Kia ora e te whānau

Today’s message marks the 43^rd and final issue of Principal Matters for 2020. This year we have traversed the completely unexpected challenges of a global pandemic and confronted some thorny issues that hitherto had remained under the radar.

Our mission has been to rediscover our voice, our power and our presence as educational leaders and my goodness, we have certainly achieved that!

Your steadfast leadership throughout the COVID crisis won you legions of fans and the respect of the decision-makers in Wellington.

You then turned out in huge numbers for the NZPF road trip and exercised your voice, communicating with clarity your expectations of the job of principalship and how principals may be better supported.

As a result, NZPF has chased down outcomes that deliver tangible change:

• a leadership centre that we are poised to design and grow in partnership with other principal peak bodies and the Teaching Council
• advocacy to achieve a new ERO approach that really is ‘fit for purpose’
• development of a principals’ union to bring your principals’ voice to the bargaining table
• the provision of student counselling services in primary and intermediate schools through the extension of Mana Ake throughout the country
• strong advocacy on Accord outcomes including 10 significant expectations including to match primary and secondary management staffing entitlements, review Kāhui Ako, improve management staffing for U1-U3 schools, and deal to the structural weakness of principals employed by non-professional Boards
• clear direction to the Ministry of Education on the role and function of the planned Education Service Agencies (ESAs) including the establishment of curriculum advisory services
• improved pathways into residential schools
• altered NZPF Constitution to ensure Māori representation as a matter of right
• submission of a budget bid to achieve an extension to the Te Tupu -Managed Moves service in 2021 to cater for young people who are violent and experiencing dysfunction and crisis
• advocacy to see a significant extension to Te Ahu o te Reo Māori throughout the motu
• advocacy for Art-based education including support for Te Rito Toi and the Creative Schools Index

Sadly, despite all this expended energy, we will conclude the year with no tangible outcomes from the Accord.

NZEI has indicated that principals most significant Accord expectation, the matching of primary and secondary management staffing entitlement, is not making progress.

It is particularly concerning that the management staffing claim appears to have been joined to that of others in the teaching workforce. This will have made winning support for the principals’ claim of matching management staffing much more difficult.

You may not know that the argument for closing the gap between primary and secondary management staffing has already been won. It was agreed in Minister Hipkin’s final Ministerial Recommendations of the Tomorrow’s Schools taskforce. The Minister placed a 4+ years’ timeframe for this change to occur.

NZPF is surprised at the extremely slow pace of progress in delivering on this important expectation of principals. 

It is our view that the difference in primary and secondary management staffing entitlement should be addressed in 2021 not least to alleviate the significant workload and wellbeing challenges experienced by primary principals.  We also want to see significant urgent improvements in management staffing for U1-3 schools. Principals in these schools do an incredibly tough job balancing teaching with their management responsibilities.

We have repeatedly asked the Accord parties to achieve these things for principals. The fact that the Accord parties have been unable to win these simple gains and appear to have muddied the water with broader and more complex associated claims for the rest of the teaching workforce, does not bode well for the health of the Accord process. NZEI's claim of 'Stronger Together' in a single union does not stand up! 

Wouldn’t news of concrete outcomes be a wonderful new year gift!

The gift to yourself over the next month or so will be to close the door on work and forget it.

Turn off the noise and tune in to exactly what you need to relax.

If ever there was a year for you to feel warmly proud of all you have achieved, it is this year.

Thank you for your support, feedback, encouragement, and contributions. I am immensely proud to be part of our community of principals.

Rest up and enjoy your family and friends. Have a fantastic Christmas and holiday season and we will see you in 2021, a year that promises significant positive change for principals.

Ka mahi te tawa uho ki te riri – Well done, you whose courage is like the heart of a tawa tree.

Ngā manaakitanga

Perry Rush
perry@nzpf.ac.nz