NZ Principal Magazine Term 4 2025

November 2025 Volume 40, Number 4

NZPF CONFERENCE 2025 Pros and cons of Artificial Intelligence

Climate stressors impacting schools

APPA Conference

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EDITOR Liz Hawes Executive Officer PO Box 25380 Wellington 6146 Ph: 04 471 2338 Email: Liz.Hawes@nzpf.ac.nz

CONTENTS

MAGAZINE PROOF-READER Helen Kinsey-Wightman

3 PRESIDENT’S PEN

November 2025

2 EDITORIAL Liz Hawes

EDITORIAL BOARD Leanne Otene, NZPF President Geoff Lovegrove, Retired Principal, Feilding Liz Hawes, Editor ADVERTISING

Leanne Otene

5 THE PROS AND CONS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) AND HOW ROTORUA PRIMARY SCHOOL HAS INTEGRATED THE NEW TECHNOLOGY

Liz Hawes

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Liz Hawes

NOTE The articles in New Zealand Principal do not necessarily reflect the policy of the New Zealand Principals’ Federation. Readers are welcome to use or reprint material if proper acknowledgement is made.

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18 CLIMATE STRESSORS ARE IMPACTING OUR PRIMARY SCHOOLS

Rachel Bolstad

20 ACKNOWLEDGING CERVIN’S SERVICE TO NZPF Liz Hawes

21 NEW DELHI HOSTS ICP COUNCIL MEETING 2025 Liz Hawes

22 MENTORING THE NEXT GENERATION Isaac Day

24 THE NZPF EXECUTIVE GOES TO APPA CONFERENCE Liz Hawes

27 BOOK REVIEWS

Pat Martin and Pip Desmond

29 LEADING SCHOOLS THROUGH POLITICAL CHANGE Professor John O’Neill

31 USING MANA POTENTIAL TO CREATE IDENTITY AND EQUITY IN THE CLASSROOM

ISSN 0112-403X (Print) ISSN 1179-4372 (Online)

Helen Kinsy-Wightman

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EDITORIAL Liz Hawes

EDITOR

EDITING THE NEW ZEALAND Principal magazine has been as public services were reduced and privatisation became the an exhilarating experience for me these past fifteen years. answer to every public problem such as the railways, electricity I have visited your schools and classrooms, school fairs, special provision. infrastructure and so on. Neoliberalism claims that assemblies, farewell parties, sports days and pet days. I once the market provides services so much more efficiently and the witnessed the triumphant pride of an entire community, gathered profits trickle down to create more jobs. at the pub on Stewart Island, to welcome home their medal For education, it favours accountability systems such as winning year 8 athlete, who was bold enough to jump on the ferry national testing, to generate a measure of teacher performance to Invercargill and take on the best of his Southland age group. which can then be applied to other mechanisms such as teacher I leaned over a fence with a bunch of young kids, in the back performance pay. It leads to intense competition within and paddock of Waituna West School in the Manawatū and watched between schools and inevitably schools are publicly compared the ‘school fundraisers’ being docked through published league tables. It is a before shearing and slaughtering. I heard system that has no interest in achieving the story of Parihaka for the first time, equity and is born of individualism. It . . . you remain from a seven year old at Newton School does not take a collective society view.

FAITHFULLY MOTIVATED in Central Auckland. I saw democracy in Consequently, we now have one of action at Wakefield School in Nelson, as the biggest equity gaps in the OECD. to give EVERY CHILD the the kids voted on a choice of class pet – This is the most ubiquitous problem the bird or the rat – and tried hard to facing our society, including education.

BEST EDUCATION you look excited when the rat won. I visited With growing poverty, unemployment, possibly can . . . YOU LIFT housing issues, mental health issues, Hukanui school in Hamilton – a Green Gold award winning Enviro­s chool drug addiction, isolation, violence THE SPIRITS of broken where a ‘sustainability classroom’ had and trauma, schools report they are just been completed – planned and overwhelmed and under-resourced children every day . . . designed by a student-led working group to cope with the growing number of and a working model for environmental children needing specialised help. design, using natural light and heat. Prior to the earthquakes, What has impressed me is how you – as school principals – I observed students’ art work at Branston Intermediate school adapt and change to accommodate what is in front of you every in Christchurch, where ākonga were encouraged to project their day. You can’t change what political decisions have imposed inner emotions onto the canvas, with stunning results, and I but you remain faithfully motivated to give every child the best have visited Mulberry Grove School on Great Barrier Island, education you possibly can, so out comes your creative hat. where for lunch time fun, the senior students paddle the school There are schools building vegetable gardens which become kayaks to the wharf – when the ferry isn’t berthed – or a nearby community gardens for the families of their children. Some have point if it is – to go dive bombing or ‘pop a manu’ as is the more special programmes like the ‘Garden to Table’ programme, where popular option now. Of the three schools on the Island, none children don’t just learn to prepare the gardens, plant them and has a swimming pool, so all converge on Mulberry Grove School grow them, they also learn to harvest the produce and cook meals. and swimming sports are conducted in the bordering Tryphena Schools are seeking to ‘trauma train’ their own teachers so they harbour. I have reported on your conferences and the NZPF can better manage children experiencing trauma in their lives.

Moots and been warmly welcomed at your regional association Others use drama as a mechanism for young people to express events. For all of these experiences I am deeply grateful, and I their feelings in a safe way, through theatre. The list of inno­ thank you all. vative ways in which you lift the spirits of broken children every I was appointed to my position in 2010, just as national day is inexhaustible, and I have the greatest respect for you all. standards were bedding in. This was at the height of the Global Now, after 15 wonderful years, I say goodbye with a final Education Reform Movement’s rise which was born of the thank you for all the inspirational stories you have shared with neoliberal political agenda sweeping the globe at the time. me, as Editor of your magazine. Those stories will reverberate Neolibralism is anathema to public services including public well into my retirement years and lessons learned from you will education and favours minimalist governments. We witnessed be shared far and wide. the weight of its influence on the 1984 Labour government, Kia kaha tatou.

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PRESIDENT’S PEN What is a powerful legacy?

Leanne Otene

NATIONAL PRESIDENT, NEW ZEALAND PRINCIPALS’ FEDERATION

FOR ME, A POWERFUL legacy is not about the monument The investment in Principal Leadership, to keep building we built, the awards we won or the renovations we instigated. sustainable leadership – which we vigorously advocated for – was It is about people and leaving behind a solid foundation of realised when the Minister announced substantial new funding relationships, on which the future can be built. As NZPF President, in Budget 2025. That gives us a solid foundation for the future. these relationships extended to you – the membership – to seek My mantra in leading NZPF was to listen, to learn and to act. your feedback; to the media, to give us a public voice; to Ministers We listened: Through regional meetings, surveys, and to give us a political voice; and to Ministry staff to help us to countless conversations, we heard your voices. When 71 per cent achieve our goals. of primary principals told us through NZCER’s 2024 survey that Three years ago, in my first President’s Pen, I wrote about the pace of curriculum change was too fast, and the demands how principals are too often ‘handed the school keys and told of rolling out both Structured Literacy and Structured Maths good luck with that.’ I had either been simultaneously were impossible to meet, on the receiving end of that comment we spoke truth to power about slowing I feel proud that no or watched as others navigated that down to get it right. impossible situation. The NZPF Presi­ We learned: I had the privilege of FUTURE PRINCIPALS will attending dency gave me the opportunity to finally the UNESCO Principals’ do something about it. That meant Seminar in Shanghai, where we explored ever just be ‘handed the building relationships with the people how success cannot be defined merely keys and told good luck’. who could help to make that happen. by reading, writing, and mathematics As I write my last President’s Pen, assessment data. We learned that policies They can all participate I think about the NZPF roadmap to that follow the Global Education Reform sustainable principal leadership. Our Movement (GERM) don’t serve our in the INDUCTION work started through building a strong, unique context, especially when it comes PROGRAMME . . . trusting relationship with the Chief to honouring Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Principal Advisor and his team in our commitment to Māori, Pacific, and the Ministry. Part of ensuring sustainable principalship was our diverse learners. developing an Induction Programme, which the Leadership We acted: We advocated relentlessly on your feedback. We Advisors now deliver to the regions. I feel proud that no future established a framework of four discrete workstreams for the principals will ever just be ‘handed the keys and told good luck’. National Executive – Nga Pou E Wha – each with a clear annual They can all participate in the induction programme so they are plan and each Pou reported to you through our fortnightly well prepared to take over a new school.

Principal Matters pānui. We developed quality assurance NZPF’s roadmap to Sustainable Principalship has been standards for professional development. We strengthened our central to NZPF’s strategic plan for the last three years, and I relationships across the sector – with sector leaders, sector am delighted to say that every one of the 10 components has partners, politicians and our international partners. We won the been delivered: right to host the 2026 International Confederation of Principals (ICP) Convention through our strong global connections and ■ Leadership development from aspiring to experienced principals this event will attract principals from across the world to come ■ Professional development mapped with quality assurance and learn from us – about what makes us unique and special. We standards did not hold back from calling out politicians when they made ■ Recruitment and retention initiatives incorrect statements or misrepresented us and continuously ■ Wellbeing and work condition support asked to be included in the policy and curriculum design process.

■ Cultural responsive programmes Through it all, we never lost sight of our core responsibility: giving effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi. Te Tiriti belongs to all of us.

■ Innovation in leadership practice It is not just an historical document, but a guiding framework ■ Strategic workforce development for our shared future. By embracing Te Ao Māori, Mātauranga ■ Sustainability planning Māori, and Te Reo Māori me ona Tikanga in our schools, ■

Resources and sector support

■

Professional insights and research

continued on p.4

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we are contributing to the development of a more equitable, compassionate, and unified society.

Throughout my three years as President, working out of the national office in Wellington, I was largely an absent wife and mother. I want to pay tribute to my amazing husband and two sons for their unfailing support and love, which sustained me throughout this journey. I could not have done this job without their daily phone calls and social media posts, which kept me grounded throughout. Whakawhetai ki a koutou mo to aroha me to tautoko!

I also want to pay special tribute to our New Zealand Principal magazine Editor, Liz Hawes, who will be retiring at the end of this year. For over 10 years, Liz has been instrumental in ensuring that our quarterly magazine is of the highest quality, featuring articles and stories that are not only thought-provoking and challenging but also deeply relevant to school leadership within our unique context. Liz has done an exceptional job of keeping well abreast of educational changes while ensuring we as leaders understand the transformative power of school leadership. She has worked tirelessly to bring clarity to the focus of our work as school leaders. If we talk of legacy – Liz leaves us with a library of works that will be valued and treasured now and into the future.

True to her character, she has consistently highlighted the best of us, never herself. We thank Liz for her outstanding contribution and wish her well in her well-deserved retirement.

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My legacy? I hope to be remembered as the President who valued building strong relationships so that together we could make a positive difference for principals, their teachers, support staff and tamariki.

To the incoming President and Executive: you inherit a strong foundation of established relationships and systems to build upon. I am very proud of the 2023–2025 National Executive, their hard work and all their achievements. Now it is the turn of a new National Executive to build on the foundation now established, strengthen relationships further and continue the mahi that will help future leaders, teachers and tamariki to successfully shape their own future. I wish you all the very best – ngā mihi aroha.

Kia kaha, kia māia, kia manawanui.

Leanne Otene served as National President of the New Zealand Principals’ Federation from 2023–2025, the first wāhine Māori to hold this position.

THE PROS AND CONS OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) AND HOW ROTORUA PRIMARY SCHOOL HAS INTEGRATED THE NEW TECHNOLOGY Liz Hawes

EDITOR

IT HAS BEEN PRAISED as the greatest innovation of our times, and criticised as unethical and completely lacking in humanity.

