of-the-art classrooms at Auckland's Mount Albert Grammar School and Sylvia Park School (Tamaki). “These new classrooms are part of our broader plan to address roll growth at ...

Toby Curtis: Charter schools the key for Maori - New Zealand Herald
We believe kura hourua can be a circuit breaker in closing the educational achievement gap between Maori and non-Maori students. While much has been and is being achieved through the kohanga reo, kura kaupapa and kura a iwi movements, a large and ...

New algorithm helps map health trends
A new research tool is decoding doctors' notes, and using previously untouched medical data to map health trends.

New school for Western East Cape
A new Year 1-13 school will be opened in the Western East Cape next year to provide better educational opportunities for the young people of Te Whānau-a-Apanui says Education Minister Hekia Parata. Te Kura o Ōmaio, Te Whānau-a-Apanui Area School and Raukokore School will close on 27 January 2016, and Year 1-13 schooling in the area will be provided by the new school, initially to be known as Te Kaha Community School. It will open at the beginning of 2016 and operate on the current Te Whānau-ā-Apanui Area School site

Philip Harding: Big questions for Govt's new overseers of our teachers
And behold, God gave the world Educanz, and the sector looked at it, and was not particularly happy. The replacement for the old Teachers Council has its challenges ahead.Despite more than 1000 submissions raising concerns about...

Joyce unaware of National MP on Taratahi board
Steven Joyce, the Minister of Tertiary Education, did not know of his MP colleague Barbara Kuriger’s role on the board of Taratahi Agricultural Training Centre during the time it has been accused of rorts and fraud, Labour’s David Cunliffe says.

Editorial: Teacher-discipline rule changes too late for boy taped to chair
EDITORIAL: Are schools for children or are they for teachers? That may seem a flippant question but you have to wonder if reality has been completely out of kilter with common sense, given the way a recent complaint against a Christchurch teacher was handled by the school and the teachers' governing body.

Labour calls out Govt's tertiary data requirement plan - Educators NZ
Labour says the Government's recent announcement that tertiary institutes are required to reveal where their graduates end up working and what they earn is a step in the right direction, however the plan comes with what the opposition party is calling ...

Wednesday 16 September 2015

Computers 'don't help' pupils' learning - Stuff.co.nz
Information technology is great, but it may not be making kids smarter, according to a new report showing that increased computer use inclassrooms leads to lower test scores. The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) ...
Tech doesn't improve student results – study3News NZ

Union says teachers squeezed - Stuff.co.nz
Their workload has gone beyond manageable, according to a taskforce set up by the Post Primary Teachers' Association, which says that's partly due to the NCEA qualification system. A paper called Middle leadership in crisis is the ... The PPTA ...

Schools let off $90 park fee
An inner-city Auckland school has been let off a $90 permit fee for using a public park for its end-of-year picnic.Auckland Council announced the about-turn on its two-month-old events policy after Pt Chevalier School appealed against

PM's son helps high achievers
Max Key has joined a team of graduates helping young Kiwis gain entrance into institutions like Cambridge, Oxford and Harvard.The New Zealand business, Crimson Consulting, employs graduates from premier universities and top sports...

Teen to pitch anti-bullying idea to Google
Chantelle Cobby's kind heart and enterprising spirit will see her pitch her anti-bullying web campaign to Google's headquarters in Sydney next month.The 17-year-old Rotorua Girls' High School student is one of three winners of a...

Ministers pass buck on Pasifika centre - Scoop.co.nz (press release)
“Answers from Minister for Pacific Peoples Peseta Sam Lotu-Iiga to questions around funding cuts to the Pasifika Education Centre send a clear message to Pacific communities that the survival of PEC to deliver Pacific languages and cultures is not a ...

Māori world view leads to greater life satisfaction
New research from Massey University has compared work/life balance and life satisfaction levels across seven cultures – and found that New Zealand Māori scored the highest on both fronts.

