Monday Mailing March 3rd 2024

Message from the Editor- Leo

Someone smarter than me (not that that's a challenge) recently said 'Learning Support is an oxymoron. It isn’t for learning and is not a support.' Now you could argue that this is a cynical statement but I would argue that at present, it is a principal reality.

Now if your school is anything like ours SEN, ORS and high needs funding are all your biggest tension point. I would also suggest that most of you are conservatively spending between 35%-45% of your total operations funding supporting children with additional needs. The sad reality being is that the number of high needs learners is escalating, yet the funding pot to support remains the same.

Some of the feedback I have recently received along these lines from concerned Waikato Principal colleagues have included:

• What do you have to do to be successful lodging and ORS Application? Who can I bribe, threaten or chase? What more can I do?
• Are all schools receiving or seeing a reduction in ORS hours? Is 13 hours fair for a child that needs 100% support?
• We have been told we are likely to encounter austerity measures around needs funding? Is this true? How much harder can it get? (Looking at the RT Maori notification on Friday may add weight to this).
• Is your school now looking for alternative avenues to support children who 10 years ago you would have easily categorised as ORS? Has the bar shifted again?
• The Tomorrow Schools Report, (Bali Haque) highlighted High Needs resourcing as the biggest concern for Principals, what has changed? 2 governments on and we are still (more) stuffed.

If I look at statements above and then reflect on the Ministers willingness to fund;

• Structured Literacy and the 'Science of Learning';
• The shitload spent on textbooks;
• the $120 million spent on Charter schools, (find me research that says these work);
• The bajillions (cool word) spent on review of curriculum review and rewriting the rewriting of the refreshed curriculum in the name of raising achievement;
  

I don't see our world improving any time soon. Again the VERY cynical side of me would suggest it is obvious that government spending and budgeting are currently more driven by political motives than needs based. (Purely MY opinion). Now, it is highly unlikely that Erica does read the Monday Mailing but if she does, I would strongly suggest to her that she reads the room, listens to the noise and as a 'evidence based leader'  with clout she makes High Needs Learners her number one focus. Principals have been expressing their concerns for years and imagine the momentum government would gain today, if there was a consolidated commitment from them to address this now.

Right, I will step off my little soap box of negativity and go back to more positive things. This week I have three things to feel good about. 1. The Chiefs- We are on fire. 2. The Blackcaps- Looking awesome despite the small hiccup last night. 3 Lydia Ko- How good is she? Even as the Worlds worst golfer, I can appreciate her skill, mindset and brilliance.

Enjoy your week team.

Leo

PS The thoughts, opinions and dribble included in the editorial are my personal thought pieces and not necessarily reflective of the wider WPA Executive. They are designed to provoke thought, dialogue and interest.

Professional readings, viewings, learnings and interesting bits

Brené Brown’s 7 Super Tips for Great Leaders:

1. Empathy is the antidote to shame. If you put shame in a petri dish, it needs secrecy, silence, and judgment to grow. If you put the same amount of shame in a petri dish and gas it with empathy, it won’t survive. Vulnerability is our path to finding our way back to each other.
2. Don’t let fear stop you. It’s not about winning or losing; it’s about showing up and to be seen. If you’re going to do this, you’re going to get your ass kicked. If courage is a value you hold, then this is a consequence of it. If you’re not in the arena getting your ass kicked, then your feedback doesn’t matter.
3. Have the courage to be vulnerable. Have the courage to be imperfect, practice compassion by treating yourself kindly, and have a connection by allowing yourself to be who you want to be, and fully embrace vulnerability.
4. Trust is built by small moments. It’s a sliding door moment. You earn trust with the smallest moments and you can lose trust the same way. To choose to not connect when the opportunity is not there is a betrayal.
5. Reliability is consistency. Do what you say you’re going to do over and over again. If you’re only reliable once, that won’t gain trust from others.
6. Authenticity is a choice. Authenticity is a practice. You don’t wake up as an authentic person. You have to go out daily and tell yourself to be authentic.
7. Reckon with your emotion and confront your conflict. When something hard happens, the first thing our brain does is to scramble to make sense of it. The moment it happens, a story is made up in our heads. Get curious about this emotion and figure out what is happening. Once you intervene in the emotion, you can overcome it.

NZEI Principal Claims Framework- Time to rally

The plan timeline- Your voice matters

Term One

• Principals’ Council workshops review the proposed claims and campaign strategy
• Local meetings gather feedback
• Negotiations team review feedback and prepare final claim

Term Two

• Final claim shared with members (with opt in Q&A sessions)
• Online ballot for principals to vote on the claim
• Bargaining begins
• Regular updates will come via NZEI Te Riu Roa Principals' Facebook page (so join the page if you haven't!) and our negotiation update emails
• Principals take action through ballots, meetings and advocacy

Yin and Yang of Leadership

Two good financial reads this week. Please do download them and save them to your archives. 

NZEI Update- If you want better, you need to commit.

