Editor
Changing faces is par for the course on the NZPF executive committee. Most years there are retirements and new people elected which leaves us both sad and excited. It is never easy to farewell colleagues who have contributed so much during their years of NZPF service. At the same time it is invigorating for the organisation to welcome fresh faces and new ideas to the board room table. Last year, four senior executive members announced their retirement. They are Sally Direen, Ernie Buutveld, Peter Simpson and David Ellery. What makes this particular group special is that two had served as presidents of NZPF and one as treasurer.
Trustees to join the ‘Boards Taking Action Coalition’ (BTAC), a group designed to put pressure on the government to try and stall their progression. At a regional level, in her role as representative on the Otago Primary Principals’ Association, she kept her Otago colleagues fully informed and regularly brought the Otago views back to the NZPF executive group. Sally developed very good working relationships with many of the business partners over the years and had a clear understanding of how each business could support and contribute to the school sector. Her years of experience and knowledge of each partner’s business brought value and insight to the NZPF Business Partners’ Team decision making which will be greatly missed. Through her intellectual and practical contributions to the NZPF executive committee Sally has demonstrated outstanding leadership on behalf of her principal colleagues.
Sally Direen (2008 – 2014) Principal of Balaclava School in Dunedin, Sally was first elected to the executive in 2007 and began her service in 2008. She was to be re-elected a further five times. In addition to her regular executive duties, she also served on the Business Partners Team for much of her tenure and was an active member of the Otago Ernie Buutveld (2002 – 2014) Ernie served on the executive committee for a total of 12 years and Primary Principals’ Association. Sally couldn’t have chosen a more testing time to join the NZPF was elected NZPF President 2009 – 2011. In its thirty year history team. With a change of government at the end of her first year, NZPF had never faced such controversial government policies came education reforms like none seen since the revolutionary or discontent from school principals as Ernie faced during his presidency. The leadership ‘Tomorrow’s Schools’ reforms. was plunged into a political It was no time for complacency What makes this particular group maelstrom requiring media and Sally rose to the task. As the management, political acumen debates heated up she brought special is that two had served as and the coolest of heads to her characteristic calmness presidents of NZPF and one as steer the ship. As quickly as the and infinite wisdom to the president brought his executive table helping the executive treasurer. up to speed on the issues, the to develop a measured and rational response to each new challenge. Her intermittent government was announcing the next stage. It seemed there was doses of cracking good humour were also greatly valued by the no way to get ahead of what school principals were increasingly executive who needed all the support they could muster to see seeing as the government leading public education down a their way through the relentless oppressions bearing down on dangerous path towards the inevitable unravelling of one of the them and their colleagues. If a witty quip was not enough, Sally most successful education systems in the world. In his cool and reflective way, Ernie set his sights on slowing could almost at will, produce a stanza or two of cleverly crafted doggerel to raise the spirits. Reminiscing on some of the special down the government juggernaut in the hope that additional moments of her NZPF service she wrote ‘So many friends I have time would allow him the opportunity to better communicate met, all of whom I won’t forget . . . Fire drills in the James Cook, to the public the government’s real agenda to privatise the sector. in my jammies – not a good look . . . So many issues covered in The task was a difficult one since the media also struggled to understand what could possibly be wrong with the new national our brief National Standards causing the most grief . . . ’ Sally’s stand-out qualities include her courage and ability to standards that the government said were intended to keep the ‘walk the talk’. As she and her colleagues analysed the national teaching profession more accountable and help teachers identify standards system and discovered the potential harm they children who were struggling, especially Māori, Pacific Island could cause children she firmed up a position to oppose their and special needs children. It seemed only the professionals introduction. It wasn’t enough for Sally just to verbalise this themselves could recognise the problems with the ‘standards’, position, she followed through by supporting her school Board of the inconsistent ways in which they were interpreted by different
Retiring executive members; (l to r) Ernie Buutveld, Sally Direen, Peter Simpson, David Ellery
schools, the dangers of then publicly comparing schools on the basis of these inconsistent measures, and the harm in labelling children failures in their first year of schooling. They could see that if professional responsibility was to be replaced with the notion of ‘accountability’ leading to performance pay based on national standards results, this would damage the very foundations of collaboration on which the country’s education success was based. Ernie sought political, media and communications advice which were not at that time available to him in-house. They were not skills that had been core to his everyday life as principal of Havelock Primary School in Marlborough. As president of the national body for principals however, they were critical. Despite the advisory support it was still an uphill battle to get any traction with the media and attempts to alter the government’s policy course were not embraced by the Minister. No matter how well the NZPF arguments were presented the government’s policy was predetermined and not up for debate or negotiation. Ernie’s advocacy work on behalf of his colleagues nevertheless set a solid foundation on which subsequent presidents were able to build. Ernie was also the man the executive turned to when it came to difficult challenges such as critiquing and updating the constitution, analysing legal documents and redesigning the school enrolment forms. His reflective intellect, attention to detail and his well-developed IT skills were highly valued attributes which will be greatly missed at the board room table.
