Image courtesy of Belmont Primary School
All staff and principals work very hard, so there is frustration building inside me with this government. After 42 years of educating students and staff, I have some reflections on recent government announcements… Why do they want to make our jobs more difficult through unnecessary policies and inadequate funding? This will have a direct impact on retention, wellbeing and, therefore, student success. It will undermine all the hard work we all do as leaders to create environments that enable
staff to focus on their core skills. I know high quality principals that have resigned due to the stresses of our role. This is an indictment on our profession, and the MoE. This Government, which I voted for, thanked us for all our hard work, leading communities in a pandemic, by giving us a wage freeze, along with other key front-line workers including the nurses and police. This, thankfully, died a quick and silent death. Why would they think this was a good idea? So much for being kind and being a team.
So much for being a Wellbeing Government. And now our staff are faced with inflationary increases, higher rent, or higher interest rates for mortgages. I am looking forward to the primary teachers’ collective to see exactly how much this government does value our profession. It has emerged over the past few weeks, as of writing, that the Government is looking to restrict international students from below Year 9. There has been no consultation. A survey is not consultation. Who is advising
Chris Hipkins? Why is taking away a funding resource that helps all students and staff a good idea? The reason this irks me so much is twofold: It will deny students the opportunity to have the best resources available and it will have a direct impact on staffing, whether that be the wonderful teacher aides that support our children who need supporting, or the extra teacher we employ above our entitlement. Our school is very well-resourced, due to international students, and this enables all staff to do
Teaching the fundamentals of New Zealand Poetry from a bilingual standpoint This truly wonderful teaching resource has been designed to teach most students irrespective of skill level and age. Comprised of New Zealand poetry written in both te reo Māori and English, the typical teaching sequence walks through warm up, pre-teaching vocabulary, first reading of the poem, formal aspects of the poem, tasks and discussions – leading to an appreciation of the poem’s meaning, and an evaluation of the poem and follow-up activities. www.userfriendlyresources.co.nz
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Term 2, 2022 | schoolnews.co.nz
