Tuesday, 1 April 2014

Education inequity not only NZ's problem

Stuff.co.nz
NZEI president Judith Nowotarski said the summit was about addressing inequity in educational achievement, and addressing inequality outside the classroom would contribute to that goal. All children deserved the opportunity to thrive and reach their ...

Peter Lyons: Education should not be a case of left or right

The headmaster turned up the other day with the local MP. I was sitting down the back of the staffroom. He introduced me by saying "This is Pete Lyons, he does a bit of writing for the newspapers, he's a leftie." It was said in good...

NZ 'way ahead' of America

Efforts to ensure all Kiwi kids can access early childhood education are "way ahead" of a similar American push, says the US Secretary of Education.Arne Duncan has been in New Zealand at the International Summit on the Teaching...

Literacy challenge for iwi

waateanews.com
Keith Ikin from Waikato University 's National Centre of Literacy and Numeracy for Adults says when Maori kids drop out of school without NCEA level one, it's likely they can't read and write well enough to meet the demands of the modern workforce. He ...

Stuart McCutcheon: Govt plan threatens varsities' autonomy

New Zealand Herald
It is for this reason that the Education Act obliges us all, Government included, to "preserve and enhance autonomy and academic freedom". Of course, we should be accountable to the Government, because about half our revenues derive from the public ...

Union to present student allowance plan

MSN NZ News
The union is presenting its plan in Wellington on Tuesday to a panel of tertiary education spokespeople, including Dave Clendon of the Greens, Mana's Hone Harawira, Tracey Martin of NZ First and Grant Robertson of Labour. © NZN 2014. Most popular ...

Industry professionals to teach?

Stuff.co.nz
Lincoln-based Tertiary Education Union (TEU) organiser Cindy Doull said last week that the restructure would affect about 10 per cent of the university's roughly 650 staff. It is understood that all eight change proposals have now been made available ...

Monday, 31 March 2014

Protest rallies against inequity in schools

Stuff.co.nz
About 300 parents, teachers, school support staff rallied with teachers' union NZEI in Wellington about the growing inequity in schools as theeducation minister hosted the International Education Summit inside.Education Minister ... NZEI president ...
Low pay in education sector highlighted

Parata irked by timing of teacher union protest

Stuff.co.nz
The country's largest teachers' union will march on Parliament today protesting against growing inequity in schools at the same time as theeducation minister is hosting an international summit. NZEI has organised rallies in Wellington and Auckland ...
NZEI protest action tramples honour of our Nation

Kids writing in capitals: not useful

The Dominion Post
Gray said increasingly, "specially with the introduction of National Standards we're losing sight of the huge link between the physical and the intellectual, the way that our brains and our bodies are so, so connected. "The idea of testing children and ... 

Official stories shape kids' minds expert

New Zealand Herald
Researched over three years by University of Auckland childhood studies lecturer Dr Marek Tesar, the thesis delved into the effects of the former Department of Education-commissioned stories aimed at helping young children understand and express their ...

Schools' faith in technology 'a cancer'

Stuff.co.nz
The two major issues facing education are the need to free the curriculum from archaic assessment practice (in other words, the removal of national standards) and curbing the rampant spending on technology in schools.National standards are a huge step ...

Help teachers to teach

Stuff.co.nz
What works best in the classroom? Please refer to research conducted by John Hattie. Note that anything with an effect size of 0.4 and over is regarded as having a significant influence on learning. Also, on the positive side, step in to classrooms in ...

Editorial: Local solutions key to fitting in more pupils

If proof was ever needed that forecast growth in Auckland's population will present challenges well beyond transport infrastructure and housing density, it is to be found in the pressure on school rolls.Demand has resulted in some...

Iwi advisor supports Minister on kohanga reo trust

Scoop.co.nz (press release)
Willie Te Aho has supported the iwi leadership of Sir Toby Curtis and Pem Bird in asking for the National Kohanga Reo Trust to account for the allegations against its subsidiary company Te Ohanga Pataka Limited. He has also supported the position taken ...
Kohanga funds may be at risk
Parata pushing Kohanga Reo over $50000 koha

Commitments from Labour and Greens a huge boost for school support staff

NZEI Te Riu Roa has welcomed Labour leader David Cunliffe’s commitment that a Labour-led government would work towards centrally funding the salaries of school support staff and paying the Living Wage of $18.80 per hour.

Corporates provide schools with new operating system

It is 7.40 on a humid Auckland morning and a dedicated group of wannabe IT experts is already lining up outside a classroom at Avondale College in the west of the city.While waiting for their teacher to arrive, the students are...