Peter Simpson (2000 – 2014) The longest standing NZPF executive member of the retiring group, with fourteen years of service, Peter also served as NZPF president in 2011. A loyal and devoted Cantabrian he is a long standing member of the Christchurch Primary Principals’ Association and principal of Belfast School. Unsurprisingly, Peter was deeply affected by the February 2011 Christchurch earthquake. At such an early point in his presidential career he had to deal with the hugely challenging conflict of serving his colleagues at a national level whilst simultaneously supporting his family, friends and colleagues in Christchurch. It was a conflict that defined his presidency and which he managed superbly, demonstrating his undoubted strength of character, his courage and well-grounded values and integrity. He quickly launched the NZPF nationwide appeal for schools to support their Christchurch colleagues both financially and emotionally. The response from schools throughout the country was overwhelming. The variety of creative ways in which schools raised money for the children of the city which had been brought to its knees by the devastating earthquake, was awe inspiring. There could not have been a more capable candidate to lead such a project than Peter who, as a Cantabrian himself, had well established networks amongst his Canterbury colleagues and the uncanny ability to draw people together in a crisis. As president, he lifted the NZPF profile considerably and won the attention of the media who warmed to his sincerity,
his clarity of argument and his forthrightness. He will always be remembered for the bold stance he took at the 2011 NZPF conference in calling a vote of no confidence in the direction that the government was taking education. He won unanimous support from the 700+ principals attending that conference. Peter raised the bar to the point that NZPF was now becoming a lead commentator on educational issues, including the controversial national standards. His media strength lay in his unerring focus on what is best for the children of New Zealand. That is the sentiment which drove his every argument. His greatest objections to the national standards, which he held throughout his tenure, were that they introduced high risk of harm to children, undermined our world class New Zealand Curriculum and threatened our high ranking international performance. Further, there was no evidence either here or from overseas experience that the standards would have the slightest positive affect on the lower achieving children they were intended to help. A stand-out achievement for Peter during his presidency was forging closer relationships with Te Akatea, the national body representing Māori school principals and introducing professional development in Māori practices and protocols for the NZPF executive. He recognised that a disproportionate number of Māori students were not enjoying academic success and the executive needed to better understand what lay behind that. Taking his entire executive committee to the Te Akatea conference and inviting high profile speakers such as Dr Ann Milne to address the executive were examples of how Peter led his executive to have a broader understanding of the issues
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GENERAL ELECTION
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underpinning Māori student learning. Peter’s work set the scene for the later development of the NZPF driven ‘Māori Achievement Collaboratives’ (MACs) initiative which, under the leadership of Peter Witana and in conjunction with the Ministry, was launched last year. David Ellery (2007 – 2014) Principal of Somerville Intermediate School in Howick, David brought business acumen and well-honed financial skills to the executive group. His talents quickly became apparent and after a year of service, he was appointed treasurer, a position he held uncontested for the next six years. Keeping the finances in order is a critical task in any organisation and David fulfilled his duties diligently. He also led the Business Partners’ Team for much of his time on executive and became an expert in negotiating favourable conference deals, especially for the business partners attending Trans-Tasman conferences. He worked hard to forge stronger links with the partners who supported NZPF so loyally. Residing in Auckland city where most of the business partners’ head offices were located meant David could strengthen relationships through regular contact with them. This proved to be a highly successful strategy and led to more effective communications and better understanding for both the partners and the NZPF executive. His talents were not limited to financial management and business however, and his ability to see all sides of an argument meant his fellow executive members never discounted what he had to say and he showed a particular skill for summarising the main points of an argument and reaching a conclusion. In this way, he helped bring confidence to the committee’s decision making. David was also appreciated for his first-hand knowledge of life as an Auckland school principal and his understanding of the dynamics of the region. He especially understood the multicultural flavour that Auckland exhibits and as a long-standing member of the Auckland Primary Principals’ Association brought the views of the country’s largest city to the debating table. As a participant in ‘export education’ and with his knowledge of teaching English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) he was able to keep the executive up to speed on developments and changes in this important area. He also involved himself in the Asia New Zealand Foundation and understood the duty of care that principals of schools accepting international students have in respect of their foreign students. His own school has special relationships in both Korea and Japan, two countries which he regularly visits. With his ‘hands-on’ knowledge and experience, David was always ready to advise the executive on issues surrounding international education and led the executive submission work reviewing the pastoral care policy for international students in New Zealand schools. As one of the few members of the executive leading an intermediate school, David also became the ‘unofficial advisor’ on intermediate and middle schools’ issues and led any executive work on this topic. Whilst we will all miss David on executive, we hope to continue seeing him at the annual NZPF conference where we are accustomed to being entertained by another of his great talents . . . his dazzling dance skills!
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