Moot 2023

There’s nothing like an election year to excite the ‘politician’ within. There’s also nothing quite like questioning political representatives about their party’s education policies. We learn how in touch, or otherwise, their party is with the realities that face schools every day; and we learn which parties prefer to work alongside our profession and be guided by practitioners’ everyday experiences and professional knowledge, and which prefer to make educational policy decisions in isolation – in other words – for political reasons.

Typically, in election years, NZPF invites politicians from different parties, to participate in a panel at our Moot, to present their vision for education and to answer questions from the regional presidents. This year, representatives from Labour, National and the Green parties agreed to join us. Whilst Labour’s education policies are well known, since they have led the Government for the past 6 years, the National and the Green party policies are less well known. We cover the political panel and questions later in this report (p.9). Overwhelmingly, however, feedback from the regional presidents was consistent on one point. Party political views have no place in educational decision making. Policy, strategy, planning and resourcing of education should be a bipartisan effort led by educational experts, researchers, and practitioners, who know best what tamariki and rangitahi need to succeed in work and in life.

The success of any Moot hinges on how proceedings are managed on the day. This year, we thank MC Jehan Casinader, for a star performance, his sharp educational insights, his probing questions and for keeping the day perfectly paced.

NZPF President, Leanne Otene

Following the official opening of the Moot by NZPF Kaumatua, Hatarei Temo, Leanne Otene addressed the regional presidents and guests. She thanked the presidents for the work they do for principals in their regions, supporting them both socially and professionally. She acknowledged the wobbly start to 2023 with floods in Auckland and Cyclone Gabrielle devastating Gisborne, the East Coast and Hawke’s Bay and noted the selfless generosity with which regional presidents had worked to support their colleagues through these difficult times.

‘The cyclone – and let’s not forget the floods that preceded the cyclone – on top of three years of Covid with school learning, home learning and hybrid learning – has left so many principals fatigued,’ she said.

She acknowledged that the events of the past three years had dented our normally much higher school attendance records and had a message for the Minister, ‘Please take the pressure off us and give us practical supports!’ She noted that we are not over the Covid epidemic yet and said, ‘On the one hand, scientists are telling us that tamariki and staff who are sick must stay at home, and on the other hand, government says we must get our attendance rates up! A more balanced realistic path is what we need – and more effort put into keeping our tamariki and teachers safe at school.’

The hauora of principals was her next focus. ‘We are not just leaders of our schools; we are leaders of our communities’, she said. Throughout the Covid years, principals have looked out not just for ākonga in their schools but also for the welfare of whānau. The pressures on schools have been relentless, and now principals need to start looking after themselves. That is why NZPF is launching its National Hauora Campaign Strategy – to focus on your health and wellbeing which has taken a battering these past few years,’ she said. The Hauora strategy will be based on the principle of principals looking after principals and will be regionally based with NZPF resourcing, she explained.

On the curriculum refresh, Otene had another message for the Minister. ‘Slow down! We cannot implement something so transformational and of such high quality when principals and teachers are gasping to get through each day, lurching from crisis to crisis, and their supporting advisors don’t yet know what they are doing. No one wants this to fail! We just all need more time to get it right – so it will endure – and our tamariki will succeed and flourish.’

The next urgent issue, she said, has been urgent for too long. It is how to deal with our top 5 per cent of highest needs students. That translates to teams of highly specialized experts including psychologists, speech and language therapists, specialists in dyspraxia and dyslexia and counsellors – continuously accessible to every school. It translates to highly trained trauma and behaviour specialists available in every school. It translates to a substantial level of funding to pay for these experts and to train our teachers in these specialized areas. It translates to brave, transformational and innovative change.

‘We cannot wait for the next tranche of Learning Support Coordinators (LSCs) to be funded. We need an LSC in every school now. We need the services of a Special Educational Needs Coordinator (SENCo) in every school now! We need specialists on the ground available to every school – now!’ she said.

Finally, she reminded those present to listen carefully to the education policies of each of the political parties since, later in the year, they would be voting for the party to lead the country for the next three years.

Minister Hon Jan Tinetti

As a former teacher and school principal herself, Hon Jan Tinetti is familiar with the issues facing schools and sympathetic to the challenges. ‘Your dedication to your ākonga, teaching staff and your wider community is clear to see,’ she told her audience.

