Kia ora e te whānau

I’m a fan of the seasons. Each one, Winter, Spring, Summer and Autumn is imbued with an energy unlike the others. Autumn has a pensive feel for me. The warmth of summer is over, and the increasingly moody weather is the perfect bellwether for the inescapable reality that change is a constant and life waits for no one.  

We have to be fit and ready to grasp these changes. That means we must use our school breaks strategically. They are an important opportunity to bring life balance. Seize and enjoy the beauty of our country and the company of friends and family.  Make it your aim to relax and pump up your own wellbeing. 

In this final Principals’ Matters of term one, I want to update you on a range of important matters before you take that break.

Rauhuia Leadership Positions

Congratulations to Iva Ropati, Principal at Howick College and Linda Miller, Principal at Otago Girls’ High School who were recently appointed by Principal Peak Bodies to the seconded leadership positions for designing the Rauhuia Principal Leadership Strategy.

The eight Principal Peak Bodies are NZPF, SPANZ, NZAIMS, Te Akatea, NZPPA, AISNZ, NZASA, SEPANZ. The job of Iva and Linda will be to connect to principals in different contexts, work up a design proposal and present it to Government for support.

NZPF is excited about the opportunity for principals to help shape the Leadership Centre functions that will ultimately enhance and support principalship. The idea of establishing a Leadership Centre emerged from the Tomorrow’s Schools Review and was endorsed by Minister Hipkins.

I encourage you all to seek opportunities to meet and engage with Iva and Linda and share your views with them.  They will begin their work at the start of Term two and conclude the project at the end of Term three.  

Bespoke Principals’ Union

This term, we have been quietly working on what is required to establish a bespoke primary principals’ union. We have taken our time to ensure we get the groundwork right. We want to be clear with you about what such an offering is, and what it isn’t.

NZPF is pleased at the vigor of NZEI over the past few months. We think this demonstrates the effectiveness of NZPF’s strong advocacy for principals and their interests. It underlines the value of NZPF working together with NZEI on principals’ employment conditions.

It is interesting to note that the ACCORD partners of NZEI, PPTA and the Ministry of Education, recently invited SPANZ Union into the ACCORD family to work on a review of Kāhui Ako. I was pleased to see this. It tells us that the traditional Unions see value in SPANZ, the secondary Principal Peak Body, participating in the industrial process. Unfortunately, NZPF is unable to do the same on behalf of primary principals as, unlike SPANZ, we do not have an industrial arm.

Early next term, NZPF aims to survey members to ascertain support for the establishment of a collective bargaining arm that would see NZPF at the bargaining table as a matter of right. We want to be crystal clear with you about what is on offer and we want to check with you about your support for such an enterprise.

Look out for a survey on this matter early term 2.

Curriculum Refresh Road Trip

Over the course of term 2, I want to get out around the motu to meet and talk with you about the New Zealand Curriculum Refresh. We will put aside a 4-week period and I’ll be in touch with your local association to share details.

NZPF Executive Visiting Otago and Southland

The NZPF executive is hitting the road for its May meeting, taking in the OPPA Executive and local principals in Dunedin on Wednesday 12 May followed by the SPPA and local principals in Invercargill on Thursday 13 May. We are keen to share the detail of our work programme and hear firsthand the issues that principals are dealing with in the south. OPPA and SPPA will be directly in touch with their members regarding this visit.

Te Tupu Managed Moves

It has been humbling to note the high level of interest in the Te Tupu Managed Moves service in Napier, as an excellent system response to serious, violent and dysfunctional behaviour. I am aware of many Kāhui Ako and school groups visiting to see first-hand the excellent work they are doing. Principals within clusters of schools throughout New Zealand are now talking directly with their Director of Education about the need to establish such a service.

Recently, I asked schools to indicate if they could benefit from establishing Te Tupu in their area and whether they had the necessary relationships in place to launch a local Te Tupu Managed Moves Service.

I was stunned that 25 clusters of schools, representing 72,485 students, put up their hands saying, ‘We’re shovel ready’. I have written to the Minister and shown him the evidence that these schools are ready for service. Please find the letter here.

Principals are calling for urgent action on behaviour. At our recent Moot, I was pleased to note Minister Tinetti committed to short, medium and long-term solutions for serious behaviour. We await news of the urgent support and system change required.

Thank You

As the term concludes I want to thank you for your extraordinary support, collective advocacy on issues you have raised with me and changes we need to see in our schools.

Have a restful break.

He oranga ngākau, he pikinga waiora.

Ngā manaakitanga

Perry Rush
perry@nzpf.ac.nz