Principal Claims Meetings are coming. Remember:

• National are always tough negotiators and always claim to have no money. 
• Negotiations are a stop- start affair and the first offer is never accepted. Our job is to fight and push.
• This is an aspirational claim. We don't have to compromise. We want to build on momentum gained.
• We need to ensure we are remunerated according to our jobs, skillset, demands and pressures.
• Once completed we can not come back until the next bargaining round.

Consider carefully over the next few weeks:

• What is the main outcome you want to achieve?
• What elements of the claim framework have appeal?
• How you plan to engage and support the process?
• What are you prepared to do to support negotiations?

WPA Admin and Updates

WPA Rotorua Retreat 2025- 3 Places remain!!!!

Wednesday March 19th - Friday 21st March

The 3 day conference will be held at Sudima Hotel Lake Rotorua from Wednesday 19th March till Friday 21st March 2025.  This event will be featuring two outstanding guest speakers to keep you motivated and entertained throughout the event, Andy Jones (Australia) and Cale Birk (Canada).  

Last THREE rooms available, please register now   More information can be found on our website

For any inquiries, please contact the WPA Executive assistant - Sandra Jeffrey. 

WELLINGTON STUDY TOUR
The WPA Executive committee are excited to announce this year’s Study Tour, to be held in Wellington in Term 2.  

Cost:  $750 per single room, $550 shared rooms.  This cost includes accommodation, breakfast each morning and dinner at Macs Brew Bar Thursday night.

A brief outline of the tour details are below, registrations are now open!


Making Connections Day Term 2 
Making Connections Day Term 2 Thursday 12th June 2025

$150.00 – $250.00

Rico Gomez Bio:

Rico is the founder and managing director of NeuroFit. With a background in cognitive neuroscience, psychology, and counseling, he has dedicated his career to helping individuals overcome mental and emotional barriers. From working with those struggling with severe mental anxiety, depression, eating disorders, insomnia and more to coaching some of the country’s top performers—including elite athletes, coaches, and CEOs of global corporations—Rico has guided people from all walks of life toward lasting transformation.

Rico equips individuals with practical tools to break free from mental chaos and unlock their full potential. His commitment to this work is deeply personal, shaped by his own journey of overcoming chronic anxiety and depression. Rico’s mission is simple yet profound: Remove the mental barriers that prevent people from living their life to the fullest.

Registrations now open

2025 WPA Subscriptions

The WPA Executive has been working to ensure another productive year of advocacy, professional learning opportunities, connections and networking opportunities.  Membership simplifies your participation in WPA initiatives, including PLD events, conferences, and the election process.  Please click here to register your 2025 school membership, which remains structured based on school grading. For any inquiries, please contact the WPA Executive assistant - Sandra Jeffrey. 

Few laughs and a giggle to end.....

In a Catholic school cafeteria, a nun places a note in front of a pile of apples, "Only take one. God is watching." Further down the line is a pile of cookies. A little boy makes his own note, "Take all you want. God is watching the apples."

At school, Little Johnny's classmate tells him that most adults are hiding at least one dark secret, so it's very easy to blackmail them by saying, "I know the whole truth." Little Johnny decides to go home and try it out. Johnny's mother greets him at home, and he tells her, "I know the whole truth." His mother quickly hands him $20 and says, "Just don't tell your father." Quite pleased, the boy waits for his father to get home from work, and greets him with, "I know the whole truth." The father promptly hands him $40 and says, "Please don't say a word to your mother." Very pleased, the boy is on his way to school the next day when he sees the mailman at his front door. The boy greets him by saying, "I know the whole truth." The mailman immediately drops the mail, opens his arms, and says, "Then come give your Daddy a great big hug!"

Math Teacher: "If I have 5 bottles in one hand and 6 in the other hand, what do I have?" Student: "A drinking problem."

WPA Business Partners 2025

WEBSITE ANGELS- A Great Place to Start in 2025

Kia ora, WPA Principals,

Thank you for those principals who regularly that attended the WPA Connections days in 2024, it was great to connect with a number of your schools - there were a lot of rural schools that have been in touch since around your needs, so that has been appreciated.  I am again touching base in 2025 personally to see if you were interested in meeting up to have a discussion on your website, communication or design requirements.  In a nutshell, we design:

• School websites, 
• Online ordering systems and also do all of the design work needed including:
• Logos
• Values
• School signage
• Posters
• Uniforms
• Documents

Schools enjoy dealing with us as we look to build relationships with you.  Our job is to advocate and create solutions that will benefit your school ongoing over many years.  Our websites are fully manageable and editable by your staff easily plus we will provide training and support where needed, but our websites and design work allow you to present your schools digitally very well.  Attached is a bit more of an overview of who we are and what we can do to help.
We are fully locally owned with 100% of our work being done by our team here in Hamilton.  We support our local community proudly and value our relationship with the WPA association.
We love our relationships with the schools we currently work with and I would welcome the opportunity to meet with you to discuss your needs.
Kind Regards, Steve Meertens

Chief Executive Officer   DDI:  07 390 1010 | 0224 932264Email: steve@websiteangels.co.nz