Information and downloads for the 2020 AGM to be held at Hanmer on 7 September 2020. at 12:00pm

Presidents Report to the AGM 2020

Leaders are stronger when leading together

• We collaborate

• We celebrate

• We connect

The 2019 year began for me on March 15, after being elected as President on March 14.

It is fair to say, that March 15 was a point in time that all of New Zealand will never forget - and yet another major event to happen in Christchurch and have an impact on our schools, our learners, our staff and our communities. Again, there were schools that fared much worse than others, with regards to direct impact on the individual school, but the wider indirect impact on school communities was felt, and is to some extent still being felt, right up until today.

Even now as before with the Christchurch earthquakes, our new strategic plan and the pillars they stand on, help define just who we are as leaders in our communities. We are indeed, stronger when leading together.

I would like to again thank all our Principals and their staff in the amazing work they did in caring for children, not only during the extended lockdown on Friday 15 March 2019, but also in the days after - reassuring their children and parents that the children would be well looked after on their return to school.

The programme committee had arranged a two day leadership seminar in March, to be led by Nathan Wallis in the week following. However, with the March 15 event, it was decided that Nathan would then host a series of six 2 hour workshops which would be run over the two days in the pre-booked time and venue. Principals were asked to share the information with their staff. This saw over 1000 people attend over the 6 sessions. I thank Suzi and the programme team for their work in making this happen.

A number of Hauora events were held during the year, and these proved to be a great time to just catch up and have a talk with each other. Following some feedback, we also held a hauora event for the Selwyn Cluster and then for ther North Canterbury group. These were important times to see people who are usually unable to attend because of distance.

Because connecting is so very important and a pillar we stand on as an association, I met with the groups associated with CPPA to find out what we could do for them as an umbrella organisation, how we could better cater for their needs, and find other ways to engage with them. I would like to thank the Ellesmere cluster, the North Canterbury Principal’s Group and the Mid Canterbury Principal’s group for allowing me to come to their meetings. It has certainly helped to form the direction of the executive as they looked at updating the current strategic plan.

The NZPF conference held in Auckland was a smaller affair, however, Canterbury again provided a large contingent - over 60. It is always great to see Canterbury provide such a large number to enjoy time together.

The KPMG review of the March 15 Lockdown was released 19 August. One of the key findings was particularly relevant and saw action straight away: Contacting schools and early learning services quickly and effectively is a critical step to ensure they are equipped to provide the best response to an emergency. While our communications with schools and early learning services by email and telephone were largely effective, we now have a new emergency contact tool available that will allow us to communicate simultaneously with schools and early learning services in the event of a future emergency.

This report will be brought up again during this year, with the review team keen to ensure traction is maintained on other points - especially regarding the following which was a major question from the majority of principals:

The review identified there is more we can do to support schools to support parents to understand their role during an emergency event including working with NZ Police to develop a guidance document to support parents and caregivers.

In this regard, I would like to acknowledge our local Ministry for their ongoing support Principals receive. The working relationship that members of the CPPA Executive and other local groups have with key members of the leadership the Chch office is one of mutual respect.

Our mentors have been very busy over the past year. I would like to thank Pete and Maureen for their valuable support and commitment to our Canterbury Principals. They are certainly an extremely good resource for the CPPA and the Ministry has committed to supporting this through 2021.

I would like to thank the executive for all their work during the year. The executive is a group of committed principals who are passionate about providing support for principals in the Canterbury region. They give many hours to attend meetings and workshops to present the view point of Canterbury principals across many different sector groups both locally and nationally. Their commitment to supporting principals throughout our region is signified by the time and energy to the CPPA on top of their already busy lives running their own schools. Thanks to John Bangma for looking after the finances so well, and to Sandy for her huge amount of time as our communications expert.

I would like to thank Sharon Marsh, and Trudi Heath, who both resigned their positions during the year. They have made a huge impression on the strategic work of the Executive and I thank them immensely for their professionalism and support. We welcomed Bruce Tilby and Maree Lucas to the Executive over the last year - both bringing different regional perspectives to the discussions.

Thank you to Blair Dravitski who has taken on the role of Business liaison and sponsorship. It has been difficult over the last year in having our partners have opportunity to connect with us as a membership. I am very thankful for the ongoing support our partners have given us through the last year and look forward to connecting more.

We are also very fortunate as the CPPA in having Sandy Hastings, John Bangma and Jason Miles on the NZPF executive. It is great to have our region represented by these amazing principals.

It has certainly been an interesting year as President. My second year has begun in very much the same way as 2019, but I know that it will continue to get better, and that as a membership, we will continue to collaborate, celebrate and connect with each other professionally and socially.

Keep smiling

Shane Buckner

2019 | 2020 CPPA President