14 March 2016

Newsletter Articles

Principals supporting Principals… Principals supporting Principles!

Kia Ora

Please find this week’s Monday Mailing below.

You can access all Monday Mailings by clicking here or going to http://www.wpa.ac.nz/1/newsletter_sets/1-monday-mailing/years/2016 in your web browser.

Kind regards

Pat

Help! Teacher Wanted

Fully registered experienced teacher needed for a multi-level ( years 4-8) rural class for term 2. Approx 20 students. Current teacher will be on sabbatical. If anyone can recommend a great teacher please let me know.

Contact Allison Graves. Waingaro School 07 8254714.
a.graves@waingaro.school.nz

Help! Building Surveyor

I am needing a Building surveyor and would like to ask if you or any of our colleagues can recommend someone.

Denise Jones
Tatuanui School - principal@tatuanui.school.nz

WPA Dates

Other Dates

Catch Up Day – This Week!!!!!

March 17…. Register here and click Add to Cart.

The last two years has seen a rapid transition to collaborative teaching and learning in flexible learning spaces. What is the rationale for this, where is the research, why are we doing this and can it work?

Over two sessions Neill will share his research “Key components to creating effective collaborative teaching relationships"

The sessions include analysis of and lessons from the open plan era, key components leaders must consider when transitioning to collaborative teaching in a flexible learning space together with a range of templates and tools to examine where you are at and where to next.

Together we will discuss (and dismiss) the acronyms, consider how to communicate effectively with parents so they are onboard and consider consistent messages as an association of schools.

Come with your questions (in fact feel free to e mail them in advance! neill.oreilly@waitakiri.school.nz) and be prepared to work together in this most exciting of times in our educational history.

2016 WPA Subscriptions

You can pay your 2016 WPA subscription by clicking here or going to

Health and Safety Hint 1

NZSTA will come and do a HR policy audit. Very useful. Looks at VCA and new health and safety requirements as part of it.

Wayne Asplin - Ngahinapouri School

Health and Safety Hint 2

From Barbara Wenn at the Ministry of Education:

Through our Health and Safety Sector Reference Group, the Ministry is working alongside your sector representatives. This includes NZEI, PPTA and NZSTA – who are all delivering training over the coming months.

NZEI has three potential health and safety workshops that can be arranged depending on the number of requests/attendees:

1. Working together for Health and Safety (Rep Training)
2. Creating a Health & Safety-Positive Culture
3. Health + Safety workshop for Principals

The PPTA will be running a number of courses over the next few months for new and existing health and safety reps. This is an opportunity to complete a new Unit Standard and the training is open to all secondary school staff not just PPTA members.

NZSTA is delivering 80 health and safety workshops for trustees in the first half of 2016 to support boards to implement a health and safety culture. These workshops form Part 2 of the 2015 workshops, which supported boards in understanding their responsibilities under the new Act.

The NZSTA health and safety online module assists board members to understand the changes to health and safety legislation effective from 4 April 2016.

Health & Safety Polices

The Ministry of Education has made the attached draft policies available to some schools for review purposes. The full document is about 2 weeks away- the Ministry is going through the final review process at the moment and will they be released to schools as soon as it is available.

Rant – The Destruction of New Zealand's Public Education System

From Mark Penman at Hamilton West – a short article well worth a read!

Click here or

Waikato NZEI Principal Council – Conference Scholarships

The Waikato NZEI Principal Council, has 2 scholarships to cover the registration costs to attend the NZEI Rural and Teaching Principals conference in the Bay of Plenty this year.

Available to any U1 or U2 principal within the Waikato area and who is a member of NZEI and is planning on attending the conference held 6-8 July. Each scholarship is worth $600 to cover the cost of registration. Accommodation and Meals are the responsibility of the attendee.

Please email your interest in the scholarship to Scott Wilson from Puahue School by 31 March 2016;

subject line: NZEI Rrural and Teaching Principal Scholarship
Your Name
School Name
U size

Results of the successful recipients will be published in the WPA Monday mailing 11th April 2016.