It is admired and despised, embraced and rejected, in equal measure. But whether pro or con, it is difficult not to take an interest in this controversial technology.

As I write this article, our Prime Minister has just been scammed. In an AI generated, ‘deepfake’ interview with well known Q&A current affairs television programme anchor, Jack Tame (AI bot), the Prime Minister (also AI bot) guarantees New Zealanders an income of $35,000 per month, through a new investment scheme supported by the Reserve Bank, the government and other credible sounding institutions, for a joining fee of $450. Joining the scheme urgently, is of course

necessary, and ‘Prime Minister bot’ tells us he has already earned more than $45,000 from the scheme. The interview takes place on what appears to be the set of Q&A and it has been advertised as an ‘exclusive’, complete with the red ‘breaking news’ tape, trailing across the bottom of the screen. The deepfake interview between ‘Jack Tame bot’ and ‘Prime Minister bot’ appears on Facebook.

The media report on this incident explains how efforts to have the scam removed from the Facebook platform were unsuc­ cessful. This is not an isolated incident and scamming is not a new activity. It’s just that AI makes it so much easier for the scam to appear genuine and the social media platforms cannot easily remove them. continued on p.6

Tamariki of Rotorua Primary welcome visitors to their school

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Students at Rotorua Primary assist adult visitors in how to use ‘Sketches School’ a digital app helping students visualise, understand and express ideas in powerful new ways through art creativity

In describing other similar deepfake scams, ‘Police, lawyers and tech experts are warning these moments offer a glimpse into a future where crime is harder to spot, trust is harder to earn, and justice is harder to deliver.’ 1 AI enables crimes like scams, to be executed far more quickly and easily and more cheaply for the criminal.

On the other hand AI technology is positively transforming medical science. Certain operations can now be performed by programmed bots. Under the direction of a human surgeon, the bot conducts surgery with greater accuracy, through techniques that are less invasive and offer faster recovery for the patient. All of this means that more surgeries can be completed in a much shorter time, and patients are recovering and leaving the hospital more quickly. It creates huge efficiencies and can further assist the surgeon by producing an accurate and timely report post the operation. The surgical bot doesn’t come cheap and the power consumed in the course of its work is high, but the outcomes are impressive and the possibilities seemingly endless.

Health is not the only winner. Business operations are also embracing AI for its time saving features and for those involved in the production of virtual reality games, augmented reality or other interactive experiences, adding AI in the mix makes for even more excitement. Innovative film makers, similarly, are using AI to their advantage.

Similar efficiencies have been reported by those working in the education system. In a matter of seconds, teachers are able to create daily, weekly, monthly or whole term lesson plans according to the parameters entered and covering whatever

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curriculum subjects they choose. Data analysis of learning progress is also made easier. Some highly skilled teachers are engaging tamariki in the coding of bots and creating teacher assistant bots for individualising learning programmes. As in the health system there are endless possibilities for further AI applications, some of which are explored later in this story.

Many principals report they are regular users of AI appli­ cations such as ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini for summarising documents, preparing reports for their Boards of Trustees or the Ministry, writing newsletters and speeches for various school events, using deep research tools and reducing the time commit­ ment of numerous other administrative tasks. This frees up principals to do their core work of leading teaching and learning, setting the culture of their schools and building relationships.

Unsurprisingly, rangitahi are quick to adopt innovations and, we read stories of young people using ChatGPT and the like as a writing tool both socially and to complete assignments. While initially it was easy to detect such use, in time that has become more difficult as users learn to frame their instructions so that responses avoid cliches and a stereotypical, dry language style and include humour and creativity. Some would argue that the question is not just whether AI can learn to converse like a human, but whether humans will start conversing like AI. Discussions have also arisen in academic circles about the problems users of social media already have in distinguishing reality from non-reality, because social media platforms provide sophisticated tools for altering images and AI will further facilitate this practice. Issues of copyright arise, as poets, novelists

and musicians have their work mined by AI to be reproduced in some other form, but without recognition or compensation for using the original creations.

Those engaging at the philosophical level suggest that AI may herald the end of creativity, as young people using AI tools mine only the information already in existence, to fulfil their own social, academic and learning requirements, thus subverting the creation of new ideas and therefore the development of solutions for the many problems facing the planet. They also express concern that the boundary between real and fake is fading and will soon disappear, such that we will not be able to distinguish real from non-real, no matter how honed our critical thinking skills are. Some predict AI will take the joy out of learning and de-motivate young people who report that their love of learning comes from discovering solutions for themselves, rather than just directing AI to find everything for them.

The issues associated with this new technology are many and varied, positive and negative, but in Rotorua they are rolling out the welcome mat.

Fred Whata, principal of Rotorua Primary School, says his school has a high Māori student population – exceeding 80 per cent – and the students’ future is dependent on succeeding as Māori in all curriculum areas especially soft skills like creativity, critical thinking, collaboration and communication skills. All of this is woven into a strong school culture that is centred on Māori self-determination, Te Tiriti o Waitangi, Māori language, culture and identity. Half the classes in his school are rumaki reo or full immersion.

Fred predicted that engaging technology, including AI, would assist his school to effectively reach their goals. They set out on a long five-year journey which first led them to qualify as an ‘Apple Distinguished School’. Throughout this journey his teachers were becoming expert ‘Apple users’. ‘There are very few Apple distinguished schools in New Zealand because the bar is so high,’ he said.

I asked Fred to explain the benefits of reaching this distinguished standard.

‘We have access to a global village and connection to every indigenous culture in the world, and there are viewers all over the world becoming interested in what we are doing,’ he said, ‘because now we also have AI incorporated into our system,’ he said. He went on to explain that all the documents you want AI to access are loaded into the ‘back’ of the system.

‘The whole of Te Tiriti oWaitangi is in there, the stories of our local iwi, our pepeha, all our guiding school documents like the school vision, mission, strategy and planning documents, our graduate profile, the curriculum, Ka Hikitia, the Māori Education Strategy, Te Whare Tapa Wha (a Māori holistic model of health developed by Sir Mason Durie), strategies for neurodiversity such as ADHD, Autism, Cerebral Palsy – because technology can help us overcome the communication challenges these children have – school policies and much more. We can just keep adding to the bank of information available to the system,’ he said. ‘The key to using AI is that all the design is created and controlled by humans and then we use AI to generate what we want it to produce. Technology with AI has relieved so many burdens for our teaching and support staff,’ he said.

Teachers use prompts to get AI to generate the documents they want for their classrooms such as lesson plans, including detail continued on p.8

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Fred Whata, Principal of Rotorua Primary School

Going to Space to see Matariki

and teaching prompts if necessary, and assessment analysis, including producing reports. What’s more, Fred expects that before long every teacher and every one of his students will have their own bot assistant. ‘It will be like having two teachers in every classroom and every child will have an assistant!,’ he said.

‘In effect, all of our tamariki will have personalised learning.’

That said, Fred is very clear that we must put a framework around the AI. AI is not human. AI only has in it what the teachers put in it, and it needs to be trained to work for us.

It is not open to the world wide web, and Fred insisted it will never replace the human teachers and support staff. The staff are very mindful that it works as teachers and students direct it, not the other way around. It is here whether we choose it or not but, ‘If we don’t teach our moko AI, the rest of the world will,’ he said.

Technology is deeply embedded in everything tamariki are learning at Rotorua Primary School. One classroom I visited had a display of beautifully written stories celebrating Matariki, and was a great example of how technology can be used to enhance the experience – like going to space to see the whetu of Matariki – as an avatar!

At another level, young children use ‘Tinkercad’ to design and construct objects on their iPads or laptops. All you need to get underway is a ‘what if ’ question. Once that’s answered you head to the ‘How to make a . . .’ screen and follow the directions. This is the start of the design process, and also helps young children to learn the fundamentals of the programme. Step by step, tamariki then build their constructions.

Alternatively, with another Apple app, children can build new creations from a set of shapes by manipulating the size and placement of the shapes. Through the process, children learn what works and makes sense and what doesn’t. In this way, they may accidentally come across a new shape they hadn’t thought about and design a different creation.

‘One important lesson, through using technology and AI, is that ‘failure’ takes on a different meaning. To ‘fail’ is positive – it means – you haven’t yet found the solution – and you go find another path to try out. This is especially effective when children are collaborating on solving problems,’ said Fred.

A favourite hideaway is the ‘E-Sports Room’ where you can take a drifting class. While boys especially find this car game exhilarating, there are many skills to learn. There are keyboard skills, learning how to control the car on the screen, reading and problem solving, coordination and spatial awareness, collaboration and teamwork.

The school uses the DMIC (Developing Mathematical Inquiry Communities) mathematics approach which is focused on culturally responsive group problem solving and critical thinking in mathematics. DMIC was chosen as a good match for the school’s culture because it is about improving student achievement by encouraging the children to bring their cultural identities and voices into the classroom to solve problems collaboratively. The teacher learns to step back, and let tamariki apply their own thinking. This is where AI is helpful to prompt, but not instruct, the children.

Apps are also available for language learning – poetry, stories

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and history. Through the app the children can download pictures, and create timelines and maps.

A ‘Notes’ app is especially useful for children who are in the early stages of developing verbal skills. It has a built-in microphone and translates their spoken story into written form which they can illustrate. They then copy their own story.

‘The biggest room in the world is the room for improvement,’ says Fred Whata, and embedding technology and AI throughout the curriculum at his school has been a game changer. The technology is so motivating for the children and uplifting for them. ‘We are a low decile school of tamariki who are achieving and enjoying their learning every day.’

It has its pros and its cons, but when it comes to AI, Rotorua Primary School is all about harnessing the positives, and ensuring the community continues to see new technology as a support that will never replace the human craft of teaching.

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NZPF CONFERENCE 2025 Liz Hawes

EDITOR

Photolife Photographers

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PHOTOGRAPHY

THIS YEAR THE CONFERENCE theme – Tākina Te Hau – was all about the winds of change. Just as the Wellington winds can envelop us with calmness, batter us moodily, or just flow over us, in the education sector we can experience the same emotions.

It was the first time an NZPF conference had been hosted at the new Tākina Events Centre in Wellington. The name Tākina, meaning engagement, was gifted to the Events Centre by the local Te Āti Awa iwi. As they explained, when you come to this place you bring your whole history with you to share conversations and ideas and learn together from each other.

The venue did not disappoint. Being located close to the waterfront and Te Papa National Museum meant delegates had plenty of opportunities to go sightseeing or shop in the nearby central city fashion stores.

Marcus Winter Marcus Winter is a highly talented ‘sand artist’ who tells stories through his art, which are inspired by his indigenous Māori culture. He began with the ‘creation story’ of Ranginui, the Sky Father and the Earth Mother Papatūānuku. As he narrated the story, he simultaneously created it in sand art form, which was projected onto big screens for his audience to see. It was a

Leanne Otene, NZPF’s first wāhine Māori National President

Sand artist Marcus Winter

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Those attending were warmly welcomed by the local iwi, with a pōwhiri, staged at Te Papa. It was a moving event, held at the museum’s Rongomaraeroa Marae, and a very special experience for our international visitors.

After a lively introduction from MC, Jehan Casinader who is no stranger to NZPF events, Marcus Winter aka ‘The Sandman’ took the stage.

The Kapa Haka group from Tawa Intermediate School performs for conference delegates

hypnotising experience for the school principals who watched in awe of his performance.

He also incorporated the four winds into a metaphor for the present turbulence in education which resonated well with the theme of the conference. He captured the nature of the winds of Wellington which, as he explained, can vary from angry to gentle, by weaving them together through his traditional musical instruments, creating a haunting atmosphere evocative of the feeling we experience when those winds whistle about the tall buildings of Wellington city.

It was a beautiful metaphor, relating to the state of trans­ formation and shifting shape of education, just like the Wellington winds. His infectious humour infused his performance, and left his audience feeling optimistic, and eager to embrace the turbulence ahead with renewed energy.

