Ko te kai a te rangatira he kōrero.
The food of chiefs is dialogue.

Aristotle once said, “Education is an ornament in prosperity and a refuge in adversity”.

It has been a wild week of weather everywhere this week.  Snow dumps, floods, slips, lightening, thunderstorms – we’ve had it all! It’s a great metaphor for the wild rollercoaster you continue to ride with the ongoing COVID disruptions. Kia kaha! Stay strong and try not to get buried in the chaos or swept away by the sheer force of the burden. Find your refuge!

MOOT – 2022

Last Friday, 120 regional presidents and cluster leaders came to Wellington for the 2022 MOOT. Minister Tinetti and Minister Sio shared the government’s priorities for Education.  These included the ‘Curriculum Refresh’, the ‘High Needs Review’, the restructure of Te Mahau, the Equity Index Review, the Leadership workstream and the ‘Mana Ake’ mental health initiatives.

Bruce Jepsen from Te Akatea and Fa’tili Iosua Esera from the Pasifika Principals’ Association challenged leaders to keep the pressure on changing our systems, structures and ‘kawa’ so our schools can be welcome and relevant places for our Māori and Pacific Island students and their whānau.  Fa’tili Iosua noted that Pacific Island youth are the fastest growing group in Āotearoa New Zealand and therefore are the future, while Bruce was especially outspoken about Māori voice, or the lack of it, and questioned whether this lack of Māori voice is showing honor for Te Tiriti o Waitangi. 

What’s on Top in the Regions?

At each MOOT, there is always a session focused on regional issues.  What was unique about this year was the commonality of issues. They were staffing levels, reliever availability, sick leave and falling rolls due to student absenteeism.  With the July 1 Roll Return looming, principals were concerned about staffing levels for 2023 and how their Operations Grants in Term 4 might be affected by student absenteeism.

At a time when students have had disrupted learning for two and a half years, we need staffing to stay the same or increase.  We have higher rates of students needing support in their learning, including specialist support and we are trying to get students back into school and re-engaged in their learning. We don’t need funding cuts when we are under the pump like this.

What can be done?

Staffing is an investment in the COVID generation of students, otherwise problems will compound.

• We need the government to pay sick leave for COVID related staff absenteeism until the end of 2022.
  
  
• We need the government to maintain or increase staffing between now and 2024, to support the COVID generation of students.
  
  
• We need the government to ensure no Term 4 Operations Grants decrease if student roll numbers are down, due to absenteeism.

You will have your own reasons for retaining or increasing these funding streams for your school. This is not the time to be worrying about budget blow-outs. Our schools need to be the refuge for students in our care.  That’s called investing in their future. We need to be the ‘difference’ they remember forever. 

Support for Excluded Students 

In 2020, NZPF sought legal advice about what the MOE’s duty of care was when directing excluded students to schools.  We found they did have a ‘duty of care’ to oversee a risk assessment process and provide resources to support the students, their whānau and the school. This year we have had a series of meetings with the MOE to advocate for more appropriate support systems for directed enrolments of excluded students.

While we continue work on the specifics, the MOE has identified a key person in each regional office that school leaders can contact. 

It is not a perfect solution.  It is more like a ‘place holder’ while we get more comprehensive support in place.  It is, however, the first step.

The MOE has stated these people will -

“…  triage enquiries from Principals to ensure the appropriate staff from Te Mahau are involved and that they understand what specific support the Principal, school and whānau and most importantly ākonga need. They will also refer the Principal to the appropriate support as required.”

What we want is a risk assessment system and access to someone who will broker “whatever support is needed to ensure the student has a successful transition back into school”. 

If you are involved in the directed enrolment of an excluded student, please let me know how things are going.

Below is a table of the Ministry’s key people to contact, for each regional office.