Tena Koutou katoa, 

Today’s whakatauki speaks of keeping connected - coming together to support each other - so that we can move forward together. We are seeing this in action now - in Hawke’s Bay, Tairawhiti, Auckland and Northland as these cyclone-ravished regions inch towards recovery mode. Together, communities are rebuilding, in the harshest of circumstances, and those of us from afar are rallying to support.  

This past week, we have witnessed another example of communities coming together for one of the biggest events in the Māori Calendar - Te Matatini herenga waka, herenga tangata Festival. Whether you watched on TV or attended in person, this festival brought us together. 

Watching the Kapa Haka performances brought joy and pride to us all. Our tamariki and young people saw Māori language, culture and heritage at its absolute best and the model of excellence reverberated across the country and the world. Collectively, we mihi to those who organized this event and we mihi the performers who took part, representing their whanau, hapu and iwi. What a gift they shared with us all. 

Tēnei te reo whakaikeike i te Reo o Tānerore rāua ko Hinerēhia ki a koutou katoa nga kapa, i tū ihi mai i runga i te atamira i Te Matatini herenga waka, herenga tangata. Nā nga iwi i kite, i rāngona ai te wehi, te ihi, te mauri o te whakaaro Māori i hua i wō koutou tū rangatira. Ko koutou nga kaihaka te tauira o nga wawata a kui mā, a kara mā. Koia ka puta ake nei te Mana Māori i a koutou katoa. He Aroha nui nōku ki a koutou me nga tini kaupapa kua hora ki te ao nā te kupu, nā te whakaaro, nā te tū. Nā koutou te Wairua o te wā i whakaoho kia koa ai te iwi i raro mai i nga āhuatanga o te wā. E Te Matatini, eke pānuku, eke tangaroa!! Tihewa Mauriora!! 

This is the voice of gratitude, the voice of Tānerore and Hinerēhia to you all who stood on stage at Te Matatini, herenga waka, herenga tangata. Our People have seen and experienced the essence of Māori through your performances. You are the embodiment of what your ancestors aspired to, and you have all demonstrated immense pride, setting an inspiring example for us all. At a time when our people have been impacted by natural disaster and are carrying many a burden, you have provided a note that has uplifted our hearts. Te Matatini, we thank you! 

Work of the National Executive 

One of the lead issues for NZPF this year is principals’ hauora. To do our work well and represent you accurately, our leadership pou tahi has constructed a survey for you.  It will take less than five minutes to complete, so please do it now so we can give you the best and most relevant support. Here is the link to the survey.

An NZPF Positional Paper was sent to the Ministry on the Physical Restraint Rules document and a Media Release went out on funding of more Attendance Officers, both recently announced by the Minister of Education, Hon Jan Tinetti.  Whilst the Federation welcomes both initiatives, we believe there are aspects missing and some areas need strengthening to be practical and effective school documents. That is why it is so important that we offer feedback - from the schools’ perspective. 

Whilst the Ministry of Education continues to support our colleagues affected by the weather events, the NZPF National Executive has written to the Secretary for Education, listing a suite of supports to consider, that address the hauora and wellbeing of our education workforce. As they plan the rebuilding of their schools, many school staff are also personally affected by the cyclone and are continuing to support their school communities. In compiling our list, we have drawn on what we have learned from the Christchurch earthquakes and our responses to covid. Our Tamariki deserve the best education we can give them, and this can only happen if our colleagues have the tools, resources and supports they need. 

Finally, my thanks to the Secretary for Education, Iona Holstead, for announcing in her Bulletin, sent out this week, that she will be reintroducing the ‘Principals’ Red, Amber, Green Calendar’.

For those who do not know what this means, it is an acknowledgement that there are times in a principals’ calendar that you are so stretched to fulfil set requirements, you cannot take on further requests or information from the Ministry.  These will be ‘Red zone’ times and there will be no Ministry communications seeking responses from you, during those times. ‘Green zone’ times are when the Ministry can communicate with you and possibly make requests of you.

NZPF welcomes this move, which aligns with the NZPF Rāngai Tumuaki, Amo Hauora - National Hauora Campaign strategy.  

Just a reminder, make sure you have processed your NZPF membership subscription. A further reminder will be sent out shortly.

Below you can read reports on the mahi of each of the National Executive four pou.

Don’t forget the survey!  Here is the link again!

Waiho i te toipoto, kaua i te toiroa – Let us keep close together, not wide apart. 

Leanne 

Ngā Pou E Whā 

To listen, to learn, to act.

Pou Tahi - Leadership Strategy

Jason Miles, Tracy Fraser, Stephanie Thompson, Leanne Otene 

Rāngai Tumuaki, Amo Hauora - National Hauora Campaign Strategy.

