NZ Principal Magazine Term 4 2017

November 2017 Volume 32, Number 4

NZPF Conference 2017 Queenstown Also

featuring

• Phonics Programme for Juniors • Liz Millar Retires • Māori Student Agency

• Finding a balance: Fostering Wellbeing, Positive Behaviour, and Learning

CONTENTS

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

November 2017

2 EDITORIAL 3 PRESIDENT’S PEN Whetu Cormick

Magazine Proof-reader Helen Kinsey-Wightman Editorial Board Whetu Cormick, NZPF President Geoff Lovegrove, Retired Principal, Feilding Liz Hawes, Editor Advertising For all advertising enquiries contact: Cervin Media Ltd PO Box 68450, Wellesley St, Auckland 1141 Ph: 09 360 8700 or Fax: 09 360 8701 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.

Subscription Distributed free to all schools in New Zealand.

For individual subscribers, send $40 per year to: New Zealand Principals’ Federation National Office, PO Box 25380, Wellington 6146

6 20 24 29

NZPF Conference 2017 Queenstown

Liz Hawes

Phonics Programme for Juniors

Cedric Croft

Liz Millar Retires

Liz Hawes

Finding a balance: Fostering wellbeing, positive behaviour, AND learning

Sally Boyd, Senior Researcher, NZCER

33

SCHOOL LINES

Lester Flockton

35 Opinion – ‘Māori Student Agency: If you’re not at the table you are on the menu . . . ’

Helen Kinsey-Wightman

36 MARKETPLACE SECTION service providers

Profiles from education product and

New Zealand Principal is published

by Cervin Media Ltd on behalf of the New Zealand Principals’ Federation and is issued four times annually. For all enquiries regarding editorial contributions, please contact the editor.

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

PHOTOS FOR THE MAGAZINE: If you have any photos showing ‘New Zealand Schools at Work’, particularly any good shots of pupils, teachers or leadership staff, they would be welcome.

Delegates sing a waiata for the opening ceremony

6

The appropriate permission is required before we can print any photos.

Technical details: Good-quality original photos can be scanned, and digital photos must be of sufficient resolution for high-quality publishing. (Images should be at least 120 mm (wide) at 300 dpi). Please contact Cervin Media Ltd for further details. Phone: 09 360 8700 or email: education@cervinmedia.co.nz

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 visit www.nzprincipal.co.nz

Proud to be Gold Business Partners of New Zealand Principals’ Federation

Editorial Liz Hawes

Editor

I recently listened to a presentation by Dr Welby Ings. If learning environments their teachers have carefully constructed you’ve never heard of him, find his book Disobedient Teaching, around them. and have a read. It’s fascinating.

Then there are those who work in the abstract. They won’t do He doesn’t beat about the bush. He well in tests either but we need those says, ‘when policy is wrong you must New Zealand has just thinkers. The final victims are those disobey it.’ Teaching, he said, is not a who do succeed in tests because they job. It is a vocation. As such teachers elected a progressive are the ones who are risk averse; who are called to do what is right and good Government that many have can’t think if the ground is unstable. for young New Zealanders and they They are the ones who ask about the described as a Government test and what will be measured. Then must be trusted to get on and do it.

His greatest criticism targeted the they learn just the topics to be tested. neoliberal approach to education of generational change.

His bluntest comment was a veiled which has dominated the past decade. warning that, ‘we must provide He said the biggest mistake of the neoliberal approach is that it superb leadership so that a better resourced country does not confuses a measure of learning with a measure of performance. turn our country into a sweat-shop,’ he said. The ‘testing for ‘They are not the same thing!’ he insisted. ‘Instead of the child accountability’ model leads to mediocrity, not new ideas and being at the centre, we put standards at the centre, and that is innovations, and so makes us an easy target for take-over,’ he said. wrong.’

New Zealand has just elected a progressive Government that He went on to say that today we are testing for accountability many have described as a Government of generational change. and measures, such as standards, are comparative. They compare The parties making up the new coalition Government have one student against others and against defined criteria. ‘We give promised to change the direction the system has followed for a student a mark, grade or position but tell none of the richness the past decade. They have promised to eliminate the Charter that shows us the development of ideas. Tests measure isolated School model and the legislation that enables them. They have skills, content knowledge and a few facts,’ he said, ‘but these are promised to abandon national standards as a high stakes public the least important skills.’ measure of school performance. They have promised to work What the tests don’t measure are initiative, creativity, alongside the profession giving them real input into policy imagination, conceptual thinking, curiosity, effort, irony, development so that only policies that will improve learning judgment, commitment, nuance, good will, ethical reflection, for young people, enable teachers to do their professional work, or a host of other valuable dispositions. ‘These are the most and enable principals to lead quality public schools will be on important skills,’ he said. the agenda.

Ings told us that testing generates ‘high dependency’ behaviours Dr Ings will be amongst those loudly applauding that the from students who want to know ‘How did I do in the test?’ neoliberal agenda for New Zealand schools has now come to Youngsters, who are agents of their own learning, don’t need an end. The days of assessment measures controlling everything a test to tell you how they are doing or where they are up to in have finished and the learners of our schools can now truly their learning. They can tell you that any time because they know become the central focus. It will once again be safe to trust those how they learn. Testing doesn’t teach that. institutions that support schools in their work and once again His harshest criticism of the neoliberal approach came as funding for education will not be channelled off into managerial he listed the groups of young people who pay the price of the models, national standards and privatisation opportunities. regime. The reflective thinkers are the first victims, he said. They New Zealand will be saved from its future as a ‘sweat shop’. will fail the test because they want to think about questions over a longer time-frame. They are the sorts of people who invent things, like the student who invented the wheelchair that can drive up steps.

Then there are the finely tuned thinkers. When we use blunt tools to understand their learning, they shut down. The testing environment to them creates stress and they underperform.

Their test results give a damagingly false indication of the quality

2

NZ P r i n c i p a l | N o v e m b e r 2 0 17

President’s Pen

Ko Tainui te waka Ko Ngāti Raukawa ki Wharepūhunga te iwi Whetu Cormick

National President, New Zealand Principals’ Federation

The start of this school term was also the start of a new the effects of a decade focused on issues that have no positive political era. A three-party coalition Government, led by the impact on children’s learning. They will welcome the release from Labour Party of New Zealand, was elected to power. It is an the national standards noose. historic moment for many reasons, Teacher shortages have now including electing Jacinda Ardern, . . .committing to taking become a serious issue in many areas who at the age of 37, is the second of the country, and most especially youngest Prime Minister ever, after national standards out Auckland. We are not surprised by Edward Stafford, who was elected New of the equation, he has this, as young teachers entering the Zealand’s Premier one hundred and profession are finding the pressures sixty years ago. are much too great. Principals are pulled the central pin and These are exciting new times as also buckling under the pressures we move forward. What is great for thus has already begun of managing a growing number of education is that all three parties, the dismantling process. young people with severe learning Labour, New Zealand First and the and behavioural challenges and the Greens party, have compatible education policies and none of them list of compliance issues they must meet seems never-ending. subscribes to the Global Education Reform Movement (GERM) To restore health to our ailing profession the GERM must The GERM has been heavily criticised by the sector and has been the centre-piece of the out-going Government’s three terms in office. GERM involves standards-based education; frequent evaluations and assessments and associated data analysis and reporting; a focus on core literacy and numeracy; it limits risk taking and alternative pedagogies; is motivated by a model of education for economic profit rather than for moral goals of ENROL human development; and success or failure of schools and teachers NOW is determined by standardised measures of student achievement.

Last chance!

None of these objectives has ever sat comfortably with New Zealand’s teaching profession. GERM takes no account of individual learning needs nor a child’s or school’s context. Further, Could your Teacher Aides and Support Staff by its very standardised nature it works against providing access gain from a qualification that validates and to learning through multiple options and works against the develops their skills and knowledge? development of skills like critical thinking and creativity.

Chris Hipkins has now been appointed Minister of Education Certificate in Guiding Children’s Behaviour so we can expect Quality Public Education will be the driving (Level 3, 40 credits) philosophy of future policy and our young people will be located firmly at the centre of decision making. Standards and Now delivered from the new iQualify platform! achievement targets will no longer occupy the centre ground. The Tutor day after Minister Hipkins was appointed, he said on Breakfast Enrol today and we will provide you with: television that national standards will be gone quite quickly. He ✓ Strategies and skills that can be applied immediately to the students you are supporting. said he wants to see teachers doing more teaching and less testing. ✓ Tutoring from qualified & experienced staff.

He agrees that parents want good clear information about their ✓ A qualification that is approved by NZQA. KERRAN children’s learning and how they are progressing but national ✓ An online programme – study where and when it suits you.

BARTLEY standards are not the answer. This announcement will be music Complete GCB now, then progress to the NZ Certificate in Education Support (Level 4) to the ears of teachers and principals across the country.

Find out more 0800 438 848 The relentless obsession with data collection and analysis, Email: kerran@trainingforyou.co.nz compliance, reporting and accountability has worn the profession Mobile: 027 232 4294 down. Stress levels for principals are at an all-time high and many Website: www.trainingforyou.co.nz are choosing early retirement as a result. Teachers too are suffering NZQA Category 1 Provider | Celebrating 22 years in business

NZ Principal | N o v e m b e r 2 0 17

3

go. That will mean a shift in direction and a different focus for educational investment.

Minister Hipkins is well appraised of these issues and will be as anxious to rid the system of GERM as is the profession. In immediately committing to taking national standards out of the equation, he has pulled the central pin and thus has already begun the dismantling process.

I am also looking forward to having more curriculum discussions with our new Minister and Associate Ministers. Like us, they want our young people to explore and develop their critical and conceptual thinking skills, develop their imaginations and curiosity and return to our key competencies that are central to our world-class curriculum. We know that these skills are vital if our young people are going to succeed in the future.

The new Prime Minister has made it abundantly clear that she has a strong interest in the mental health and wellbeing needs of young people and education and schooling have their part to play in that agenda. We are expecting there will be a much stronger focus on addressing the challenging circumstances that some 30 per cent of our children face every day, 10 per cent of whom live in abject poverty. We have seen the rise in children affected by alcohol fetal syndrome, methamphetamines, family violence, sexual abuse, trauma and deprivation. These increases coincide with an increase in the rates of poverty, homelessness and poor health care. As new Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, has already said, we can’t boast that we have a successful economy when we have so many children living in poverty.

I agree. There is much work to turn all this around, but I believe we as a profession are up for it.

Resilience in Schools Programmes to help teachers: - steer through everyday adversity - build confidence and perseverance - recognise counterproductive thoughts - stay calm under pressure - expand concentration and focus - avoid procrastination - manage time effectively - deal with anxiety

www.resiliencei.com/schools

Contact Declan declan.scott@resiliencei.com 027 695 8922

Kelly Club – Kids home away from home

44 sites nati onally

Does your school need a change in after school care providers?

Kelly Club is passionate about kids, and giving them awesome experiences.

Unique business model with schools

Community focussed

At Kelly Club we give children opportunities to do the things they love and enjoy in a supportive and encouraging environment.

• Sport • Cooking • Arts and craft • Structured Free Play • Games

y to Sister compan Kelly Sports

Kelly Club – Making a real difference to children’s lives www.kellyclub.co.nz For more information on a Kelly Club model for your school, please contact Paul Jamieson on 021 409 241 or paul@kellyclub.co.nz

4

NZ P r i n c i p a l | N o v e m b e r 2 0 17

NZPF CONFERENCE 2017 Liz Hawes

Editor

Children don’t usually open NZPF’s annual conference, but this year was an exception. The combined schools of Queenstown led the mihi whakatau with a performance as remarkable and lofty as the mountains surrounding them. Their moving haka gripped the six hundred strong audience and created a platform for the embracing welcome which followed.

Morning performances by local school students continued to be a feature of the conference, as delegates arrived each day to be entertained by a new torrent of talent. Superb choir singing, dancing, solo singing, band performances and Kapa Haka were all on display. Congratulations to every one of the two hundred or so children involved. You did yourselves proud!

To the teachers who equipped the children, congratulations to you too. You set high e x p e c t at i o n s a n d your young people responded, extending themselves to reach even greater heights.

They were terrific.

The Queenstown conference theme for 2017 was ‘hauora’ or wellbeing. It is well recognised through sur veys, including those conducted by t he Ne w Z e a l and Council for Education Jehan Casinader M.C. knitted The Conference components seamlessly Research (NZCER), with his wonderful stories and that stress, anxiety and intelligent wit lack of ‘hauora’ is a growing problem for school leaders in New Zealand. The list of offending pressures is limitless, but without doubt, running a school in New Zealand today, is no sleep walk. It’s more like a recurring nightmare for far too many. The complexities of the job have multiplied exponentially in the past decade and this year, NZPF decided it was time to give principals some chill-out treats and assemble a group of speakers with expertise in identifying what contributes to stress and what alleviates it.

