President's Message
Te tāepaepatanga o te rangi.
The place where the sky hangs down to the horizon.
Rocket Lab launched an Electron rocket - the CAPSTONE mission - to the moon last week. Only five countries in the world have ever done this. The Rocket Lab team of “can-do” young Kiwis probably never dreamed of one day working for NASA and sending rockets from Mahia Peninsula to the moon, but they have now shown us that this - and more - is indeed possible.
It is opportune that this historic moment for Āotearoa New Zealand should occur so close to our first Matariki celebration when all eyes have been focused on the stars, on new beginnings, and looking to the future in harmony with our environment.
It has been a super uplifting week and contrasts starkly with the challenges of COVID, winter coughs, colds and flu and trying to find relievers for sick teachers.
Congratulations! You got through the dross and today, hopefully at 3:01pm you will have left the school grounds for a two week break.
Take a rest, but don’t lose the inspiration and energy from the CAPSTONE mission. Moments like these are huge and filled with positive vibes. I hope you can send the winter ills and issues packing and follow the fortunes of CAPSTONE for a while. It may prove a better tonic than you think.
MOOT – The Feedback
The NZPF “Moot” is about listening to regional voices. This year, over 100 regional leaders filled the seminar room with positive kōrero and discussion. They consistently said the most pressing issues facing education are:
- Allocating Learning Support resourcing that is consistent and equitable
- Providing counsellors for all schools
- Centrally funding support staff and
- Providing parity of staffing with secondary.
Other issues raised included principal leadership PLD, principal wellbeing, lack of equity for property, lack of availability of both teachers and relievers and the need to lift the level of overall funding in schools. Some of these issues will be addressed through collective bargaining. Others will link to current and future NZPF advocacy priorities.
To all the regional presidents, thank you for sharing your thinking, debating your views and giving the NZPF executive a steer on its future direction.
The ‘Tu Meke Tumuaki’ Week:
Congratulations NZEI for creating "Tu Meke Tumuaki" week – a celebration of the often unsung and unnoticed work that school leaders do for their staff, tamariki, colleagues and communities. It is a thoughtful and genuinely appreciated gesture for principals who don’t usually seek the spotlight. Nga mihi.
Relationships Matter:
Building and maintaining relationships is core to the school leader’s role. Our biggest challenge is how to build relationships with students who are not engaged in their learning. We know if we can beat that challenge, if teachers can build strong positive relationships with those students they will in turn build friendships with peers and school will become a great place to be.
The same arguments apply to parents. Sometimes families have underlying issues, outside of school, that impact on students’ attendance. If you are facing these issues, you might consider the MSD employed ‘community navigators’. They are trained to support such families.
NZPF strongly believes that school counsellors should also be available to all schools. Because there is a shortage of counsellors, we suggest that teachers, keen to focus on student counselling, should be released to train and be able to complete the practical components of their training in their school.
Behaviour and trauma-based practice solutions:
Another related concern is the escalation of behaviour issues. As the pandemic continues what were short-term, one-off disruptions to work and home life are now becoming on-going pressure points producing entrenched negative behaviour patterns.
Some schools have developed extremely successful practices to manage the levels of trauma they encounter. Next term, NZPF will gather and share examples of strategies school leaders have used to break this cycle for tamariki, for kaiako and whanau.
The ‘Curriculum Refresh’ Newsletter
In response to sector feedback, the MOE have established a new curriculum communication update newsletter for leaders, teachers and kaiako.
Te Poutāhū | Curriculum Centre Update | Issue 1 | Education Bulletins
Launching today, it will feature the latest curriculum news and information, along with dates for engagement opportunities. The MOE want the sector to feel better informed when it comes to curriculum supports and services on offer.
Issued every month by Te Poutāhū | Curriculum Centre, the newsletter will include updates from across the national curriculum change programmes, including the refresh of The New Zealand Curriculum, the redesign of Te Marautanga o Aotearoa and the NCEA change programme.
But - the term has ended ...
Holidays begin at 3.00 pm today. I hope you have planned some wellbeing activities that are 100% focused on you. You are taonga. Take care.
Wondering of the Week:
To what extent are the strategies you have in place to reengage all your students back in school working?
Poll is closed
Results of last Week's poll:
How many of you have begun to plan ‘time-out’ activities to refresh and recharge in the holiday break?
Ngā manaakitanga
Cherie Taylor-Patel
cherie.taylor-patel@nzpf.ac.nz