Students shouldn't need to borrow to live

"To reclaim tertiary education for students we need to introduce living allowances for all students, and start working immediately to eliminate student fees." This is our line in the sand, said TEU national president Lesley Francey, at tomorrow ...

Recruitment Process for Te Wananga o Aoteoroa Transformation

Te Wananga o Aotearoa, one of New Zealand's largest tertiary education providers, is set to enter the most significant transition phase in its thirty year history. As part of its mission to achieve whanau transformation through education, the institution ...

Joint US-NZ Fulbright scholarship announcement

Joint US-NZ Fulbright scholarship announcement 28 March 2014 US Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and New Zealand Minister of Education Hekia Parata today announced the establishment of the Fulbright Distinguished Teaching Awards Programme. The programme ...

Friday, 28 March 2014

Education "world cup" starts in Wellington today

An event billed as the World Cup of Education kicks off in Wellington this morning.

Kohanga funds may be at risk

Radio New Zealand
The Education Minister is indicating government funding for Te Kohanga Reo Trust Board may at risk if it does not fully address allegations of mis-spending and restore public confidence. Hekia Parata has called in the Serious Fraud Office to ...

Kohanga Reo needs rebuild

The Dominion Post
OPINION: Everyone agrees that change is needed at the kohanga reo. Even the Kohanga Reo Trust Board, which runs the system, acknowledges this. It said so in a short written statement this week. And here is part of the problem. After an avalanche of ...
King backs calls for trust reform
Trust needs shakeup

Protest unites teachers

Auckland stuff.co.nz
"Teachers can work miracles in the classroom by they can't fix poverty." The Living Wage for Learning march will gather at Queen Elizabeth Square at 11.30am tomorrow before the rally at Aotea Square. Ad Feedback. - © Fairfax NZ News. | Saved Stories

Innovative classroom design 

Classroom learning; how a students surroundings can have a positive impact.

Petition to save Maori research centre

Radio New Zealand
An international petition has been launched to save the country's onlyMaori Centre of Research Excellence. Nga Pae o Te Maramatanga is likely to close its doors at the end of next year when its funding from the Tertiary Education Commission runs out.

Lifting Māori adult literacy and numeracy critical

Scoop.co.nz (press release)
An international survey completed in New Zealand in 2006 [The AdultLiteracy and Lifeskills Survey, http://www.educationcounts.govt.nz/topics/research/all], found that 70 percent of Māori adults did not meet minimum world standards for literacy and ...

Christian school says girl too boyish

Manawatu Standard
"You're probably aware that Timberlake Christian School is a religious, Bible-believing institution providing education in a distinctly Christian environment," Doris Thompson, Sunnie's grandmother, read from the letter. "We believe that unless Sunnie ...
Tomboy not welcome at Christian school

Thursday, 27 March 2014

Global Education Ministers arrive for Summit

Hekia Parata | Education
Ministers of Education from the top performing education systems around the world have started arriving in New Zealand to attend the 4th International Summit on the Teaching Profession (Summit), which starts tomorrow. Education Minister Hekia Parata says, “It is a credit to the quality of our education system that these international ministers are coming. This is the ‘world cup’ of education and our bid to host this prestigious summit was well received, and is being well supported.” ...

School payroll improving again 

Steven Joyce | Education
Minister Responsible for Novopay Steven Joyce today released the report on complaints and notifications received in regards to Pay Period 26 of the schools’ payroll. ...

Aiming for excellence in education

The Dominion Post
OPINION: An international summit starting in Wellington tomorrow is part of a global debate on how to achieve excellence and equity in education, writes Education Minister Hekia Parata. We are fortunate in New Zealand to have some of the best educators ...

Global Education Ministers arrive for Summit

Confusion over Kohanga inquiry

Two key players in the $90,000 Ernst & Young review of Te Kohanga Reo National Trust have contradictory views about what the terms of reference allowed the review to do.The Ministry of Education says the terms of reference were...

trustees 'must be accountable'

Stuff.co.nz
Kohanga reo leaders should step aside if inquiries into alleged misspending reveal a lack of action to address the concerns, community members say. Three inquiries are currently under way into allegations of misspending by officials at the Kohanga Reo ...

Team effort boosts education

Auckland stuff.co.nz
MIT is working with education partners in Tonga and Samoa to encourage unresponsive students to stay in the school system for longer and to further their education through vocational pathways. The MIT Pacific Islands Secondary Tertiary Development ...

Student loan arrest threat prompts spike in calls from debtors 

The threat of arrest has prompted hundreds of people with student loans to contact the Inland Revenue Department to get their loan repayments in order.