Statutory manager steps in to sort out Wairarapa College
A financial gun for hire has been brought in to tackle Wairarapa's largest school's financial woes. The Ministry of Education has appointed a Limited Statutory Manager to sort out Wairarapa College's books and get them back on track in the wake of a falling roll and a series of budget deficits.

Waiariki-BoPP merger open for consultation | TEU
Tertiary education minister Steven Joyce has opened public consultation on the proposed merger of Bay of Plenty Polytechnic (BoPP) and the Waiariki Institute of Technology. The two polytechnics submitted a business case ...

Tuesday 15 September 2015

Children should be 'at heart' of teacher complaint investigations
Stuff.co.nz
Allegations a Christchurch teacher taped a child to a chair would have been considered by the Education Council's disciplinary tribunal under new rules introduced this year, the Ministry of Education says. Parents raised concerns about the Education ...

Justice calls for places dedicated to Te Reo - Radio New Zealand
"Whether you talk about kohanga reo, kura kaupapa, wananga Maori movement, whether you talk about Maori radio stations and even Maori television." The tumuaki or chief executive of Te Taura Whiri I Te Reo Maori, Ngahiwi Apanui, said it was there to ...

Ministers welcome Productivity Commission report on social services
The Productivity Commission’s latest report on social services in New Zealand will be a valued input into the Government’s ongoing programme of public sector reform, Finance Minister Bill English and State Services Minister Paula Bennett say. The Commission found there are significant opportunities to improve the support given to the most vulnerable New Zealanders.

Businesses support schools’ Managed Network
Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye is pleased to announce that an agreement with multi-network infrastructure company Vector will enable more schools to access the $211 million, Government-funded N4L Managed Network. “The Managed Network provides schools with fast, reliable internet and uncapped data, as well as services such as web filtering, network security and helpdesk support,” says Ms Kaye. ..

Future Fund aims to help young New Zealanders change the world.
RNZ

Helping young New Zealanders change the world, is the ambitious goal of a new project called Future Fund.

NZ universities jump up ratings in international league table
RNZ

New Zealand universities have improved in a major international ranking for the first time in six years.

Parents who fail... at homework
NZ Herald

One in three parents are completely confused by their children's homework.More than half of mums and dads spend more than 40 hours a year trying to keep up with the latest school curriculum, research found.

Auckland in lead as unis rise globally
NZ Herald

New Zealand's universities have mostly risen in global rankings but the gap between the country's two top-rated institutes has widened as Auckland University increases its lead.Auckland was the only local university in the top 100...

Boys gaining on girls in NCEA achievement: Education expert
NZ Herald

Evidence has emerged to show boys are gaining on girls in educational achievement.The difference in achievement levels at NCEA Level 2 has decreased over the past six years, according to Ministry of Education figures.According...

Postgrad digital learning course offered to tertiary educators - Educators NZ
The postgraduate certificate is a part time 32-week programme and Valintine says is redefining professional development for teachers through the offering of a hands-on, progressive and blended qualification. ... Last year The Mind Lab by Unitec won ...

Hastings kura gains secondary school status
A kura that's just gained secondary school status says seamless Māori language education is the future.

Rural Schools Fear Closure Due to Dropping Rolls - 3News NZ
Small towns are shrinking, and so naturally, so are their school rolls. One little school in Cheltenham, outside Fielding, has been in operation 129 years, but its roll has fallen so drastically it is now on the brink of being unsustainable. "At the ...

Kids graduate to farm safety
Hundreds of rural kiwi kids are coming top of the class in farm safety. More than 1,500 school children in Waikato are taking part in a pilot initiative to help them and their families stay safe on farms and thousands more are set to take part as ...

ACT leader David Seymour's 'harden up' line stuns Wellington students
A student in the audience raised a question about the the rise of depression and anxiety among students as a result of increasing pressures of money, work, extra curricular activities and university work, she said. "I was completely and utterly ...

