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E kore a muri e hokia
There is no turning back
Kia ora e te whānau
The Roller-coaster that is Omicron
As the school year opened, the Omicron outbreak was just warming up. It wasn’t long before cases were climbing as fast as snowboarder Zoi Sadowski-Synnott on her Olympic Gold Medal run.
Last week Minister Hipkins warned Peak Body leaders to brace themselves for a turbulent next couple of months. The Health sector will not have the capacity to manage the expected volume of enquiries as Omicron spreads. This means that as outbreaks occur, school leaders will be making the calls for their schools and communities.
Just as Zoi, our Olympic snowboarder can’t pull out half way down the slope, nor can we change course, get off this ride or slow Omicron down.
The Ministry of Education has recognised our predicament and responded with an ‘On-line Principals’ Helpline’. A group of experienced principals will be seconded to this service to assist you as you plan your response to keep your school, students and staff safe and wherever possible, keep your school operational.
I acknowledge the Secretary for Education, Iona Holsted, and the MOE teams who are regularly meeting with Peak Body Leaders to find ways to support principals through this latest phase of the COVID pandemic. The ‘On-line Principals’ Helpline’ is such an example.
It is uplifting to know that the Ministry group recognises and understands the extent and intensity of our leadership role at his time. They want to identify any additional support that would ease the burden, as we work through the Omicron outbreaks.
Excluded Students – Phase Two
Last year, NZPF challenged the Ministry to urgently review directed enrolments of excluded students. Key issues identified were that schools continue to be directed by the Ministry to enrol excluded students, without transparent and consistent processes, access to information, adequate risk assessment planning or resources to support the student or the school involved. With legal advice to support our call for change, Phase One was done.
This week, I met with Deputy Secretary, Jocelyn Mikaere, to begin phase two - how the Ministry and the sector can together develop a transparent, consistent, resourced system of support for excluded students. It was agreed that a working group will be established to lead the design and trial for this ‘missing in action’ part of our current system.
Phase three will be the implementation of a co-constructed effective system to support excluded students.
Principals’ Champions Needed
One of the unintended consequences of our school governance structure is that principals are unsupported when faced with vexatious Board members, staff or parents. Throughout the pandemic, we have seen levels of vitriol increase and beligerent members of our communities become emboldened and vocal in their views and actions.
Lawyers working for the NZPF legal support scheme, PASL (Principals’ Advice and Support Limited), report that bullying of principals has become an issue of concern. This finding is supported by ERO research and the longitudinal NZEI Health and Well-being Survey data.
When a complaint is made against a principal, an investigation is carried out. This is undertaken by the Board, but can involve NZSTA, NZEI, PPTA and/or the Teaching Council. Throughout the investigation, the principal has no voice. Investigators are also bound by confidentiality protocols however, all too often principals’ reputations are undermined and damaged, by bullying complainants with agendas. The result is, many principals choose to ‘walk away from the job’.
A recent meeting with NZSTA President, Lorraine Kerr resulted in an agreement that NZSTA, NZPF and PASL will review Board Advisor Training, Board of Trustee Training Principal Professional Development and will establish better protection for principals.
Prolonged disciplinary investigations by the Teaching Council, similarly result in too many principals abandoning their careers. With consultation on the proposed increase in teacher registration fees about to begin, there is an opportunity for principals to share their views on these issues.
Wondering of the Week:
How would you assess the level of trust you have, that your Board, staff and/or community would support you, if you were being bullied?
Poll is closed
Results of last week’s poll
How prepared is your school to switch to home-based / online learning if needed?
Ngā manaakitanga
Cherie Taylor-Patel
cherie.taylor-patel@nzpf.ac.nz
NZPF Awards - Closing date for applications extended!
Due to COVID distractions, the closing date for applications for the NZPF awards has been extended to 15 March. The following awards are availble to NZPF members:
- Don Le Prou Award
- Tauri Morgan Memorial Award
- PLD Grants for Principals' Associations
Click here for further details.
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.
Primary Principal Collective Bargaining (PPCB)
The Primary Principal Collective Bargaining Union(PPCB) is a member-driven organization, established in 2021, to strengthen and support collective bargaining for primary school principals.
Members identified a set of priorities through an initial survey in 2021. A second survey prioritized the claims that were most important. The PPCB team has continued to work on the claims, to ensure they are robust and well researched. In addition, negotiators have completed mediator training in preparation for the 2022 Collective Bargaining round.
A new salary model has been developed based upon principals’ experience, as well as schools’ roll size. The PPCB team is looking forward to connecting with principals and sharing the work that has been done under the headings
- Manaaki Respect Principals
- Whakahohe Re-energise Principals
- Whakaahua Redesign Principalship
- Momoha Reward Principals
- Puritanga Retain Principals
As an NZPF member, you have the option to join PPCB, and make them your ‘Collective Bargaining’ union representative.
Please click on this link to visit the PPCB website, to read the draft claims and to activate your membership for 2022.
International Confederation of Principals (ICP)
As principals in Aotearoa New Zealand and members of NZPF, you are all members of our affiliated organisation the ICP.
The ICP has over 40 country members and is most interested in supporting members through the global pandemic and also better understanding the experiences of other countries to plan relevant international responses.
To this end there will be a zoom meeting of the Asia-Oceania Region on Mar 1, 2022 02:30 PM AEDT
Below is the link to the zoom meeting if you wish to join:
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/88206581552?pwd=MnRQTXNqSi9uRjQ1V1oyaDFiSDRaQT09
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.
