Editor
Earlier this year, President, Perry Rush, undertook a Road Show to 17 regions across the country. At the conclusion of the tour, an online survey was conducted, based on the responses of the 800 or so principals he met on his travels. We now have the results of that survey, snippets of which Perry has already published in his Principal Matters electronic newsletter. This report expands
further on the results to give you a full picture. The survey was designed to capture information on wellbeing, learning and behaviour issues, which you encounter in your schools, the severity and frequency of these and how you are resourcing and coping with these issues; Kahui Ako and whether you support the model as it currently exists, support it with
modifications or do not support it at all; and curriculum issues. Our thanks to the 682 principals who responded to the survey. Your responses contribute to the position that NZPF takes in respect of the issues outlined. The reported percentages here are rounded to the nearest whole number so may not all add up to exactly 100 per cent.
Wellbeing & Learning and Behaviour Issues 1. ‘In my school, we have sufficient funds to employ the necessary Teacher Aides to support children’s needs’
4. ‘Funded counselling services is an urgent need for the students in my school’
7. ‘The level of management staffing entitlements, including units and allowances, available to secondary schools should equally be available to primary schools’
2% strongly agreed 8% agreed 7% neither agree nor disagree 40% disagree
58% strongly agree 28% agree 8% neither agree nor disagree 4% disagree 3% strongly disagree
1% strongly agree 5% agree 6% neither agree nor disagree 44% disagree 45% strongly disagree
3. ‘My school has sufficient funding to employ staff to meet the pastoral, well-being and mental health needs of students’
10% agree 2% neither agree nor disagree 1% disagree 2% strongly disagree
43% strongly disagree
2. ‘My school has sufficient funds to meet the level of learning support needs’
85% strongly agree
5. ‘Every school should have a fully funded SENCo or LSC’ 78% strongly agree 16% agree 3% neither agree nor disagree 1% disagree 2% strongly disagree
8. ‘The RTLB is an effective service that delivers quality outcomes for students requiring learning and/or behaviour support’ 11% strongly agree 29% agree 20% neither agree nor disagree
6. ‘The donations scheme should be available to decile 8–10 schools’
29% disagree 11% strongly disagree
31% strongly agree 30% agree 26% neither agree nor disagree
1% strongly agree
8% disagree
5% agree
4% strongly disagree
Kahui Ako 9. ‘The most equitable way to deploy the LSC resource is to locate most of them in Kahui Ako’
6% neither agree nor disagree
5% strongly agree
39% disagree
10% agree
50% strongly disagree
20% neither agree nor disagree 26% disagree 39% strongly disagree
10. ‘Kahui Ako is the best model to activate networking for principals’ 5% strongly agree 12% agree 19% neither agree nor disagree 30% disagree 35% strongly disagree
14. ‘I do not support the Kahui Ako model 18. ‘All learning support services should and the money would be better spent be provided through the Kahui Ako’ on specialist services and learning 2% strongly agree support’ 5% agree 40% strongly agree 24% agree 15% neither agree nor disagree
14% neither agree nor disagree 34% disagree 46% strongly disagree
14% disagree 8% strongly disagree
11. ‘The Kahui Ako model results in improved learning outcomes for students’
19. ‘Kahui Ako is the best model to develop a shared local curriculum in 15. ‘The best collaboration occurs when partnership with local iwi’ principals choose who the collaborate with’ 5% strongly agree
3% strongly agree 12% agree 26% neither agree nor disagree 28% disagree 30% strongly disagree
40% strongly agree
18% agree
36% agree
25% neither agree nor disagree
14% neither agree nor disagree
24% disagree
9% disagree
29% strongly disagree
2% strongly disagree
12. ‘Participation in Kahui Ako takes too much of my time’ 12% strongly agree 26% agree 38% neither agree nor disagree 21% disagree 4% strongly disagree