Monday 14 September 2015

Stats show Porirua East Schools achieving
Stuff.co.nz
Reading for primary school pupils in eastern Porirua is hitting 60.9 per cent of national standards, up 5.2 per cent in the past year, maths is at 57.2 per cent, a rise of 4 per cent, and writing has hit 49.9 per cent, up 5.2 per cent. The numbers are ...

Teachers vote for their pick of top NZ educational resources - Scoop.co.nz (press release)
Paula Browning, CEO, Copyright Licensing NZ (CLNZ) says: “The CLNZ Education Awards have a strong tradition of acknowledging those that are doing something new and responsive to meet the needs of students and teachers in NZ classrooms.”

Teacher accused of taping pupil to chair cleared - Stuff.co.nz
Porter yelled and screamed in class, and once grabbed her daughter by the arm and dragged her out of the classroom, giving her "another great big fright". A third mothersaid her 10-year-old daughter was fine for the first couple of weeks, until ...

Tertiary education monitoring agencies 'under-resourced' to detect rorts
Tertiary education monitoring agencies do not have the resources to stop fraud and funding rorts in the sector, Labour MP David Cunliffe says. Cunliffe questioned Tertiary Education Minister Steven Joyce in Parliament in the wake of revelations ...

15pct of Kiwi 2yos using computers, tablets
Research has found that 15 percent of two-year-olds in New Zealand are already using laptops and computers.

Employment outcomes to be published
Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce has today announced that from 2017 all Universities, Wānanga and Polytechnics will be required to publish information about the employment status and earnings of their graduates broken down by specific degrees and diplomas. “This Government is committed to providing better information to assist students’ decisions. This is important so students can make the most of their time in tertiary education, and because of the significant investment students and taxpayers make,” says Mr Joyce. .

School suspension a "kick in the guts" for parents
Parents of students at Pacific Christian School in Mangere are describing the Ministry of Education's decision to suspend the school's registration as a "kick in the guts".

Schools furious at charges for using Auckland's public parks
Inner city Auckland schools are furious at new charges for using public parks for recreational events. Under the Trading and Events in Public Places Bylaw brought in on 1 July, schools have to apply for an event permit, costing $90-00 to use public parks. The principal of Point Chevalier School, Sandra Aitken was shocked to receive the charge; Carolyn Marino is the President of the Auckland Inner City Schools Association and also the Principal of Westmere School and Christine Fletcher, who is the Chair of the Auckland Council's Parks Committee.

Canterbury schools seek help for kids with post-quake delays - Stuff.co.nz
Many schools in Christchurch had adopted more play-based learning for new entrants in the last few years to cater for delays in their schoolreadiness, Torrey said. Papanui School principal Paul Kingston had noticed a rise in the number of children ...

School rules and students' appearance - Stuff.co.nz
Rules, we battle them every day. Ever glanced at your speedometer or waited for the lights before walking at a street corner in town? How about having tidied up the flat or house before a landlord's inspection, or rushed to the bank to put some money .

Urban Christchurch school returns to the CBD - Stuff.co.nz
A merger school built on an urban philosophy will finally return to central Christchurch. Ao Tawhiti Unlimited Discovery, which resulted from the closure and merger of Unlimited and Discovery One in the post-quakeschools restructure, has been ...

Passion for video opens doors for student
South Otago High School student Josh Button, 17, has his career path clearly mapped out after his success in an international video competition designed to give the public an insight into the life of farming families around the world. The Button family ..

Mismanaged student debt causing relationship tension
It may be too tricky a topic of conversation for a first date, but the burden ofstudent debt can prove to be a serious obstacle to young love. Around 83 per cent of students expect to be in debt by the time they graduate, according to New Zealand's ...

Beating the roadblocks stopping women choosing science careers
Leading female scientists say they are still trying to bridge the gender gap that sees few schoolgirls choosing to concentrate on the sciences.

Workchoice brand set to move to The Skills Organisation - NZ Business
With a history of positively impacting thousands of young people, youth employment charity, the Workchoice Trust, has been at the fore of developing initiatives to bridge the education-to-employment gap. ... executive, says the Workchoice programmes .

