APPA Newsletter 20 November 2020

Kia ora ngā Tumuaki ō Tāmaki Makaurau

It is hard to believe that this year is almost at an end. We are looking forward to celebrating with you at the end of year luncheon next Thursday. This will be a time to farewell retiring principals and to recognise our colleagues with the APPA awards.

The APPA Executive travelled to Wellington last week to meet with the various organisations that have a big impact on our schools.

We met with Liam Rutherford and Paul Goulter from the NZEI and shared our frustration around the support for Principals. There is a commitment that we need to work together more effectively in an effort to rebuild a trusting relationship. It would be fair to say that TAPAC was a key talking point, however we really wanted to focus on how the country's biggest concentration of Principals is being served by the Union. Talks are ongoing.

Our meeting with the SLT at ERO showed that there is a definite drive for systemic change from the top. There is a commitment to make sure that Evaluation Partners are working alongside schools to develop a forward looking partnership. We were assured that the current trial schools will be critical in shaping the next iteration of the process. We would like to connect with the 18 trial schools in the APPA region - please get in touch so we know who is in the trial.

The Teaching Council conversations focussed on Professional Growth Cycles and the nature of Principal apprasial moving forward. We will be around the table in those conversations. We also addressed issues around work visas expiring for some Overseas Trained Teachers who were then not renewed by Immigration. If you are in this situation please contact Steve King with your information.

We met with the Executive team from the Ministry of Education where we focussed on teacher supply in the Auckland context. We asked for more information around the supply details in our region in response to the assertion that primary and intermediate rolls are forecast to drop in the coming years. We emphasised the need for Auckland centred solutions being front and centre. We put the Auckland PRT Project back on the table as a solution. The APPA have developed a very good relationship with the Senior Team in Wellington. We find that we get more traction with this approach rather than being adversarial. We are in a great position to have challenging conversations due to the relationships we have formed.

Our scheduled 30-minute meeting with Chris Hipkins turned into close to an hour of conversation. It is refreshing to be in positive conversation with a Minister, rather than the brow beatings principals had when Ministers Tolley and Parata were in charge. There is passion and desire for change to address equity and systemic bias - we can see this direction in the recently released NELP. There is a commitment to ensure that Auckland issues are a priority.

We also took part in MoE consultation sessions around the Curriculum Leads hitting the regions next year.

I want to thank the Executive for their hard work - there was barely a minute to spare between meetings and we had a very busy two days.

Again we look forward to seeing you at the lunch next week, make sure you contact Sue Green if you are unsure of a booking or want to secure a place - why not bring along a colleague.

Ngā mihi

Stephen Lethbridge

President

As an executive we are here to help progress issues when schools seem to hit a brick wall. Property issues is one of the biggest issues that schools face.

We have been increasingly concerned about the provision for growth in schools. On Tuesday we met with the key staff of the Ministry in Infrastructure - Capital, Network Provision, and Property Management. This was chaired by Scott Evans who is the Deputy Head of Infrastructure Delivery.

We emphasised the need for Auckland to have more autonomy in reacting to changes in the high growth areas. The Ministry are facing some incredible challenges in the coming years. 6000 homes in the Mt Roskill catchment area is causing them some significant thinking.

We highlighted the plight of new schools coping with growth and existing schools coping with modernising their sites.

We have formed a small action group that will meet every month. Heath McNeil, Daniel Birch and Stephen Lethbridge will join the deputy heads from Network and Infrastructure. We need your stories to highlight the failings in the system. Please give us some data - This Google Form serves as a repository for issues we will hand over at meetings. Please take some time to fill it with your property issues.

We are also looking for principals to join us in these meetings. We need to keep the numbers small so we are looking to rotate membership around the growth areas in the region. If you would like to be a part of this dialogue please email Heath McNeil.

We want to see immediate action from these meetings otherwise we will be back talking with the Secretary of Education and the Minister around the issues we face.

Trying to find a time for a council meeting at this time of the year is difficult. We assume that council members will be coming to the annual lunch so we have booked a room at the Ellerslie Racecourse so that we can round Council business off for the year.

Date: 26 November

Time: 10am - 12pm (light morning tea provided)

Please signal to Sue Green your attendance.

Doctor of Education 2021 Webinar

Making a difference: Harnessing the power of assessment and self-regulated learning

Tuesday 24 November

5-6pm

Online (Zoom)

Designed for educators and professionals in the education sector who are interested in assessment that supports learning and teaching, the Doctor of Education 2021 will help take your skillset and career to the next level and have you thinking critically about theories of assessment. You’ll collaborate with top experts, be supported by a cohort-based learning community, and will undertake a research project that addresses questions or problems of practice related to an aspect of assessment and/or self-regulated learning. Join our free webinar on Tuesday 24 November to learn more from the programme leaders. Secure your spot now: Event booking via Eventbright