She noted that since 2018 her government had embarked on an ambitious transformation of education where learning would be inclusive, equitable and connected, and the plan would take thirty years to achieve. She listed some of the standout achievements so far:

• To loud acclaim, she said, we abolished National Standards and put the focus back on learning rather than testing in our primary schools.
• Increased funding for learning support and introduced 600 learning support co-ordinators into schools.
• Rewrote education legislation to focus on the success and wellbeing of learners, and on the building of safe and inclusive learning environ­ments that honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
• Introduced national learn­ing priorities to help create learning environments that take account of learner needs, their identities, languages and cultures, and that are free from racism and bullying.
• Replaced school donations in almost 1700 schools for around 454,000 students and their families.
• Expanded the Ka Ora Ka Ako lunches programme to around 987 schools and over 222,000 learners.
• Introduced free period prod­ucts in over 2100 schools and kura, now reaching 360,000 students.
• Funded counselling in schools for around 200 schools and expanded the Mana Ake pro­gramme. Both provide more mental health and wellbeing supports to more children and young people across Aotearoa.
• Introduced the Aotearoa New Zealand histories curriculum so that, for the first time, all ākonga will know where we have come from as a nation and what binds us together.
• Provided guidelines to schools for supporting their LGBTQIA+ ākonga.
• Redesigned the Ministry of Education to deliver more services and resources at the front line. Gone, in this change, is the one size fits all head office approach to the issues you are facing. Instead, we have Te Mahau that is working with you to find and fund local solutions to local education issues.
• Put 21 new school leadership advisory roles in place to support school principals in their management and leadership work.

These achievements are not a random list but intended to address equity and keep our young people in school and engaged in learning, she explained. The free lunches and free period products are two initiatives that support the equity intentions. The counsellors in schools and national learning priorities, further support young people to attend and engage in learning, free of racism and bullying and with mental health support freely available. As a whole, ‘they provide a fairer, more inclusive and more accessible education system for all,’ she said.

She was quite clear that she was not satisfied with the current school attendance rates, nor would she accept the decline in mathematics and literacy achievement.

‘Past and current levels of achievement in reading, writing and mathematics are a barrier to many of our children and young people’s futures – as indeed are declining levels of attendance. These issues, as you know, are not recent. They have been around for decades, and they need to change,’ she said.

The Minister told her audience that raising achievement in mathematics and literacy, lifting attendance levels further and implementing the curriculum refresh are her immediate priorities.

‘We will not be narrow in our approach to curriculum,’ she said, ‘We will be focused.’

‘The NZC is being refreshed so that it gives effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, is inclusive, is clear about the learning that matters, and is easy to use from Year 1 to Year 13. It is also designed to reduce teacher workload, she said.

Aside from the new Aotearoa New Zealand histories content, schools have until the beginning of 2026 to work towards implementation of the rest of the refreshed curriculum, although the refreshed English and Mathematics & Statistics learning areas will be available for use in Term 2, 2023.

Alongside the refreshed curricu­lum is the Common Practice Model. If the refreshed curriculum is ‘what is to be taught’ then the Common Practice Model is ‘how it will be taught’. The Common Practice Model, developed with input from kaiako and leaders in the education sector, as well as education experts, will provide greater clarity and direction for teaching literacy, communication, and maths, and developing sound assessment practices. At the same time, the model acknowledges that ākonga learn differently and progress at different rates. The Common Practice Model will be rolled out, alongside a range of professional learning supports, between 2024 and 2027.

Minister Tinetti then returned to ‘attendance’ saying that too many ākonga are being denied the education they are entitled to, because they are not attending school regularly. Attendance has been falling since 2015. ‘As you know,’ she said, ‘the causes of non-attendance are complex and varied. But overall we can say one of the biggest challenges we face is that absenteeism is becoming more socially acceptable.

We know, for example, from recent research, that:

• four in 10 parents (41 per cent) are comfortable with their child missing more than a week of school a term, or almost a year by the time they are 16, and that
• a third of learners (33 per cent) don’t think going to school every day is that important

‘When ākonga are not regularly attending, they are not only missing important learning, but also opportunities to build friendships, make connections and participate in fun activities,’ she said. She then reminded her audience of the attendance targets she set in 2021. These include lifting attendance rates from 60 to 70 per cent by 2024; decreasing the moderately absent from 8.5 per cent to 6 per cent in 2024 and decreasing the chronically absent from 7.7 per cent to 5 per cent in 2024.

Attendance responses are best when they are localised, she said, as she cited the case of Te Tai Tokerau’s campaign featuring videos of tamariki encouraging their mates to return to school because its such a good place to be. ‘Their daily attendance rates have been soaring,’ she said, ‘and are now between 90 per cent and 100 per cent. Other amazing initiatives are getting results in other areas too, she said.

She also reminded her audience about the $37.5 million for 82 new attendance officers, whose job it is to focus on clusters of ākonga with low or declining attendance rates – the moderately absent, who are missing on average more than three days a fortnight and saving them from becoming chronically absent. The new attendance officers expand the services available and reduce the response times for schools.