Treats were included with the registration fee and ranged from high end action, like scaling a mountain side in a 4WD and spending the afternoon planting trees, to laid back tranquillity, like taking a massage. The trip on the TSS Earnslaw across Lake Wakatipu was a middle of the road popular choice on the hot

6

NZ P r i n c i p a l | N o v e m b e r 2 0 17

sunny afternoon. As if primed for the visitors, Lake Wakatipu flattened its ripples to create a glass-like plane all the way to Walter Peak Station. There, conference delegates immersed themselves in the beauty of the historic homestead and its magnificent grounds, took their lavish afternoon tea to the outdoor balcony or one of the many garden seats and felt the stillness wash over them. Filled with calmness, they were then ready to take the farm journey and connect with nature and its animals. They could feed the llamas, watch the sheep shearing and marvel at the skills of the working dogs. Some did, some didn’t. It didn’t matter.

There were no rules. Lying on the soft grass and staring at the water’s edge was just as acceptable, as was meandering through the tulip and daffodil gardens or just sitting in the sun, drinking a wine or two. Bliss!

Two New Life Members Join NZPF Life membership is a special honour in NZPF circles and conference attendees were delig hte d to welcome Philip Harding and Peter Simpson to the special league. Both are retired principals, were Dr Melinda Webber talks about challenges for Māori students and former Presidents of what can be done NZPF and hail from Canterbury.

Harding responded to the dissertation, read by immediate past president Iain Taylor, with ‘I’ve been sitting here wondering who’s that guy you were talking about?’ The accolades were nevertheless rightly placed and spoke of the ever professional, highly intelligent, insightful, witty and engaging Philip Harding.

‘Philip Harding is one of those educators you meet rarely,’ said Taylor. ‘He is exceptionally talented, articulate and passionate and has made an outstanding contribution in every educational role he has held over a long and distinguished career.’

As an NZPF president, Harding was described as a media magnet, which he certainly was. In the end the producers of shows like ‘Afternoons with Jim Mora’ would want him on their panel regardless of whether there was an educational issue of the

The children of Shotover School perform for the delegation

day or not. Even Parliament’s Select Committee rooms allowed him more than the allocated time. He brought the theatre of these occasions into focus through his clarity of expression and irrepressible wit which were so engaging the group found him irresistible.

In accepting the award, Harding had the highest praise for the colleagues who had supported him throughout his career, the connections and new colleagues he met throughout his NZPF two-year presidency and the many thousands of children who had educated him. His final word went to his family. ‘I couldn’t have done any of this without my wife Kaye who has been my faithful supporter, personal critic and handbrake throughout my career!’ His three adult children also g o t a m e nt i o n .

‘They’ve never been slow in giving me their personal views,’ he said, ‘whether I wanted them or not.’

Peter Simpson was the second at the conference to be awarded the Life Membership award Peter Simpson delivers his Life a n d l i k e P h i l ip Membership Award acceptance speech Harding, was a most

popular recipient. Whetu Cormick, the current president, delivered the dissertation saying, ‘In serving his colleagues, he always brought his own very high standards of integrity, humility, honesty and commitment to everything he did and everything he said. Consequently, he quickly gained the trust of his colleagues, the media and politicians alike and was able to be a strong and influential advocate for principals across the nation.’

Famously, Peter recognised that national standards would never meet the goal of helping children succeed.

‘It was his year as NZPF President in 2011 for which he will be remembered most,’ said Cormick.

‘His fearlessness in calling a vote of no conf idence in the national standards policy at the 2011 NZPF conference and getting a unanimous endorsement, is now legendary.’

Cormick acknow­ ledged the difficulties for Peter, beginning his presidenc y as t h e C h r i s t c hu r c h earthquake hit. Torn between serving his colleagues nationally and supporting his Philip Harding shares highlights of his family and colleagues time with NZPF as he accepts his life in Christchurch was Membership Award

NZ Principal | N o v e m b e r 2 0 17

7

no easy call. Peter managed both.

Cormick concluded saying, ‘He radiates sincerity and is the consummate statesman who has earned his reputation by matching his words with his actions.’

In response Peter Simpson was ever humble saying, ‘The greatest honour you can ever have is to be endorsed by your peers.’ He told the gathered principals that it had been an honour to serve on NZPF, the best PLD you could ever have, and that the friendships he made through that role would stay with him forever. He also had warm words for his Canterbury Principals’ Association colleagues and Belfast School, his last school. He acknowledged his wife Adrienne for her unfailing support telling us that whilst he is now a retired principal, she is an Acting Principal. ‘I sleep through the night now,’ he said, ‘and she doesn’t.’

Dr John Edwards promoted curiosity, questioning and creativity

Judge Andrew Becroft, The Children’s Commissioner, donned a series of Tee Shirts to make his points

Peter has now taken up a new position as a leadership advisor for principals, a position he ‘considers a real privilege’. I’ve no doubt that the principals of Christchurch will be thinking they are the lucky ones.

Dr John Edwards Dr Edwards surprised his audience by introducing himself as a Professor of Ignorance. He drew this conclusion from his lifelong fascination with quantum physics which ‘has continued to nudge me gently into the field of ignorance.’

‘Physicists’, he said, have no problem admitting to not knowing.

‘85 per cent of the universe is dark matter,’ he said, ‘and we have no idea what it is.’ ‘In the cosmic competence test they’d all receive a failing grade, or maybe a ‘needs to try harder’, and be happy to do so,’ he said.

Recognising that there is more that we don’t know than what we do, Edwards shifted his audience’s thinking about how to teach.

‘Knowing how to question is the key,’ he said, ‘because ignorance is by far the largest and fastest growing area.’

He talked about ‘leaning into the unease’, a way of entering the unknown, before navigating a way through that unknown

8

NZ P r i n c i p a l | N o v e m b e r 2 0 17

to emerge as lifelong learners.

‘We are all born with intrinsic motivation and curiosity,’ he said, ‘but what happens to it?’

He told his audience that ‘Research reveals that not only tangible rewards made contingent on task performance, but also threats, deadlines, directives, pressured evaluations, and imposed goals, reliably undermine intrinsic motivation.’

‘How much attention are you paying to the intrinsic motivation of your staff, your children and your families?’ he asked.

The next section of his address focused the lens on testing. On this topic Edwards did not hold back.

‘Standardised tests are driving countries, schools, families, teachers and children crazy. They are misleading, they are dishonest and they are damaging,’ he said. ‘If you want to

Hoana Pearson explains the power of the Māori Achievement Collaboratives and why they are lifting success for Māori children

understand children’s thinking, get close to them, ask them great questions and listen well,’ he said.

The concept of the ‘Learning Pit’ came next. ‘Learners first get worse before they get better,’ he said. He described learning as going where you haven’t been before, starting with curiosity, then exploration, challenge and confusion. This is the learning pit and its uncomfortable. After the intellectual struggle, the transformation phase starts. ‘We start to grasp the new idea, and we start up what is often called the steep learning curve,’ he said. After a while, experienced learners are unafraid of going into the learning pit because they see it as exciting.

There are some conditions that can help in the learning pit.

‘When we enter the pit, we enter with our whole self and draw on everything that is there,’ he said, ‘and we learn best when all of our dimensions are healthy including the intellectual, physical, emotional and spiritual.’ In other words, wellbeing can carry you through.

Edwards had some warnings for the attentive principals, not to expect every child to climb out of the learning pit at the same time. Some children need more time and the words ‘moving on’ are not what they want to hear. Further, children who are in the pit with one subject are not necessarily in the pit with another.

The Combined Schools of Queenstown perform for the opening ceremony

Successes in other areas may be used for encouragement.

The secret for teachers is to be alongside the children as they navigate the pit. In that way they will learn other qualities such as resilience and confidence and therefore learn to welcome the frustrations, fears and confusions that new learning brings.

In conclusion he returned to testing.

‘What would happen if we tested a child when they were in the pit?’ he asked. ‘How would this help?’

‘Being tested when we are not ready, in the depths of a learning pit, helps no-one. Learning doesn’t wait conveniently for preplanned tests of progress.’

It really doesn’t matter, he said, where the child is at, the secret is to know where we can take them and how. Testing, he said entraps children and teachers in their current reality.

He concluded by returning to wellbeing and drawing on his research to tell us that ‘as a community [of learners] becomes more capable, the life essence of the group also grows. This is where we make meaning,’ he said, ‘and is the crucible in which character is forged.’

Judge Andrew Beecroft, Children’s Commissioner A confronting speaker, Judge Beecroft had an agenda of challenges to put to the principals. He told them that there are 1.2 million children in New Zealand, or 23 per cent of the population. Of those he said 70 per cent are doing just fine, 20 per cent not so well and 10 per cent very badly. Given the projected population demographics, he said, it is our Māori children who must be a focus.

His challenges included keeping kids in school, being child centred, giving them voice and listening to them, poverty and disadvantage, tamariki Māori and their needs, and neurodiversity.

When children attend school regularly, Beecroft told the audience, anti-social behaviour reduces and children learn resilience. If children are resilient they will have better life

outcomes. ‘You are the merchants of hope,’ he told his audience.

Acknowledging that for the 10 per cent there are multiple social issues including poverty, housing, health and justice issues, he said in his view the best chance for these children is to have social hubs attached to schools so that the collection of services can be available. This is the best model, he said, to provide what these children need and deserve.

He said there were four dimensions of a child’s life and these were a loving stable family, participating in education, having friends and being connected to the community. He then turned to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, pointing out, in particular, their right to have a say. He was quick to mention that as a country we don’t measure up well.

Nor do we bode well on other measures with the highest suicide rate in the OECD, the second highest bullying rate and the third highest for domestic violence.

He explored ways that children could have a voice including on School Boards and Councils. He noted the implications for children of the Update to the Education Act, and how despite focus groups around the country, the voice of students was missing. When he put this to Government officials he was told that there was a Select Committee process…only it was being held in the middle of NCEA exams.

He said he welcomed ideas for schools to create opportunities for student voice and would happily publish them on the Commission’s website. He expressed his concerns about the fact that there was no appeal system for excluding children from school, yet in any other area this would be an expected requirement.

He also provided a survey for principals to use in seeking student voice in their schools and told the principals that the Commission would do the survey analysis for them. The address is surveymonkey.com/r/occ-schools. Some good ways to engage children’s voices he said included surveys, focus groups, in-depth interviews, child-led tours, art and creativity and advisory groups.

NZ Principal | N o v e m b e r 2 0 17

9

There are 90,000 children living in poverty he said, and 28 per cent of New Zealand children live in low-income households.

He is pleased that child poverty has been a major issue for the 2017 election campaign and that parties are talking about setting targets to reduce it.

He described as an ‘inescapable and fundamental challenge the disparity in wellbeing rates between Pākehā and Māori New Zealand, and presented a parade of slides to show those disparities. The measures included educational attainment, health, mental health including youth suicide, life expectancy, living standards and justice statistics. On all counts the gaps were significant and troubling.

Finally, he talked about the growing rates of neurodevelopmental issues from learning disabilities, dyslexia, dyspraxia and autism to traumatic brain injury and foetal alcohol syndrome. ‘This is why, he said, schools should be the first sight for social investment. History will judge us harshly for ignoring the plight of these children, he said.

In conclusion he said, ‘You are the merchants of hope for children and the builders of resilience.’

Mike King, Comedian and mental health educator Mike King opened his address to tell principals that three and a half years ago he was asked to speak at a Northland School because five students had committed suicide. ‘I was running the Nutters’ Club at the time which allowed people to recognise their own journeys through listening to others’ stories,’ he said. ‘I thought I could stop them killing themselves through telling them jokes.’

He went on to say that the jokes were not going to do it. Instead he shared his own story with the kids. It was a story of low self-

esteem. ‘When you have low self-esteem,’ he said, ‘you don’t look for connections, you look for a bully boy who hates you.’

For these kids, he said, he was the most flawed adult they had met. Significant adults in their lives were constantly undermining them, constantly focused on negatives. ‘When our kids tell us five things, four positive and one negative, what do we do?’ he asked.

‘We focus on the negative.’ ‘We are constantly risk managing their behaviour.’

He shared his own school days during which his low esteem meant he was not in the popular group, but wanted to be. When he discovered that he had a talent for making people laugh it gave him confidence. ‘Now I moved into the popular group,’ he said. He was so happy, but, as he explained, it was also the day of his downfall because he was getting his self-esteem from the approval of other people rather than himself.

Then came the alcoholic phase. ‘I associated alcohol with fun,’ he said. ‘It gave me confidence to be me. When you are a people pleaser you never give your real self to anyone,’ he said. ‘But when drunk you can and then later say, oh I was just drunk.’