Children overlooked in the transition to primary school

A Victoria University researcher has found that parents and teachers working through the transition from early childhood services to primary school sometimes forget to ask children for their input. Maggie Haggerty, a senior lecturer at Victoria University ...

Low decile schools need more support from government

Principals and teachers at low decile schools need more support from the government to ensure that all children get equitable access to education.

Cutting $4 million from Lincoln staff will harm education

Tertiary Update Vol 17 No 7 Lincoln has been told it needs to cut $4 million from salaries by 2015, and it is responding with a series of restructures that could see up to...

Mindset change needed to boost New Zealanders skill set

Scoop.co.nz (press release)
If we want New Zealand to remain a prosperous nation both trade and professional training need to raise their expectations of literacy ability in problem solving and continuous lifelong learning.” “It's time to stop this kind of polarised thinking that ...

School's new garden is good medicine

Stuff.co.nz
Every classroom has their own area in the garden to look after." The idea for the medicinal garden was inspired by the school's ... more funding through the Telecom Foundation's website givealittle. Go to givealittle.co.nz and search Hillpark School to ...

Tears over principal's shock resignation

There were tears at Dunedin's St Hilda's Collegiate School yesterday as principal Melissa Bell unexpectedly announced she would resign at the end of this year.The 41-year-old was diagnosed with an aggressive form of breast cancer...

Wednesday, 26 March 2014

Generation gap behind Kohanga Reo scandal

The Press
OPINION: There is a strong temptation to dismiss the Te Kohanga ReoTrust scandal as something for Maori to sort out. Strong, because there is reluctance on the part of Pakeha journalists to intrude upon Maori disputes. Charges of colonialist ...

Marchers take aim at living wage in schools

Auckland stuff.co.nz
But Ms Gauld says investment needs to go directly into homes andclassrooms rather than millions going into highly paid roles. "There is an army of support staff in our neighbourhood schools who work with our children for very low wages," she says.

Kids dragged from school to school

Our poorest schools are swapping nearly half their pupils a year, as transient families chase work or flee debt.

Novopay having 'unacceptable' impact: PPTA

MSN NZ News
The Ministry of Education expects to spend a further $10m on additional work by the end of June and Mr Joyce said discussions with Talent2 over liability for the additional costs are ongoing. However, he said considering an alternative pay system ...

Christchurch super school to open in 2017

3News NZ
The government is moving ahead with a plan for a school for year one to year 13 students on the site of Aranui High School to serve the needs of the eastern suburbs of Christchurch. Education Minister Hekia Parata says the Aranui Community Campus will ...

Schools file for appeal over staff sleepovers

Schools are worried a court ruling could unexpectedly leave them facing higher costs for teachers to attend events such as camps and overseas trips.

Inaugural Virtual Learning Awards launched

Techday NZ
The Awards have been launched to encourage further development and learning variety in the classroom, and will be presented in Wellington on April 15th 2014. Six individuals have been selected by VLNC council members and guest judge Eric Greenop, ...

Tuesday, 25 March 2014

Social climbing leading to decile drift

New Zealand Herald
NZCER chief researcher Dr Cathy Wylie said the survey found almost all schools with enrolment zones - intended to check the over-growth of some schools at the expense of others - took students from outside their zone. Forty-one per cent of schools with ...

Hekia Parata.

New Zealand Herald
It's been labeled a 'whitewash' or a 'brownwash' by opposition politicians and many commentators. Whatever the truth, the Government-initiated report released last week about the Kohanga Reo National Trust has certainly not satisfied critics, or killed ...
Kohanga trust, TPO will cooperate with investigations
Cunliffe: 'Hard analysis' needed in Kohanga investigation
Turia welcomes scrutiny of Kohanga arm

Can the Kohanga Reo movement survive ongoing controversy?

After repeated calls to front up on the allegations of misusing funds, the Kohanga Reo Trust responded yesterday with a statement.

Labour says Hekia Parata must do more on Kohanga

Labour leader David Cunliffe discusses the issue.

Kōhanga board told to sort itself out

Māori Television
We spoke for a short while and she said the board is committed to theKōhanga reo movement, but did not want to be interviewed. All of these issues will undoubtedly be vigorously debated in the coming meeting, where it's hoped a resolution will be found.

'Dire need' for 5000 more apprentices

Stuff.co.nz
Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment Minister Steven Joyce said all options would need to be used to meet the demand for construction workers, including apprenticeships and bringing in more skilled workers from overseas. "We're not relying on ...

