December 2 2014
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Schools hard hit by decile changes by Colin Patterson
Kaipara schools are reassessing budgets and may need to cut staff and activities following the latest revisions of decile rankings.
Fairy tern has its turn Mangawhai seabird has been named New Zealand’s Seabird of the Year, delighting campaigners trying to save it …
P5
Who’s hiding in the rose bush?
Flowers you can pick and flowers that prick is the premise for Rose Stirling’s second children’s book …
P7 Selwyn Park School principal Vern Stevens says a change to his school’s decile ranking will mean less money to pay for children’s education
Christmas celebration For those who want to enjoy a familyfocused festive celebration, Dargaville’s Christmas in the Gardens might be what you are looking for …
P8
The decile system ranks schools according to the socio-economic status of their local communities. Schools are ranked from one to 10, with one being the poorest and 10 the wealthiest. Decile rankings are revised after each census and are used by the Ministry of Education to direct additional funding aimed at reducing the impacts of economic disadvantage. Vern Stevens from Selwyn Park School says his school is set to lose $27,000 because its decile ranking has changed from one to two. “We’ll have to
cut programmes and staff,” he says. But he says the school will do its best to get through 2015. “But then decisions will have to be made for 2016. We’ll have to think carefully about what we do.” While decile funding is often used to enable schools to provide extras, Mr Stevens says visits to shows, and other activities outside the classroom, should be considered part of a modern education. “It gives kids a look at something else. There are a whole lot of things in
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life that are part of a holistic education.” Mr Stevens has seen no evidence of improved wellbeing in his community. “I don’t think there’s any way the wealth has grown.” Arapohue School has gone from a decile three to a seven. Principal Diana Russek says that change will have serious consequences for the school’s 12 students, although she has yet to calculate the exact loss in funding. continued on page 3 …
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