Working with alcoholics and drug addicts, he said, the key was to get them to take off the masks and share their stories. In doing that, he said, I could see myself in these people. ‘Our kids are not the problem,’ he said, ‘it is our attitude to young people.’

‘Now I go to schools and tell my own story and let them tell theirs and they know it’s OK. I learned that from the kids themselves,’ he said.

Some 40 per cent of kids will have a suicide thought, he said, but it’s the recurring thoughts that are the issue.

‘80 per cent of kids who are feeling suicidal don’t tell,’ he said, ‘because they are afraid. They are worried about the judgement Interactive Workbooks

New Zealand’s Best Selling

Action English Workbooks AVAILABLE AS PDFs IN 2018 FOR BYO DEVICE CLASSES Chapters Cover : word classes punctuation language skills dictionary skills spelling skills comprehension research skills and more book files for Years 3 to 10

TeIuTs LE! R E P 0 .0 - phon ONLYsom$e 6conditions apply

For information on School User Licenses phone 0800 274 462 or visit ‘ebooks’ on our website

www.sigmapublications.co.nz

10

NZ P r i n c i p a l | N o v e m b e r 2 0 17

of others and what we are going to say and think.’

The thing that prevents young people asking for help, he said is fear, and that is what we as adults must eradicate. He suggested adults must learn to offer unconditional love and support young people all the way. ‘Until adults in our society make this attitudinal shift,’ he said, ‘all the money injections in the world won’t make a difference.’

He pointed out that the suicide prevention industry is becoming a crisis industry. It is the only area of health where we have to go and get the help ourselves, he said.

He challenged the principals present to take off their own masks and show the kids in their schools that they love them.

‘Value the thoughts and opinions of those kids,’ he said, ‘and you will lift their self-esteem.’ He further challenged the principals

Comedian and Mental Health Advocate Mike King, warms the audience with his humour

Hon Nikki Kaye, sitting attentively in the front row, then thanked the people ‘who had enabled him to stand here today.’

One of those people was his own Scottish father, who was born on the Central Otago Lindis Pass. ‘This area is very much the tūrangawaewae of my Pākehā family,’ he said.

Having acknowledged many more life influencers he said, ‘None of us acts alone and none of us succeeds alone.’ ‘We constantly draw on the experiences, advice and wisdom of others.’

Cormick then took us back to his teacher training days to tell us why he was inspired to teach. Top of his list was making a difference in the lives of our young people, irrespective of their cultural backgrounds, their sexual orientation or their religious beliefs; whether they came from advantaged or disadvantaged homes and no matter what their special learning, social or

NZPF President Whetu Cormick, delivers his ‘ovation winning’ speech to the delegates

to model this behaviour to the kids, talk about love and extend those conversations to their staff He concluded saying, ‘There are two things that kids want.

They want to be loved and they want to know that their thoughts and opinions are valued by you.’

Further presentations are available from the NZPF website: http://www.nzpfconference.com/programme/speakers/ They include: Dr Melinda Webber, researcher, discussing research on the Māori Achievement Collaboratives (MACs) Pete Burdon on how to cope when your school is the headline news Hoana Pearson National Co-ordinator of the MACs Diane Manners National Co-ordinator of the Leadership Advisory for principals Fiona McMillan Lawyer from Anderson Lloyd Lawyers on principals’ legal protection The President’s Speech One of the grand highlights of this year’s conference was the NZPF President’s speech. Whetu Cormick has a canny awareness of time and place. He knows how to make connections and deliver a message. Cormick welcomed the Minister of Education,

Minister of Education Hon Nikki Kaye, addresses the question President Whetu Cormick put to her in his speech

emotional dispositions. The vehicle for making this difference he said, was a rich, broad curriculum ‘delivered in a school where young people could feel safe to be themselves.’

This was the point at which he returned to Queenstown and the NZPF 2010 conference. The national standards were just making their presence felt, he said, and no educational professional was rolling out the red carpet. They were called out for having no educational value whatsoever but the Government wasn’t listening. It was this conference and its debates on national standards that lit the fire in his belly, he said, and inspired him to stand for the NZPF national executive. He wanted to participate in ‘the on-going action opposing national standards’. Whilst they would never improve teaching and learning, equate to a measure of teacher or school performance or satisfy parents that they provided a measure of their child’s holistic cognitive development, in no time at all, he said, they were being used for all those things.

Nine years later it was clear that the national standards were the lynch pin for a much broader agenda, internationally described as the Global Education Reform Movement (GERM). Cormick said we continue to see the ‘roll out’ of this agenda with the more recent Update of the Education Act, the Investing in Educational Success (IES) policy with its Communities of Schools and most

NZ Principal | N o v e m b e r 2 0 17

11

concerning of all, the Strategic National Education Learning Priorities, which threaten the very essence of our world class curriculum. Central to all these policies is the collection of data.

National Standards data.

The profession is now battle weary, he said, but we will continue to fight for our young people who do not have a voice. ‘We must protect their futures,’ he said.

Cormick then congratulated his colleagues for staying positive for their young people and continuing to seek out new ways and new approaches to learning, despite the intolerable pressures the data driven Government policies created. ‘Our young people are being excited and stimulated every day by what you are offering them through your schools and you deserve the highest accolades for your leadership which enables these practices,’ he said.

He did not resist reminding the Minister of the intolerable situation many schools were in, struggling to access support and expertise for severely challenged young people presenting with unpredictable and ‘hard to manage’ behaviours. He noted it was not just about money, although that helped. It was about access to experts for these young people and it was about availability of more teacher aides in schools. ‘Teachers are not medical doctors trained in diagnosis, and they are not psychiatrists, social workers or speech therapists,’ he said. Clearly more of these specialists were needed to help these young people.

He talked also of services and programmes that NZPF continued to develop to support leadership. Services like the Leadership Advisory Service, run for principals by principals, so that school leaders can be mentored, coached and supported when they need it. He also talked of the Māori Achievement Collaborations (MAC), a partnership between the Te Akatea

Experience A Different Way Of Learning Virtual Reality is taking us beyond just playing games, believe it or not it can be used in many areas of the curriculum, including Math’s, English, Science, History, Geography and Art & Design technology.

Before investing why not try out our NEW VR Learning Kit! Contact us today to arrange your FREE trial: 09 816 6005

Māori Principals’ Association, the NZPF and the Ministry. This professional learning and development programme is about changing school culture so that Māori children feel a sense of belonging at school and thus be more likely to succeed. It is a step in advancing our nation towards biculturalism, he said. After four years, independent research studies have shown that Māori children in MAC schools have now lifted their success rates, and more importantly want to be at school and their whānau want to be involved in school activities, he said.

His final lobby was directed at the Minister. So much more of this wonderful work could be achieved for our young people, he said, if only the stresses and the work load were reduced. Data collection and paper work which adds no value whatsoever to our young peoples’ learning is strangling us, he said. ‘We are drowning and choking in over-assessment and data analysis for no gains.’ He once more called out the global reform agenda saying, ‘I am talking about the global education reforms that have undermined our ability and that of our communities to work together and own our decision making so that schools and communities together can share their aspirations for a prosperous future.’ He went on to point out how Asian countries, once top of the international league tables, realise the damage standards and testing have done and are moving to ban the approach altogether. It impinges on students’ ability to question or think for themselves and kills creativity. These are the very skills needed for our future, he said.

He concluded with a powerful ‘Let’s put up a big STOP sign on national standards, global reforms and data obsession. ‘It’s time now, Minister, to break with the practices of the past decade which have contributed nothing positive for our young people,’ he said.

‘I challenge you,’ he said, ‘to throw out the global reform agenda, ramp up support for the profession and engage with us. In partnership we can collaborate with you; share our ideas with you and together find solutions that WILL make a positive difference for all young people.’

Six hundred principals rose to their feet as one and clapped and clapped and clapped. Cormick had nailed his message home.

Minister of Education, Hon Nikki Kaye Cormick would always be a hard act to follow, and to her credit, Minister Kaye was fronting the conference just forty-eight hours out from a general election, at the end of a campaign that had proved surprisingly challenging for her party.

She deserved a fair hearing and the audience politely offered her that. Kaye focused her address on just a few main policies, in her efforts to meet Cormick’s challenges.

First, she talked of the $34 million injection to address learning support issues and especially the high end behavioural challenges and mental health issues facing schools. There would be a programme of social investment alongside schools to address these issues, she said. The money would provide in-class support for 4,000 more students. ‘We are trying to make it easier for schools and parents,’ she said, ‘by having a single point of contact across 30 communities of learning.’

Next, she acknowledged that there are areas, including Auckland, that have become hard to staff and told her audience of moves to alleviate that. These included offering a voluntary bonding scheme, scholarships, relocation grants for those returning from overseas, and extending the Auckland beginning teacher project. continued over

12

NZ P r i n c i p a l | N o v e m b e r 2 0 17

The funding review was next on her list and Minister Kaye explained the rationale as first trying to overcome the damage caused by the decile system which unfairly labelled schools.

She talked about addressing equity through targeted funding where young people would be identified according to a set of risk factors, and the schools funded accordingly. The identity of the targeted students would not be made known to the school however, to preserve their privacy.

Inevitably, the new digital technology curriculum was a highlight, since this is one of Minister Kaye’s passions. ‘We have invested $40million to support the digital technology curriculum,’ she said, ‘and we will build on our $700m investment in online learning access and resources by ensuring all schools have uncapped high speed data.’ In this way, the Minister assured her audience, there will be more opportunities for young people to engage in the IT sector, with digital academies for 1000 students and 500 digital internships to build a pathway between school and work.

To address Cormick’s challenge on national standards she talked about national standards plus. She said a National Government will provide real time online reporting of learning progression – not just achievement – by 2021. This record of learning would travel with the child throughout their educational life and there will be a further $20m injection of funding to develop this, she said.

At the end of her address, the Minister agreed to take questions from the floor.

Question You say children don’t like being labelled by their school decile number. But what about the way national standards label them?

SPELD NZ Courses 2018 Certificate Course in Specific Learning Disabilities 2018 (NZQA Level 5) Online training in SLD, including dyslexia, for teachers and SLD related educators.

Scholarships may be available in some regions.

Introductory Course in Specific Learning Disabilities 2018 (NZQA Level 3) Two day introductory course for families, whanau, teacher aides and teachers. Insights into SLD and strategies to help at home and in the classroom.

SPELD NZ Assessor Training 2018 Training in the use of the Woodcock-Johnson IV assessment kit, including administration and interpretation of data; and identification of those with specific learning disabilities (SLD).

(Not NZQA approved.)

Scholarships may be available in some regions.

If you know of children in your class who may have SLD, SPELD NZ can help with diagnostic assessments and specialised, one-on-one, individualised teaching. Financial assistance may be available to those on low incomes.

For more information on our services and training see www.speld.org.nz or call

0800 773 536 14

NZ P r i n c i p a l | N o v e m b e r 2 0 17

They are labelled below, at or above the standards. Most of our kids don’t care about the school decile number but they do care about the national standards label.

Answer Not every school uses that language and you don’t have to.

I trust education leaders to communicate that information to parents and they have an absolute right to that information.

National Standards Plus is not about a point in time but about progressions.

Question We disagree with national standards and you’ve got another $160 million for national standards plus, which we also disagree with. Yet we are crying out for special needs support, especially children with high, severely challenging behaviours. That $160 million would be a great help for special needs.

Answer What we are arguing for is a progression [measure] based on the Learning Progressions Framework. We are spending more on learning support and [children with] complex needs. It’s not either or. We have also increased ORS funding and I believe we should do that.

Question I am relieved to hear you say that special needs will be a focus for you. Are you aware of the level of commitment to blind children? We get fifteen hours of assistance a week but we are not covered for the other fifteen hours. We also have a Syrian refugee child without a limb. We get zero support for this child.

Answer We can’t do this alone. We need social investment. Minister Adams and I are working on this. We have fractured data. Some will have housing needs and some will have addictions. We will be investing more in housing first or place based social investing.

We need more wrap around support.

Question What is your view on a fully funded public schooling system?

Will there be more charter schools or not?

Answer I believe in diversity and choice. We do have bottom lines.

There won’t be hundreds of charter schools. There are fifteen now and there will be about five or six more. It’s a small number for a group of parents who have voluntarily chosen that option.

It won’t massively involve a whole lot more schools.

Question How do you reconcile the closure of special schools with the funding of charter schools?

Answer Salisbury School has been given a six-month extension. What’s occurred is that when we brought in the Intensive Wrap-around Service, some residential schools became unviable. There is absolutely a place for residential schools but it is the way they are set up. The numbers are small therefore closures are inevitable. But I am open-minded. Salisbury was pleased I took the wider view.

Question How do you manage your own Hauora, Minister?

Answer My world shattered when I was diagnosed with cancer. So was my family’s. During that time, I got closer to my family, so I feel more grounded than ever. I used to worry about the small stuff.