16. ‘Kahui Ako enable better transitions between different schooling levels such as primary to intermediate and on to secondary’ 10% strongly agree 27% agree 30% neither agree nor disagree 21% disagree
13. ‘I would support the Kahui Ako model of collaboration if all the money currently paid to leaders was redirected to funding activities agreed by participants’ 20% strongly agree 37% agree
5% strongly agree 27% agree 36% neither agree nor disagree 16% disagree 16% strongly disagree
12 % strongly disagree
17. ‘Setting and collectively working t o w a r d s a g r e e d a c h i e v e m e nt challenges for the Kahui Ako lifts the achievement of all schools in the Kahui Ako’
21. ‘I support Kahui Ako as the preferable model for obtaining agreed PLD’ 3% strongly agree 11% agree 17% neither agree nor disagree
23% neither agree nor disagree
5% strongly agree
35% disagree
15% disagree
15% agree
35% strongly disagree
5% strongly disagree
35% neither agree nor disagree 27% disagree 18 % strongly disagree
20. ‘I support Kahui Ako to enable participating schools to share each other’s physical facilities’
22. ‘ K a h u i A k o d e v e l o p s t r o n g communities of practice for teachers, leaders, middle leaders and curriculum leaders’
26. ‘In the past twelve months, how many class evacuations have there been in your school?’
8% strongly agree 20% agree 28% neither agree nor disagree 23% disagree 21% strongly disagree
Class Evacuations, Stand downs, exclusions 23. ‘In the past twelve months, how many students have you stood down from your school?’ 36% none 46% 1 – 5 10% 6 – 10 4% 11 – 15 1% 16 – 20 3% More than 20
24. ‘In the past twelve months, how many students have you suspended from your school?’ 75% none 23% 1 – 5 2% 6 – 10 0% 11 – 15 0% 16 – 20 1% More than 20
25. ‘In the past twelve months, how many students has your Board excluded from your school?’ 85% none 15% 1 – 5 0% 6 – 10 0% 11 – 15 0% 16 – 20 0% More than 20
30. ‘In my school EOTC is the most underdeveloped and under resourced area of learning’
36% none
6% strongly agree
37% 1 – 5
24% agree
13% 6 – 10
26% neither agree nor disagree
6% 11 – 15
40% disagree
2% 16 – 20
4% strongly disagree
7% More than 20
27. This question asked principals to think of an instance of extreme behaviour in their school and how it affected other students and staff. 608 responded with stories of trauma, threat, shock, emotional stress, anxiety, abuse, fear, upset, disruption, exhaustion and physical harm. Thank you for sharing your stories which provide hard evidence for NZPF to advocate more strongly and convincingly for urgent services in this area. 28. This question asked principals to outline one example of violent behaviour, including physical harm to self, other staff or students, property or equipment and to describe how you coped. 564 responded with examples including biting, hitting, punching, shoulder charging, kicking, pinching, spitting, scratching, swearing, stomping on others, fighting, assault, stabbing with scissors, taunting and threatening others with a kitchen knife, trashing offices and classrooms, tearing wall displays down, upending paint on classroom carpets, throwing rocks, bashing others with baseball bat, throwing furniture and pot plants, attacking staff cars, squirting cleaning liquid at others eyes. Curriculum 29. ‘In my school the curriculum area requiring priority support, advice and PLD is the Arts’ 9% strongly agree 29% agree
31. ‘The most supported subject areas in my school are reading, writing and mathematics’ 35% strongly agree 51% agree 8% neither agree nor disagree 6% disagree 1% strongly disagree
32. ‘Our school needs direction, support and advice to implement the digital technologies curriculum’ 17% strongly agree 43% agree 16% neither agree nor disagree 21% disagree 3% strongly disagree
33. ‘We do not teach Te Reo Māori in our school because we cannot get a Te Reo Māori teacher’ 8% strongly agree 15% agree 24% neither agree nor disagree 42% disagree 11% strongly disagree
The survey was open from May 8 2020 to August 30 2020.
33% neither agree nor disagree 25% disagree 4% strongly disagree