 One of the first priorities to support this strategy is to gather baseline data around Tumuaki Hauora.

 Your President, Leanne, has included a link to our survey (see above), which will give us a snapshot of the ‘wellbeing temperature’ of you, our colleagues.  We want to find out how you are coping in your role as principal and how you might be better supported.  

 Our intention is to work alongside our Regional Presidents to design and implement appropriate support mechanisms for principals. As a Federation we want to ensure our leaders are provided with mana enhancing opportunities and support. 

 Later, we will design another survey in conjunction with the Regional Presidents, to better understand why principals retire.  In particular we will be looking at feedback from those who are not necessarily ready for retirement and would continue if workload was reduced, unrealistic expectations were removed, certain kinds of supports were in place, or if some other conditions were improved. 

 Your responses to that survey, will further add to our kete of knowledge so we can advocate for support that will enhance the Hauora of our profession as a whole.

Pou Rua - NZ Curriculum refresh - Te Mātaiaho

Heidi Hayward, Karen Brisco, Jen Rodgers, Blair Dravitski 

General statement of focus:

Our focus is to ensure that principals are supported with sufficient professional learning to enable our education sector to transition from the NZC to Te Mātaiaho.  We are conscious of the considerable changes afoot right now and our priority is advocating for the Ministry to provide appropriate information, training, and resources to support principals through the implementation of Te Mātaiaho, while being mindful of the wellbeing of tumuaki and staff. We are pleased that the Ministry has responded by providing principals’ PLD on Te Mātaiaho, to several more regions, so that principals are prepared ahead of the Teacher Only Days to take place in Term two.

Update to our work (March):

We discussed the need to quieten the ‘noise’ and provide a clearer guide on how one might engage in a PGC. There are a range of emerging options and its important people understand these. We’ll provide an update on this ASAP. 

Pou Toru- Students / Ākonga / Inclusive Education

Shane Buckner, John Bangma, Phil Palfrey, Gavin Beere

Our pou has recently examined the “Review of how schools are resourced for Teacher Aides” (NZEI, PPTA, MOE).

NZPF had limited opportunity to contribute to the discussions on the way schools are resourced for Teacher Aides, which became a union issue rather than a professional one.

Our main concern is that RTLB Lead School Principals were unaware the review would impact upon current RTLB funding.  By including RTLB funding in the resource to fund Teacher Aides, specific interventions, which RTLB design for specific schools and their needs, will be severely compromised.

NZPF strongly recommends: 

1. That we challenge the formulaic distribution of funds to ensure inequities across schools are not further entrenched.
2. That contestable funding is not seen as an alternative to a formula. 
3. That RTLB funding be removed entirely from this proposal to ensure that the RTLB service can deliver high quality interventions with appropriate resourcing.

Whilst NZPF endorses the notion of reducing the financial silos currently in place, the conflating of RTLB with Teacher Aide funding is not acceptable. 

Pou Wha- Policy, Constitution and Legal

Hayley Read, Julie Hepburn, Cherie Taylor-Patel 

PASL: The Principal Advice and Support Legal service (PASL) provides NZPF members significant cover and support with legal issues.  Through this scheme principals are entitled to 60 minutes of free legal advice through the PASL Hotline.  Last year, the PASL Board agreed to increase the total legal expenses principals can access from $25,000 to $30,000.  If you are not a member of PASL and want to be, we recommend that you contact Jacquie Kenton at jacquie@pasl.nz. 

NZPF Helpline:  Another service provided by NZPF Executive members is our Helpline.  Executive members are rostered onto Helpline each month.  Through this service, we connect principals with the support, process or person that will best serve their immediate needs.  It is a way we can help people stay safe, when navigating complex issues.   The team will be using Helpline data trends, to inform advocacy with the MOE and other PEAK Body organisations throughout the year.

Review of Internal Policies:  Following the review of our constitution in 2022, the team is continuing work on reviewing and updating internal NZPF policies in 2023. 

Joint NZPF-APPA Initiative:   We know workload is a significant issue for principals.  Through ‘Pou Wha’, NZPF and APPA (Australian Primary Principals’ Association) are developing a joint initiative to provide resources to  improve principals’ workload.  The project will be informed by a pilot project that has involved principals from Australia and New Zealand.  It is expected that outcomes of this work will strengthen advocacy for leadership resources to reduce workload and improve wellbeing nationally and internationally. 

Other initiatives being investigated by the Pou Wha Team: 

Disaster Toolkit: Advocacy for schools to have access to a national disaster toolkit rather than schools having to fund it for themselves. This might include generators, simple communication systems and a Civil Defence Emergency Kit. 

Action:  Invite Civil Defence coordinator to meet the NZXPF Executive at the June national executive meeting, to hear our stories and to inform a submission to the MOE to get Civil Defence Emergency Kits in every school.