Dear Parents / Caregivers / Whanau / Community

I may have mentioned to you in the past that my father was a primary school principal. He has been retired for a while now, but he still takes an active interest in what is happening in schools. When we catch up, we often talk about the current state of education and I am always intrigued to hear his viewpoint and opinion, some things we agree on, others we don't, but it's always good to hear what he has to say,  given that he had 40 years in the sector.

Society continues to change, so we as educators, must adapt what we teach, how we teach and learn new tools that can be used to engage our learners.  When my father trained as a teacher, he was paid to go to teachers college.  Once he graduated, he was posted to "country service" for a couple of years and decisions on managing the school were largely made by the "Education Board" and directed to him.  Major decisions and all staff appointments were centralised through the Education Board.   Parents had very little involvement in governing the school and to get things done often involved a  bureaucratic process of getting permission from the Education Board.  Things as simple as painting a wall or building a sandpit would have needed permission.

So, in 1989, "Tomorrow's Schools" was established and the Education Act was amended .  Essentially, this changed the educational landscape of NZ by shifting the responsibility to school communities to govern their school through parent elected representatives on a Board of Trustees.    This gave much more ownership and autonomy to school communities but it was a radical change back then and it took many years to embed.

It's hard to believe but this was 30 years ago, and the government has recently conducted a review of "Tomorrows Schools" to see what needs to change to reflect the needs of our schools, our learners and our communities today.  Thirty years on and there are some significant changes suggested to enhance our education system.  Some of the report's suggestions are welcome and others may spark debate.  

The review has identified 8 key issues:

• Governance
  
• Schooling Provision
  
• Competition and Choice
  
• Disability and Learning Support
  
• Teaching
  
• School Leadership
  
• School Resourcing
  
• Central Education Agencies
  

Reviews of this size and scale do not happen very often and the proposed changes could completely reform how schools operate, thus affecting you as a parent and your child directly.  Please, if you have time, I encourage you to read the attached newsletter article with more information and become familiar with the report's contents.  You can have your say too.

If you have any questions or want to know more, there is a public meeting scheduled for next Thursday 21st February from 4:00pm - 6:00pm  and again from 7:00pm - 9:00pm at Addington Raceway.  To register your attendance,  click here.

Nga mihi  nui

Rob Rush

Principal /Tumuaki