Regards,

Scott Wilson
Principal Puahue School
www.puahue.school.nz
07 872 1838
021 2149336

Centre for Gifted Education

Dear Hamilton Principals,

The New Zealand Centre for Gifted Education , a charitable organisation offering support for young gifted children, is currently hosted at Southcity Christian School. We operate a one day a week intervention programme. We have had a great relationship with Bev Bishop and her team and really enjoyed their environment and welcoming community but the space is needed from Term 2 onwards so we’re looking for a new home and if possible we’d love to stay in the Hamilton Community.

Can you help us please? Do you have a room onsite that might suit our needs and are you interested in an opportunity to support gifted education in the Hamilton Community?

Currently we are hosted in 10 different schools across NZ- and there’s another 7 schools hosting the programme in cluster Gifted Centres that we’ve established and supported, the most recent one being established in Taranaki.

Being a host school means supplying our programme with a room then developing a relationship that doesn’t hinder any school policies or procedures and supports the culture we are sharing. To give you some idea we would:

• Pay for the lease of the room to cover, power, internet access, cleaning and rubbish
• Provide all of our own furniture and resources
• Cover our own contents insurance
• Employ our own educator
• Have a lunch time supervisor who covers lunch time duty

I look forward to hearing from you if you’re interested and have some space or if you just have a few questions.

Feel free to talk to Bev as well about what it’s like having us in their environment.

Regards

Deborah Walker
Chief Executive
0274 9111 82
www.nzcge.co.nz

Retiring Principals

Do you know of any Principals retiring in terms 1 or 2? Please email their names to principal@deanwell.school.nz.

Principals and School Care Takers,

Please let me introduce myself, my name is Ross Thomson.

Line Marking Services

Line Marking Services is a Waikato based company that is dedicated to bringing the highest standard of quality and service without the far-fetched prices. We pride ourselves on our delivery, quality and turnaround times for completing any project to your satisfaction.

WHY CHOOSE US?

Our company is comprised of a small but highly motivated local team with over 20 years experience in the industry, we are focused on becoming the number one provider in quality and service in the Waikato region.

Line Marking Services will stand by our workmanship and we will guarantee the life expectancy of our paint which NO other company will do while still maintaining competitive pricing.

WHAT CAN WE OFFER YOU?

We have a great selection of kids games, stencils and colour options for any type of project, if you can imagine it we can deliver it, our machines can paint just about any size line and turn any curve!

Our services include but are not limited to:

• Car parks
• Snakes n Ladders
• Number & Alphabet games
• All sports courts and field line marking
• Safety line marking for trip hazards (including stair treads)
• Speed humps and wheel stops
• Safety bollards and chains
• Pot hole maintenance
• We can even design your internal footpath to resemble a road way to start teaching our young children the importance of road safety

SUMMARY

We understand schools are busy places and we are a very safety conscious company, so all our painting can be done late afternoons, night shifts and weekends to suite your requirements.

We use Dulux Chlorinated Rubber as the industry leader in paints, this is the same long life paint used on the roads and motor ways of New Zealand and I have attached the material safety data sheet to this email for some information, we can supply this long life paint in over 7 different colours.

Attached are photos of our work.

Thank you for taking the time to read this and we look forward to hearing from you.

Kind regards

Ross Thomson
Manager
mobile: 022 677 8317
email: ross@linemarkingservices.com

Hmmm… Accountability

Health & Happiness… Things Mentally Strong People Do

A Reading… Best Advice as a New Principal

From Mike Lander

When I first became a ‘REAL’ principal back in the days of Tomorrow’s Schools some 25 years ago – yes I had already done my time in sole, two teacher and even five teacher schools on the coast – but the real hard work was being the model for positive change in a larger more diverse school community with an even more diverse and somewhat ‘staid’ staff in not one but several schools.

The hard challenge was being that magical change agent and surrounding myself with similar driven senior staff, leading the charge and showing the others that the key changes are not easy to make but absolutely essential if we are going to make a REAL difference for all our kids, NOT JUST THE MAJORITY.