President, Leanne Otene Leanne Otene gave a quick ‘round up’ of NZPF’s achievements, especially wins, like the $32 million invest­ment in leadership, including doubling the number of Principal Leadership Advisors, and the heavy focus on additional investment in learning support, for which NZPF has been vigorously advocating. She noted the pace of change had not relented for structured literacy and mathematics, but a reprieve which pushes out the date for introducing the refreshed curriculum was pleasing.

The main topic of her address was ‘The Purpose of Education’.

She adopted Gert Bieste’s thesis that the purpose of education is threefold. It is about qualifications, sociability and subjectifi­ cation. These three, she argued, are equally important and should each take a third of our time – and our school timetables should reflect that.

The basics of the curriculum are also important, she said.

Qualifications lead to knowledge gains and skills to function effectively in society and the workplace. Outcomes can – and usually are – measured as test results or formal qualifications.

Just as important, she said, are social skills, like cultural values and norms that enable us to participate in and live together in society. We want our young people to have a strong sense of fairness and justice; be collaborative team players; contribute to developing and growing our society; understand and participate democratically; and have empathy for others. We want to foster in young people a sense of giving back, being inclusive, tolerant, and embracing of others, and being culturally aware citizens – who enact our founding document Te Tiriti o Waitangi – and embrace our multi-cultural society.

The third ‘pillar’ she described as subjectification or developing as an autonomous human being responsible for our own life actions. We want our young people to make good decisions for themselves and to understand that, with the freedom to make choices, comes responsibility for both ourselves, for others, and for our planet.

When professionals focus on these three domains, educators can move beyond narrow performance metrics to engage with deeper, value-driven goals that foster genuine human development and autonomous, empathetic, thoughtful citizens, she said.

Our young people must therefore go out into the world well armed with critical thinking, problem solving, creativity and strong communication skills. With the introduction of AI we can immediately see that the unprepared will be vulnerable and exploited if we don’t educate them for it now, she said.

Otene announced that she will be returning to her school in Whangārei next year after three years leading NZPF. continued on p.12

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She thanked the NZPF membership, her executive group, sector partners and Ministry staff and her family for being her unfailing support throughout her three year journey as President.

Denise Torrey, NZPF Life Membership Award

Iain Taylor, NZPF Service with Distinction Award

Gihan Perera described his observations and analysis of AI and what it means for ‘future ready’ leaders

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Gold Business Partner, Furnware, Celebrates 30 Years with NZPF Furnware was first opened in 1934 as an educational furniture manufacturer based in Hastings. Ninety years later, it still is.

Furnware designers built strong relationships with teachers and schools, and conducted large-scale research in the early 2000s which showed that the existing furniture did not fit the children correctly. Consequently the design was changed and the company developed its signature ergonomic furniture including the Bodyfurn chair. Mobile tables and soft furnishings have followed along with modular storage and now furniture designed to accommodate our neurodiverse children.

NZPF is proud to partner with the Furnware business, whose vision is to provide the best environment for children to learn and grow.

We congratulate Furnware and look forward to continuing our relationship into the future.

NZPF Celebrates New Life Member Denise Torrey, famous for her ‘servant style’ leadership was honoured with the NZPF Life Membership Award at conference this year. Denise was recognised not just for her outstanding school leadership but for service to her Canterbury colleagues and community through both the Christchurch earthquakes and the Pike River mining disaster. She was also praised for establishing the Kahukura PLD Collaboration for Canterbury principals and, as NZPF President, for advocating for and achieving the appointment of the first Principal Leadership Advisor, which later became 22 Principal Leadership Advisors across the country and will shortly double in number again.

Service with Distinction Award was granted to Iain Taylor, Principal of Manu­ rewa Intermediate School. Iain has a long career in principalship and along the way has achieved many milestones including a Woolf Fisher Scholarship, and the Prime Minister’s Excellence in Education Award for outstanding teaching leadership and innovation. He has also published his own book on his leadership journey, sharing the gems of wisdom he has learned along the way.

Gihan Perera Gihan Perera’s observations and analysis of AI and what it means for ‘future ready’ leaders

was inspiring. It was especially interesting that he presented a context for AI discussion based on global demographics to show us that people power has shifted to Asia with China, India and Indonesia now dominating the world’s population; Facebook has a following of three billion people; and the combined population of the G7 countries reaches just 550 million. In other words the USA and Europe are now far from the seat of people power and Facebook followers alone are a bigger number than the two most populous countries of the world.

The audience was also alerted to the principles of a framework for AI, which, as he noted, Australia has now implemented. These six principles include teaching and learning, human and social, transparency, fairness, accountability and privacy, security and safety. They form an excellent framework for schools to adopt, in this new technological environment, he said.

Perera also drew attention to Howard Gardner’s Five Minds for the Future, which remind us that with the entry of AI, the place of creativity and critical thinking has just been elevated. Gardener describes the five minds as a disciplined mindset, being a con­ nector, being creative, being respectful and thinking of others, and being ethical. As we move into the AI era, he said, principals must balance the benefits of AI with these ethical and human considerations, remembering that AI is a tool to serve people.

Jehan Casinader Not only was Jehan Casinader our MC for the conference, this year he was also a Keynote speaker.

He gave us an insightful presentation on some of his assign­ continued on p.14

Jehan Casinader, MC and Keynote speaker

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The Conference Opening Pōwhiri was held at Rongomaraeroa Marae at Te Papa National Museum

ments as a reporter, including the 2014 Lindt Cafe siege in Martin Place, Sydney, to demonstrate how our news media focus more heavily on negative than positive news. As he so graphically expressed it, ‘If it bleeds, it leads’, is the journalistic mantra, yet feeding out negative stories only creates a warped model, which exaggerates threats.

He told us through many examples, how our stories become our reality and influence the way we behave – a potent message for all principals who are the lead storytellers for their schools and communities. He also noted how, with social media and online news sites, we are over-informed but under-reflective, another very important take-away for our principals.

Many principals took to various social media platforms to report how moved they were by his presentation and how deter­ mined they are to celebrate wins more in the future.

Barbara Coloroso American educator Barbara Coloroso’s messages on manag­ ing behavior, peppered throughout with her wonderful wit, resonated loudly for the audience of school principals. The way she distinguished discipline from punishment, explaining that punishment deprives the child of the opportunity to develop their own ‘inner’ discipline, was affecting. Her point that punishment is something we do to students, while discipline is working with students, is a message every principal will take back to their school.

Similarly, her distinction between mistakes, mischief and mayhem through applying her ‘Big I and three Cs’ formula was not lost on principals either. In deciding whether a student has made a mistake, is up to mischief or deliberately creating mayhem, can be judged by applying her formula of first asking what was the Intent, what was the Content, what were the

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Barbara Colorosso teased out the difference between discipline and punishment for the audience

Circumstances and what were the intended or unintended Consequences of the event? The intent, she said, is critical to

establish or you can make the wrong decision about how to make the student accountable for their behaviour.

She used an example of damaging a school desk. ‘A student who accidentally marks a desk while colouring in a picture, is a mistake. Another who purposefully draws a cartoon on the desk with a permanent marker is up to mischief. And one who carves the name of a teacher/fellow student (with a gross term next to it) into the desk, has created mayhem. They have all marked the desk but the intent, content, circumstance and possible intended or unintended consequences are all different’, she said.

In the case of mistakes, she suggested four things a teacher can do. These are for the student to own it, fix the problem, learn from the mistake and move on.

In the case of mischief, she suggested we show students the mischief they have done, give them as much ownership of the problem as they can handle, give them options for solving the problem – which tells them you believe they can figure out a way to solve the problem and finally ensure that their dignity remains intact.

In the case of mayhem, or wanton destruction, she suggests three ‘Rs’. These are Restitution (fix what you did), Resolution (figure out how you keep it from happening again) and Restoration (healing yourself and the party you have harmed).

Coloroso was clear that at the heart of restorative justice is a willingness to confront the wrongdoing and reach out to the affected party. Revenge and punishment are not effective as restorative measures, she said. continued on p.16

Janelle Riki-Waaka explains generational trauma

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Managing behaviour in schools is challenging and if principals can successfully apply Coloroso’s advice, they will be creating a ‘just and caring school climate and culture’.

Janelle Riki-Waaka Janelle Riki-Waaka explained the process of colonisation for Māori as causing generational trauma. Seeing through this lens helped us better understand the current journey as one of recovery, survival and using the education system for revival of culture and language.

Of special value in her presentation was the way she showed the progress that has already been made, with a burgeoning Māori economy and a younger generation of Māori who walk confidently in two worlds with outstanding young role models such as multi-gold medal olympian Lisa Carrington, the Kuini Māori, Te Arikinui Kuini Nga wai hono i te po and Māori member of parliament for Te Pati Māori, Hana-Rawhiti Maipi-Clarke. As she explained, many rangitahi now grow up with uninterrupted reo, culture and understanding of their identity and when that happens, the future for Māori is assured.

She too presented a future of optimism, whilst acknowledging that there is still a long way to go. Importantly, she noted the role of education in continuing the journey.

Minister of Education, Hon Erica Stanford Principals appreciated the Minister’s acknowledgement of their leadership and skill which she offered generously, and were heartened at her commitment to ongoing PLD of at least five years for ‘the long journey’ ahead. She noted that 74 per cent of teachers have received PLD for structured literacy, and two-thirds of teachers have already changed their teaching of reading practice to structured literacy which is showing results already. She also noted that she values the feedback principals give her, which includes a call to retain the competencies or ‘soft skills’ which are all important in the age of AI. She told her audience these competencies will be interwoven throughout the entire curriculum, not as a stand alone set.

Her updates on paying teacher registration and changing the structure of the school property portfolio to achieve cheaper builds and free up more investment were noted. Her most popular investment – through Budget 2025 – was learning support. She explained that in response to feedback, the transition from ECE to school would now be smoother for those qualifying for learning support and the boosted budget would include funding more specialists, teacher aides and Learning Support Coordinators, who would be appointed through an equitable system, in accordance with feedback. Her decision not to make the rest of the curriculum compulsory until 2027 was also much appreciated by the audience.

Fi McMillan Fi McMillan is the lead lawyer for NZPF’s Principals’ Advice and Support [Legal] or PASL. All financial members of NZPF are entitled to subscribe to PASL and access the legal services available.

Fi advises on issues that may affect a principal’s employment.

Often it is not until principals find themselves in crisis that they think about PASL as an option and sometimes it is too late. Just like any insurance scheme, PASL – a fully owned subsidiary of NZPF – cannot cover issues that occurred before the principal subscribed.

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Fi McMillan, Lead Employment Lawyer for the NZPF Principals’ [Legal] Advice & Support Limited

Presenting at our conference, Fi quite rightly noted, every­ thing can run smoothly, until it doesn’t, and even experienced principals can find themselves dealing with an unexpected crisis.

A principal may have received a glowing appraisal from a Board’s Presiding Member one year only to find the opposite happens the next year with a new Presiding Member.

A senior lawyer, working for Anderson Lloyd Lawyers in the Dunedin office, Fi has a team of lawyers who assist with the legal ‘hotline’, which is a free service for PASL subscribers. Sometimes they may also be involved in more complex or serious cases, under Fi’s supervision. Most issues are resolved at the lower level, Fi said and she encouraged principals to give early notification of problems through the ‘hotline’ to help prevent escalation.

She pointed out that complaints can come from a variety of sources including the school’s Board of Trustees, staff, parents or through an OIA to the school. During the conference, she also ran a special clinic for principals seeking her advice, or wanting to join up to the scheme. Currently, more than half of all NZPF members are subscribed to PASL. Gino Acevedo and the Wētā Workshop Team Gino Acevedo opened his presentation with his own back story, saying that he was a very curious child, with a fascination for monsters. This fascination led him to eventually make them – including turning Roddy McDowall into a talking chimpanzee.