Now every day’s a good day. There are lessons for me. I delegate more and am clearer about my responsibilities and where we are going. I can go to other people now and say, ‘You can deliver this

part.’ I am more conscious of health and wellbeing and eat a lot better. I make time to switch off. I go running amongst other things. I can deliver more if I am healthy.

Question There is an endless supply of tasks for you. How do you decide when to stop?

Answer Everyone is different but having confidence and faith is important. If I’m burnt out I won’t have the judgement to do things well. I trust the people next to me and have changed the way I operate and expanded my team.

Steve Francis We hear a lot about work-life balance and even more about how out of kilter that balance is for many, especially in education.

Whether leading big urban schools or small rural ones, sole charge or small teaching principal schools, the complexities are growing for all principals and there is less and less time for family or time for ourselves.

Steve Francis knows all about the pressures of leading a school.

He spent a big chunk of his own career teaching in and leading Australian schools. He has a different take on the work-life balance challenge. He says it is quite unachievable so we should stop talking about it.

Steve Francis talking not about Work-Life Balance but Work-Life In schools ‘You have Satisfaction. the opportunity to change lives every day and that’s not easy. It is hard to disconnect school life from home life, so let’s not talk about work-life balance for educators, but life satisfaction,’ he said.

He then referred to the Reality TV show, The Block, saying, ‘On The Block, you can start on Monday with an empty shell, bring in the water proofer, tilers, grouters, plumbers and electrician

and by Friday have everything finished and cleaned up! You feel completely satisfied that the job is complete.’

In teaching, he said, you can’t see what you’ve achieved in a week, because you don’t get satisfaction immediately. To compensate, he suggested that it can be useful, at the start of every day, to decide on one thing that you will finish, so that you can feel satisfied. It might be to make a phone call to a troubling parent, or have that difficult conversation with a teacher. Whatever it is, set it down as a priority goal for the day.

To experience satisfaction, he said, you need to understand what drives and motivates you. In his view there are seven drivers: 1. Purpose: You want your work to have purpose that you can identify, so you need to reflect every now and then on the fact that you have influence in shaping a future society.

2. Reward: This will be different for every person, but will likely involve observing your students’ successes 3. Opportunity to explore: This might involve leading a new project for the school 4. Relationships: we all want to feel valued and we want the people around us to feel valued 5. Work-Life Balance: Replace this with worklife satisfaction 6. Work Fulfilment: We like to feel we have achieved our goals, so it’s important to set Sven Hansen of the Resilience them realistically Institute shares his research with the and often audience 7. Leadership: We are all inspired by other great leaders. Take the time to think about who they are and why we admire them

More important than all of these, however, is attitude. ‘At all times you need a 5/5 attitude,’ he said, ‘because this has the most significant impact of all.’ He flashed a slide up at this point

Transforming Language Teaching TPLT (formerly known as TPDL) supports existing and new teachers of languages apply pedagogy that has a real and positive impact on student learning.

The programme also supports teachers to gain internationally recognised language qualifications and accreditation in language teaching. TPLT is a year-long programme funded by the Ministry of Education.

For primary and secondary school teachers of Chinese, Cook Islands Maori, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Niuean, Samoan, Spanish, Tongan and Tokelauan.

FOR MORE INFORMATION:

tplt@auckland.ac.nz | 09 623 8899 ext 46302 | www.tplt.ac.nz

NZ Principal | N o v e m b e r 2 0 17

15

which read ‘Attitudes are contagious . . . is your attitude worth catching?’ Importantly, we all need to live the reputation we want to have, he said.

He concluded with a further list of tips if we are to be effective and healthy leaders with increased work-life satisfaction.

-ON BOO ITE

KS

wit

er h answ

s

SIGMA WR

1. Monitor your self-talk, stop feeling guilty about what you haven’t done. Lists are never-ending and you don’t get to sit in your office with the door closed. You have constant interruptions 2. Check what you have actually achieved at the end of each day and feel good about that 3. Check the email at home. That’s two hours taken away from other more important things 4. Make a commitment to have at least three dinners a week with your family or a café breakfast on Sunday 5. If you have to work on the weekend, limit it otherwise work will pollute everything 6. Perform only the leadership role at school and remove yourself from ‘administrivia’ 7. Remember you are the most expensive resource in the school and you need to devote your time to being the leader not doing the trivial jobs.

8. Not all actions lead to results. Only choose the ones that do 9. Long hours do not necessarily equate to the most effective principal 10. Remember the 80/20 rule. 80 per cent of results come from 20 per cent of your time 11. Avoid DHS (Delayed Happiness Syndrome) 12. Set some personal goals, just for you, such as going to a place

NZ’s Best Selling Write-on Workbooks

Action English Workbooks Over half a million student copies sold.

Teach basic skills with fun activities.

These books work!

Chapters Cover : word classes punctuation language skills dictionary skills spelling skills comprehension research skills and more workbooks for Years 3 to 10 Discounts for bulk sales. For school orders phone 0800 274 462 or go to our website :

www.sigmapublications.co.nz

16

NZ P r i n c i p a l | N o v e m b e r 2 0 17

you’ve never been before, or doing something for the first time, or learning something new that is unrelated to your job, and set a deadline to achieve this.

Dr Sven Hansen – Eudaimonia: Resilience as a Solution Sven Hansen is the founder of the Resilience Institute. He is a medical doctor with an interest in sports medicine and resilience.

He has a specific interest in developing leadership teams and the application of biological principles to leadership, strategy and resilience in the community. He introduced the audience of principals to a new concept which he defines as ‘bounce’. Bounce is a critical skill according to Hansen, affecting life, work and relationships.

He talked his audience through some practical skills that can be learned to build resilience and ‘bounce’ in their young people.

School, he said, is a place where students can learn how to bounce, grow, connect and find flow. These life skills can be learned and will contribute to academic achievement, wellbeing, social skills and improved behaviours. We call this the journey to Eudaimonia – living with good spirit.

He insisted we can improve bounce, attention, positivity, selfawareness, situation awareness and empathy. Research (Richard Davidson) correlates performance of these with functional and structural change in the brain. These are invaluable skills in life, work and relationships, he said.

He went on to tell his audience that hauora is positive wellbeing including physical, emotional, mental, social and spiritual vitality. Starting with the principal and leadership team, resilience is a methodology to extend hauora through teachers, students, parents and community.

This, he said, is a noble aspiration for education.

He then turned his attention to students saying that while many students thrive, the incidence of obesity, inflammation, ADHD, Autism, anxiety, self-harming and depression have increased alarmingly. Seventy years of research shows that young people can learn bounce. Not only might this save lives but it will increase quality of life and learning, he said.

He then proposed a sequence of practical skills that can be learned, practiced and mastered – even in challenging times.

For example: 1. Tactical calm We know that it is possible to learn how to recognise distress and take deliberate action to restore a calm, focused and connected state. Supported by breathing skills, mindfulness and relaxation, this skill can be mastered. Would we want any young person to leave school without mastery of tactical calm, he questioned.

2. Daily practice When appropriate fitness, quality sleep and good nutrition become a part of every day we build bodies that are well, emotions that are controlled, and brains that work better. These are foundation practices that must be part of a good life in a sedentary, overloaded workplace and toxic food environment.

3. Emotional literacy We know from many long-term studies (including the Dunedin Study), that impulse control predicts long term success. To restrain destructive emotions, we must recognise and name them. Doing so activates the pre-frontal cortex and makes emotional regulation possible. Emotional learning is desperately

needed in those most challenged and can reduce the incidence of destructive behaviours.

4. Attention control We live in a hyperkinetic environment with digital overload.

This has reduced attention span and increased attentional blink (disengaged behaviour). Even so, we can train the brain to strengthen, sustain and focus attention. The earlier we start, the faster the young brain can mature and master attention.

5. Mastering flow When we tackle a meaningful challenge through skilful expertise, our capacity to succeed and enjoy a task leaps. Productivity can increase five-fold. By nudging towards a good match between our developing skills and the right challenge, we are successful and fulfilled.

6. Deliberate practice Research in the science of expertise (Anders Ericsson), is crystal clear that success in life is based on deliberate, purposeful practice – not ‘natural talent’. A growth mindset opens the door.

Tenacious practice, outside of the comfort zone, with clear goals, and good coaching secures a life-long habit of achievement.

Whether we frame this journey as hauora, wellbeing, mental Health, positive behaviours, or resilience is not material. What’s important is that school increases the probability that students will learn and master the skills to bounce, grow, connect and flow – in opportunity or adversity present.

YOUR CLEANING SUPPLIES All cleaning equipment solutions Complete Rest room solutions Free Technical Advice Cleaning Chemicals Equipment servicing Test and Tag

TEAM

www.facebook.com/NZCLEAN / 0800 269 253 / 0800 2 NZCLEAN / www.cleaningsupplies.net.nz

NZ Principal | N o v e m b e r 2 0 17

17

Are Phonic Spelling Program Likely to be Effective?

Cedric Croft

There are three important features of written English which provide a context for considering the effectiveness of phonic spelling programmes.

1. English Spelling English is not a regular phonetic language. In simple terms this means there is little one- to- one correspondence between many graphemes (letters) and many phonemes (sounds). The classic study of relationships between graphemes and morphemes published in 1966, demonstrated that written English is rule- governed in about fifty per cent of cases, meaning that spelling follows predictable grapheme/morpheme patterns about half the time. But how will a phonic approach help students write and spell the many thousands of words that do not follow predictable spelling patterns? (i) Regular and Irregular Words Regular words generally follow quite predictable letter and sound patterns. Examples of regular words are ‘had’, ‘can’, ‘abandon’, ‘banana’. Irregular words do not follow these predictable patterns.

Examples of irregular words are ‘ache’, ‘believe’, ‘lounge’, ‘naughty’.

There is ample research evidence to show that irregular words are more difficult to spell than regular words. Accordingly, knowledge of phonics is of little help when learning to spell irregular words, but many of the most frequent words for beginning writers as represented by the Spell-Write Essential Lists for example, are irregular e.g. (‘was’, ‘when’, ‘because’, ‘could’,) or unsuited to being sounded out e.g. (‘the’,’ said’, ‘they’, ‘are’,). In the initial stage of learning to write and spell, words such as these are best introduced as ‘whole words’ within a context of writing, not as a series of discrete sounds taught in isolation from writing. (ii) Phonic Inconsistencies and Confusions In addition to irregular words there are numerous other phonic inconsistencies and confusions for beginners in English spelling.

For example there are homophones which are pronounced identically but spelt differently, e.g. ‘meat/meet’, ‘grate/great’, ‘allowed/aloud’; words with identical letters or combinations of letters but pronounced differently, e.g. ‘said /raid’, ‘cough/though’, ‘bread/lead’; readily confused pairs of words many of which are irregular as well, e.g. (were/where, through/though, thing/think).

These inconsistencies and confusions are unlikely to be used and spelt conventionally using phonic strategies alone. (iii) Vowel Sounds Standard English has 44 sounds or phonemes with five short vowels, and six long vowels, (including ‘y’ as a semi- vowel).

Vowels represent about one – quarter of all phonemes. However, research from 1995 for example, showed that using the wrong vowel e.g. ‘burd’ for ‘bird’, accounted for one-third or more of written spelling errors. This research also identified homophones and words with double letters as the other major spelling errors.

20

NZ P r i n c i p a l | N o v e m b e r 2 0 17

A phonic programme will not do much to counteract these misunderstandings either.

The confusions and difficulties of learning to spell vowel sounds conventionally will be well-known by all primary teachers, particularly the variants of vowel sound ‘e’, sometimes referred to as the silent ‘e’. Having juniors learn to spell vowel sounds is a major area of ineffectiveness for phonic spelling programmes which often rely on learners mastering and applying to their writing, a series of quite complex generalisations .

What sense will Years 1–3 make of phonic rules such as ‘Beginning /k/ is spelled with c before a, o, and u or a consonant and with k before e, I, or y’? Often the rules are more difficult to apply than the spelling itself. Rules may help those who can spell but do little to help the early learning of spelling. Why rush to teach quite complex spelling patterns to learners whose early writing is showing mainly examples of semi-phonetic or perhaps phonetic spelling?

2. Phonic Programmes Typically, phonics programmes e.g. Jolly Phonics have a series of tasks such as letter names, letter formation, letter sounds, identifying sounds in words, segmentation and so on, all to be taught in a predetermined sequence without reference to learners present development or classroom writing. The tasks are in seven groups each with six letters or combinations in order to cover the 44 phonemes in regular English spelling, The groups vary from single letters such as ‘s’, ‘a’, ‘t’, ‘i’, ‘p’, ‘n’, to blends ‘ou’, ‘oi’, ‘ue’, ‘er’, ‘ar’.