Market values don't work in schools

Stuff.co.nz
I have watched with dismay over the last five-plus years as the Government has continually pursued policies that have been shown overseas to damage public education. Starting with the neither-National nor-Standard policy rushed through parliament under ...

Website lets parents keep in touch

Stuff.co.nz
Next month Dixon will be submitting to the education and science select committee, which has been hearing submissions as part of an inquiry into engaging parents in their children's education. "There are many centres that don't have the resources to ...

Trust statement doesn't get Hekia off hook

Scoop.co.nz (press release)
“Ms Parata's latest blunder comes on top of a procession of stuff-ups and high-handed pronouncements: performance-based funding for schools, larger class sizes, the Canterbury schools' debacle, Charter Schools, and National Standards. Labour welcomes ...

School Principals Set Date On Continuing Policy Engagement

Principals across the country have become increasingly concerned about the direction and implementation of the Investing in Educational Success proposition which was announced by the Prime Minister in January, and are now asking in increasing numbers ...

University ponders future support

waateanews.com
The university, which hosts Nga Pae o Te Maramatanga, was criticised at last week's national workshop on Maori research for its silence over the Tertiary Education Commissions's decision to stop funding the centre. But Jim Peters says the university is ...

Jobs to go at Lincoln

Stuff.co.nz
Lincoln-based Tertiary Education Union (TEU) organiser Cindy Doull said the restructure would affect eight to 10 per cent of the university's roughly 650 staff. Two change proposals had already been released to facilities management staff and those in ...

Dynamic principal dies

Auckland stuff.co.nz
A pioneer of West Auckland education will be remembered for turning a Glen Eden school around. Russell Fletcher was the principal of Glen Eden Intermediate School for 30 years, from 1962 until 1992. He is credited with boosting the school community ...

Monday, 24 March 2014

Ministers launch education portal Hekia Parata | Education

Education Minister Hekia Parata and Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye today launched a new digital portal for teachers, students and education administrators with Crown-owned company Network for Learning (N4L). Ms Parata says the Government has invested $211 million in the N4L managed network as a fully funded package for schools and has also tasked the company with developing the portal. ...

Address to Festival of Education, Export Education Symposium, Auckland

Steven Joyce | Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment
It is my pleasure to be here this afternoon and can I say how pleased I am to see international education on the agenda. Over the last few years as Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills and Employment I’ve been privileged to travel overseas promoting New Zealand as a study destination, and helping to establishing links between New Zealand and overseas institutions. ...

Parata launches education portal

Stuff.co.nz
Embattled education minister Hekia Parata today launched a project to bring better online content to schools. Parata has been under fire this week over handling of allegations of misuse of money associated with Kohanga Reo. But today she sidestepped ..

N4L's 'Pond' provides gateway to collaborative environment

Techday NZ
These include DigitalNZ, educational video service eTV, Google apps specialist Hapara, NZ On Screen, the National Library of New Zealand and New Zealand Geographic. Testers are using Pond to discover rich educational ... “For example, educators that ...

N4L unveils name and features of a new portal

Strong Support for Festival of Education

More than 50 Christchurch schools, universities, Early Childhood Education providers and industry organisations will be represented in the workshops, performances and presentations at this weekend’s Christchurch Festival of Education.

'Dodgy' teachers to lose anonymity

Teachers accused of dodgy behaviour will no longer be able to hide behind name suppression.

Parata attacks kohanga reo board

New Zealand Herald
Education Minister Hekia Parata yesterday launched an attack on TeKohanga Reo National Trust, accusing its board of failing to act responsibly, of not being democratic enough, losing public confidence and of putting its Maori language work at risk ...
Kohanga Reo Trust cleared but confusion remains
Independent Review of Kōhanga Reo National Trust released
Parata calls on SFO to probe Te Kohanga Reo Trust

A kohanga reo tale of woe

The Southland Times
Ms Collins may have done the Government no favours with with her de facto Oravida benediction but that has been emphatically trumped by Ms Parata's pretty much catastrophic handling of the kohanga reo scandal. She announced that the Ernst & Young ...

Trust board says minister was wrong

NZ City
The Kohanga Reo National Trust board says Education Minister Hekia Parata was wrong when she said it wasn't investigating its subsidiary Te Pataka Ohanga. "A few things need to be corrected, and there are a few porkies (lies) being told as well," board ...