Bringing Samuel Burton-Harris to the stage as a Monster to be made up by the Wētā Workshop make-up artist, Tuesday, was a memorable highlight for the audience. He also shared the

Wētā workshop makeup artistry

challenges of transforming actors into monsters, with lines like ‘You can only add to a face, you can’t take bits away’, and brought the mundane realities to our attention, such as ‘I once spent six months making vampire blood.’

But it was learning about his creative work on ‘Lord of the Rings’ that greatly fascinated the audience, especially his commentary on the use of AI. It was heartening for us to hear that at Wētā, under Richard Taylor, human creativity and authenticity comes before AI. The conference audience of principals were exposed to a variety of speakers, in a time and context that strongly reflects the presence and powers of technology, social media and now AI. It was clear that technology is leading our social lives, our school lives, the media, political agendas and the creative world.

Each of the speakers brought different issues to this context from cyber-bullying behaviour, the imbalance of negative news reporting, exacerbated by online platforms, the positive capabilities of social media to bring people together to support a common cause and the ethical and equity concerns that are heightened by new technologies.

The winds of change were evident throughout the conference, both metaphorically and in the daily Wellington weather patterns. If principals come to conferences to be stimulated, provoked, informed and motivated, they will have gone home satisfied with a bag full of take-aways.

Gino Acevedo

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CLIMATE STRESSORS ARE IMPACTING OUR PRIMARY SCHOOLS Re-published with permission from New Zealand Council for Education Research (NZCER) Rachel Bolstad

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RESEARCHER, NZCER

FROM SANDBAGGING AND SCHOOL closures to blown-off roofing, more frequent extreme weather is impacting schools, families, and communities across Aotearoa.

For the first time in 2024, we asked about these impacts in NZCER’s national survey of primary schools. We asked principals about two specific types of events: flooding, and excessively hot days.

regions like Hawke’s Bay, Marlborough, and Nelson, and many from Auckland.

These findings highlight the crucial social role schools play in crisis response, with school leaders and teachers often playing the role of ‘quiet heroes’ in supporting communities through the immediate and long-term processes of recovery (Mutch, 2015; NZEI Te Riu Roa, 2024).

Many principals reported flooding impacts We found that 41 per cent of primary principals responding to this part of the survey (n=176) reported flooding impacts to their school or homes in the school community during the previous five years.

More specifically, 31 per cent reported floods that affected school property, or student or staff access to school (for example, roads, bridges). A similar proportion (32 per cent) said there were students and staff whose homes were impacted by flooding events. These effects were felt by schools in 15 of New Zealand’s 16 regions, with Auckland and Hawke’s Bay among the hardest hit.

While our national survey did not collect information about the extent or longevity of these impacts, in 2023 hundreds of schools needed to remain closed for days, and some of the hardest hit schools in Hawke’s Bay have had to relocate lessons for weeks or even months.

Many schools remain exposed to flooding risks While our survey findings may be a bit confronting, they are not entirely surprising. An initial Ministry of Education assessment in 2024 identified 1,102 schools and kura (about 44 per cent of all schools) as potentially exposed to coastal, surface, or river flooding.

A separate risk assessment commissioned by the Climate Change Commission suggested that dozens of schools are currently vulnerable to coastal flooding during increasingly common ‘1 in 100 year’ storm events, and 106 schools are vulnerable to coastal flooding or landslides under a projected sea-level rise of just 20 centimetres – a plausible scenario within a matter of decades (Urban Intelligence, 2024). The latter report did not assess the number of schools at risk from non-coastal flooding.

Schools provided support to affected communities Over a third (35 per cent) of principals NZCER surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that their school had provided community support during and after climate-related events – including every responding principal from more extreme flood-affected

Some primary schools find hot days a challenge While extreme heat has been a less common experience in New Zealand than storms and flooding, heatwaves were the most significant climate hazard to disrupt schooling globally in 2024, affecting an estimated 171 million students worldwide (UNICEF, 2024).

Gladstone School, Wairarapa Flash flooding, 2018 Image – Piers Fuller

Gladstone School, Wairarapa flash flooding, 2018 Image – Piers Fuller

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Keeping learning spaces cool on hot days was a challenge for some schools in our survey, with more than a quarter (28 per cent) of primary principals disagreeing that ‘we are able to keep all our learning spaces cool on very hot day’. Nearly a fifth (19 per cent) of principals reported experiencing excessively hot days that disrupted student learning or physical activity. These schools were most often in the same regions already grappling with flood risks. These findings raise important questions about the inequitable impacts of compounding climate stressors.

In addition to daily temperature maxima that might affect children during schooling hours, it is also important to consider overnight temperatures, which can have an impact on sleep and health, the persistence of high temperatures across multiple days, and levels of humidity. Research-based definitions of ‘heatwaves’ in New Zealand are also evolving, from older approaches that used a single temperature threshold (for example, 25 degrees), towards newer methodologies that take a more nuanced, regionalised climatic approach, defining ‘heatwaves’ relative to the baseline temperature and climate norms experienced in those locations (Harrington & Frame 2022). Recent New Zealand research has identified links between daily temperatures and hospital admissions in young children, including ethnic, sex and socio-economic differences in vulnerabilities to these risks (Lai et al., 2024).

Wildfires A further climate-related impact that we considered, but did not ask about in 2024, was schools’ exposure to wildfires and smoke.

At present, we assume that too few New Zealand schools will have experienced these climate impacts to merit inclusion in our national survey. However, researchers expect the incidence and severity of wildfires in Aotearoa to increase as global warming continues (Melia et al., 2022). In addition to the immediate risks to property and life, exposure to wildfire smoke has significant health impacts, particularly for children and adolescents (Zhang et al., 2024). Like other disasters, experience of wildfires can have ongoing mental and physical effects for learners (Oerther et al., 2024) and the wider community.

How are climate stressors impacting young people’s education?

At this stage, we do not have a comprehensive picture of the extent to which climate-related events are impacting on learning, achievement, and wellbeing of our young people. However, international research warns of multiple ways in which exposure to climate stressors present a threat to children’s development and educational outcomes (Prentice et al., 2024), and there are certainly equity challenges given the inequitable distribution

of climate events, and the impacts of inequities on how well a community can respond and recover from such events.

Recent New Zealand research suggests that the size of the population affected through both direct and indirect impacts of climate events has been underestimated (Anderson et al., 2024). In addition to direct impacts on homes, schools, and other infrastructure, communities can experience longer-lasting social, emotional, and economic consequences (Mutch, 2015).

A Growing Up in New Zealand survey found higher levels of reported anxiety and depression amongst young people who had experienced the effects of the early 2023 weather events, compared with those who had not experienced these events (GUiNZ, 2024). Schooling impacts may include impacts on attendance due to practical barriers to, or anxieties about, sending children back to school (ERO, 2022).

How can our school network be more climate resilient?

Climate change is no longer a future problem for our education system – it’s a current, lived reality. The Ministry for the Environment’s 2025 assessment report discusses the weather and temperature pattern changes we are already experiencing, and projections for the future as further global warming occurs.

Schools and communities cannot tackle these challenges alone.

We need joined-up, equity-focussed and future-ready planning to ensure that every school is a safe, sustainable, and resilient place to learn.

This includes: ■

■

■

Integrated infrastructure planning that accounts for climate risk.

Investment in schools as climate hubs – for education and community resilience.

Action to mitigate the impacts of climate stressors for learners and communities, recognising that these stressors have multiple and complex impacts that can affect education and health outcomes.

As Prentice et al. (2024) note, climate stressors can begin to impact on children/learners even before they are born, due to parental and community exposures to climate stressors. With climate impacts likely to continue and worsen into the future, long-term planning with strategies to mitigate these risks is even more essential.

We also need to consider how climate change mitigation, adaptation, and resilience can be supported through curriculum and learning design. My next posts will explore what learning for climate and sustainability action can look like in our schools.

REFERENCES Anderson, M. J., Conrow, L., Hobbs, M., Paulik, R., Blackett, P., & Logan, T. (2024). Distributional justice and climate risk assessment: An analysis of disparities within direct and indirect risk. Risk Analysis, n/a(n/a). https://doi.org/10.1111/risa.17664

This map is a representation of severe flood hazard exposure in the Greater Wellington Region, with significant climate change impacts (1 per cent AEP RCP 8.5+). Contains data sourced from the Greater Wellington Regional Council licensed for reuse under CC BY 4.0. The Natural Hazards Commission portal is a source of information about risks in your region: Natural Hazards Portal: Natural hazards in your area continued on p.20

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ACKNOWLEDGING CERVIN’S SERVICE TO NZPF Liz Hawes

EDITOR

CERVIN LTD HAS BEEN publishing the NZ Principal magazine since the late 1990s. Well known former NZPF President and Editor of the magazine, Geoff Lovegrove, was clear about why NZPF approached Cervin Ltd (then Snedden & Cervin) to publish the Federation’s magazine. He said it was the company’s strong family values, sense of community service and professionalism that attracted him to their door.

Co-founders of the company, Maurice and Anne-Marie Cervin, established their company, with a couple of friends, in 1989. Early projects included creating and publishing print directories for councils. These were free to the public and funded by advertising. By 1991, Maurice recognised that the healthcare sector could benefit from better information and so they began the creation of medical directories to help GPs and specialists access critical referral information.

Supporting the medical profession would become a lifetime mission for the Cervins. They gradually moved to a digitally integrated system which made it possible for doctors to refer patients to specialists electronically and have more recently created the same service for Australian doctors. This expansion is

a new direction for Cervin Ltd, which is now led by Anne-Marie and Maurice’s daughter, Carmel.

The NZ Principal magazine has been an outlier for the business for many years and NZPF will always be grateful that, despite not fitting the company’s business model or profile, the Cervin family continued to support us. As their business has expanded, making the medical world a better place, the time has now come to hand over NZ Principal to publishing company Little Island Press – another family company with the same ethical values.

Little Island Press will take over publishing NZ Principal in 2026.

As editor, I have had the great privilege of working alongside the Cervin team for the past 15 years, and have witnessed the service ethic and family values Geoff Lovegrove spoke of, first hand. These values permeate the entire workforce and it is impossible not to feel part of the family culture.

As I move into retirement phase myself, I take with me cher­ ished memories of working with the Cervin team, and thank them all for the care and professionalism that they have brought to NZPF’s flagship publication throughout my tenure.

ERO. (2022). Missing Out: Why Aren’t Our Children Going to School?

Author. https://evidence.ero.govt.nz/media/2hxp1qi5/missingout-why-arent-our-children-going-to-school.pdf

NZEI Te Riu Roa. (2024). We are still here. How educators in Te Mataua-Maui have supported their communities in the aftermath of Cyclone Gabrielle. nzeiteriuroa.org.nz/assets/downloads/WeAre-Still-Here-full-report.pdf

GUINZ (2024) Extreme weather survey findings. Extreme Weather Survey Overview list Harrington, L., & Frame, D. (2022). Extreme heat in New Zealand: A synthesis. Climatic Change, 174(2). https://doi.org/10.1007/ s10584-022-03427-7 Lai, H., Lee, J. E., Harrington, L. J., Ahuriri-Driscoll, A., Newport, C., Bolton, A., Salter, C., Morton, S., Woodward, A., & Hales, S. (2024). Daily Temperatures and Child Hospital Admissions in Aotearoa New Zealand: Case Time Series Analysis. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 21(9), Article 9. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21091236 Melia, N., Dean, S., Pearce, H. G., Harrington, L., Frame, D. J., & Strand, T. (2022). Aotearoa New Zealand’s 21st-Century Wildfire Climate. Earth’s Future, 10(6), e2022EF002853. https://doi. org/10.1029/2022EF002853 Mutch, C. (2015). Quiet heroes: Teachers and the Canterbury, New Zealand, earthquakes. Australasian Journal of Disaster and Trauma Studies, 19(2), 77–86.

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Oerther, S., Manspeaker, S., Wix, A., Oerther, D., & Marsit, C. (2024).

The Effects of Wildfires on the Mental and Physical Health of School-Age Children in North America: A Scoping Review.

Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Nursing, 37(4), e70002. https://doi.org/10.1111/jcap.70002 Prentice, C. M., Vergunst, F., Minor, K., & Berry, H. L. (2024).

Education outcomes in the era of global climate change. Nature Climate Change, 14(3), 214–224.

Urban Intelligence. (2024). National infrastructure exposure & property isolation assessment [Prepared for He Pou a Rangi Climate Change Commission]. https://www.climatecommission. govt.nz/our-work/adaptation/nappa/nappa-2024/ Zhang, Y., Tingting, Y., Huang, W., Yu, P., Chen, G., Xu, R., Song, J., Guo, Y., & Li, S. (2024). Health Impacts of Wildfire Smoke on Children and Adolescents: A Systematic Review and Metaanalysis. Current Environmental Health Reports, 11(1), 46–60. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40572-023-00420-9

NEW DELHI HOSTS ICP COUNCIL MEETING 2025 Liz Hawes

EDITOR

THE REPUBLIC OF INDIA is a country of contrasts – tradition and modernity; advantage and deprivation; local and global; rural and urban. Depending where you look, India can charm with its centuries old craftsmanship and grandeur with examples such as one of the seven wonders of the world, the Taj Mahal in Agra, Uttar Pradesh, and Humayun’s Tomb in Mathurin, or sadden with homeless beggars, completely dependent on the generosity of tourists and locals for financial support.

New Delhi, the National Capital Territory (NCT) of India, although not listed amongst the ten most economically advanced states of India, is home to India’s Central Government, the President and the Prime Minister and has a population density of 11,320 people per sq km. The whole of Delhi has a population of 16.79million with 97.50 per cent living in urban areas. Annual tempera­tures range from 3 degrees Celsius to 45 degrees Celsius.

Geographically, India is the seventh largest country in the world and has the world’s highest population with 1.451 billion people. Some of India’s biggest social problems include poverty, pollution, illiteracy, corruption, gender inequality and violence against women.

Schools, and the education they offer, are the mechanism through which some of India’s social problems will be resolved.

Despite schooling being compulsory in India through both private (mostly) and government school options, there are many millions of Indian children who do not attend any school. That is partially due to a well-entrenched ‘Caste System’, which was endorsed by colonialism but officially abolished in 1950. Despite the abolishment, the social hierarchy, imposed by birth, persists through ingrained social attitudes, segregation, and surnames that identify a person’s caste. Essentially this ‘Caste System’ divides the people into a hierarchy of five distinct groupings.

These are the Brahmins (priests and scholars), Kshatriyas (warriors), Vaishyas (merchants), Shudras (laborers) and Dalits (once known as the ‘untouchables’).

The ICP Council meeting was sponsored by the Salwan Education Trust, which boasts nine schools, and includes both private and public options. The Trust is chaired by Mr Harpel Singh, an educational philosopher who believes in education that cultivates the mind and teaches young people how to think critically so they can live satisfied lives, and become the custodians of humanity. ‘Teachers,’ he said, ‘are not deliverers of knowledge, they are facilitators of curiosity, builders of empathy and connectors.’ In a world of AI, where we are losing our ability to dream, ‘We must preserve human connections and values, collaboration, creativity, problem solving and resilience, to create a more equitable, sustainable and harmonious world.’

In India, he said, education is not to build careers but to build character. Education is not about teaching scriptures but teaching

New Zealand delegation visit the Taj Mahal. Back row: Jason Miles (Vice President) Liz Hawes. Front row: Leanne Otene (President), Stephanie Thompson, Karen Brisco

skills – how to be good with nature, how to serve society with humility and respect differences.

He also reminded us of our duty to the planet and the importance of sustainability, respect for communities, and that inclusivity must be a lived reality. In India, after inde­pendence in 1927, access to schools was just 18 per cent of children. Now it is 75–80 per cent. He quoted C.S. Lewis who eloquently postulated, ‘Education is not to cut down jungles but to irrigate deserts.’ In other words education is not about seeing learners as untamed jungles of ignorance to be cleared, but as young people to be nurtured and given a thirst for learning. On technology and its advancement he said, ‘Technology should and will change tools of learning, but values must remain the moral compass of humans.’

His words will continue to resonate with the ICP Council members because they are deeply felt and grounded in what it is to be human.

The Council meeting also hosted Yuri Belfali, who heads up the OECD division of early childhood and schools. Her opening remarks reminded us that data without context is meaningless.

‘Knowing is important,’ she said, ‘but more important is how young people live together to create better societies.’ ‘Schooling is not just for economic development it is for creating values and ways to solve problems.’ She noted that the countries with the highest creativity scores are Singapore, Finland, Australia and New Zealand, which was to be celebrated.

Panel discussions on building collaborative leadership and on managing leadership succession and Artificial Intelligence were lively and interesting and a presentation from Irish delegates on sustainable leadership – from thought to action – reminded us of the importance of having a coherent structure within the education system to support and sustain quality leadership for the future.

The New Zealand contingent had the opportunity to present their plans to host the 2026 ICP Council meeting and Convention (conference) which will be held at Auckland’s ‘New Zealand Convention Centre’ 16–18 September 2026.

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MENTORING THE NEXT GENERATION Why experienced principals are stepping up Isaac Day

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

EQUAL PARTS EXHILARATING AND daunting, experienced principals will still recall the steep learning curve of those early days, where preparation often gave way to learning on the job.

While principal preparation remains a challenge in Aotearoa New Zealand, there is one support that ranks as most valuable for new principals: mentoring from others (ERO, 2023).

Becoming a mentor to an aspiring or beginning principal is more than a professional responsibility – it’s a personal invest­ ment in the future of school leadership. High-quality mentoring, when done intentionally and relationally, and in conjunction with structured leadership development programmes, has the potential to transform not just individuals, but the system as a whole.

The Government’s priority to develop the workforce of the future, including leadership development pathways, is a call to action for the sector we can all support. For the New Zealand Principals’ Federation (NZPF), the Ministry of Education (the Ministry) and other sector leaders, becoming a mentor is not a stand-alone initiative. It’s part of a co-constructed, strategic approach to principal development – one that reflects a shared commitment to collective agency and enduring, system-wide improvement.

The evolution of principal mentoring Mentoring has long been recognised as a cornerstone of leadership development (Bush, 2009). Traditionally, it followed an apprenticeship model, where a seasoned principal passed down wisdom to a ‘novice’. The model has evolved. Today’s mentoring is less about giving answers and more about educative partnership – a relationship grounded in trust, reciprocity, cultural capability, and shared sense-making (Hayes & Mahfouz, 2020; Teaching Council, 2015).

Mentoring is a deliberate, evidence‑informed learning partner­ ship between the mentor and the aspiring | beginning principal. It blends support with challenge, combines inquiry with reflection, and capability-building with professional learning (DarlingHammond et al., 2009). This move away from the veteran–novice partnership reflects a deeper understanding of what effective leadership development now looks like.

Good mentoring means co-constructing goals with mentees, observing practice (and being observed), holding focused conversations in relation to leadership practices. All with the aim of building a learning-centred, and improvement-focussed profession (Parylo et al., 2012).

Why mentoring is a game-changer A key outcome of effective mentoring is that both mentor and 22

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mentee benefit. For aspiring and early-career principals, a skilled mentor can reduce isolation, accelerate decision‑making confidence, strengthen technical, cultural and relational capa­ bility, and support strategic thinking (Gimbel & Kefor, 2018; Hansford & Ehrich, 2006). For mentors, the work is renewing – embedding knowledge, improving professional conversations, and informing their own leadership practice. Ultimately, mentors contribute to the learning of their mentee and support system improvement (Bush, 2009; Parylo et al., 2012).

Mentoring creates system-wide change. As a mentor, principals contribute to system leadership and influence improvement beyond their own school. Mentoring helps to build a resilient leadership pipeline and improves practice across kura (Parylo et al., 2012) – both outcomes sought by the NZPF, the Ministry and other sector leaders.

Strategic commitment, investment and collaboration Principal mentoring is a key pillar of a nation-wide strategic approach for future school leaders; and the Ministry funded aspiring and beginning principal programmes place one-to-one mentoring at the heart of leadership development, ensuring support is structured, targeted, and impactful.

In partnership, the Ministry, the NZPF and sector leaders have designed the mentoring approach to reflect both research and our context in Aotearoa New Zealand, ensuring Te Tiriti oWaitangi is central to the work of both parties in the mentoring relationship.

The programmes aim to grow leaders who are ready to lead learning and manage complexity from day one. Key elements of the mentorship design include: ■

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A commitment to student learning and success, grounding the relationship in high trust and moral purpose through improving achievement.

Careful matching of mentors and aspiring | beginning principals to build strong foundations.

Clear roles and expectations for both parties.

Time, training, and resourcing to support mentors effectively.

The mentor application process is being managed by the Ministry with the support of the sector. Procurement of external providers, who will deliver the aspiring and beginning principal programmes and also manage the matching process, is underway.

The providers will deliver structured mentor training aligned with local and internationally supported research and evaluate effectiveness of both programmes over time. This level of inde­ pendent oversight will help maintain quality standards and ensure the mentoring experience is meaningful and grounded in evidence and feedback.

CONTENT SUPPLIED

CERVIN CELEBRATES 33 YEARS WITH NZ PRINCIPAL AS IT PASSES THE BANNER THIS ISSUE OF NZ Principal marks a special milestone – 33 years of publishing the magazine and celebrating the enduring partnership between Cervin Ltd and the New Zealand Principals’ Federation.

At the heart of that success are the strong, trusted relationships we’ve always valued – none more significant than our long partnerships with NZ Principal ’s editors, Geoff Lovegrove and Liz Hawes. Their professionalism and vision have been instrumental in shaping the magazine, and we’re deeply grateful for the privilege of working alongside them.

Now, after 33 years, it’s time to pass the banner. From next year, NZ Principal will be managed by Little Island Press, led by Amy Tansell, whose team has already collaborated with Cervin on recent issues. The magazine’s future is in excellent hands.

Our thanks also go to Komal Mathur and Stuart Sue, whose sales and design leadership over more than 20 years have meant a great deal. We’re equally grateful to NZ Principal’s advertisers and to the New Zealand Principals’ Federation for the opportunity to produce a publication that continues to serve school leaders across Aotearoa so well.

As Cervin closes this chapter, we now focus on the health sector, where we continue to connect people and services through our directories and e-referral tools.

Thank you to everyone who has been part of this 33-year journey – it’s been a privilege to share it with you.

Dr Carmel Cervin

March 2015 Volume 30, Number 1 November 2022 Volume 37, Number 4

September 2017 Volume 32, Number 3 June 2013 Volume 28, Number 2

March 2012 Volume 27, Number 1

November 2011 Volume 26, Number 4

September 2023 Volume 38, Number 3

September 2014 Volume 29, Number 3

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• Governance in Schools • Wellbeing In Education – Making time for wellbeing in NZ schools

• Learner Agency: Is it really as simple as all that?

• NZCER Research

NZPF CONFERENCE Happy birthday NZPF!