The complexities involved in spelling the numerous irregular words are dealt with simplistically by teaching the well-known Look, Cover, Write, Check, procedure so irregular words may be learnt by rote, a form of learning largely rejected within primary schools. Catering for irregular words which are present in such large numbers is a major weakness of phonic programmes as the irregular forms challenge the very basis of these programmes.

Much of the learning in phonic programmes is of the lowest order, but expecting juniors to generalise from all the discrete sounds they are taught in isolation and integrate these into meaningful whole words is a much more complex undertaking.

And without integrating this learning into complex wholes, English spelling will never be mastered.

A feature of assessment for some phonic programmes e.g. Spelling Under Scrutiny is the so called pseudo word test which attempts to use a series of nonsense words to isolate the 44 phonemes in English to identify in a ‘pure’ form the phonemes individuals cannot spell.

The apparent reasoning for the pseudo word test is that if ‘real’ words are used the individual may have just learnt to spell that word by chance, but does not really know the spelling of the individual phoneme. Pseudo word tests have never been demonstrated as valid for classroom use (although they are a more legitimate research tool) and their use is a waste of time generally.

If teachers want to know which phonemes an individual cannot

mmes in Junior Classrooms

spell a test consisting of ‘real’ words will be more valid. But better still, analyse the errors in writing by using a developmental framework such as the one outlined Monitoring Progress in Spelling Using Developmental Information. From Years 4–8 a test such as the Supplementary Spelling Assessment (SSpA), which includes specific diagnostic assessments, may be useful.

3. What Makes English Spelling Difficult?

Research has identified the length of words, the degree of irregularity in words, and a writer’s knowledge of the meaning of words as key aspects of difficulty in spelling. Other aspects being equal, shorter words are generally easier to spell than longer words. Hence, ‘bet’, will be easier to spell than ‘betterment’.

Again, other aspects being equal, regular words are generally easier to spell than irregular words. Hence, ‘acting’ will be easier to spell than ‘aching’. The implication is that shorter regular words are easier to spell than longer irregular words. Generalisations cannot be made so readily however, about the relative difficulties of longer regular words versus short irregular words, except to say that irregularity is more a source of difficulty than word length, per se.

Length of words and regularity of words are features of English vocabulary and these aspects of words are largely outside teachers’ control or influence. But the third aspect of spelling difficulty, namely a writer’s knowledge of the meaning of the word certainly is. It is likely that the power of knowing a word’s meaning is sufficient to moderate somewhat, the effects of both length and irregularity as sources of spelling difficulty.

This is unlikely to surprise most teachers as there is an element of common sense to the proposition that a writer more often uses words they know the meaning of, and writing the word is an element in learning and remembering how to spell the word.

Learning what words mean by either listening to them, speaking them, reading them, writing them and hence spelling them, is an integral part of a thoughtful classroom language programme. As words are learnt and used as whole words, rather than as discrete bits (as happens with phonic programmes), whole words provide a better basis for learning new words by analogy, and learning by analogy is one key aspect in learning to spell new words.

4. Is there a place for phonics in classroom spelling programmes?

It is important that children learn phonic principles that will help with their spelling, provided that any instruction or direct teaching of these phonic principles is done within the context of writing tasks which emphasise meanings and uses of words, not just spelling. Where a child or class group are consistently misspelling given words in their writing there are opportunities to tutor the learners in aspects of words causing difficulty, and to generalise this tutoring to other words with similar spelling patterns. In this

way relevant phonic knowledge is built through ‘word families’ for example, with the emphasis on the whole words not the discrete sound in isolation. The important point is that the spelling difficulties were demonstrated in writing first and the opportunity was taken to help the learners to extend their knowledge of relevant phonic principles that generalise to other like words.

Instruction in phonic elements of any given word or group of words within the context of current writing is likely to have positive effects on written spelling. This approach is poles apart from systematic and lockstep programmes which teach phonic principles in a set order, irrespective of the learner’s developmental stage, and in isolation from any need or requirement to write words showing these principles.

Proponents of systematic phonic programmes may believe that learning to spell is a precondition of learning to write. However this is far from the truth as shown by the extensive literature on developmental spelling and the everyday observation of how four and five year-olds quite happily ‘write’ messages without much

Save hours each week by using StaffSync to book your relievers.

• Book and manage your relievers in minutes not hours • Store your reliever information in our online register and monitor your school’s compliance with the Vulnerable Children’s Act • Produce your fortnightly Staff Usage and Expenditure report and Salaries Annual Accrual report with the click of a mouse • Elect to share relievers within your cluster Join the over five hundred schools and ECE’s, and thousands of relievers that have signed up to New Zealand’s largest nationwide reliever app.

Book a free demonstration at your school – email or phone us today at rhys@staffsync.nz or 0800 878 623.

“This is fantastic – I am never going back” – quote from a DP at Point View School, Auckland

www.staffsync.nz NZ Principal | N o v e m b e r 2 0 17

21

concern for conventional spelling. The important issue is not whether children benefit from knowledge of phonic principles, (as they do) but how these principles are packaged and taught, and what opportunities there are to consolidate and utilise these skills in writing.

But what about the cases where phonetic programmes are used in conjunction with whole word approaches linked firmly into writing, or in other words, where the phonetic programme is an adjunct to the writing-based programme? Given that a consensus from research is that about 80 per cent of Years 1–3 learn to read, write, and spell quite naturally and readily in a whole language programme, what is the point of subjecting all children to a lockstep phonetic programme that may deny them the richer experiences of broader language-based programmes? And the jury is out on whether the remaining 20 per cent of Years 1–3 do much better in advancing their writing skills under phonic programmes. If phonic programmes have any place it is certainly not in the first three years in my view.

5. Are Phonetic Programmes Likely to be Effective?

An unqualified ‘yes’ or ‘no’ seems unrealistic as like most evaluative judgements concerning classroom programmes, there are broader matters to consider. There is an exception however. If a phonetic spelling programme is to be used as the sole or major approach to spelling in the first three years of school, without a focus on writing or what is being learnt in beginning reading , my response to the initial question is a resounding no!

If a teacher is satisfied that students should simply learn letter names, letter sounds, the 14 vowel sounds, the 18 consonant sounds plus their combinations, a phonetic classroom

22

NZ P r i n c i p a l | N o v e m b e r 2 0 17

programme would probably achieve these modest goals in due course The degree to which low- level learning of this type will be retained and applied in writing is another matter. Verbal material that is learnt with limited understanding is soon forgotten.

A research study from 2003 on the effectiveness of phonic spelling programmes in 14 European languages showed that students learning in English ranked last for spelling achievement.

The students learning in English scored at less than 30 per cent of the top scoring students learning in Finnish, Greek, and German (more regular languages) on both pseudo words and real words.

English was the least suited to learning spelling by phonics. This conclusion has quite profound implications for principals I think, particularly where schools value the role of research to inform school-wide practices.

I am not aware of reputable research that concludes that students in Years 1–3 who are taught to spell solely or mostly via a phonic programme divorced from their writing, become more competent writers or able spellers than those who have received a broader programme. Most research into phonetic programmes is about mastery of the 44 phonemes, not how this knowledge is generalised and applied to writing in authentic classroom programmes.

Given the 2003 research noted earlier, what then is the point of spending valuable classroom time on activities that are unlikely to improve written spelling? A better focus is on writing, learning whole words within context, linking these words with reading, plus emphasis on learning to spell and write as an aspect of vocabulary development. A lockstep phonetic spelling programme in Years 1–3 offers little realistic chance of these important outcomes being met.

Party for a Principal Liz Millar Retires Liz Hawes

24

EDITOR

There are some impressive principals in New Zealand schools. Some are superb administrators, others curriculum experts. Some inspire and empower others and some are pioneers, unafraid to be right out there breaking new ground.

Then there is Liz Millar. She’s all of those things and more, according to those attending her retirement party.

A quick ‘vox pop’ (voice of the people) of the colleagues, friends, family, staff and school board members past and present, variously described Liz as respected and trusted, strategic, focused, professional, sharp, perceptive, addresses smaller issues before they become big problems, knows processes and how to apply them, driven, courageous, her own woman, dynamic, a trail blazer, a mentor, supportive, approachable, personable,

‘She has been an incredible principal,’ he said, ‘it’s all about the students. As a parent, you can talk to her about anything, not just your child’s academic progress but their wellbeing and resilience too,’ he said.

On her principalship, he said, ‘She is the leader of leaders that all other Wellington principals go to for advice, guidance and to be mentored,’ he said. He described his own relationship with her saying, ‘I meet regularly with Liz in her office and she subtly tells me what I should know and even more subtly what needs to be done, then she massages those messages to convince me it was my idea all along. She’s a great manager of people!’ he joked.

‘Importantly,’ he continued, ‘Liz is not about the glory; it’s all about the children and she gives them the most amazing

The retirement cake

They filled the Khandallah Town Hall to celebrate Liz’s retirement

relationship builder, charismatic, dedicated, inspirational, a listener, great teacher, has high expectations of staff and children, knowledgeable, energetic, co-operative, leads by example, open, caring, absolutely fabulous, hilarious, theatrical, humorous, has flair, vivacious, creative, the complete principal and an absolute credit to her profession. It’s quite a list to describe one woman.

‘If only you could clone her and send her to every region, we’d be educational world beaters,’ said one party goer.

There was a queue to speak at her farewell, in the Khandallah Town Hall, although former Secretary for Education, Dame Karen Sewell, had got in ahead of the rest with a delivered message wishing Liz all the best for her retirement and acknowledging the high regard with which she is held by the profession.

First to the podium was Liz’s School Board Chair, Christian Hawkesby. He spoke of her attributes and achievements.

‘She’s a principal who knows the difference between governance and management,’ he said, ‘and knows the boundaries of each.’

Whilst he praised Liz’s performance as a Board member, Hawkesby went on to describe her from a parent’s point of view.

experiences,’ he said. He tried to estimate the number of children and staff Liz had influenced throughout her career and gave up once he hit the tens of thousands mark.

Another Board member, Robert Stewart said he had asked his children, all pupils of Ngaio School, to describe their principal.

The eldest said, Liz was the coolest principal ever, was positive and engaging and knew everyone. His second child fondly remembered receiving a book from Liz. It was ‘James and the Giant Peach’ and clearly remained a treasured prize.

‘There was none more professional than Liz,’ he said. ‘She always led from the front, weighed up options and took advice from those she trusted.’ ‘She would see things through and her decisions were always made in the best interests of the staff and students. Roll growth, he said, created enormous pressures and challenges and resulted in the demolition and rebuilding of huge sections of the school and the complete reorganisation of classes. On top of this we had Novopay, he lamented. But Liz never got flustered. With a wry smile, he then quoted General George S Patton to illustrate Liz’s leadership style, ‘Lead me, follow me or get out of my way!’

NZ P r i n c i p a l | N o v e m b e r 2 0 17

Liz Millar and her Ngaio School Office Manager, Helen Shields, enjoy a moment together at Liz’s retirement party

Finally, he turned his attention to the legendary American, Jack Welch, former General Electric CEO who was reportedly paid out a $417million retirement cheque. ‘You are worth that too,’ he said, ‘but our gift is not quite equivalent!’ he smiled.

‘You have been our leader, you have grown both in yourself and helped grow others. You have been a role model for so many and given teachers on your staff the opportunity to grow as well. There is so much our community has to thank you for.

In conclusion, he said ‘It has been an absolute privilege to work with you.’ He exited the stage dabbing at a small tear forming in the corner of his eye.

Peter Pointon, a former Wellington principal said he had known Liz since her Training College days. ‘She was a great teacher,’ he said, ‘and fantastic with the kids who were just so receptive to her.’ ‘They responded to her at every level from the dramatic fun person, the warm person and the more serious learning and teaching person.’

‘As a principal, she quickly became what I might call a spiritual leader for other principals, an advisor, a mentor and a woman who was hugely respected and trusted. She has such an infectious and vivacious nature people just flocked to her,’ he said admiringly.

‘Liz was never afraid to put herself forward and lead,’ he said. ‘She was just out there, like a woman on a mission, always destined for greater things.’

‘We were both beginning principals when Tomorrows Schools arrived,’ he said. ‘With it came a whole paradigm shift, from a centralised to a self-managing system, including Boards of Trustees for every school. There was no blueprint to follow and many challenges,’ he said.

Pointon noted that during this time there was a simultaneous interest developing in the broader public service about the ‘reflective leadership’ style. ‘Liz became passionate about this as a model for developing school leadership and school culture,’

he said, ‘and she couldn’t read enough about it. She quickly became an expert in the works of researchers like Sergiovanni who wrote of moral leadership, principals as leaders and building communities in schools. She shared this knowledge with us all and supported others to understand it.’

‘Next he said we were applying for a Ministry contract to work on the integration of the curriculum and to develop Inquiry learning. We helped five other schools through this project which was work in addition to running our own schools. It involved hours of preparation and planning, milestone reporting, developing and delivering workshops.