Friday 11 September 2015

e-hubs replace desks at Tairua School - Scoop.co.nz (press release)
From a Harvard Professor to New Zealand's own Gareth Morgan….these are some of the experts sharing their knowledge and expertise at Tairua School where learning is moving beyond the classroom and onto a global platform. Inspired by the ideas and

Māori education coordination role extended
Scoop.co.nz (press release)
The initiative, started by Te Akatea, the Māori Principals' Association, and the New Zealand Principals' Federation, and supported by the Ministry ofEducation, aims to provide education that embraces Māori language, culture, marae, tikanga and resources.

Facing the challenge Māori boys' achievement in education ...
There has been a slight improvement in Māori boys gaining NCEA but society still has somewhat lower expectations of Māori boys, many of whom expect a future of unskilled work. We all are aware that a low income can put ...

Ministry suspends Pacific Christian School in Mangere
Fears for children's safety have prompted the Education Ministry to suspend the registration of a private school for the first time ever.

Paul Griffin - author and teacher of at-risk-youth
Paul Griffin is a writer of young adult fiction whose stories follow often-troubled teenagers in difficult and gritty circumstances. Gang problems, substance abuse, criminality, tragedy and neglectful parenting all inform the narratives in which his young characters navigate the world around them and their relationships. Paul Griffin began his working life as a teacher with at-risk youth and he now uses his skills to help young people tell their own stories.

Manurewa High School students in Facebook-organised brawl
Counties Manukau police spokeswoman Shelley Nahr said the fight was organised over Facebook and a group of between 40 and 60 pupils had met on Browns Road in Manurewa at 1.30pm on Thursday. 

Innovative site wants to show kids the bright side of life
A deputy principal and his tech-savvy brother-in-law have turned their search for good news into an innovative online resource for kids.

Thursday 10 September 2015

Waiopehu College to build $1.2m learning support unit - Stuff.co.nz
A $1.2 million suite of learning support classrooms is planned for Waiopehu College, which has a growing reputation for a revolutionary approach to learning support. The building project is fully approved and funded by the Ministry of Education, as the ...

The principal of a Maori total immersion school relocating to Havelock North ... - All About Hawke's Bay (press release)
"We've got good relationships with all our early childhood kohanga reofacilities so we are confident we will grow at the site out there. “But we are not saying 'boom' we are going to have 600 students all of a sudden. It's just good to have an ...

More Support Needed for Maori Boarding Schools - Scoop.co.nz (press release)
New Zealand First is concerned Māori are being shut out of government support for education, leading to the closure of Māori boarding schools. “The Minister of Education has said Turakina Māori Girls' College will have to close if it doesn't get more ...

Trades Academies 'delivering huge benefits' for students - Voxy
Trades Academies are contributing to a significant increase in NCEA Level 2 achievement, especially for MÄ ori and Pasifika students. And they're opening doors to many students that they simply didn't think possible. That's confirmed by a recent ...

Research on Pasifika youth identity - Massey News (press release)
A highlight was the keynote speech by Her Royal Highness Princess Siu'ilikutapu of Tonga. “The whole vision for the event was empowering young Pacific women to build a better future. Partnering creative arts andeducation was a brilliant approach to

Half of incarcerated youth commit more crimes
A group of high school students has found that nearly three quarters of incarcerated youth go on to commit more crime and almost half end up back in custody.

School hooks up neighbours with UFB
An isolated kura on the East Coast of the North Island is to share its ultra-fast broadband with the community at a reduced cost.

Wednesday 9 September 2015

UNESCO still making a difference after 70 years
Scoop.co.nz (press release)
It is awarded in partnership with the New Zealand Council for Educational Research so teachers and researchers can develop innovative resources. “I congratulate UNESCO on the work it has done in education over the past 70 years for young people in New

New Mission Heights Junior College principal has focus on relationships - Auckland stuff.co.nz
Ian Morrison starts his new position at the East Auckland school next week, taking over from Joan Middlemiss who left after six years as foundation principal. Morrison says it has been difficult to say goodbye to staff and students at Howick College .