Dental health of children in NZ

2022 Collective Resilience

DUKE OF EDINBURGH’S HILLARY AWARDS Maths anxiety

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The bottom line Mentoring is more than a tool – it simultaneously grows people, supports stronger school leadership, and builds a stronger education system. When we align mentoring with the Ministry’s wider principal pathway programmes, and the curated supports from providers, we create the conditions for principals to thrive – and for our school communities to feel the impact If you are an experienced principal, now is the time to apply to be a mentor in the aspiring or beginning principal programmes, or both. Your experience, knowledge and insights into what makes a good principal great will shape the next generation of leaders. As with the principals who came before you, the invest­ ment made in others through mentoring becomes an investment in the strength of the whole system.

For more information and how to apply to become a mentor go to the Ministry’s Education Workforce website: Mentor an aspiring or beginning principal | Education Workforce ABOUT THE AUTHOR

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Isaac Day has served as a principal for nearly 18 years and has been involved in educational leadership and mentoring for more than 25 years. He holds a Doctorate from the University of Canterbury, where his research focused on building leadership capacity by exploring leadership development across a career.

Isaac has recently been appointed to a role as Chief Advisor, Education Workforce and Leadership at the Ministry of Edu­ cation, contributing to national strategy and system-level leadership development.

REFERENCES Bush, T. (2009). Leadership development and school improvement: contemporary issues in leadership development.

Educational Review, 61(4), 375–389. https://doi. org/10.1080/00131910903403956 Darling–Hammond, L., Meyerson, D., LaPointe, M., & Orr, M. T. (2009). Preparing principals for a changing world: Lessons from effective school leadership programs. Wiley & Sons. https://doi. org/10.1002/9781118269329 ERO. (2023). Everything was new: Preparing and supporting new principals. Wellington Retrieved from https://evidence.ero. govt.nz/media/towpef5r/everything-was-new-preparing-andsupporting-new-principals.pdf Gimbel, P., & Kefor, K. (2018). Perceptions of a principal mentoring initiative. NASSP Bulletin, 102(1), 22–37. https://doi. org/10.1177/0192636518754405 Hansford, B., & Ehrich, L. C. (2006). The principalship: How significant is mentoring? Journal of Educational Administration, 44(1), 36–52. https://doi.org/10.1108/09578230610642647 Hayes, S. D., & Mahfouz, J. (2020). Principalship and mentoring: A review of perspectives, evidence, and literature 1999–2019.

Research in Educational Administration and Leadership, 5(3), 722–751. https://doi.org/10.30828/real/2020.3.4 Parylo, O., Zepeda, S. J., & Bengtson, E. (2012). The different faces of principal mentorship. International journal of mentoring and coaching in education, 1(2), 120–135. https://doi. org/10.1108/20466851211262860 Teaching Council. (2015). Guidelines for induction and mentoring and mentor teachers. https://teachingcouncil.nz/assets/Files/ Registration-and-certification/Guidelines-for-Induction-andMentoring-English.pdf N Z Principal | N o v e m b e r 2 0 2 5

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THE NZPF EXECUTIVE GOES TO APPA CONFERENCE Liz Hawes

EDITOR

AS IS ALWAYS THE case when New Zealand principals meet with Australian colleagues, humour, teasing, and competition were all on stage at this year’s annual APPA (Australian Primary Principals’ Association) conference in Brisbane. Temperatures of at least 20 degrees every day were an added bonus for the Kiwi contingent who quickly repacked their merino jumpers for the return journey.

The conference was opened with a ‘Welcome to Country’ ceremony in recognition of the indigenous people of the land and the theme ‘Our Primary Purpose: Vision, Voice, Agency, Impact’ was well explored by the many speakers.

Derek Oram–Sandy, a traditional custodian of the Goori, Yerongpan clan of the Yuggara nation, performed the ceremony, welcoming principals through the ancestral spirits of the Totem of the area, ‘that will keep us all safe.’ He explained the close connection between the indigenous people, the land and bird life and how, by listening to the call of the Koel bird, his ancestors would avoid floods. He concluded with a memorable didgeridoo song of welcome.

The Federal Minister, Jason Clare was the first to speak, noting that working together was the best way to achieve long term agreements on education funding and reform. He told an affecting story of a primary school friend of his own son who had experienced grief in his family. The school principal checked in with the boy every day to make sure he was OK. She sometimes played board games or cards with him, and they shared hot chips.

Minister Clare emphasised that such empathy is what principals show every day and he thanked his audience for, not just their important educational role, but also looking out for the welfare and social–emotional needs of their students.

The Queensland Education Minister, Hon John–Paul Langbroek, was interviewed by MC for the conference, Libbi Gorr. He outlined what his government had done for education, emphasising the removal of ‘red tape’, introducing a set of guidelines for parent communications, including online communications, and a student anti-bullying plan for both online and offline bullying behaviour. Additional specialists and psychologists, chaplains, a parent line and more PLD for teachers and principals rounded out his list. ‘Great schools are built on great leaders and as a government we have a duty to support you,’ he said.

Speakers covered multiple topics including lessons from a victim of the London bombings, education for tomorrow, leading well together, harnessing individual strength for team success, mastering modern leadership, and building trust and belonging in schools. Below is a report on a selection of the speakers.

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NZ Principal | November 2 0 2 5

Justin Coulson talked about the importance of building relationships so that staff and students feel they belong and feel safe to engage. He encouraged principals to consciously allocate ‘connection time’ and recognise that investing in staff and student relationships builds trust. Similarly, he said, repairing relationships is far more important than rule enforcement.

He advised that brief, consistent relational moments scattered throughout the day work best. He said interactions should be based on the person feeling seen, heard and valued so that they know their principal understands the actual challenges they face. Too often, he said, schools optimise for efficiency rather than human relationships. Trust is key to all we do, he said, and building relationships is the key – something being efficient won’t achieve.

Dr Cam McDonald presented his audience with ways of harnessing the individual strengths to build a strong team of teachers and a balanced classroom. Key to achieving this, he said, was to understand individuals and match them carefully.

Insights from the medical world can be transferred to education to help achieve that.

Student wellbeing is influenced by teacher wellbeing, so if teachers bring stress into the classroom, students behave in a stressed manner, he said. When our emotional environment matches our biology, however, we feel calm and safe. The natural state of ‘match’ differs for different people.

He indicated that AI will help with working out the matches by analysing a student’s biological characteristics – more accurately than a doctor – and examining the behaviours that result.

Teachers would group students according to compatibility and set the environment to accommodate their expected responses.

This makes for a huge shift in thinking for the future, he said.

To illustrate his point, he described two very different types of personalities and their biological characteristics to show that while one was risk taking, the other was a carer. He called them Activators and Guardians. Activators, he said were adrenaline driven (biological), can’t sit still, love adventure, are risk takers and expansive. The guardians are nurturing, like predictability, are sociable and deeply caring, and they are stable in nature.

There are many more personality types which AI can identify, allowing school leaders and teachers to adapt their environment so each can perform optimally.

APPA President, Angela Faulkenberg A popular President, Angela Faulkenberg opened her speech saying, ‘We (APPA) are here because principals’ work is complex.’

APPA has a list of key priorities, she said, to address the major issues. They are valuing the profession, addressing principal

Derek Oram-Sandy, the traditional custodian of the Goori, Yerongpan Clan of the Yuggari Nation welcomes the visitors with a didgeridoo song

health and wellbeing, acquiring equitable and sustained funding, streamlining the curriculum, shifting national testing to national sampling and removing NAPLAN results from the MySchool website.

We are first leaders of learning and must be trusted to do our job, by the government and our local communities, she said.

On wellbeing, APPA has a role in conducting principal surveys, sharing stories and conducting campaigns to bring the issues to public attention. ‘We must elevate the profession, and give it the respect, investment and support it needs,’ she said. ‘If students start well [at primary school level], they learn well,’ she said.

‘Invest in the years that matter most, and the rest will follow.’

She also addressed how offensive student behaviours affect principals’ productivity and highlighted the research that APPA was undertaking to launch a campaign on this topic. Other issues she raised included, quality teachers, mobile phone use, AI opportunities, quality PLD and professional supervision, and the culture of compliance, especially assessment.

Her final point was that the future will need creative citizens who are collaborative, equity driven and ethical, just as principals must be, to lead their education.

The conference concluded with a motivational speaker, Gill Hicks, a survivor of the London underground bombings. Her address was littered with life lessons. Her show stopping opening line was: ‘When the emergency people arrived, it didn’t matter whether you were rich or poor, male or female, clean or dirty, educated or not, religious or not, it just mattered that you were a precious human life.’ Gill Hicks is a double amputee as a result of the bombings – having lost both legs.

An Australian by birth she chose to live in London as a young adult. As she boarded her plane, a close friend handed her an envelope. It wasn’t loaded with cash. The card inside had a simple message, ‘Trust yourself ’. Little did she know what a powerful message this would prove to be.

She told the story of walking past a bunch of homeless men each day on her way to work in London, and stopping to speak with them. Once trust was established they asked her to bank their weekly welfare entitlement for them – because without a permanent address, they could not open a bank account. That taste of trust, she said, helped her cope with what happened next.

When the bombing occurred she thought she was dying. Bodies were being catapulted through the air and she said her mind randomly returned to her young life in Australia, eating pasta, watching movies, walking on the beach. She put up her hand and a stranger connected with her – in the darkness anonymous commuters became life-lines – holding each other’s hands to stay alive. It was real humanity in that carriage, she said – including humour. ‘A Kiwi beside me said, don’t tell me I’m beside an Australian and have to explain everything.’ After what felt like an eternity, but was an hour, a torch appeared in the darkness – It was a surreal, Spielberg film moment. But that one accessory said all will be OK – we’re here. The response from the injured was basically ‘Thank you, I love you and please be our family’.

The paramedics had been told no one could go down to rescue the injured until they were sure there were no more bombs, but they came down anyway. ‘We will not let you die,’ they repeated.

It was the power of us – holding hands – staying connected that got us through. In the ambulance I flat-lined but the paramedic intubated me and kept on with CPR. He said, ‘she’s dead, but she’s still talking.’ That was my ticket to life, so my advice is ‘If you don’t think it’s your time to go, keep talking.’ It was agreed to carry on for three minutes and then stop the CPR. ‘I made it – by 30 seconds.’

Next were all the firsts – like the first shower without legs – the nurse brought humour to the occasion and we laughed till we cried. She turned this horrific moment into a joy. continued on p.26

N Z Principal | N o v e m b e r 2 0 2 5

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Cam McDonald counselled principals to harness individual strengths to build a strong team of teachers and balanced classrooms

Then the prosthetics – how interesting to learn that our height is the same as our arm span. The opportunity, in adversity, was to ask if I could increase my height and I walked out of the hospital a whole foot taller, she said gleefully.

After that it was all about trusting myself.

My mentors and role models are those who kept me alive. Their love took away all the hatred and retribution and reminds us that HUMANITY needs a U and an I. Whilst it is difficult to imagine that experiencing a bombing and losing two limbs could be a positive experience, Gill Hicks brought a level of joy, humour and positivity that sent the entire conference home uplifted and thinking, ‘The human condition is all about connecting, empathy, fun and love.’ What connects us is far greater than anything that can divide us.

The theme of connection, relationships and humanity was woven throughout many of the presentations, and reminded us that as we face a future with AI, these qualities of human intelligence will be needed more than ever.

Justin Coulson says, trust is key to all we do and building relationships is something being efficient won’t achieve

MAGAZINE You can now access the current and past issues of NZ Principal magazine online You can search by magazine issue, article name or author 26

NZ Principal | November 2 0 2 5

visit www.nzprincipal.co.nz

BOOK REVIEWS New Zealand book awards embrace variety in children’s literature Pat Martin and Pip Desmond

A CAT DETECTIVE, a girl band, and a slice of our sporting history are some of the subjects covered in the 2025 New Zealand Book Awards for Children and Young Adults.

Detective Beans and the Case of the Missing Hat Author and illustrator: Li Chen Publisher: Penguin Random House Australia 2024 Winner, Junior Fiction, 2025 NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults Aspiring kitty sleuth Beans takes on the case (or should that be ‘chase’?) of his missing hat in this 200-page, full-colour graphic tale by author Li Chen.

The young cat’s search for the brown fedora that is essential for his detective work has endless twists and turns involving birds, more kittens and more hats, a magician, a soupy restaurant, a scare­crow, an ice-cream inventor, a jazz singer called Trixie, and Beans’ friend Biscuits.

There are philosophical musings, dead ends and near-misses.

Some of the humour is laugh-out-loud, although youngsters may not get jokes that require a knowledge of the detective genre and other adult references. On the way to retrieving his beloved hat, Detective Beans even manages to solve a real-life crime, win the admiration of local police and still be home in time for tea.

Detective Beans and the Case of the Missing Hat is cute, quirky and written for children aged seven up.

It’s a classic pursuit story enhanced by Li Chen’s superb comic illustrations that paint vivid scenes from surprising angles, don’t always rely on text and will draw in less advanced readers.

Li Chen was born in Beijing, China and moved to New Zealand when she was five. Detective Beans and the Case of the Missing Hat, based on her two adopted cats Copy and Paste, is her first book.

It has been written for an international audience and also published in the USA. She has since written a second book in the series.

Violet and the Velvets: the case of the missing stuff Author: Rachael King Illustrator: Phoebe Morris Publisher: Allen & Unwin 2025 Shortlisted, Junior Fiction, 2025 NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults Violet Grumble wears a tartan skirt, has a bright blue streak in her hair and wants to be in a band. Not as a singer like most girls but playing guitar. Violet also has ADHD, ‘a magic brain’ that makes her forgetful and untidy but allows her to see music in colours and feel it ‘fizzy like sherbet, warm and sweet in my stomach like hot porridge with brown sugar’.

When auditions for BandChamps are announced at Oakleaf primary school, Violet enlists her friends to form Violet and the Velvets, even though none of them can play an instrument. They survive conflict, betrayals and the mysterious theft of their band gear to take the stage for the audition, only to be beaten by the more proficient boys. But Violet is not one to give up easily.

This heartwarming story will appeal to young girls aged eight to twelve chasing their dream. There’s a strong message that you don’t have to be the best as long as you do what you love, stick at it and have fun. Author Rachael King’s empathy for her main character (she herself was diagnosed with ADHD in 2022 and began performing bass guitar as a teenager) comes through in the accessible prose and Violet’s honest, humorous self-reflection.

Her long-suffering musician Mum backs her daughter while letting her figure out her own answers, while Violet’s friends also grow from the band’s struggles.

Illustrator Phoebe Morris’s clean, engaging graphics capture Violet’s pizzazz and the personalities of those around her. continued on p.28

N Z Principal | N o v e m b e r 2 0 2 5

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CONTENT SUPPLIED

A NEW PUBLISHING PARTNERSHIP WE ARE EXCITED THAT from Term 1 2026, the New Zealand Principal will be published by Little Island Press.

Little Island Press is a family-run business and community publisher established in 2007. Having worked alongside Liz Hawes and Cervin Ltd on layout and design of the New Zealand Principal since 2023, the Little Island Press team is well-prepared and excited to extend its work to include sales and publishing for the magazine.

With a combined total of more than 60 years’ publishing industry experience and strong links with the tertiary education sector, the Little Island team is looking forward to working with the New Zealand Principals’ Federation to continue the success of its flagship publication.

To place an advertisement in New Zealand Principal, email sales@littleisland.co.nz or phone our advertising sales rep Naomi on 020 479 4293.

Naomi Bishop Little Island advertising sales rep

March 2025 Volume 40, Number 1

CHARTER SCHOOLS Youth mental health

Tackling climate change

OPC–NZPC exchange programme

September 2025 Volume 40, Number 3

June 2025 Volume 40, Number 2

November 2024 4 Volume 39, Number

September 2024 3 Volume 39, Number

TRANS-TASMAN CONFERENCE 2024 – School – ka Ruaka shines

ERO research on oral language

Collaborative problem solving

INTERNATIONAL CONFEDERATION OF PRINCIPALS Legal benefits scheme for principals

Lemonwood Grove Te Uru Tarata

New ERO research on RSE education

Leading with Influence Thought Leadership

NZPF Moot 2025

Black Magic: The inspiring story of why Aotearoa sports teams wear black with a silver fern Author: David Riley Illustrator: Munro Te Whata Publisher: Reading Warrior 2024 Shortlisted, Elsie Locke Award for Non-Fiction, 2025 NZ Book Awards for Children and Young Adults If our national flag is blue, red and white, why do our sports teams all wear black with a silver fern?

This is the question that author David Riley poses in Black Magic. To answer it he goes back first to the discovery of New Zealand and then to the story of Joseph Warbrick, son of a Pākehā father and Māori mother.

In 1888, Warbrick led a 26-strong New Zealand Natives rugby team on a tour of Britain, the first New Zealand sports team to wear a black uniform with a silver fern. Warbrick chose the ponga to represent the silver fern leaves laid on a forest path at night to help light up the way home.

On why he chose black for their uniform, Riley suggests the team planned to do something magic. Which they did. Not only were they the first national sports team to visit Europe, they played 107 games over 18 months – the longest tour in the history of rugby! Five team members were Pākehā and some like Joe and his brothers had a Pākehā parent. All loved sharing Māori culture through karakia, haka, wearing korowai and speaking te reo Māori on the field. They also won great praise for their attacking, free-flowing style of play.

NZ Principal | November 2 0 2 5

THE WHY BEHIND EDUCATION REFORMS

Time for a College of School Principals?

This is the first in a series of Violet and the Velvets books

by Rachael King who has previously written two stand-alone middle-grade novels, Red Rocks (now a television series) and The Grimmelings.

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FAIR DEAL FOR TE KOROMIKO SWANNANOA

Cognitive-affective learning

Equity at the heart of every school

Rural principalship

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A black and white photo of the 1888 team reminds us that this is history, but there’s nothing dull about Black Magic. Informal anecdotes and Munro Te Whata’s dynamic illustrations bring key moments in the tour to life. The book will interest sports-loving boys aged ten and up. Sketches of recognisable New Zealand sportsmen and women from other codes on the cover broaden its appeal and reinforce Riley’s message that, whatever sport you play, remember who you represent and where you come from . . . and go and do something magic!

David Riley is a writer and part-time English teacher at Tangaroa College in Otara. He aims to inspire young people with stories from Aotearoa New Zealand and Oceania, and to encourage them to write their own stories.

He runs workshops for students and staff around the country, and can be contacted at d av i d r i l e y n z @ gmail.com, david@ readingwarrior.com or davidr@tangaroa. school.nz Pip Desmond and Pat Martin are writers and editors who run communications company 2Write. They have been reading books to their three children and eight grandchildren for four decades.

LEADING SCHOOLS THROUGH POLITICAL CHANGE Professor John O’Neill

THERE IS A DIPLOMATIC challenge that all tumuaki principals encounter from time to time during their ‘leadership of learning’ career. In essence, it is to balance one’s professional obligations as a senior schooling system public servant against those of a servant leader in one’s local education community. The challenge becomes most acute when government ministers, prompted by those who have their ear, act on the belief that mandating prepackaged silver bullet policy solutions from the centre inevi­ tably produces what they envisage as common sense change and improvement on the ground.

According to those who currently have the Minister of Education’s ear, scientifically flawed teaching and curriculum leadership practices are to be found throughout our staffrooms and classrooms. Lobbyist folklore also has it that these problems became endemic following the mergers of the craft-focused, liberal arts flavoured teachers’ colleges with their inquiryfocused, research flavoured university Education faculties during the 1990s and 2000s. The preferred political solution now being rolled out is a modernised apprenticeship or internship entry route to teaching, offered competitively by a mix of public and private providers, subject to tight central control of initial teacher education and prioritisation of structured curriculum basics and the science of learning. This is an approach that inevitably shifts even more workload, expectation, and, ultimately, accountability for outcomes onto tumuaki principals. Evidence from overseas suggests that such approaches contain multiple ‘fishhooks and broken glass’.

To be fair, depending on one’s personal educational values and beliefs, silver bullets can be fired from the Left or Right ends of the ideological spectrum. At one polar end, policies place too much faith in local education professional expertness, capacity, initiative and resilience, at the other end, too little. At one end, targeted marketplace incentives magically provide for schools’ curriculum, pedagogy or assessment policy support needs; at the other end, only a permanent commons of professional advisers and resources will suffice. At one end, essential curriculum ‘basics’, at the other end, optional learning area ‘frills’. At one end, ‘objective’ standardised achievement tests and ‘rigorous’ written examinations, at the other end, ‘subjective’ records of learning. At one end, the inalienable rights of the child, at the other end, the insatiable needs of the economy. At one end, a mass-produced, globally homogenous, fast-food, drive-through experience of imported education policy; at the other end, a slow-food movement that is mindful, equitable, locally sourced and sustainable. More complicated still is that, despite their often-contradictory emphases, Left and Right schooling politics both claim to be about promoting greater fairness. Which policy

horses should tumuaki principals put their money on in 2025?

Or is ‘each way’ the smart bet?

Every experienced tumuaki principal knows that for any given school or kura context, the ‘golden mean’ of thoughtful local practice lies somewhere between these various abstract policy extremes. More experienced principals (and teachers) are also schooling policy veterans – they have usually ridden on official policy change merry-go-rounds many times before. As a 2023 ERO report, Preparing and Supporting New Principals found, however, a difficulty the country faces right now is the high and increasing proportion of relatively inexperienced school principals in the system. The headline findings from the report include that in 2022, 860 or 37 per cent had been a principal for less than five years. Two fifths were principals of small and very small schools, and 22 per cent came to their role from a ‘non-leadership pathway’. Only a quarter felt prepared or very prepared for the role overall when they started (although this rose to 81 per cent after four to five years). Less than half are confident in their ability to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and only 20 per cent report being prepared for working in partnership with Māori. Only 23 per cent rated their wellbeing as high or very high.

Our national school tumuaki principal workforce is under­ going significant turnover and renewal at precisely the point in the current political–electoral cycle when multiple, major curriculum, pedagogy and assessment prescriptions have been imposed on the sector simultaneously, and at pace – a political gambit known as ‘flooding the zone’. So, the diplomatic challenge, and accompanying dance, for tumuaki principals is how best to navigate a tsunami of system level policy polarities and contradictions while at the local level encouraging a pragmatic balance of intentional schooling routines and practices that nourishes ākonga, whānau and kaiako daily.

And all this in the knowledge that when the government changes, key education policy will likely reverse direction too. One can only feel sorry watching highly experienced, respected and dedicated Te Mahau officials obliged by virtue of their master–servant relationship to unquestioningly turn 180 degrees and proclaim that an education policy that yesterday was unambiguously black is today most certainly white. Much as the Minister and Secretary of Education might like tumuaki principals to dutifully make the same unquestioning u-turn, local obligations and loyalties often call for a more nuanced, diplomatic dance.

Other than learning in the ‘school of hard knocks’, though, what continued on p.30

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NZ Principal | November 2 0 2 5

blend of knowledge, skills and dispositions might assist tumuaki principals in this dance, and how should this commitment to moral and ethical leadership be nurtured across the schooling system? In its final 2019 report, one of the recommendations of the Tomorrow’s Schools Independent Taskforce was that in order to assure the quality diversity and professional expertise of kura school leadership, a national Leadership Centre be established within the Teaching Council, that the Centre develop national eligibility criteria and guidelines for tumuaki principal appointment and performance review, that regionally based leadership advisors would work with each principal and their board of trustees, within and across schools, and that there would be broader incentives to lead kura schools in ‘complex contexts’.