The ‘Advice’, by some guru from Australia to one of our early Principal Conferences was simply this: “Every day, shut your principal’s door for 15 minutes, let the office know you do not want to be disturbed and get into a pattern of professional reading that challenges the status quo, challenges your understanding of how kids learn and encourages you to think outside the square. Think deeply about how your school can make a REAL difference to those we are failing. Think about how you can engage those disengaged families and students. Read and think about ways to convert them into being focussed, driven learners. Learn from the stories of others. Anyone can run a good school where just 80% are expected to achieve. Your New Zealand system has been doing this for generations. The real challenge is that other 20%. How many on your staff can really deliver for those who struggle? How many can inspire the parents of these children to help them to go that extra mile by assisting them on a daily basis? Study those teachers, what is it in their personality and relationship building that is the critical point of difference? Document and study it again and again because these teachers are very rare. Almost anyone can run a good class in a good school if the aim is to just have most achieve but what about the families who have had generational failure in your school system? How can you make a difference for them?”

At the time, I thought it a bit rich for an Aussie to highlight our failures given that apart from a small percentage of pakeha families the majority of ours happen to be Maori and Pacifika. Who is he to point out this reality given their track record but once I got over myself, he was absolutely bang on the money.

This is not a game or a competition, this is far more serious than that, it is about our future as a nation where we economically and socially cannot afford to allow this horror story of brown underachievement to continue.

“New Zealand's future prosperity is inextricably linked with the achievement of [Māori] students. In our view, it is important that the education system enables and supports all children, so they achieve as highly as they can. It is in the interests of all New Zealanders that young Māori thrive academically, socially, and culturally. Auditor General’s Recent Report to the Ministry

My challenge to you, my fellow principals, is to picture yourself at your retirement function and ask yourself. Will they praise me for what I have achieved for the majority of my students or will they also acknowledge me for my leadership and the lengths I went to for those families who struggle?

As this new school year gets under way think about what time best suits you to do this special, daily professional reading and try to focus on an area that you are not strong on. Think of Einstien’s definition of Stupidity, experiment, try something out of left field that may just make a real difference to those who are gaining the least from the systems we create. Think wider than the 3Rs.

Over the years I targeted my parents and now rejoice in the fact that a good number, 50 plus, have gone from being very competent teacher aides to gaining a teacher or social services degree. Many of these parents would say that they were a typical example of the Nigel Latta marginalised family and that it was the belief and inspiration of a group of teachers that gave them the strength to change their lives and that of their families. Teachers were the difference! I believe for us, Principals can also be the difference!

Go on line to start your professional reading by studying the stories of other fellow Waikato principals through their blog addressing Maori Achievement. Google Waikato Maori Achievement and add my name to access their inspirational journey and stories. Be a devil and make a REAL difference in education. Remember how horrific the Ministry’s figures were, highlighted by Linda Bendikson, back in the early 90’s? Have we improved any since then? The rest of the country sees us leading the way but do you? Help the Waikato once again become a leader for all students!

Arohanui Mike Lander, WaiMac facilitator email: waimacmike@gmail.com

A Thought – Attitude

A Laugh

From Jeff Freeman at Knighton:

Study the picture first and then read the story.

French Eager Beavers

This actually happened to an Englishman in France who was totally drunk.

A French policeman stops the Englishman's car and asks if he has been drinking.

With great difficulty, the Englishman admits that he has been drinking all day, that his daughter got married that morning, and that he drank champagne and a few bottles of wine at the reception, and many single malts scotches thereafter.

Quite upset, the policeman proceeds to alcohol-test (breath test) the Englishman and verifies that he is indeed totally sloshed.

He asks the Englishman if he knows why, under French Law, he is going to be arrested. The Englishman answers with a bit of humour, "No sir, I do not! But while we're asking questions, do you realize that this is a British car and that my wife is driving . . . . . on the other Side?"

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