Nau mai, haere mai, talofa lava, malo e lelei, bula vinaka, kia orana, warm greetings

Education in New Zealand is in the spotlight, not many days pass where we see some level of commentary in the media both written and visual. As we reach the end of this term I have been reflecting on the state of play, both nationally and here at St Thomas. We are part of many networks of schools nationally and globally, and many of the challenges we see here in New Zealand are also evident internationally. I still firmly believe that education is a strong social mover driving social change and economic change, however, as has been well documented recently in the media, New Zealand is going through a period where our state workforces are wobbling whether it be Health or Education.

In the many network meetings where I sit with principals from many schools across many networks, one of the biggest issues facing schools are the small number of graduates who are choosing to become teachers, this is a complex issue that takes a community wide approach to solve. The teacher unions have been negotiating over a prolonged period to create conditions and remuneration that may be much more attractive to young graduates to enter and remain in the teaching workforce, this is part of the problem.

I am a believer in solutions rather than problems, what areas would I look at if I were the Minister of Education through these stormy seas. I try to put my mind into the mind of a 23-year-old graduate and ask myself the question, what would encourage me to take teaching as a career? One of the biggest challenges for graduates is starting their careers with significant debt as student loans. It seems ironic to me that to qualify as a teacher our young people have to pay the state in order to be paid by the state. I feel there is an opportunity here in bonding young people whereby they may gain student loan relief in return for five years teaching service. The rest would be up to the schools to care and encourage these young people to stay in the profession.

Trust has to be earned, but a wider community issue for the teaching workforce and attracting young people into our profession is a community view of education that is respected and trusted. Schools are a microcosm of society in general. It is fair to say we live in a less trusting world now than we have in previous generations, perhaps advances in technology and social media have skewed public opinion to question more. However, our experiences show us that when our families and teachers are well connected and aligned in growing our young men, our outcomes are greatest. I am pleased that we achieve this throughout the education process of our young men in relationship with our families.

What I do know is that above all else, including curriculum re-writes, funding increases or technology, the person standing in front of our young people always have the biggest impact on learning. If our country wants be leaders in the field of educators, we need to continue to look at innovative ways to gain the best young people to enter our profession.

I am proud of the staff here at St Thomas and the shared philosophy and mission we work towards of educating hearts and minds of our students. This mission and the shared culture we have worked hard to create are one of the many reasons we attract bright, faithful and committed teachers.

I am also proud of our young men - we have so many successes I could list now but the behaviours I am most proud of, and congratulated our young men for, at assembly on Monday were:

• Students who reached out for help either for themselves or for their mates

• Students who faced adversity and worked through this whether it be in the classroom, relationships or in extracurricular.

• Students who have supported their mates.

• And lastly students who have turned up, when life gets challenging it is easy to opt out. A massive congratulations to all our boys who keep turning up especially when the going gets tough.

I look forward to another productive term ahead.