The recommendation aimed to ensure every kura school would have a ‘highly effective’ tumuaki principal and that our system would become a learning ecology that develops leadership at all levels of kura schools and at system level itself. The bare essence of the recommendation was incorporated in the subsequent Education and Training Act 2020, section 167, requiring the Minister of Education to issue eligibility criteria relating to appointment of principals (this was the Ministry of Education’s preferred option).

In the event, no multi-purpose national Leadership Centre was established within the Teaching Council. A more modest national Leadership Advisory Service with 21 regional appointees was established in 2023 within Te Mahau, the support and services arm of the Ministry of Education, on a ‘for principals, by principals’ model. It was also the Ministry of Education that in 2022 invited PPTA, NZEI and the Mātauranga Iwi Leaders Group to each identify a ‘drafter’ to help develop the eligibility criteria, supported by a wider sector working group and inclusive of consultation with the sector. The final drafts of the criteria for appointment to principalship (of English medium schools, and schools with rumaki reo, kura kaupapa Māori, kura a iwi, and kura motuhake) were approved by Minister Tinetti in July 2023, for immediate ‘soft launch’ and adoption by Boards of Trustees from March 2024 (METIS No.: 1310502).

In addition to maintaining the requirement to have a full practising teacher certificate, the key eligibility competencies are expressed as four pou: Leader of people, Vision for learning, Tikanga Māori and Leader of operations, with each pou having both experience and commitment criteria.

Feedback from Te Akatea-led consultation with Māori medium on the draft criteria led to the addition of a specific eligibility requirement for a tumuaki principal in any setting to be antiracist and to develop a culture that is free from discrimination and bullying. And so, to the tip of an iceberg: the erasure of six everyday kupu Māori in At the Marae. Is this reading wars, culture wars or immanent racism, discrimination and bullying?

Where do our more than one third of new principals stand on this moral and ethical challenge, and what will their diplomatic dancing look like?

USING MANA POTENTIAL TO CREATE IDENTITY AND EQUITY IN THE CLASSROOM AS EDITOR OF THE NZPF magazine, Liz Hawes has been tireless in highlighting the harms a neoliberal agenda brings to education and the benefits of collectivism so that schools and tamariki can thrive. Her wisdom, values and writing skills will be greatly missed – E mihi ana ki a koe e te mareikura.

In her final editorial, Liz describes the challenge of the equity gap we face in Aotearoa New Zealand, ‘This is the most ubiquitous problem facing our society, including education. With growing poverty, unemployment, housing issues, mental health issues, drug addiction, isolation, violence and trauma, schools report they are overwhelmed and under-resourced to cope with the growing number of children needing specialised help.’

This equity gap is apparent in my own kura. Our community is diverse, composed of beachside, farming, marae and village communities – the latter established to house the now closed Marsden Point refinery. These holidays some whānau are heading off for international holidays, others are moving to a smaller house so that they can afford the rent in our Northland beachside paradise. All of the issues Liz lists are challenges in our school community and our kaiako work hard to ensure that our kura culture provides a place where all tamariki are safe and valued so that they can learn and flourish.

Last year, one of my hardworking and skilled team leaders wrote down how they were feeling about their Year 6 classroom.

This was written at night, when faced with the task of finding a reliever for a class that (like all of the classrooms in my kura) has a number of tamariki who are trauma impacted and/or neurodiverse and struggle significantly without CPR (Consistent Predictable Routines) and sometimes struggle even when those routines are in place.

What was written (shared with permission) is confronting: It’s like someone has put a bomb in the room and said this has to stay here, don’t set it off, we will support you as best we can. Then you are not a qualified bomb

dismantler. So you tip toe around the bomb trying not to set it off putting things in place that you hope will help. However you don’t know what is going to set it off.

Inevitably you set the bomb off and it is removed. You then pick up the pieces left by the bomb, assess for collateral damage, tend to any wounds (of others never your own you don’t have time) settle anyone who was in the vicinity with reassurance (not that it won’t happen again because you can’t guarantee that) try to think about what set it off so you can avoid it in the future and then get ready because the bomb is being delivered back to you fully charged.

As you will know, this is not an uncommon experience. On the NZ Teacher’s Facebook page today, I saw this anonymous post: Do you have a right to say no to teaching a student? Classes for 2026 are being made and I have been prepped to teach a Year 5 boy who has Autism and ORS and has 2 behaviours I am worried about . . . He has 2 hours of TA time per day.

I am seriously considering leaving the school because of this fear.

This post was commented on by many teachers talking about how the school should be providing a full time TA and the rights of teachers to a healthy and safe work environment and a Principal’s responsibility to create such a space.

Those kaiako are right, we do have a responsibility to create a safe working environment for our staff.

But given the insufficient funding for Learning Sup­ port and the increase in need amongst our tamariki, I am sure I am not the only principal for whom this has seemed to be an impossible challenge. For this reason, I knew we had to do some­ thing differently and the profe ss i on a l l e ar n i ng needed to start with me.

Our kura has been on a PB4L journey for a long time and for tamariki with secure attachment and self regulation capabilities, teaching our SHINE values and noticing and rewarding N Z Principal | N o v e m b e r 2 0 2 5

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behaviour that meets those values is a successful tool. For tamariki who are neurodiverse and/or trauma impacted there is a growing body of research that tells us that we need more than behaviourism. Joe Brummer and Marg Thorsborne’s book Becoming a Trauma Informed Restorative Educator outlines ‘the degree to which behaviourism is entrenched across the education system. The unchallenged assumptions and beliefs about behaviour management that infuse PBIS, PBL, PB4L are examined. It is shown that these systems tend to reward students nurtured in privileged families and punish those who are experiencing trauma, further impeding educational outcomes.’ 1 Recognising that we needed to understand Trauma Informed Education, I spent my wellbeing fund on attending the Trauma Informed Educators Conference in Brisbane. It reinforced what I already felt, that trauma impacted and neurodiverse tamariki are not deliberately choosing to wreck their classrooms and hurt others. As Nathan Mikaere-Wallis explains it, their brains are making predictions – based on past experience – about how safe they are in a situation. Their brain’s response is sometimes freeze, often flight and frequently fight. Our best strategy in that situation is to co-regulate and provide safety – not threaten dire consequences or promise rewards.

And so began our journey. Alongside significant investment of teacher time and energy in Structured Literacy learning, we have also invested in Restorative Practice PLD (funded by the MoE as part of PB4L schoolwide), Trauma Education from our MoE Psych and Mana Potential which we have funded ourselves.

Why Mana Potential? Because what can’t be bought from overseas is a model for supporting tamariki that is culturally relevant to Aotearoa New Zealand. Angeline McDonald coauthored the Mana Potential Model as an RTLB Māori (the irony is real!) and has since been employed by Waikato Uni. She is currently self-employed and returns later this month from presenting at the Indigenous Wellbeing Conference in Brisbane.

Over the last year, Angeline (Te Rarawa, Ngāpuhi) has supported kaiako and kaiāwhina to use the Mana Potential model to develop student’s self identity, to create a visual of tuku iho | cultural heritage, to understand where they come from, who stands beside them and who are their ‘go to people’ every day to support their regulation.

A year later, these are the words of the same team leader talking about the impact of Mana Potential in her classroom.

We have been exploring the concept ‘It’s bigger than me’ and creating digital versions of our Tuku Iho which we continue to use as a working document . . . we have been examining each of the Atua and discovering what each represents and how we can use these to express how we are feeling. It has been a rewarding experience and I have seen tangible positive impact in my classroom.

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NZ Principal | November 2 0 2 5

Last week for ‘Special Person Day’ we created a portrait of our special person using a paper plate and plasticine/clay.

Some students had people come to visit but some didn’t . . .

Those students who did have someone, worked with their person to create the portrait and an encouraging message.

I asked those students who didn’t have someone come to think of someone that they want to make proud. We then brainstormed messages of encouragement that we would like to hear from our person. We used speech bubbles to write the messages and attached them to our portraits.

This idea came from our Tuku Iho and work we are doing around Mana Potential. I have one student who has lost her Dad. Her special person was her Dad, her message from him was ‘Remember, I’m always watching’ it brought tears to my eyes. Another student has had challenges this year, we have been working with this student and the whānau.

Today this student’s Dad arrived and they worked away creating the portrait, the message Dad wrote is, ‘Never give up, keep going. Success doesn’t come without failure.’ It was a beautiful day and I just wanted to share the incredible impact Mana Potential is having for us.

Supporting our kaiako and kaiāwhina and keeping them safe while they support our tamariki is a challenge – Mana Potential is proving to be a significant tool in our kete.

Interested in exploring Mana Potential in your kura? Contact Angeline McDonald via email angelinem2@gmail.com

NOTES 1 https://www.restorativepracticesinternational.com/reviewbecoming-a-trauma-informed-restorative-educator/

Smart key upgrade gives South Otago High full control in a day

South Otago High School Principal, Mike Wright

Looking for a more secure and manageable way to control access, South Otago High School replaced its old key system with eCLIQ from ASSA ABLOY. Installed in just one day, the new system gives staff full control over 70 keys and the doors they open.

‘The issue with a key fob system was the need to install power and internet access to every door,’ says Wright. ‘I’d read an article about ASSA ABLOY’s eCLIQ and thought it was a better system for our needs. It meant we didn’t have the expense and disruption of installing power to existing doors, and we can disable a lost key within minutes of being notified.’

Providing total control over who has access

South Otago High School has been part of the Balclutha community since 1926. It’s the largest school in the region, with 530 students, six teaching blocks, and 17 hectares of playing fields and courts, serving families from across South Otago’s rural and small-town areas.

A quick, cost-effective transition

Administrators can see who used which door and when and disable a lost key in minutes.

Challenge and pain points for the School The school operated a mechanical system where a single master key would open almost every door within the school, except for the gymnasium and server room. With around 45 teachers plus cleaners and support staff holding keys, access via exterior doors into classrooms, science labs and workshops was very difficult to monitor. If a master key was lost or duplicated without approval, the school would need to urgently rekey every lock to maintain security – a timeconsuming and expensive task.

When the school discovered that a master key had been copied without their knowledge, Principal Mike Wright began looking for a system that could prevent it from happening again – a system that was easy to install and maintain and reduced the admin costs associated with traditional mechanical keys. No more potential emergency rekeying. No more guesswork about who has access.

A more efficient and secure solution After looking into several electronic key options, the school selected eCLIQ by ASSA ABLOY for its exterior classroom doors. Installed by Begg Security, the eCLIQ platform now provides complete monitoring of all the school’s external door locks and keys, making it easier to manage who goes where and when.

eCLIQ has provided the school with central control, flexible room access, and remotely managed keys for staff and contractors without the cost or disruption of new wiring.

The system includes battery-powered electronic keys, locks with microchips, programming devices at convenient locations, and software for managing access.

Battery-powered key

‘With eCLIQ, it still looks and works like a traditional key – locking and unlocking manually,’ says Mike Begg, co-owner of Begg Security. ‘We simply replaced the existing door cylinders with the electronic cylinders, set up and programmed the software, and gave each staff member a new key.’

Begg Security had it up and running in just one day, with no interruption to the school’s activities. ‘I was very pleasantly surprised by just how quick and easy the transition was and how well it was organised and managed,’ Mike Wright confirms.

eCLIQ keying system

More durable, more secure and more efficient than conventional locking systems

nzeducation@assaabloy.com assaabloy.com/nz

Electronic lock barrel

South Otago High School now manages 70 eCLIQ keys, each with preset permissions.

Contractors can be granted temporary access by the school, and staff use a single key for all their needs. With external doors secured, the school plans to switch internal doors to eCLIQ next.

‘The part which really impressed me was the ease of getting the system up and running, and then also the fact that there were no issues.

It worked the first time.’ says Mike Wright.

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