Kiwis like games but don't call them gamers - Stuff.co.nz
Games are expected to increasingly become part of the workplace and classroom. The survey showed 23 per cent have used video games at work for training and 38 per cent of parents said their kids used them at school for learning. "Educators around the .

Ed tech market grows, thanks to ongoing innovations - Educators NZ
The education technology and smart classrooms market is set to reach $93 billion by 2020, driven by education hardware and software innovations, according to a new research report. Research and Markets, a leading resource for niche and top industries, .

High performance Māori sports school approved by MoE - Māori Television
It's been 11 years in the making, but the Ngāti Kauwhata-led sports initiative Manukura are excited to be given approval by the Minister of Education to be a state designated special character school in high performance sport, which means the school ...

First Talanoa makes crucial connections - Massey News (press release)
We want to give advice to the Minister that is aspirational and is about where we want to be,” said Fatulatetele Tolo, Chief Advisor Pasifika to the Ministry of Education. Liz Tanielu the National Director Pacific at the Ministry of Social Development ...

Call to educate migrants about Māori
A new report has identified a need for more education for migrants about Māori, the Treaty of Waitangi and biculturalism.

School librarians nonplussed by ban
School librarians are in uproar after being told to take copies of banned book Into The  River off their shelves.

Politicians unite over Turakina college
Politicans are putting aside their differences in an effort to save troubled boarding school Turakina Māori Girls' College.

School facing closure banned from Parliament lunch - 3News NZ
The Speaker of the House has banned a group of school students and supporters from attending a luncheon at Parliament. Turakina Maori Girls' College was invited to dine with Maori Party co-leader Marama Fox on Thursday, but Speaker David Carter .

First Pacific Islander to become Auckland law academic
After struggling to focus and losing interest in school, she had her first child at age 18, and was a mother of four children by the time she was 26. Many people had written her off as something of a lost cause.

Battling to save a school with two pupils? | Kiwiblog
Casey added about one in four parents of students prioritised for IWS request a residential placement for their child, and in the last two years no parent of a student prioritised for IWS who has requested a placement for their child in a residential special school has been refused a place. Of those requesting a ... In the interest of consistency and fairness, I expect Labour will call for it be closed as it has higher funding rate per pupil than other schools. Somehow I doubt it ...

Education Ministry spends $1.2m on new website
The Ministry of Education has spent a whopping $1.2million on a new website.

Auckland students struggle to get by on living allowance
Meeting living costs in Auckland is becoming a real struggle for many university students.

Call to stop Aoraki Polytechnic merging
A former Aoraki Polytechnic deputy chairman is calling for the community to stand up and fight for the polytech, fearing it could be lost.

Tertiary Education Institution council members reappointed - Scoop.co.nz (press release)
Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce today announced 15 reappointments to six Tertiary Education Institution councils. These include appointments to three newly-reconstituted university councils, and three leadership ...

Tuesday 8 September 2015

High teacher satisfaction great news for kids - Scoop.co.nz (press release)
Scoop.co.nz (press release)
“That is great news for kids and a tribute to the education system. Happy teachers equal happy classrooms and happy classrooms equal student learning.” The New Zealand figures are almost identical to the average among the 34 countries which took part

New kura to be built in Havelock North will go ahead - Māori Television
"We're excited, it's just another phase I guess that we've been waiting for to complete our moemoeā if you like, from womb to the tomb," says founding member of the kōhanga reo, Matua Hook. The education model is unique, in that it will cater to the ...

Christchurch students develop computer OS
A new computer operating system (OS) designed by school students has the potential to give life back to the old computers thrown into landfills around the world every day

Tip-off leads to $7.5m tertiary funding repayment
RNZ

A whistle-blower's tip-off has led to the Tertiary Education Commission ordering a training centre to repay 7-and-a-half-million-dollars in government funding.

TEC will stagger repayments of 7.5m so Taratahi can survive
Earlier I spoke with the Chief Executive of the Tertiary Education Commission, Tim Fowler about the investigation, which has now been referred to the Serious Fraud Office and which will see Taratahi repay the TEC 7.5 million dollars.

Family First hopes Into The River Ban will set precedent
Family First is hoping the the banning of a book that contains "detailed descriptions of sex acts, coarse language and scenes of drug-taking" will set a precedent for banning other books in the future.

School Libraries Association defends banned book
Listening to that was the President of the School Library Association, Miriam Tuohy.

School food rules 'no-brainer'
New Zealanders want more regulation to ensure school food is healthy, a survey indicates.Almost 80 per cent of those polled were in favour of the Government requiring all schools to implement a health food policy. The same proportion...

Mentors make 'big difference' - New Zealand Herald
Te Taumata o Ngati Whakaue Iho Ake Trust is providing pastoral care for Waiariki Institute of Technology students in an effort to improve Maori andPasifika course completion rates, and increase the numbers entering trade apprenticeships. ... Funded by .

New safety rules could make risk-averse schools, principals say - Stuff.co.nz
Students in the UK are already missing out on experiences because of the perceived risk, Hamilton's St Paul's Collegiate School headmaster Grant Lander said. It was a surprise for a Scottish principal to see about 40 St Paul's boarders swim ...

Pacific Community calls for more attention on literacy
Improving literacy rates in the Pacific Islands should be widely accepted as a priority and shared responsibility if the development aspirations for the region are to be realised, according to the Director-General of the Pacific Community, Dr Colin Tukuitonga.

Hekia Parata shows off her dance moves for Chinese Language Week
Education Minister Hekia Parata showcased her dance moves at the launch of New Zealand's first Chinese Language Week, joining students who performed a Gangnam-style Chinese dance.

Monday 7 September 2015 (and weekend roundup)

Beaten children 'deserve a sorry' - New Zealand Herald
Mr Samuels said the apology he sought was not for himself but for a whole generation of tamariki. Some argued the Government had made amends through the funding of kura kaupapa and kohanga reo, and the elevation of te reo to official language status.

Church to fight to keep school open - Radio New Zealand
With such a limited resource to educate wahine rangatira (leaders), it was imperative Turakina Māori Girls' College stayed open, and the board of proprietors and board of trustees were working intensively together on their separate submissions, Dr ..

Ngāti Kahungunu opposes CYF private sector involvement
One of the country's largest iwi says the Government would be abdicating its responsibility for vulnerable tamariki if parts of Child, Youth and Family were privatised.

The emerging earthquake generation
A new generation of post-quake children is growing up with road cones, traffic delays, broken homes and stressed parents, but they know nothing else.

ECE children speak many languages
Samoan, Sign Language and Chinese are the most widely-spoken languages in early childhood centres after English and Maori.

Universities awarded 67% of science research funds
The relevance and impact of university research has been recognised in this year’s Science Investment Round announced by Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce today.

Every NZ student should be a NZ student volunteer
Scoop.co.nz (press release)
As Volunteering New Zealand and the volunteering sector turns its attention to the inaugural Student Volunteer Week (7th – 13th of September 2015), I find myself thinking about why students should volunteer. I want to draw attention to the barriers and .

Fathers 'should encourage reading'
Kiwi men start out behind the eight ball when it comes to reading, often leading to a poor start for their children's literacy.

Griffith News | Workplace learning pays off for criminology students
Learning on the job has led to paid employment for a host of Criminology and Criminal Justice students. The 100-hour work integrated learning initiative was undertaken in conjunction with coursework, and incorporated

Mind Lab founder Frances Valintine says fewer women working in tech sector - Stuff.co.nz
Stuff.co.nz
Presenting at the conference was Frances Valintine - founder of The Mind Lab, a Unitec learning centre which helps students choose suitable education pathways to develop a career in ICT. Mind Lab founder Frances ... Dell had introduced a programme ...