Filter Content
Kia ora e te whānau
As a member of a profession keen to do their best for young people, I have never accepted that our current reality is a fait accompli - that we simply must cope with the challenging circumstances in our schools and workplace. We do have agency over the future, and it is through hard work, brave conversations, and a sense of self-belief that we will win better service from Government and other peak bodies.
I am incredibly optimistic about our wonderful profession and proud to be a member of a community of leaders prepared to push for change.
Mathematics Achievement – Change is afoot!
Last Friday, within a few hours of the Principal Matters being issued, over 600 principals navigated to Dr Audrey Tan’s website and downloaded her excellent paper on Restoring Confidence in Mathematics Education in New Zealand.
If you haven’t taken the opportunity to read her paper or want to review the mountain of feedback from principals about her sage advice, then please visit her blog and download the paper.
It is encouraging to note the number of principals aiming to review mathematics in their school so that pedagogy clearly focuses on the teaching of procedure and encourages practice and regular revision. The goal is to help young people experience success and therefore build confidence. Audrey’s clear direction on what to focus on in Years 1-4 and 5-8 is very helpful. Place value is the basis for our decimal number system and should rightly be a central idea in our mathematics teaching.
There is no reason why we can’t set a goal in 2022 for every young person to experience success in mathematics. It will require changes to the way we teach, and an urgent review of your mathematics plan is key for implementation in 2022. Let’s make these common-sense changes to our pedagogy and, as a profession, set a goal of ‘success for all’.
Please read Audrey’s paper and let’s get cracking!
Primary Principals Collective Bargaining (PPCB) – We’re on the countdown!
I am thrilled to announce the addition of Geoff Lovegrove, former principal at Lytton Street School in Feilding, to the staff of PPCB. Geoff will act as Kaitiaki - a guardian and senior advisor for PPCB. As an esteemed former President of NZPF, Geoff is held in high regard for his wisdom, kindness, and integrity, and the deep well of affection he has for principalship.
I also acknowledge the support of Hata Temo, who will act as Kaumātua for PPCB. Hata is well known to principals as Kaumātua for NZPF and I am thrilled that he has agreed to tautoko PPCB.
We continue to work on the launch of the PPCB website, set for late August, when you will be able to join the union. This week, the team, led by Denise Torrey, has been in Wellington planning and provisioning the anticipated charge on a better workplace for principals.
NZPF Executive to visit the Mighty Waikato
One of the significant goals of NZPF, over the past few years, has been a commitment to connect more closely with members. As a membership driven organisation, we are only as effective as our connection to, and advocacy for, principals and the practical challenges they deal with in their work. That is why, as your President, I have made it a priority to come to you on our annual road trips and bring the Executive out of Wellington to meet with you in your backyard!
Earlier this year we were privileged to meet with the Otago Primary Principals and Southland Primary Principals in Dunedin and Invercargill respectively.
Next week, the NZPF Executive are off to the Waikato, a wonderful association packed with passionate principals working hard for their communities. I am looking forward to meeting our Waikato whānau, to hear about local issues and to celebrate their work.
Meeting With Teaching Council Regarding Principal Vulnerability – Thank You!
Representing the interests of principals is not just about being at the bargaining table to fight for better working conditions, it is also about the hard mahi that comes from raising difficult and intractable issues with Government and other peak bodies who have influence in the workplace.
One such issue is the vulnerability experienced by principals through their employment agreement, particularly when Boards of Trustees make allegations against a principal. By dint of the self-governing nature of Boards, principals are exposed with no advocacy, protection, or even safe problem-solving mechanisms to use to nip problems in the bud and stop more serious and devastating action being pursued.
That is why NZPF strongly recommends principals hold insurance through Principals’ Advice & Support Scheme Limited (PASL), a wholly owned NZPF entity.
NZPF has raised concerns with the Teaching Council about the mandatory reporting process and the damage wrought on principals when they have been unfairly referred to this process by a vexatious Board.
I am pleased to report that the Teaching Council and NZPF will be meeting next week to talk through our concerns and find ways to improve the process. The Teaching Council is keen to refine their conduct and competency processes and I congratulate them for inviting us to share our experiences and concerns.
I have also raised my concerns about principal vulnerability with Lorraine Kerr (NZSTA) and will discuss these matters with her in our next scheduled meeting. On both counts, I will report back to you on progress.
Ngā manaakitanga
Perry Rush
perry@nzpf.ac.nz
NZ Principal Magazine also Online
You and/or your team members can easily access the NZ Principal Magazines online, as an e-magazine or as a PDF. Additionally you can search for a previous issue, an article by title or by the author of the article. All magazines back to Term 1 2012 are available in this format. To view or search click here.
Thank you!
Thank you for a fantastic Conference and the presentation to Scholastic for 25 years service as a Gold Sponsor of NZPF. Everyone at Scholastic feels the pride of our long time partnership with the shared goal of creating kiwi kids who are life-long readers.
We congratulate NZPF on the outstanding speakers and in particular Audrey Tan’s presentation raising concerns about the poor progress in maths achievement over the past 20 odd years. Audrey addressed the fact that most New Zealand 10-year-olds are struggling with basic arithmetic. She pointed out what can be done about this, with less emphasis on number strategies and more on recognising patterns and making connections, and more explicit teaching and practise.
Scholastic shares those concerns, which is why 5 years ago we introduced PR1ME Maths, a proven text-based resource with explicit teaching. It uses place value at its base, with column addition and subtraction, and offers a clear and logical plan of attack across the whole school. PRIME is structured maths. It inspires confidence in your learners and teachers.
If you haven’t had a good look at PRIME Maths we invite you to do so – there is nothing to lose and possibly everything to gain for your school and your students.
And a reminder that Scholastic does have a starter deal of 50% discount on your first order to help out your resource budget. Our wonderful Territory Managers would love to hear from you.
Regards
Rob and Sandie
Rob Southam Sandie Haddock
Scholastic Ambassador Sales Manager
NZPF assures its business partners that, as members, you will contact them to have a conversation if you are purchasing products, services or solutions for your schools that a business partner supplies. Please support our partners as their assistance to NZPF means better membership services to you.
