Signs of Spring are uplifting.  They signal growth, warmer days and new life.  I hope you enjoyed the break and your energy bucket has been refilled. You will need the energy in term 4 which is always intense and busy.  

As the term begins, some schools are engaged in providing feedback on the draft English and Mathematics learning areas.  Others of you will be developing your local histories curriculum, attending to planning and staffing for 2023, or organising trips, camps, assessments, exams and end of year events.   Separately, the PPCB and NZEI negotiating teams are poised to begin the next phase of the Principals’ Collective Bargaining process. 

Stay well and keep informed and connected. Good luck to you all!

A new date for Nelson Roadshow and the Final ZOOM Webinar

Last term, the Nelson mathematics roadshow seminar, led by Rob Proffit-White (MOE), was cancelled, due to weather affecting travel. It has been rescheduled for Term 4:

Date:   29 November 2022

Venue: Beachside Conference Centre, Nelson

Time:   9:00am – 1:00pm (approx)

Please RSVP, for this new date and time, even if you had already done so for the Term 3 seminar.

RSVP: office@nzpf.ac.nz

Rob Proffit-White's final instalment of his ZOOM Hui's complementing the key messages of the recent NZPF Maths roadshow will be held on Monday 7th November. Details and the ZOOM link are below. 

Monday 7^th November 3:30 – 4.15pm – Using big ideas to create low floor/high ceiling tasks

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/85133109112?pwd=NFBTZDNoR2RtY0VEdXh4dFhqUm5ydz09

 Changing Jobs – a sign of the times?

Each term, the NZPF membership lists are updated as principals change schools, leave the profession or retire.  To all those principals who let us know and make sure new principals join the Federation, thank you.  About 330 principal appointments are made each year (13% of all schools).  Of the appointments made, 48% are full primary, 28% are contributing primary schools and around 13% are secondary.  Between 2017 and 2021, 615 schools appointed principals more than once and right now, 60% of all New Zealand principals are in their first five years of principalship.

When considering this data, particularly the 615 schools that have had more than one principal in five years, it is clear that we have a young principal workforce (in terms of experience) and that leadership PLD should be a system priority.  Some principals will have collegial support through ‘Communities of Learning’, networks or ‘professional learning groups’.  Some principals will look to their principals’ association, mentors, coaches and / or external PLD providers to build their kete of skills and knowledge. 

If you have the opportunity to join the ‘Maori Achievement Collaborative’ network or the ‘Tautai o le Moana’ PLD programme, you will be immersed within networks led by expert principal facilitators in culturally sustainable pedagogy.  To focus on developing culturally responsive leadership practices is not only to attend to leaders’ professional development, but also develop and strengthen leaders’ focus on achieving equitable outcomes for all students. 

And about inclusion:

The Education Review Office released a report at the end of Term 3 summarizing findings about how well disabled students were supported in schools.  There were six key findings specifically linked to leadership, that impact on the quality of education disabled students experienced –

• A culture of valuing disabled learners
• Prioritizing support for disabled learners
• Understanding legal obligations and putting them into practice
• Setting clear expectations
• Monitoring outcomes

Schools should be great places for all students, not just for some, and what we do as leaders makes a difference.  Difference is seen in how we demonstrate our ‘values in action’; the strategic planning and inclusive culture we create, the effort we make to find the right solutions and resources for each student to thrive and the ways in which we enhance the ‘mana’ of disabled students, so they know they are valued members of our communities. 

Report findings showed ‘When disabled ākongo receive a quality inclusive education they were more likely to achieve better outcomes, to complete secondary school, to go onto further study and employment’. 

Equity of access to quality education is a human right.  What we as leaders choose to do to support the diverse needs of learners in our schools can make a difference to a student not just for a year, but for a life time.  If diversity is a fact, equity is a choice, inclusion is an action and belonging is an outcome.