Act now, leaders tell Kohanga

New Zealand Herald
Maori leaders are calling on the Kohanga Reo National Trust to immediately address its problems, including allegations against its company Te Pataka Ohanga, and say the trust's failure to do so is jeopardising its future. Ngati Porou leader Apirana ...
Maori leaders say front up kohanga
Credit card scandal has become a farce
Blame at Hekia's feet

Stand up for our schools

Stuff.co.nz
Schools had been thrown into unjustified and unsubstantiated turmoil -national standards, network reviews, unjustified closures of special schools, introduction of charter schools, a diabolical payroll system, a failed attempt to increase class sizes ...

Vulnerable students 'let down'

3News NZ
... is necessary to enable JavaScript. Follow this instructions to enable JavaScript in your web browser. Vulnerable students 'let down' by charter schools - NZ First. Saturday 22 Mar 2014 1:32p.m. New Zealand First Education spokesperson Tracey Martin ...

Leap of faith to believe Parata

Stuff.co.nz
NZ First leader Winston Peters has previously excoriated Whanau Ora's ''whanau plan'' grants of up to $20,000 after discovering one went to a rugby club and another to a family reunion. In the case of charter schools, meanwhile, we know they will be ...
Last straw: Hekia Parata must go

NCEA is a failed system

Stuff.co.nz
The whole educational system and the underlying attitude towardseducation needs a total revamp. Putting a few over-qualified teachers who have been trained and indoctrinated into the current system will not going to resolve anything. It is time to ...

Education reforms 'heartless'

Stuff.co.nz
The adoption of catch phrases such as "digital natives", "twenty-fist century classrooms", "Education 3.0" are all indicators of a complete lack of understanding by the people who use these terms. If our education system needs anything, it is an ...

Espiner: Parata should be sacked

The Press
The Education Minister set a new benchmark for smoking rubber when she went from trumpeting a report "clearing" the Kohanga Reo National Trust of misspending public money to calling in the Serious Fraud Office within 24 hours. While Parata used ...

Classrooms at bursting point

Radical measures are on the cards to cope with a huge increase in the number of school-age children in Auckland as already full schools struggle to cope.The Ministry of Education must find space for 107,000 more school-age children...

New glitches spark call to ditch Novopay system

Southland schools are struggling with new Novopay problems, prompting some to suggest it might finally be time to ditch the plagued system.

United teachers to battle over new council

Teachers are uniting to fight for better representation on the new body replacing the Teachers Council.

Teachers to vote on engagement with controversial Government education proposals

Primary teachers will soon vote on a set of principles to determine whether their representatives will continue to be involved in the working group for the Government’s $359 million plan to fund highly paid new roles for some principals and teachers.

Charter school 3 teachers down

New Zealand Herald
It now needs a fulltime te reo Maori teacher, a fulltime English teacher and a part-time science teacher, after a teacher walked away just weeks into the first term. The school's curriculum director, Natasha Sadler, did not return calls this week and ...

Pride flows as EIT graduates step up

New Zealand Herald
Yesterday, after a karakia from Matiu Eru and an address by Taradale High School principal Stephen Hensman, graduates from the School ofEducation and Social Sciences, ideaschool and Te Manga Maoristepped forward to receive their rewards for the ...

NZ graduates urged to revive alumni body

The Star Online
Meanwhile, New Zealand's Maori Affairs Minister Dr Pita Sharples said NZ Week was an important event to celebrate the cultural similarities and differences found in both countries. He thanked Malaysia for coming to New Zealand's aid when Christchurch ...

Ceremony to mark launch of landmark Maori education research

Scoop.co.nz (press release)
A special ceremony will be held in Rotorua today to launch a manuscript marking the completion of a landmark study that supports Māoriachievement in the education system. The study, carried out in Rotorua secondary schools, is entitled Ka Awatea which ...

Ministry to meet with Asperger's boy's family

3News NZ
The Ministry of Education's Katrina Casey says all parties want to get the pupil back learning with his peers. "The meeting will be with the Ministry, the boy and his family, to really talk about what the future of the child is. I think it's important ...
Ministry works to secure boy's educational future

Teacher sees value in online connection

Stuff.co.nz
Lewis Bostock, a first-year media studies teacher at Diocesan School for Girls in Auckland, was speaking at a conference in Wellington this week, encouraging teachers to explore new ways of using social media in theclassroom. But his advocacy of ...

Schools dob in dangerous drivers

School principals sick of seeing their pupils' safety threatened at school crossings are dobbing in dangerous drivers to the police.

The New Zealand Centre for Gifted Education is established

The Gifted Education Centre and Gifted Kid s, two long-standing charities, have formally agreed to merge and form one national centre for the delivery of gifted education services, the New Zealand Centre for Gifted Education.