Years later, Pointon said, they were ready to take their ideas to the international arena and did so, to high acclaim.

Back home in Wellington Liz also took on the responsibility of chairing the committee to organise two different NZPF conferences. Her most important goal was that everyone involved would get a broad experience in coordinating a big event. ‘They were two highly successful conferences,’ he said, ‘because Liz kept a watchful eye and has superb stewardship skills. She knew how

Deputy Principal Amanda Frater talks about Liz as a leader of staff and children NZ Principal | N o v e m b e r 2 0 17

25

Listening to the accolades flowing for her daughter is thirsty work for Mrs Millar

Board members and colleagues joined in the celebrations

to jell everyone as a group.’

Perhaps one of her most powerful attributes, he addressed last. ‘She is the consummate networker,’ he said. ‘Always with an ear to the ground, she knows how to develop solid trusting and lasting relationships.’

In closing he thanked her for her support over the years and helping so many others to develop an effective leadership style and school culture so that children could be the very best they can be. He thanked her too for her compassion and the way in which she has always cared for children, teachers and her principal colleagues.

‘Your mission is accomplished’, he said. ‘You have made your mark and achieved great things for so many. You deserve a long and happy retirement.’

Kay Tester, another Wellington colleague, focussed on

2005 when Liz stepped out of school to become Director of the Principal Leadership Centre. This was where she first encountered Dr David Stewart of Massey University, who was developing a model of continuous quality improvement for school leadership, later known as the Ariki project. Based on models of collaboration and reflection, this high trust PLD was all about improving learning outcomes for children through clusters of principals and teachers sharing their reflections on each other’s practices. Liz was later to become a regional Director of the programme which flourished up to Dr Stewart’s untimely death in 2013. ‘I am fortunate to have been a member of the Wellington region’s Ariki group,’ said Kaye, ‘and have got to know Liz better, as a friend.’ ‘It is a friendship I treasure,’ she said, as she wished her colleague a happy retirement.

The school’s Kaumatua, Robin Paratene, spoke of Liz’s yearning

Talk to the school || accounting experts. |

FINANCIAL CLARITY TIME SAVING PROCESSES FUTURE PLANNING

Principals

Executive Officers

Trustees

ENJOY COMPLETE FINANCIAL TRANSPARENCY

SAVE VALUABLE TIME WITH SIMPLIFIED PROCESSES

FOCUS ON LEARNING WITH SIMPLIFIED FINANCIALS

We ask the right questions, understand your unique requirements and add value by helping you plan for the future.

For a FREE consultation contact Ben Duflou on 04 909 7729 or 021 915 233

www.afsl.nz AUCKLAND | WELLINGTON | CHRISTCHURCH XEROPARTNER PARTNERLOGO LOGOCOLOURS COLOURS XERO Xero XeroBlue Blue Print: 90M:M:00Y:Y:15 15K:K:00 Print:C:C:90 Screen: 183B:B:227 227 Screen:R:R:00G:G:183

PLACELOGO LOGOON ON WHITE PLACE WHITE

Dark DarkBlue Blue Print: 100M:M:35 35Y:Y:35 35K:K:00 Print:C:C:100 Screen: 130B:B:155 155 Screen:R:R:00G:G:130

26

NZ P r i n c i p a l | N o v e m b e r 2 0 17

Bronze Bronze Print: 30M:M:62 62Y:Y:72 72K:K:13 13 Print:C:C:30 Screen: 163G:G:103 103B:B:75 75 Screen:R:R:163 Silver Silver Print: 40 Print:C:C:00M:M:00Y:Y:00K:K:40 Screen: 167G:G:169 169B:B:172 172 Screen:R:R:167 Gold Gold Print: C: 0 M:19 Y:100 K: 0 Print: C: 0 M:19 Y:100 K: 0 Screen: R: 255G: 204 B: 0 Screen: R: 255G: 204 B: 0

BLACK & WHITE BLACK & WHITE

GREY & WHITE GREY & WHITE

forfor useuse in newspaper or or Similar to ‘Black & White’, this this This colour treatment Thisisisthe thepreferred preferred colour treatment Primarily Primarily in newspaper Similar to ‘Black & White’, similar, where black andand white areare thethetreatment should onlyonly be used when ofofthe logos. theXero XeroPartner Partner logos. similar, where black white treatment should be used when only options. fullfull black is too strong. only options. black is too strong.

Print Print White: White: C: 0 M:0 Y:0Y:0 K: 0K: 0 C: 0 M:0 PLATI NUM PLATI NUM P ARTNER P ARTNER

SILVER PART NER SILVER PART NER

PLATI NUM P ARTNER PLATI NUM

Screen Screen White: White: R: 255G: 255B: 255 R: 255G: 255B: 255 Never place Never place the colour logo the colour logo onon a coloured a coloured background. Please background. Please use an alternative use an alternative colour treatment. colour treatment.

PARTNER STATUSPARTNER STATUS

PARTNER STATUSPARTNER STATUS

Print Print White: White: C: 0 C:M:00 M: Y:0 0 Y:K:00 K: 0 Black: Black: C: 0 M:0 Y:0 K:100 C: 0 M:0 Y:0 K:100 Screen Screen White: White: 255 G: 255B: 255 R: 255G: 255B: 255 Black: Black: 0 R:G:00 G:B:00 B: 0

R:

R:

Reverse Reverse Colours as above Colours as above

PARTNER STATUS PARTNER STATUS

PARTNER STATUS PARTNER STATUS

PrintPrint White: White: C: 0 M: C:0 0 Y:M:00K:Y:00 K: 0 Grey: Grey: K: 50 Darker thanthan K: 50 Darker Screen Screen White: White: 255 G: 255B: 255 R: 255G: 255B: 255 Grey: Grey: Darker thanthan Darker R: 122G:122B:122 R: 122G:122B:122 R:

Reverse Reverse

to convert the school’s culture to a bicultural environment. She initiated a whānau collective, he said, to generate ideas, then tested these with the parents of the Ngaio community. Next was the plan and recruiting staff to drive the plan. ‘Liz acquired some awesome staff,’ he said, ‘and today Māori parents of the school are so proud of the culture we have at the school. It was a legendary effort,’ he said, ‘and through our tracking system, we can now see how our Māori children are improving.’ He thanked her for her support and said how amazing it had been to work with her.

Deputy Principal Amanda Frater spoke of Liz’s devotion to lifelong learning and what a model she was for all her teachers to follow.

She also spoke of Liz’s ability to push teachers and colleagues out of their comfort zone, a behaviour which became known as ‘To be Liz Millared’! She had the rare talent of seeing individual potential and conveyed a total belief in her staff which was so empowering. She also had that uncanny ability to know when to step in if staff were

the attendees she acknowledged were her ninety-year-old Mother and Auckland-based sister, Jo who were there to share in her big night. Teaching staff and Board members past and present, NZPF Presidents, Ministry colleagues all got a mention, along with ‘those from the side-lines who have ‘so generously advised me.’

She chose a few significant moments to describe her career, beginning with the introduction of Tomorrows Schools. ‘We were the baby principals at the time and we were so lost because the system was being invented as the plane was flying,’ she said.

What we already knew was that even if the system was still in development mode, Liz was already building her own version.

Further ‘incredible opportunities ‘which I am so grateful for’ included three principalships, working with the Leadership Advisory Team, designing a portal for the Ministry, working as a curriculum facilitator, and being appointed Director of the Ariki project.

Christian Hawkesby, Liz’s Ngaio School Board Chair talks of her attributes and achievements

Cutting the Retirement cake

experiencing difficulties and was immensely generous in offering personal guidance and support. Her staff were her very own class, and how lucky we were to have such an outstanding teacher as Liz, she said. She went on to say what rich learning Liz could offer her staff but always, she said, ‘there was an ongoing sense of urgency for the students whose learning was never compromised. The children all had to be the best they possibly could be.’

‘She never wavered from her very strong pedagogy,’ said Amanda, ‘and at the heart of her success were the positive relationships she developed with us all.’

She concluded saying that Liz will always be a part of Ngaio school because she invested so much of herself in building it to be the great school it is today.

The President of NZPF, Whetu Cormick, in presenting her with the NZPF retirement award, acknowledged her eight years of service to the Federation as an executive member and noted that Liz was also awarded the NZPF honour of ‘Service with Distinction’ in 2013 for her outstanding contributions to school leadership across New Zealand.

The lady they had all come to celebrate fittingly had the last word on the night.

‘I went to Khandallah School as a child,’ she said, ‘and at the end of my career, here I am back in the Khandallah Hall!’ As the audience contemplated the round-trip journey of her stunning career, Liz began her long list of those she wished to thank.

She began with the Ngaio School staff and supporters who had organised ‘this fabulous function’ including the live band, led by one of Liz’s Ngaio School teachers. The band had aptly entertained the party goers with Liz’s favourite 1960s Beetles hits. Amongst

‘In 2008 I had to make a decision,’ she said. ‘It’s one thing to show others what to do but a different thing to actually do it.’

It was time to take up another principalship and Ngaio School was vacant. ‘Ngaio was the jewel in the crown for me,’ she said.

She spoke fondly of her nine years leading Ngaio, beginning with a nod to ‘the very good work’ of the previous principal, Marion Fitchett. ‘I inherited a great team of teachers,’ she said, ‘and a well-run school.’ Acknowledging the unwavering support from her board, she had a special word for board member Robert Stewart, a practising lawyer, saying, ‘Always modest and humble he is intellectually awesome and can read a situation with clarity. His wit and generosity in supporting me in challenging times has been extraordinary.’ She again acknowledged her outstanding team, including all her support staff and making special mention of her loyal and talented Deputy Amanda Frater. She also had words of praise for her dedicated office manager, Helen Shields, who she described as just ‘so efficient and perceptive and absolutely brilliant.’

Her last words were for her colleagues. ‘As principals we are at the top and that’s great, but we never forget that the buck stops with us. To have had trusted colleagues to talk to and share issues with is something I have always valued. I feel so privileged to be standing here and able to look back and say, I have loved my career.’

To cover every detail of Liz Millar’s professional life would fill a lengthy book. Many principals will be hoping that in her retirement she will take to her laptop, and record all those gems of leadership wisdom she has gathered and percolated over a long and successful career. It would be a best seller.

NZ Principal | N o v e m b e r 2 0 17

27

The answer for school financial management =

expanding the solutions – NZ school financial reporting

• •

Online 24/7 access Streamline your financial systems Simple to use for faster data entry, reconciliation, invoices and payments and invoices Straightforward transition to Xero from other accounting software and systems Monty provides easy budgeting, governance and management reporting Email reports directly to budget holders Set up & support from experienced education providers

• •

Easiest integration from student finances to Xero Powerful analysis tools

• • •

We teach people to save lives

•

In a Fun & InteractIve envIronment

•

First Aid for the School Environments (FASE)

4-hour course held at your premises at times to suit you. This is a cost effective course designed to give teachers confidence to cope with medical emergencies and accidents at school or on suburban trips. This fits with staff development and is based on Ministry of Education guidelines.

For further information and pricing for all first aid courses please email info@first-training.co.nz or call us on 0800 1ST AID

www.first-training.co.nz

=

Capture the power of mobile access

www.solutionsandservices.co.nz

Is your school’s current ‘Out of School Provider’: ★ MSD, OSCAR & WINZ approved? ★ ADDING VALUE to the lives of your children & their families? ★ Providing a SAFE, SECURE & EXCITING environment? ★ PROFESSIONALLY administered and delivered? ★ Staffed by WELL TRAINED, PASSIONATE people? ★ Providing programmes SPECIFIC to YOUR school & reflecting YOUR community? ★ Providing a combination of SUPERVISED FREE PLAY and a variety of well PLANNED & STRUCTURED activities? ★ A place where your children WANT to be?

A M★A★S★H Out of School Programme can provide all this and more.

Whether a school has an Out of School Programme and the quality of that programme has become a significant factor in the decision making process for parents when enrolling their children in Primary School. My After School Headquarters (M★A★S★H) understands this and currently delivers a total of 42 separate programmes via 16 sites, servicing the needs of more than 35 school communities.

The first M★A★S★H was established in 2012 and the rapid growth is in part attributed to having an experienced teacher with school aged children of his own as CEO. Very clearly defined values, goals and expectations combined with a high quality, professional approach to service delivery and accountability has also been integral in the growth of M★A★S★H. If the programme at your school doesn’t offer your community a programme that is professionally planned with a combination of supervised free play and structured activities, community focused, MSD & OSCAR approved, committed to adding value to families and have a positive relationship with school staff and the BoT then maybe a M★A★S★H programme is what you need.

M★A★S★H is very experienced in establishing new programmes as well as transitioning from a current provider.

For more information please contact Craig on 03 366 0408 or craig@mashkids.co.nz, he’d love to speak with you.

