E kore a muri e hokia
There is no turning back

Kia ora e te whānau

The Roller-coaster that is Omicron

As the school year opened, the Omicron outbreak was just warming up. It wasn’t long before cases were climbing as fast as snowboarder Zoi Sadowski-Synnott on her Olympic Gold Medal run.

Last week Minister Hipkins warned Peak Body leaders to brace themselves for a turbulent next couple of months. The Health sector will not have the capacity to manage the expected volume of enquiries as Omicron spreads. This means that as outbreaks occur, school leaders will be making the calls for their schools and communities.

Just as Zoi, our Olympic snowboarder can’t pull out half way down the slope, nor can we change course, get off this ride or slow Omicron down. 

The Ministry of Education has recognised our predicament and responded with an ‘On-line Principals’ Helpline’. A group of experienced principals will be seconded to this service to assist you as you plan your response to keep your school, students and staff safe and wherever possible, keep your school operational.  

I acknowledge the Secretary for Education, Iona Holsted, and the MOE teams who are regularly meeting with Peak Body Leaders to find ways to support principals through this latest phase of the COVID pandemic. The ‘On-line Principals’ Helpline’ is such an example.

It is uplifting to know that the Ministry group recognises and understands the extent and intensity of our leadership role at his time. They want to identify any additional support that would ease the burden, as we work through the Omicron outbreaks.

Excluded Students – Phase Two

Last year,  NZPF challenged the Ministry to urgently review directed enrolments of excluded students.  Key issues identified were that schools continue to be directed by the Ministry to enrol excluded students, without transparent and consistent processes, access to information, adequate risk assessment planning or resources to support the student or the school involved.  With legal advice to support our call for change, Phase One was done.

This week, I met with Deputy Secretary, Jocelyn Mikaere, to begin phase two - how the Ministry and the sector can together develop a transparent, consistent, resourced system of support for excluded students.  It was agreed that a working group will be established to lead the design and trial for this ‘missing in action’ part of our current system.  

Phase three will be the implementation of a co-constructed effective system to support excluded students.   

Principals’ Champions Needed

One of the unintended consequences of our school governance structure is that principals are unsupported when faced with vexatious Board members, staff or parents.  Throughout the pandemic, we have seen levels of vitriol increase and beligerent members of our communities become emboldened and vocal in their views and actions.

Lawyers working for the NZPF legal support scheme, PASL (Principals’ Advice and Support Limited), report that bullying of principals has become an issue of concern. This finding is supported by ERO research and the longitudinal NZEI Health and Well-being Survey data.

When a complaint is made against a principal, an investigation is carried out.  This is undertaken by the Board, but can involve NZSTA, NZEI, PPTA and/or the Teaching Council.  Throughout the investigation, the principal has no voice.  Investigators are also bound by confidentiality protocols however, all too often principals’ reputations are undermined and damaged, by bullying complainants with agendas.  The result is, many principals choose to ‘walk away from the job’.

A recent meeting with NZSTA President, Lorraine Kerr resulted in an agreement that NZSTA, NZPF and PASL will review Board Advisor Training, Board of Trustee Training Principal Professional Development and will establish better protection for principals.

Prolonged disciplinary investigations by the Teaching Council, similarly result in too many principals abandoning their careers.  With consultation on the proposed increase in teacher registration fees about to begin, there is an opportunity for principals to share their views on these issues.

Wondering of the Week:

Results of last week’s poll

How prepared is your school to switch to home-based / online learning if needed?

Ngā manaakitanga

Cherie Taylor-Patel

cherie.taylor-patel@nzpf.ac.nz