Kia ora e te whānau

I met with principals from Taranaki, Manawatu, Wellington and Nelson this week and was struck by the anguish and immediacy of their cry for help for students with high behaviour needs-those who are violent or experiencing crisis and dysfunction in their lives.

The cry of these principals is echoed up and down the country in every Association meeting on the NZPF road trip.

This is an issue that I have written about three times this year. It is also an issue that I raised earlier this year in meetings with Minister Hipkins, Associate Minister Martin and the Secretary for Education, Iona Holsted.

Principals’ concern about the damaging impact of extreme behaviour is reflected in the findings from the 2019 NZCER national survey hot off the press and publicly released this morning. 

The survey finds 63% of principals identified support for students with mental health or additional wellbeing needs as a major issue for their school. The survey finds that many teachers experienced incidents of extreme behaviour-25% of teachers said that student behaviour often causes serious disruption in class. In 2019, 25% of teachers occasionally felt unsafe in their class, double the 12% who felt this in 2016.

Principals report having to deal with students who kick, bite, scratch, punch, throw objects and furniture, and abuse those around them. These young people need help. They need therapeutic interventions such as counselling and psychological services. Many need alternative school options because holding these students in classrooms is placing staff and students at risk. Above all, everything must be done to help these young people deal with the circumstances of their lives. 

The lack of support and resources to deal with severe behaviour and students in crisis is unconscionable. The growing crisis is not a ‘wait to next year’s budget’ situation - it requires action now.

The government’s failure to respond to the call from practitioners for urgent assistance to deal with severe behaviour is adding to the stress and burnout of principals.

The NZCER survey finds that principals judge that too much was being asked of schools: 72% of principals say this, markedly increased from 53% in 2016. The effect of this for principals is to intensify their workload, with increases in stress levels, tiredness, and more feeling they can not give sufficient time to educational leadership. Only a minority felt supported by government agencies.   

Last Friday, government announced spending of $32.8m over 4 years to fund 40 curriculum leads. These advisors will be based in the Ministry of Education and will work with principals and teachers to deliver a Health and Physical Education and Hauora local curriculum, including the refreshed Relationship and Sexuality Education Guidelines and the Wellbeing and Mental Health Guidelines. They will also support School Boards to undertake engagement with their local communities on the Health and Physical Education curriculum and promote positive school and kura environments.

This announcement commits significant funding to advisory services in the Ministry of Education at a time when the statistics regarding the frequency of severe behaviour and pressure on teachers and principals is ‘sky-high’ and increasing.

This announcement has had the effect of impressing on principals that the government places more truck in advisory services in Physical Education and Relationship and Sexuality Education than responding to severe behaviour. The provision of advisory services in Wellbeing and Mental Health has taken priority over the provision of specialist staffing to do the ‘hands on’ work with young people to help them deal with crisis and mental health challenges.

Schools do not need more advice; they need people to get their hands dirty, doing the mahi.

The announcement of the 40 curriculum advisors was not requested by practicing principals or teachers. It appears that Education Review Office data was used as the justification for this decision.

There was no conversation with the sector about the appropriateness of this policy. I ask government: is this what partnership between the Ministry of Education and the sector looks like-policy launched at schooling without consultation? Establishing the priorities for the spend in education should never occur in isolation and should never exclude the important practice-based voice of principals.

It is not appropriate for government to be funding more Ministry of Education advisors when principals cannot get help from agencies for the legions of students cutting themselves in our schools, or the students dealing with the impact of sexual and physical abuse, or the child who lashes out constantly in class because he/she has been passed around multiple foster homes and feels unloved, unwanted and angry, or the school who has to call on Police to attend to restrain and remove students who are dangerous and out of control.

These young people need trained therapeutic expertise. But it is not available. It can not be sourced from Oranga Tamariki or the DHBs or the Ministry of Education; the demand for service is huge and every principal has stories of the constant knock back on resourcing requests or the offer of paltry resources that are insufficient to match the needs.

I have written to Minister Hipkins to request an urgent meeting regarding this matter.

Ngā manaakitanga

Perry Rush
perry@nzpf.ac.nz