28

NZ P r i n c i p a l | N o v e m b e r 2 0 17

Finding a balance: Fostering wellbeing, positive behaviour, AND learning Sally Boyd

Senior Researcher, NZCER

A sense of wellbeing is vital for students’ success at school and in life. The importance of students’ wellbeing is acknowledged in the vision of the New Zealand Curriculum, and the need for schools to provide a safe physical and emotional environment is enshrined in the National Administration Guidelines. However, New Zealand data about bullying behaviour at school, youth suicide, and childhood obesity tell us our young people face considerable challenges to their wellbeing.

We wanted to know what the 3-yearly NZCER national survey1 of primary and intermediate schools could tell us about school practices relating to wellbeing and positive behaviour. In the 2016 survey, we asked principals and teachers about how their school fostered student wellbeing and positive behaviour, and how they responded to concerns. We also surveyed trustees and parents and whānau. We looked for changes between 2016, 2013, and 2010 survey responses. This article outlines some of the key findings.

Schools had multifaceted approaches to promoting wellbeing We used the four dimensions of Te Whare Tapawhā (social, mental and emotional, spiritual, and physical wellbeing) to help us consider how schools promoted wellbeing. Schools had multifaceted approaches. Social wellbeing and belonging were a focus at a school-wide and classroom level at most schools. For example, most teachers agreed or strongly agreed their school had an effective school plan to support student wellbeing and belonging (85 per cent). A similar proportion (86 per cent) reported they deliberately taught emotional skills in class, and two-thirds had accessed PLD in the past 2–3 years which provided practical help with supporting students’ learning in relation to social and emotional wellbeing.

Spiritual wellbeing was promoted at most schools through shared school values and the fostering of students’ identities and cultural values (discussed later in this article).

Schools had varied approaches to the different dimensions of physical wellbeing. Physical activity was promoted at most schools with 90 per cent of principals reporting their school had a partially or well embedded plan to ensure students had access to physical activities they enjoyed. An actively used School healthy eating policy was in place at fewer schools (73 per cent). Healthy eating initiatives were more common in decile 1–4 schools, reflecting the needs of their students and targeted government funding.

Approaches to wellbeing were not fully embedded Although schools had many ways of promoting wellbeing, an overall school-wide approach was not fully embedded at many schools. We divided the schools into three groups, depending on how many of seven school-wide practices principals reported were well embedded.

Two examples of these practices, that around half of principals said were well embedded, were: having goals for strengthening approaches to student wellbeing included in the school’s annual plan; and staff time allocated to planning and using data to improve approaches to student wellbeing. Overall, this analysis showed wide variation between schools suggesting that more strategic attention to student wellbeing may be needed: ■■ ■■ ■■

5–7 practices were well embedded at 26 per cent of schools 2–4 practices were well embedded at 47 per cent of schools 0–1 practices were well embedded at 27 per cent of schools

We saw a similar variation between schools in another recent study2 of Wellbeing@School (W@S)3 survey data. The W@S surveys explore the extent to which schools create a safe and caring climate that deters bullying behaviour.

We compared teacher and student data from the same schools.

From teachers’ responses we created a measure called ‘schoolwide actions’.

At schools where teachers showed more agreement that the school-wide actions were in place, students reported fewer

NZ Principal | N o v e m b e r 2 0 17

29

experiences of aggressive and bullying behaviour.

This analysis provided evidence of the impact of school-wide actions on student wellbeing. The five main clusters of schoolwide actions are shown in the infographic.

Finding a balance between fostering learning, wellbeing, and positive behaviour appeared to be a challenge for some schools.

The national survey showed that 40 per cent of principals considered the current focus on improving students’ literacy and numeracy achievement was impacting on their ability to offer a holistic curriculum. Principals who held this view were also more likely to report their school had fewer well embedded wellbeing-related practices.

Most schools had systems for fostering positive behaviour, but some wanted more support School-wide approaches to behaviour were more embedded than wellbeing approaches. The majority of principals (over 70 per cent) reported having some well embedded, consistent approaches and systems at their school for fostering positive student behaviour. Over three-quarters thought one of their main student-related achievements in the past 3 years was that student behaviour had stayed positive or improved. Nevertheless, some principals (21 per cent) thought student behaviour was a major issue facing their school, a marked increase from the 12 per cent who thought this in both 2013 and 2010.

Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) School-Wide was one initiative that assisted schools to promote positive behaviour and wellbeing. At schools where PB4L School-Wide was well embedded, principals were more likely to report their school had a range of other well embedded approaches including:

Kids have fun and learn water safety Aquatic education, based on Water Skills For Life, is the most comprehensive and best way children can learn to stay safe in, on and around water.

Water safety and swimming skills, in combination, will result in fewer drownings.

watersafety.org.nz/forlife

30

NZ P r i n c i p a l | N o v e m b e r 2 0 17

■■

■■

a consistent approach to managing student behaviour across the school (88 per cent, compared with 79 per cent of nonSchool-Wide schools) a consistent whole school approach to addressing bullying behaviour that builds students’ competencies (74 per cent, compared with 58 per cent of non-School-Wide schools).

However, only around one-quarter of schools in the national survey had joined PB4L School-Wide, and 15 per cent of principals said external expertise was needed to keep improving student behaviour, but they could not readily access this. These findings suggest schools could benefit from more systems-level support.

Schools’ main unmet need was for mental and emotional wellbeing support Many schools wanted more support for students who had additional social or emotional needs. The majority of principals reported their school had partially or well embedded systems for identifying groups of students (86 per cent) or individuals (76 per cent) who might need extra wellbeing support, and a team approach to designing solutions for these students (80 per cent). However, the nature of the extra support offered to students varied considerably. Many schools (70 per cent) had targeted emotional skills programmes for vulnerable students, but 28 per cent were exploring or did not yet have these programmes.

Likewise, 55 per cent of schools had access to in-school specialists to support vulnerable students, but 42 per cent did not. Overall, decile 1–4 schools had more supports in place for vulnerable students than other schools.

One main unmet need was support for students with mental health needs. This was a concern for principals and teachers across different types of schools. This need has become more pressing for teachers since 2013, with more disagreeing or strongly disagreeing that their school has coordinated support systems that are able to meet the mental health needs of students (29 per cent, up from 18 per cent in 2013). Support for working with students with mental health issues was principals’ largest ongoing unmet need for external expertise with 38 per cent reporting they wanted, but cannot access, this support. Training to raise awareness of the signs of mental distress was also not common in schools. Only 20 per cent of teachers said they had access to this training, and only 34 per cent of principals reported this training was partially or well embedded at their school.

Principals and teachers had mixed views about support for wellbeing and behaviour Most teachers and principals reported they could access external support in relation to wellbeing or behaviour. However, only half of teachers said Resource Teachers: Learning and Behaviour (RTLB) were readily available when they needed support to work with students with behaviour issues. Principals rated the usefulness of many external professionals as ‘mixed’. Those who were the most useful tended to be attached to a school or a cluster of schools or were part of a service designed for schools (such as school nurses or social workers, RTLB, and PB4L School-Wide practitioners). Support that was less useful was mostly provided by external non-education government agencies and groups.

For example, fewer than a third of the principals who had used Child, Youth and Family or Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services rated these as useful or very useful. These findings suggest that some supports could be better aligned with school approaches or needs.

Schools were becoming more culturally responsive Comparing survey results over time gives us a picture of how practices might be changing. One positive change we noticed was an increase in parent and principal reports of cultural responsiveness. In 2016, 79 per cent of parents agreed that the cultural identity of their child was recognised and respected at school (compared with 67 per cent in 2013). Seventy-one per cent thought teachers make an effort to understand things about their family and culture (compared with 66 per cent in 2013).

In 2016 more principals reported that school-wide practices that promote Pasifika students’ cultural identity were well embedded (24 per cent, up from 8 per cent in 2013). This is an important shift, particularly in the current environment with the focus on literacy and numeracy achievement. There is also room for further development, as these practices were partially or well embedded in around half of schools (48 per cent). Practices that promoted Pasifika students’ cultural identity were less common than similar approaches for Māori students, which were partially or well embedded in 93 per cent of schools.

Parent and principal responses suggest that schools are making positive changes in line with the visions of Ka Hikitia4 and the Pasifika Education Plan.5 However, schools that had fewer Māori or Pasifika students (such as high decile schools) tended to have less emphasis on promoting cultural values and practices. This finding raises questions about whether some Māori or Pasifika students are missing out on experiences that foster their cultural identities and strengthen their wellbeing, and other students are missing out on experiences that promote understanding about diversity.

level

2A

Can we do more to involve students in approaches to wellbeing?

Opportunities for student input and leadership into school approaches to wellbeing have multiple benefits. They can enhance these approaches, foster belonging and social wellbeing, and build students’ competencies to contribute to their own and others’ wellbeing. In their 2015 report on Wellbeing for Children’s Success at Primary School, ERO6 recommended that schools strengthen teachers’ understandings about student partnership to ensure students can actively contribute to school life and their education.

We found these sorts of opportunities were less common than many of the other wellbeing-related practices in the national survey. Only 20 per cent of principals reported their school had well embedded processes for consulting students about new ways to foster wellbeing, and only 13 per cent of teachers strongly agreed that their school sought student input when developing approaches to wellbeing. These findings suggest strengthening students’ involvement could be happening at a leadership level as well as in the classroom.

Looking to the future The national survey findings suggest schools have a multifaceted approach to wellbeing, but are experiencing tensions as they try to offer a holistic curriculum that promotes wellbeing and positive behaviour together with learning and achievement. These findings provide some clear messages for schools about continuing to work on embedding school-wide strategies, and for policy makers about aligning policies, support, and messaging to better enable schools to fulfil the intent of The New Zealand Curriculum. continued over

CONNECTING ALL STRANDS series

ORDER NOW 0800 MATHS4U

MEL@CAXED.CO.NZ WWW.CAXED.CO.NZ

NZ Principal | N o v e m b e r 2 0 17

31

References 1

This article is based on the report, Finding a balance–fostering student wellbeing, positive behaviour, and learning (Boyd, Bonne, & Berg, 2017). This is one of a series of thematic reports written from the NZCER national survey data. Details about these reports, and the survey methodology and sample, are published on the project’s web page: http://www.nzcer.org.nz/research/national-survey

2

This study used statistical modelling to compare Wellbeing@ School teacher and student data from the same schools. We wanted to know if there were types of school practices that were associated with higher levels of student wellbeing or lower levels of aggressive and bullying behaviour. For the study summary, Making a difference to student wellbeing, see http://www.nzcer. org.nz/research/making-difference-student-wellbeing

3

For more information see https://www.wellbeingatschool.org.nz/

4

Ministry of Education. (2013). Ka Hikitia–Accelerating success 2013–17: The Māori education strategy. Wellington: Author.

5

Ministry of Education. (2013). Pasifika education plan 2013–17.

Wellington: Author.

6

Education Review Office. (2015). Wellbeing for children’s success at primary school. Wellington: Author.

About the author Sally is a senior researcher at NZCER. She has a long-standing interest in student wellbeing, and how young people can be supported to fulfil their potential in school settings. Most of her work focuses on ways of fostering student wellbeing, and the nature of school, curriculum, and leadership processes that support wellbeing.

32

NZ P r i n c i p a l | N o v e m b e r 2 0 17

Resene Discover

Resene Bright Spark

Bring out the best in your school Save time and money with free Resene School Services.

We have assisted thousands of schools with their painting and decorating projects. Let us help you with yours.

Resene Flourish

To find out more visit: www.resene.co.nz/schoolservices

School Lines Hey, Stupid, it’s raising achievement, achievement, achievement!

No, Stupid, it’s making progress, progress, progress!

Lester Flockton

lester.flockton@otago.ac.nz

As I write this article, New Zealanders are awaiting a decision on which political parties will form the next Government. For those of us with a vested interest in education policies, we will each have our own high hopes, depending on what we believe to be good, right and proper. But we certainly won’t all share the same position in this regard.

Some will undoubtedly relish the idea of National Standards ‘Plus’ because it offers new fantasies, new opportunities to cash in on the inevitable development contracts, consultancy packages, or another chance to be heroically seen and heard as the FIRST on the rank!

For others, it would simply be yet another ill-conceived, ill-considered, ill-founded, ill-informed and unilaterally imposed load plonked on the backs of schools that are already groaning under the weight of externally driven intrusions and nonsensicalities. Intrusions that are too often based on political illusions waged to catch the votes of the gullible who have been duped into believing that data and data devices are the great new age educational panacea.

Ah, but we’re told by political education spokespeople that it’s no longer about the same old data of the kind that currently riddles the National Standards regime. That is, data that reports ‘achievement’. No, it’s tracking progress that matters now, not achievement, so new policies are wont to make the switch. A National Party website heralds the new buzz: Making it even easier to track your child’s progress We will revamp National Standards so children, parents and teachers can track their progress throughout the year in key learning areas.

