President's Pen - New Zealand Principal Magazine

Introduction in Māori Whetu Cormick

National President, New Zealand Principals’ Federation

Being out of your school gives you a chance to reflect on What I find challenging is accommodating changes that don’t what is great about your school, what counts as school success sit comfortably alongside the hugely positive changes like our and what factors continue to challenge your school. These NZC. The past eight years have included a whole new upheaval reflections are important and having distance from your day in education which I know many of you have not welcomed. to day leadership duties gives you the freedom to focus more Perhaps one of the most unwelcoming aspects of it is that no sharply. I agree with Kim Nikora, principal of Thames South one has really articulated clearly what the new direction is. We School (see p.10 of this issue) when know that it has much to do with the she says that principals need more The new approach to our Global Education Reform Movement regular sabbaticals to give them time (GERM) which has been infiltrating to think and reflect. NZ Curriculum (NZC) would many countries in recent years and My own reflections have gone back appears to have a strong element of twenty years to when I was principal make it even richer and undermining what we know as ‘public’ of a small rural school and stretch greater. education and replacing it with a all the way to my present urban ‘private’ system. Bathgate Park Primary School in To better understand the GERM and South Dunedin. I can identify many changes during that time. its implications we have looked to researchers from the UK and Some have truly inspired me and others have created concerns. During the 1990s being in education in Aotearoa New Zealand was a really exciting time. We collectively worked on developing our revised curriculum. The entire process was so collaborative, our communities contributed their ideas and especially their aspirations for our young children and as a profession we felt uplifted. We saw that our curriculum could be contextualised for Kids Voting is a chance for your students to take part in this our school and its community, and we could put real authentic year’s general election. learning opportunities in front of our young people. We already Students vote for real parties and real candidates, on a real had a world class education system. The new approach to our ballot paper, and compare their results with the results of NZ Curriculum (NZC) would make it even richer and greater. the real election. All manner of authentic learning opportunities were popping It’s free and easy to hold a Kids Voting election at up in our schools and for our struggling learners, these have your school. proved invaluable. We have also seen an expansion, especially in Register your school or find out more at our lower decile schools, of Education Outside of the Classroom www.kidsvoting.org.nz. (EOTC) experiences being offered. These experiences are enormously enriching for those youngsters whose own life experiences are very limited, mostly because their parents cannot afford to take them places. EOTC gives these children new conversations, new vocabulary and new topics to read and write about. For most, our NZC is well-embedded but, like all good things, it has taken a long time. For some schools, it is still not quite there. What is great is that it is universally celebrated. From politicians to beginning teachers, there is unwavering acknowledgement that our NZC leads the world. I believe it is our job to keep revising our curriculum to ensure that it continues to represent the aspirations of the communities we serve and continues to be responsive to the changing needs of the young people in our schools.

KIDS VOTING IS COMING IN 2017

the USA to invite to our conferences and we have asked questions Māori medium. During one particular conversation with the and discussed these issues with our international colleagues in well-respected Tūhoe leader, Tamati Kruger, we discussed Australia and the UK. Last year, at the National Association of the ‘purposes of education, schooling and learning.’ This Head Teachers (UK) conference, which the NZPF president is conversation challenged me to think about why we teach what always invited to, we learned how 80 per cent of all the public we teach, whose knowledge we impart and how this affects our schools are now private or Academy young people’s learning journey. Schools (much like NZ charter In my first month as NZPF As a leader in my school, I schools) and that the schools’ first contribute just a small part to young loyalty is to the brand of the business President I met with a number people’s learning. Whānau and the or business chain sponsoring them wider community are central to my not to the communities they serve of influential education children’s lives, their views, hopes, (see article in NZ Principal, vol 31 sector people from dreams and aspirations. That is (3) September 2016, pp.31–33. Here why we embrace the views of our in NZ we have seen many legislation both English and Māori community when we construct our changes of late, including the current schools’ vision and curriculum and in Update of the Education Act. Many of medium. my view that is what any responsible these changes are consistent with setting up a structure for radical Minister and parliamentary debaters will do when considering reforms and privatisation as we have seen in the UK. legislative change in the House. After all, these people are our This year New Zealand goes to the polls again. I will be putting representatives! in front of all the political candidates the sort of education system we want. It will start and end with preserving our world class Hoei anō public education system and our equally world class NZC. It will also include a focus on Māori and Pacific Island education, an area in which we have made significant in-roads recently and in which the current government firmly believes we need to do better. In my first month as NZPF President I met with a number of influential education sector people from both English and

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2017 FUTURE TRANSPORT COMPETITION Investigate – create – and win.

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New Zealand school students in Years 1–13. TEAM SIZE:

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education.nzta.govt.nz/ competition

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Is Your school takIng actIon for the WellbeIng of students? Increasing rates of childhood anxiety and depression is a growing concern for New Zealand schools. This is evident as decreased student wellbeing, decreased school attendance, increased health difficulties and social isolation. It can include difficulties with attention, concentration, social interactions, low self-esteem, establishing and maintaining relationships with peers and can lead to depression. Anxiety is one of the most common psychological disorders in school age children and yet is frequently unidentified and therefore untreated. Estimates are 1 in 5 (20%) of the population experience significant emotional distress. Often children can present as conscientious, well behaved students in the classroom but parents report their child as having a stress ‘meltdown’ when arriving home. Anxiety and depression are more prevalent than drug use, ADHD, or any other mental health problem. The FRIENDS programs are based on cognitive behavioural therapy principles and have been developed to support children and youth build their understanding and skills in resilience to enhance their wellbeing. These programs have been successfully implemented and evaluated in a number of countries. A New Zealand evaluation of the FRIENDS Youth program in secondary schools has recently been undertaken The evaluation showed that the largest shifts showing increased student wellbeing centred around the aspects from the Wellbeing@School survey, and in particular, the social dimension of wellbeing. HPE Programme Design – taking action for well-being helps schools to develop policies, procedures, and school-wide programmes through which they can establish healthy school environments. The FRIENDS programs correlate well with the Health and Physical Education curriculum. Research shows students can achieve more when they are fit and healthy in body, mind, and spirit The FRIENDS Resilience programs have been cited in many international studies. In particular, these programs showed considerable success and in particular a marked improvement in the children’s emotional wellbeing. Common themes around social validity were found among studies. Many of the programs were delivered by teachers or skilled support staff who had attended the official training days required. Researchers commented that this leads to more sustainable delivery compared to other facilitators or health professionals. This also contributed to a higher success rate. These programs are very adaptable for use in small groups or with a class, and also in one to one situations, when indicated. There are four developmentally sensitive versions of the FRIENDS programs: Each program targets the different challenges associated with each stage of the lifespan. In brief, the FRIENDS programs are; ■■

Supporting the Key Competencies of the New Zealand Curriculum

Recommended interventions in Tier 2 PB4L School-Wide ■■ Part of the Prime Ministers Youth Mental Health Initiative in Secondary Schools ■■ Evidence-Based, using Cognitive Behaviour Theory ■■ Endorsed by the World Health Organisation ■■ Developed to be used in schools ■■

Principals wanting to develop sound practice in their school for addressing student wellbeing would benefit from having key staff trained to implement the FRIENDS program. Jenny Bell of Jenny Bell Oranga is a licenced trainer of the FRIENDS programs in New Zealand. She attends Dr Paula Barrett’s FRIENDS International Conference, in Brisbane, annually. Prior to becoming a FRIENDS licensee, she was a Resource Teacher of Learning and Behaviour.

FRIENDS – Facilitator Training Workshops: 2017 TERM 1 – TRAINING SCHEDULE DATE

LOCATION

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10/03/2017

NAPIER