NZnews

Monday, 10 November 2014

Tuesday 11 November 2014

Applications open for $10m fund for teachers’ ideas

Hekia Parata | Education
Education Minister Hekia Parata has announced that applications have opened for the new $10 million Teacher-led Innovation Fund. The fund is part of the Government’s $359 million Investing in Educational Success (IES) initiative to help raise students’ educational achievement. Ms Parata says the fund will allow great ideas to be put into practice and shared across schools. “The heart of IES is about teachers learning from each other and schools working closely together, and this fund really supports that kind of collaborative approach. ...

Decile funding mo del has flaws - Parata

The Education Minister wants to find better ways of funnelling resources to students most at risk of not doing well. Her comments come as school deciles are re-calculated.

Schools await decile D-Day

Fears are running high among Manawatu schools ahead of this week's decile ratings release, which could see some schools' funding cut by hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Schools to learn of any changes to their decile ratings

The latest recalculation of school decile ratings.

The difference between rich and poor schools: Three ways of looking at decile data

New Zealand Herald
... looked at the differences across deciles for the number of entries in each subject and student accomplishment. Graham Jenson, a software engineer in Wellington, had published a separate interactive(above) on his blog at maori.geek.nz, which used ...

Time running out for decile funding system

School decile numbers are about to change, and that will mean changes to funding for nearly 16-hundred schools.

School on tenterhooks over decile ratings

Schools are being told from today about decile rating changes which may impact their budgets.

Your Views on the decile drift - How school rolls have changed according to ...

New Zealand Herald
Many of those schools increasingly cater to Maori and Pasifika - with high decile schools seeing a big jump in Pakeha and Asian enrolments. The Ministry of Education points to changing demographics as one explanation for the trend, revealed by a Herald ...

Patrick Walsh: There's a poverty fault line in NZ schools and it's creating an ...

New Zealand Herald
The statistics published today by the New Zealand Herald showing a demographic shift of European and Asian students to higher decile schools and a corresponding higher concentration of Maori and Pacific students in lower decile schools over the last ...

Your Views on school ethnicity changes

Principal calls for fairer school funding

The school funding system should be reviewed after enrolment figures showed a growing divide between rich and poor, a leading principal says.Education Minister Hekia Parata has again signalled a wide-ranging review could be on the...

New Zealand’s top educators honoured

Five of the country’s top educators have been honoured with ASG National Excellence in Teaching Awards.

Evolve Education eyes NZ childcare firms

Stuff.co.nz
Australian company Evolve Education was understood to be planning to raise $130 million to buy New Zealand early childhood education businesses through a dual listing on the NZX and the Australian stock exchange. Evolve Education said today it ...
Evolve Education confirms IPO listing
Evolve Education confirms IPO, to raise up to $130 million
Evolve Education confirms share float

Exam fees add to stress for families

Hundreds of Manawatu families are applying for financial assistance to help cover secondary school exam costs, with fears pupils' qualifications could be quashed if parents don't cough up.

Schools have a role to play in sexual consent education

Scoop.co.nz (press release)
“While parents have a critically important role to play in this kind of education – and must be actively involved - schools should also contribute so that our young people are receiving these messages from these two important influencers,” Ms McGill said.

There's a lot more to life than a degree

I certainly enjoyed the opportunity to learn after working in hospitality for two years when I finished school.

New Plymouth Boys' High principal resigns

Michael McMenamin has resigned as principal of New Plymouth Boys' High School.

Woman jailed for defrauding Ministry of Education

Stuff.co.nz
A ''cunning and deceitful'' Hamilton daycare centre owner who defrauded the Ministry of Education to the tune of $327,000 has been jailed for three years. Following a five-day jury trial in August, Trixie Rosina Leigh, 72, was found guilty on all four ...

Strong Support for Education in Marlborough region

Scoop.co.nz (press release)
“Our Marlborough Trustees have always shown a real passion for the education sector as a way to make tangible difference in young peoples lives and this has not changed, with education making up 16% of Marlborough's annual donations budget,” says Ms ...

Monday 10 November 2014

Minister wishes students the best for exams

Hekia Parata | Education
Education Minister Hekia Parata has offered her best wishes to the 143,000 students sitting NCEA and New Zealand Scholarship examinations. “This is an exciting time because it’s the culmination of many months of hard work and study, but it can also be stressful and demanding. “I congratulate these students for all their work so far and wish them all the very best over the next three weeks. “I know that parents will be doing everything they can to support their kids over the coming days, just as they have done throughout their lives. ...

NCEA exams start today

NCEA exams start today, Monday marking the beginning of 3 weeks of swot and stress for 143-thousand secondary school students and their families.

It's that dreaded time of year again...NCEA exams kick off

Thousands of students across the country will sit their first NCEA exam this morning.Just over 39,000 students will sit Level 1 science at 9.30am, with more students also sitting Japanese, geography, chemistry and history exams...

First NCEA exam kicks off with science

Stuff.co.nz
Thousands of teenagers head in to their first major NCEA exam this morning. More than 39,000 pupils will sit Level 1 science at 9.30am, along with smaller groups sitting agricultural and horticultural science, chemistry, geography, Japanese, and ...

New decile rankings hit school budgets

Stuff.co.nz
A quarter of a million pupils will be hit by school funding cuts to be announced this week, which principals say will force them to turn to sausage sizzles and "voluntary" fees to resource their classrooms. But in a Peter-paying-Paul exercise, the ...

PPTA members vote on government policy

Secondary teachers start voting today on whether to include the government's new top jobs for teachers and principals in their collective agreement.

Interactive: The decile drift - how school rolls have changed according to ...

Your Views on school ethnicity changes

The number of Pakeha children attending schools in New Zealand's poorer communities has halved since the mid-1990s.Many of those schools increasingly cater to Maori and Pasifika - with high decile schools seeing a big jump in Pakeha...

$24.7 million to transform NAPLAN to online testing « ForeignAffairs ...

Online NAPLAN testing will transform national testing from a written format to a tailored online one with questions that vary in difficulty depending on the ability of the student. “Every year there are concerns raised about ...

Do Schools Really Need Principals?

Rafiq Kalam Id-Din is walking down a hallway at Brooklyn's Professional Prep charter school when he sees a fourth-grader in the doorway of a so-called "djed room." The room, named after an ancient Egyptian symbol for stability, is...

Charter schools claim early success

Stuff.co.nz
On the wall of a classroom full of Maori and Polynesian students at SAMS, a poster reads: "Don't be afraid to fail. Be afraid not to try." Of the 110 students, 93 per cent come from the Government's "priority learners" group. Eighty one per cent of the ...

First certificate opens doors

Stuff.co.nz
SENSE OF CERTAINTY: Joseph Maugaotega has done his first adultworkplace training with Hornby-based B&D Doors and it has given him the confidence to move out of the family home and go flatting for the first time.

St Kent's challenges other schools to save lives

St Kentigern School has set the challenge to other schools to get behind fundraising for Kiwi inventor Sir Ray Avery's LifePod incubators.Sir Ray's charity, Medicine Mondiale, launched a $2 million global fundraising appeal on October...

Teaching awards reflect students and papers

Otago Daily Times ...

University of Otago academics Dr Kristin Hillman (centre), Dr Gill Rutherford and Otago physics PhD student Malcolm Smeaton have won teaching awards. Photo by Gregor Richardson. University of Otago lecturer Dr Kristin ...

NZEI congratulates expert teachers

Scoop.co.nz (press release)
“These are teachers who have proven to be experts in the classroom. They are people who are working at the top of their game. And they're certainly the teachers we want to encourage to stay in the classroomswhere their skills will make the greatest ...

Grant a thrill for Northland lecturer

Northern Advocate
Dr Stewart's research project, titled Maori-Medium EducationalScholarship, will study the results of te reo Maori policies in New Zealand universities. "I'll be looking at theses that are written in te reo Maori and analysing them carefully, comparing ...

Thursday, 6 November 2014

Friday 7 November 2014

$500,000 Youth Financial Literacy Fund

Nikki Kaye | Youth
Youth Minister Nikki Kaye today announced the opening of a Financial Literacy Fund to support organisations to deliver financial literacy skills to young people. “The fund will prioritise initiatives focused on assisting disadvantaged youth. In Budget 2014, Government announced $2.5 million of new funding over the next three years for youth enterprise initiatives,” Ms Kaye says. “The funding will support young people to learn financial literacy and business enterprise skills, as well as get opportunities to develop social-enterprise projects. ...

Quiz: Are you smarter than a 15-year-old?

Stuff.co.nz
For a taste of what the 143,000 teenagers sitting NCEA and scholarship tests are facing, we've prepared this quiz based on questions from previous years' level 1 maths, English, science, history, geography and classics papers. To ease the culture shock ...

Schools standing strong over opposition to education plans

Scoop.co.nz (press release)
Primary schools remain strongly opposed to the government's Investing inEducational Success policy despite strong attempts by the Ministry ofEducation to sell the policy to them. NZEI Te Riu contacted 70 percent of Auckland principals after the ...

PM’s downplaying of hunger in schools stuns principals

Primary principals are astounded by the Prime Minister’s latest comments about hunger in schools. When questioned in parliament last night about hungry school children, John Key said that at all the decile 1-4 schools he had visited, principals...

Strong Support for Education in the Nelson Tasman region

Scoop.co.nz (press release)
“We believe that in education, as with all things, that a one-size-fits all approach is no longer applicable – to really prepare our children for the future, we need to think innovatively and look to forming strong collaborative relationships within ...

Combined Council to appoint one Chief Executive

The Council of Whitireia Community Polytechnic (Whitireia) and the Wellington Institute of Technology (WelTec) have been considering the next stage for the strategic partnership of these two highly successful and well-regarded Wellington region institutions.

Students' ambitious trade project

Auckland stuff.co.nz
TRADE UP: Grey Lynn School students Ethan Hall, Ruby Honore, Emily Allan and Koen Dettling are ready to trade a toilet as part of theirclassroom project, With One Loaf. The class want to continue to trade items until they can secure a house for a ...

Wednesday, 5 November 2014

Thursday 6 November 2014

Winners, losers in new deciles

Some schools are braced for funding cuts in the tens of thousands of dollars as the wealth of their families is re-assessed.Updated deciles will be released this month and determine how much money is available to be spent at every...

School Boards of Trustees Slam Charter Schools

Boards of Trustees in the greater Wellington region are adamantly opposed to the National and Act Parties agreement to publically fund Charter Schools, say Chris Toa, Chairperson, Wellington Wairarapa School Trustees Association (WWSTA), based ...

$5.4m wireless upgrade for schools

A Wellington primary school with a "sluggish" wireless connection is one of hundreds getting an upgrade as part of a $5.4 million government cash injection.

Job stress ‘serious threat’ at tertiary institutions

Tertiary Update Vol 17 No 38 People working in tertiary education have significantly more workplace stress than the average New Zealander according to survey data from AUT’s Work Research Institute. The survey, which TEU commissioned, was completed earlier this year and will be presented to the union’s annual conference next week. The survey identified the […]

Steve Maharey: Uni shake-up can halt NZ's ranking slide

There are about 17,600 universities in the world, with new ones added every year. New Zealand universities consistently rank in the top 3 per cent and are well-respected in the international community.But they are slipping. The...

Finding the skills to fill trade gap

A Levin teacher is hoping he has part of the answer to a shortage of engineering labour in Horowhenua.

Parata wants to stay clear of dispute between Kōhanga Board and Toni Waho

Māori Television
Education Minister Hekia Parata says it was right for ministers to be informed of misspending allegations regarding the Kōhanga ReoNational Trust and its subsidiary, Te Pātaka Ōhanga. Despite that, Hekia Parata doesn't want to get involved in a ...

Students removed over staff friction

Stuff.co.nz
Some Linwood College parents are removing their children from the school, citing concerns the relationship between staff and management could affect students' learning. Students have told The Press that friction between staff and leadership is "obvious ...

Indonesian special education teachers access NZ expertise

Scoop.co.nz (press release)
... education and disability education in the Ministry of Education and Culture accompanied the teachers to New Zealand, and met with Director of the Institute of Education Professor John O'Neill, and the director of the Centre for Educational ...

Institute of Education hosts delegation from Thai Government

Scoop.co.nz (press release)
Closer educational ties have been forged between New Zealand and Thailand, with a recent official visit to the Albany campus. Massey University's Institute of Education hosted a delegation of senior officials from Thailand's Office of the Permanent ...

Even teachers buy into college prank

Picturesque grounds, prime Greytown location, and 500 students - and it can all be yours, according to a fancy real estate sign.Teachers and students arriving at Kuranui College yesterday morning were startled to discover a "For...

Tuesday, 4 November 2014

Wednesday 5 November 2014

$5.4 million for school wireless connections

Nikki Kaye | Education
On a visit today to Clifton Terrace Model School in Wellington, Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye announced funding of $5.4 million to enable upgrades to improve wireless connectivity for more than 400 schools. Ms Kaye says it’s a significant boost for staff and students who want to be more mobile with their devices while at school. ...

$56m in Marsden funding for top NZ researchers

Steven Joyce | Science and Innovation
New Zealand’s top researchers will receive $56 million in Marsden Fund grants over the next three years as a result of funding decisions announced today, Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce says. 101 programmes have been approved in this year’s funding round and include projects on robotics as therapy for cerebral palsy, using Google balloons to probe weather systems, why heart failure is common in diabetics, and fine-scale imaging of the Alpine Fault zone. ...

Sabbatical reports recently added

Sabbatical reports added in October 2014

Students removed over staff friction

Some Linwood College parents are removing their children from the school, citing concerns the relationship between staff and management could affect students' learning.

Marsden grant for Maori law study

A Wellington researcher's been granted hundreds of thousands of dollars to study Maori law and its role within, and alongside, the current legal system.

Computer study given $870,000

Two University of Canterbury researchers have received $870,000 in Marsden funding over three years to research how engineering and psychology could combine to make wearable computer systems easier to use.HIT Lab NZ director Professor...

$5.1m in Marsden grants for Massey researchers

Ten Massey University-led research projects will receive research funding worth more than $5.1 million from the Government's Marsden Fund this year.

Waikato University researchers awarded four Marsden grants

Investigating whether a ‘sin’ tax would reduce consumption of things that are bad for our health is the subject of one of four projects led by University of Waikato researchers that has been supported in the latest round of Marsden Funding.

Auckland celebrates $15.2 million success in Marsden Fund

The University of Auckland is celebrating the success of 28 of its researchers and research groups, who have won $15.2 million in the prestigious Marsden Fund round, amounting to 27.3 percent of the total awarded this year.

Education academic awarded Marsden Fund research grant

Dr Georgina Stewart of the Faculty of Education’s Tai Tokerau Campus in Whangarei has received a $300,000 research grant in the prestigious Marsden Fund 2014 round.

Marsden funding success for Victoria researchers

Victoria University of Wellington researchers have received 25 prestigious Marsden Fund grants worth $12.1 million, the largest number ever received by the University.

Substantial funding for research at University of Auckland

From the science of elections to the adaptive ability of an endangered New Zealand bird, research programmes at the University of Auckland have attracted $7.33 million in Marsden Fund grants for 2014.

Teaching shouldn't stop at the physical - students

Stuff.co.nz
Suggestions that the issue of sexual consent could be introduced to the classroom in a more formal capacity was a promising sign that something more serious could be considered to educate youngsters, Wilson-Orr said. "People are stepping up now and ...

NZ universities should chase the Chinese tertiary education market in a joint ...

Interest.co.nz
The annual event also allows foreign tertiary institutions an avenue to access the Chinese tertiary education market. Given that there are seven million graduates each year in China, the market is significant for foreign institutions interested in ...

Secondary schools left out of the shade

Scoop.co.nz (press release)
“Teenagers are more aware of their looks and are extremely sensitive to the views of their peers so it comes as no surprise that they prefer to wear fashionable clothing as opposed to adult-advised sun protective covered clothing,” Dr Reiche says ...

Food In Schools Bill A 'Band-Aid' Solution

Scoop.co.nz (press release)
Family First NZ says that the Food in Schools Bill due for its 1st Reading in Parliament this week is well-intentioned but will be a short-term band-aid to mask the more serious issues of parental neglect, loan sharks, budgeting, and family breakdown ...

Monday, 3 November 2014

Tuesday 4 November 2014

Competition honours 28th Māori Battalion

Hekia Parata | Education
Education Minister Hekia Parata has announced the winners of The Challenge, a creative school competition honouring one of New Zealand’s finest fighting forces, the 28th Māori Battalion. The Challenge gives Year 7-13 students the opportunity to express what they learn about the Battalion using 21st century media. ...

Few schools opting into government scheme

Caution and uncertainty are keeping many primary schools out of the government's flagship education scheme.

School to be rebuilt due to leaks

Stuff.co.nz
Four of the classrooms have already been demolished and students in nine classes have been moved into relocatable rooms on the sports field. The master plan is expected to be finished by February. Construction will start in October next year and will ...

Funding needed for consent education programmes

Scoop.co.nz (press release)
Wellington-based organisation, Sexual Abuse Prevention Network Coordinator, Fiona McNamara says “There are a number of successful prevention programmes running in schools and with young people outside of mainstream education throughout the ... schools ...

Students stood down for sister school streak

Stuff.co.nz
Five senior Nelson College students have been stood down after running semi-nude through their sister school's end of year prize giving assembly. Headmaster Gary O'Shea said he was ''furious'' about the incident at Nelson College for Girls. ''It's just ...

Sunday, 2 November 2014

Monday 3 November 2014

Maths & Science Not Hitting Mark

Insight for 2 November 2014

John Gerritsen explores why NZ school students have slumped in maths and science

Education Ministry discusses consent education

Dr. Graham Stoop is the Education Ministry's Head of Student Achievement. The Ministry of Education is about to update sex education guidelines to include addressing issues of consent, coercion and safety.

Consent and sexuality education – Family Planning

Scoop.co.nz (press release)
Family Planning chief executive Jackie Edmond says the organisation welcomes the decision by the Ministry of Education to update its sexuality education guidelines around consent, coercion and safety in intimate relationships. And ... and skills ...

Te Whare Wānanga o Awanuiārangi staff damage institute's reputation

Māori Television
Māori Tourism certificate 'Hei Manaaki' is at the centre of an investigation, which saw the provider having to repay $5.9 million to the Tertiary Education Commission and the cancellation of 217 of the certificates to supposed graduates of the course ...
Wananga repays $6m in course funding
Awanuiarangi agrees to pay settlement to TEC
Awanuiarangi repays $5.9m after rort exposes

Paul Thomas: Schoolboy cruelty cycle rolls on

I have a confession to make: I was a teenage hazer.As a boarder at King's College sometime last century, I hazed. But before I was a hazer, I was a hazee. And there was a period when I was both.Only we didn't call it hazing, we...

School takes tough line on 'pillowcase' bullies

A group of King's College students involved in the bullying of juniors have had their suspensions extended until the end of the school year.

King's College students suspended until year end

Private school King's College says students implicated in a bullying incident will be suspended for the rest of the school year.The school said it had completed an investigation after the bullying allegations surfaced this week.The...

Parents struggle to pay for camps

The cost of sending their children on school camp has some Manawatu parents lining up at food banks for assistance.

New anti-bullying computer game to promote cultural change in schools

Techday NZ
Dr Michael Hobbs, Deakin School of IT senior lecturer, has led the project design team, in conjunction with Creating A Safe Supportive Environment's (CASSE) 'Peaceful Schools Program' (PSP), to develop the game based on altruism and cooperation.

Nearly 400 students enrolled already in summer courses

Almost 400 students have already enrolled at the University of Canterbury summer courses. Among the 107 courses this year are Antarctic studies, astronomy research, New Zealand biosecurity issues, rebuilding Christchurch, finance and business, Maori ...

School beset by conflict

Auckland stuff.co.nz
Linwood College was extended to year 7 and 8 pupils under the ministry's reshuffle of Christchurch schools and it became the country's first science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM)-focused school. Documents obtained under the Official ...

Should social media be taught in school?

Techday NZ
As social media becomes a part of everyday life, more people are entering into the discussion about whether it should be covered in the school curriculum. Recent statistics show 83 percent of teens in the U.S. aged 14-18 are on a social network ...

Bid to establish ICT graduate school in Wellington; to help companies thrive

Scoop.co.nz (press release)
... and Communications Technology (ICT) Graduate School that addresses the needs of the region. Earlier this year the Government announced it was investing $28.6 million over four years in ICT graduate schools in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch.

Cherrington mourned north and south

Māori at opposite ends of the country are mourning the passing of influential kaumatua Riki Cherrington, who has died at the age of 72.

Youth Guarante e ~ Tertiary Education Commission

These initiatives create a variety of opportunities, alongside secondary school, for students to achieve a minimum of National Certificate of Educational Achievement (NCEA) level two or equivalent which will enable progression into higher ...

University to end fossil fuel investment

A New Zealand university is taking steps to divest itself of an estimated half-million dollars investment in fossil fuel and coal companies.

Stuart McCutcheon: Higher education must come at a price

I was very surprised to be castigated by Brian Rudman for suggesting that New Zealand should have a great university. Even more surprising is his claim that...

Putting music research to educational use in the Pacific

Scoop.co.nz (press release)
BD-inFSMA lecturer from Victoria University of Wellington's Te Kōkī New Zealand School of Music (NZSM), will use his research as an educational tool for local communities in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). Using sound recordings of ...

University academic appointed to Literacy Research Panel

Professor Stuart McNaughton has accepted a three-year appointment to the International Reading Association’s Literacy Research Panel (LRP). The panel conducts research activities through conferences, events and blogs throughout the year. The panel members ...