A National Government will invest $45 million to revamp National Standards so children, parents and teachers can track their progress throughout the year in key learning areas.

“National Standards has been hugely successful in keeping parents informed about how their kids are doing at school, but we can do more to ensure they are better able to participate in their child’s learning,” Education spokesperson Nikki Kaye says. https://www.national.org.nz/making_it_even_easier_to_track_ your_child_s_progress

This National Standards ‘Plus’, which sounds like a new kind of swipe card baked up in a pizza kitchen by a political accountant, raises some very big questions around matters such as progress throughout the year (daily? weekly? monthly? termly?), in key learning areas (all seven of them?), by investing spending $45 million to revamp National Standards (or is it a re-vamp and

mandating of PaCT?), and doing more (who’s going to be doing more – and more, and more?).

But it’s not only National Party politicians who are now reciting a litany of ‘progress’. Labour is also to the forefront, as was well demonstrated during a question and answer programme hosted

by TVNZ. Chris Hipkins: We want parents to have better information about how their kids are doing. National Standards are not national; they’re not standard; they don’t measure progress, and they’ve been found by the Ministry of Education’s own research to be a very bad measure of how well students are progressing. The Ministry of Education did research on this and found that four out of 10 National Standards results are not measuring the child’s progress accurately.

Interviewer: But parents do find them very useful, don’t they? Because they identify very clearly when somebody is not meeting a standard, and therefore there is a problem.

That is useful, isn’t it?

Chris Hipkins: Well, no, because they’re not measuring progress . . .

Q+A Education Debate, Sunday 3 September, 2017, TVNZ

Now this progress thing at a government policy level is very interesting, especially considering that one of the most vocal and persistent advocates for switching emphasis has been Dr John Hattie, a man to whom successive politicians have been submissively endeared, and a man who is not averse to persuading the direction of public policy. In his website, Visible Learning Plus (note!), he demonstrates a tool for comparing metrics of achievement and progress, although he sometimes prefers to split semantic hairs by referring to progress as ‘growth’, as shown in the following transcript of his YouTube talk. Most, however, would understandably take growth to mean progress.

So often we’ve been obsessed with high achievement.

There’s nothing wrong with that, but sometimes it does confuse a tremendous amount of what we do in schools and that we think we need to have all kids above some kind of average. Well, firstly, it’s not going to happen . . . The second thing is that every kid, no matter where they start, even the kids above average, deserve a year’s growth . . . I want kids, no matter where they start, to get that year’s growth.

John Hattie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=021nSlhhrj8

Well, dear John can be assured that his ‘want’ for annual yearly progress (AYP) is pretty much the norm. Even the child who is below the standard at one year level, then below the standard again a year later at the next year level, has made a year’s progress NZ Principal | N o v e m b e r 2 0 17

33

from one year level to the next, albeit he or she is still ‘below’.

But, of course, this is to grossly simplify the more complex nature of progress.

A few years ago, the Ministry of Education set up a working group to propose directions for assessment in New Zealand. In their report, they stated: We advocate the development of rich descriptions of progress over time (progressions) and clearly defined indicators of achievement relative to different stages of learning (levels).

They further noted that there are few good examples of progressions that are useful to teachers: Given the shortage of good examples of progressions (whether local or international), exactly what making progress means for different areas of the curriculum needs to be determined through research and the professional deliberations of teachers and school leaders.

Absolum, M, Flockton, L, Hattie, J, Hipkins, R, and Reid.I. (2009).

Directions for Assessment in New Zealand, Ministry of Education.

-ON BOO ITE

KS

w it

A PD package for educational centres A critical guide to Māori and Pākehā histories of Aotearoa

e h answ

rs

Dragon Maths Workbooks

SIGMA WR

Clearly, that has not so far happened, and moreover it would be fizzy-headed to think that the National Standards literacy and numeracy progressions have proved to be well-conceived and sensible. Arguably they’re not!

So let’s get this right. Progress and achievement belong together. They are inseparable. You cannot gauge progress without gauging achievement, and gauging achievement is always relative to particular criteria. In turn, criteria of any worth

need to be incrementally descriptive of progressions in learning that make clear, unambiguous distinctions from one point in time to another. Moreover, they need to be able to be consistently and readily understood and interpreted by one and all.

Why, then, all of this mouthing about ‘progress’? It’s far from being a new idea. Way back in the last century when I was teaching, we had an assessment ‘tool’ called the P & A (Progress and Achievement) Register. In Part 1 of the register, the teacher was required to twice-yearly make overall judgments (OTJs) on a 5-point scale of their students’ achievements in all of the curriculum areas. The 5-point scale was: well below, below, at, above, and well above, and the distribution of achievement ratings was expected to conform to the bell curve, or the ‘normal curve of distribution’ – a hypothetical statistical model which nonetheless resonates pretty well with reality, whether it be the vege garden, wine or the human race. In Part 2 of the register, the teacher was required to note the progress being made by the child during the year. Furthermore, twice-yearly reports to parents in those days typically had columns for teacher ratings of both achievement and progress in each subject.

And so, the wheels of the bus go round and round, round and round, all – day – long.

But if there was someone out there with the capability, commitment and willingness to apply the brakes, then that would be a real ‘Plus’!

. . . fire up an appetite for Mathematics These best-selling workbooks include the following features : ◆ All curriculum strands covered ◆ Large size - 140 pages ◆ Four numeracy chapters ◆ 60+ pages of numeracy ◆ Topic instruction boxes ◆ Step-by-step examples ◆ New 3rd Editions from 2018 ◆ Removable answer pages ◆ Titles for Year 3 to Year 8 ◆ Sample books supplied

Discounts for bulk sales. For samples & school orders phone 0800 274 462 or go to our website :

www.sigmapublications.co.nz

34

NZ P r i n c i p a l | N o v e m b e r 2 0 17

This curriculum programme resource (CPR) is now available for all educators.

Is your school still struggling to effectively meet the wider goals of the Ministry and other policies, to provide responsive education for Māori as Māori with Te Tiriti o Waitangi as part of the context?

Or to teach NZ histories to all ethnicities effectively? The CPR can practically support implementing these policies and NZ histories curriculum more effectively.

Mainstream and Māori pathways can successfully use the CPR. Schools can choose from a range of timeframes for reading & delivery. The CPR covers these topics in 6 Unit Booklets for staff to read and create their own unit plans, lesson plans, and assessments to deliver.

For PD information, rave testimonials and costings view www.criticalhistories.nz or contact tamsinhanly@xtra.co.nz at 09 630 2188 The CPR is a single programme to help schools plan and teach their approach to New Zealand’s Māori and Pākehā cultures and histories in a cohesive way.

Māori Student Agency: If you’re not at the table you are on the menu . . .

Helen Kinsey-Wightman We have scored 200 hours of PLD time! Judging by my Principal’s jubilant and faintly incredulous response this is nothing short of a miracle – despite being a woman who is not afraid of a challenge and usually very positive – when I asked for her support to apply she had felt the need to prepare me for the potential failure of the endeavour before I began, such is the fearful reputation of the application process!

Throughout the initial form completion I cursed the name of the designer who forgot to allow the creation of a new paragraph through the simple use of the enter key . . .

But now, having wrestled at length with the application form – temptingly and slightly romantically titled a PLD journal – I am invested in the process. As compensation for the time I will never get back, I now tell myself that the reason the Ministry created a form in Excel was to deliberately weed out those lightweights who had only a casual interest in a bit of extra funding, from those of us who have a genuine zeal for student achievement.

My jubilation at being successful was somewhat shortlived when I realised the price of success was the opportunity to wrestle again with the PLD journal in the form of a more lengthy delivery plan.

Having anticipated my misery and perhaps proving that they had trialled the process themselves, the Ministry helpfully provide up to 3 hours of an external expert’s time to assist me in completing the monstrous form they created – of course the 3 hours I invested required no compensation since they would have otherwise been spent enjoying some needless down time in the term break . . .

I have had emails this week from 3 different organisations offering to support schools to fill in their PLD journal and delivery plan. So, yes, I do wonder at the necessity and economy of creating a process for the allocation of funding, from one government organisation to another, which is so prescriptive in its purpose that applications must be expressed in a certain way in order to be successful and which require funding to be dedicated to assist school leaders – who just might have a modicum of common sense and expertise – just to fill in the application form.

Having completed the delivery plan I have come to understand the purpose – at least from the Ministry’s perspective – in the use of Excel, in that the form calculates the number of provider hours accounted for and deducts these from the total allocated – does this make it worth the clumsiness from a user perspective? I imagine a feedback form might deliver a fairly resounding no!

All that said, I am genuinely thrilled to have been allocated the funding to work on our school goal: To recognise and value Māori as Tangata Whenua. The opportunity of 200 hours with Hine Waitere to work with staff around culturally responsive and relational pedagogies will be invaluable. One of Hine’s strong messages around Māori success is that, “If you are not at the tabe you are on the menu.”

With this in mind, at the same time as I was applying for funding towards our school goal I was also thinking about how we could engage students in support of it. Last term I attended the Secondary AP/DP Conference held in New Plymouth.

The Conference had some great keynotes but – as is often the case – the most memorable session I attended was one of the breakouts. It was led by Kirsty Dowding a recently appointed DP at Kaipara College.

She described the development of a student group – Te Roopu Rangatira – which was set up with the goal of developing Māori student agency within the student body. A group of Māori students, deliberately chosen as a mix of students already engaged and successful in their learning and those who at that stage were not, were selected to represent their peers. Staff explained the concept of deficit thinking and asked students to share examples of deficit thinking in their own educational experience which they went on to demonstrate to teachers through a drama presentation.

With staff support, the roopu ran a teacher only day session to share their experiences, to challenge teachers with a range of activities in a Māori context which mirrored the types of learning experiences NCEA demanded of them. Staff learned to read and pronounce a range of Māori place names, to collaboratively complete a kowhaiwhai pattern puzzle, to practise and share an action song.

The school leadership then shared the school’s Māori Achievement Action Plan with the students and asked for their feedback and also their ideas for ways to engage their whānau with the plan.

The students organised a hui and called every parent in the community to invite them. At the meeting – which was very well attended – the students presented the school’s achievement plan and asked the parents to think about how they could support it.

Now that Kaipara College have engaged in a CoL these students have been able to speak to other schools about the work they are doing and the effects on their school environment and their success. Speaking of success, between 2015 and 2016 NCEA Level 1 results for Māori students at Kaipara rose from 62 per cent to 77 per cent and in 2016 100 per cent of Māori boys achieved Level 2.

As is so often the case with those ‘just in time’ messages, I left Kirsty’s session feeling energised and optimistic that I had a blueprint I could take back to my school to continue the work we are beginning. We will hold our first student hui for the 245 students who identify as Māori in our school next week – I feel hopeful that by including them at the table our whole community will benefit.

NZ Principal | N o v e m b e r 2 0 17

35

Education Marketplace

Need Shade and Shelter for your School?

Wairau Intermediate

Key benefits:

Outdoor Living Solutions

Summer is coming, is your school ready?

The Cancer Society recommends 2.5m2 of shade per student. Fresco Shades have been designing and installing outdoor canopies for schools for over 16 years; we have the expertise and range of products to help your school become sun smart.

• Extend your usable space • Shade and sheltered areas for students all year round • Keep classrooms cooler in summer and increase productivity!

• Strong PVC roof blocks 99% of all UV rays • Modern curved shape enhances any environment • Great for pools, walkways, entrances and school shops • NEW netball court canopies for increased protection We have many delighted customers in the educational sector, and are be happy to provide references on request.

For an obligation free quote (09) 443 3414 or 0800 Fresco (0800 373 726)

www.frescoshades.co.nz

MY LEARNING RANGE AVAILABLE NOW The Warwick My Learning range, created for teachers, by teachers.

• Includes literacy, maths & multipurpose books • Features subject specific reference material to assist at key learning stages • Designed to withstand the rigours of daily classroom use • Durable laminated front & back covers

MAGAZINE

You can now access the current and past issues of NZ Principal magazine online

Available now from leading retailers including:

Looking to heat your school pool FOR LESS? Well, look no further HPPS are your local school pool people ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔ ✔

Cost effective to run Easy to install Easy to maintain Innovative, reliable technology Proven to be effective in schools

Contact us now, to arrange a free no obligation consultation.

m: 022 021 2442 david@hpps.co.nz

0508 46 46 89 www.hpps.co.nz

36

NZ P r i n c i p a l | N o v e m b e r 2 0 17

Specialists in Audio Visual Supply & Installation for Schools

09 912 7222

You can search by magazine issue, article name or author

e: info@comsec.net.nz w: www.comsecav.co.nz

visit www.nzprincipal.co.nz

p: