by Lesley Murrihy

School open with skeleton staff afternoon 6 September due to paid union meeting

The teacher unions - NZEI and PPTA - have called a paid union meeting during school time to discuss the government's proposed changes to the way schools are funded.

The Government is currently  reviewing the way schools are funded. They have been meeting with principals across the country to test their ideas - which are still in the initial stages.

The Teacher Unions are worried that the global budget the government is proposing could lead to:

  • fewer teachers and larger class sizes
  • less job security for teachers
  • lower quality teaching
  • fewer hours for teacher aides and support staff
  • more complex financial work for Boards of Trustees

The Government's current funding review is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to better fund education. NZEI Te Riu Roa and PPTA are the unions that represent more than 60,000 teachers and support staff from birth to year 13. They have asked all members at our school to attend meetings in September to hear more about the proposal and help determine the education sector’s response.

The meetings are paid union meetings and are being held during the teaching day 6 September, which means Amesbury School will be open with only a skeleton staff between12.15pm and 3pm while staff attend the 1.30pm meeting at the Michael Fowler Centre.

It is important for union members in our school to attend these meetings to have a say about the proposed changes.

We encourage you to pick your children up at midday on this day  to enable teachers to attend this paid union meeting (or arrange someone else to do so). If this is impossible, please let the school know as early as possible so that we can ensure appropriate supervision is available for the afternoon. Please email Helen at office@amesbury.school.nz if your child will need to remain at school that day. 

Thank you. 

Nga mihi

Lesley