Minister Tinetti’s final topic for the day was ākonga with highest learning/behavioural needs. She noted that the government now spends $1.2 billion on learning support, considerably more than when Labour came to office, but she acknowledged that for the highest needs ākonga more must be done. Out of the ‘Highest Needs Review’ came a new model that creates a partnership between the student, their whānau and the school, which will lead to tailor-made support for ākonga. Alongside this new model will be encouragement for teachers to take up professional learning and development to help them better guide the learning of those students with highest needs.

She said it was helpful to have a former Education Minister as the current Prime Minister, because not only do you have his ear, hopefully you also have his wallet! She reminded the presidents of the early 2018 education summits where it was decided that, as a nation, we wanted education and learning policy built by participants and communities – not by others for them. Teachers and principals said that no great education system can be built without the support of its educators. We want ministries to spend more time listening, engaging, and involving people in changes for the future. ‘That,’ she said, ‘will also be very much my approach as your new Minister of Education.’

Bruce Jepsen, President Te Akatea Māori Principals’ Association

Having acknowledged the leaders in the room and presented his own pepeha, Bruce Jepsen then talked about Te Akatea today, its commitments and successes.

He noted that the seven executive members of Te Akatea are full time tumuaki in their respective kura and take on local and national responsibilities as volunteers. Te Akatea, he said, was established in the 1990s by Māori tumuaki, for Māori tumuaki who were leading in mainstream schools and Kura Kaupapa Māori schools. The intention was to support and preserve the mana of Māori tumuaki. Struggles for Māori education leaders included the attitude that Māori belonged to the economic underclass. These attitudes he said were born of racist ideas and view ‘Māori as labourers not leaders’.

Inequities for Māori ākonga are well known with attendance now a serious concern, especially since the Covid-19 pandemic, he said. The Akatea executive uses its influence to advocate for better pastoral care for Māori ākonga, tumuaki and indeed all Māori people. In building relationships with Ministry and education sector officials, and holding to its transformational agenda, Te Akatea has lifted its own profile and is now beginning to sense success. More Akatea members are involved in key organisations such as the New Zealand School Trustees Association (NZSTA), which commissioned a report on racism in schools, providing insights for addressing racism. Te Akatea will work with NZSTA to address the racism issues raised by the report.

Bruce said he is proud of the work that Māori principals have done in their advisory role with the curriculum working group and the local curriculum focus group to develop a curriculum that truly honours Te Tiriti o Waitangi and is more inclusive of Māori. Whilst this remains a work in progress, it is the progress so far that is satisfying.

Advising ERO and in turn receiving information and advice from ERO is another important role for Akatea. Knowing that 97 per cent of Māori ākonga are being educated in English-medium settings is important to know when targeting Māori learners, he said.

Building relationships with hapu and iwi is another critical role for Te Akatea and the executive has travelled to several hui in different rohe to attend hui and hear directly the aspirations of iwi. These hui also provide an opportunity and to tell iwi of the mahi that Akatea undertakes to support Māori leaders.

Finally, he congratulated Eruera Tarena, the Executive Director of Tokona Te Raki for developing Kōkirihia – the researched plan for the removal of streaming from our schools. Streaming, he said, is another form of systemic inequity and hang-over from our colonial past.

He said it is not hard to build synergies and relationships with other organisations, but for Te Akatea, those synergies must lead to transformation. He left his audience with a question:

‘How does your relationship with us contribute to Māori success and transformation?’

Saane Faaofo Oldehaver, President, New Zealand Pasifika Principals’ Association (NZPPA)

Saane acknowledged the difficult start to the year when principals all expected a more settled first term. She praised the work all principals do and especially those in Auckland who had floods to deal with in their schools and those in cyclone ravaged areas.

NZPPA, she said, had 1,000 members nationwide, leading specifically on Pacific Island (PI) student issues. NZPPA supports and connects principals with PI students through their special cultural focus, she said, and advocates for members.

‘Our vision is to proactively advance PI education. Our plan is based on the values PI families uphold,’ she said. These include service in schools and in communities. ‘The pathway to leadership is through service and humour,’ she said. ‘We acknowledge Te Tiriti o Waitangi first and foremost, and aspire to be disruptive in leading our communities,’ she said.

She then outlined the current goals for NZPPA:

1. To successfully connect Pacific Island students with the curriculum
2. To contribute to and protect professionalism for Pacific Island teachers
3. To encourage Pacific Island teachers into principalship and therefore increase the number of Pacific Island principals.
4. To achieve access and equity for Pacific Island students, through the Tautai o le Moana (TolM) principals’ PLD programme, which aims to strengthen the capability of leaders to lead schools so Pacific Island students can be successful. The PLD is run by Pacific Island principals. It comprises a 3-day fono and currently there are 35 principals on the TolM journey.
5. To build capacity for teachers of Pacific Island students to be culturally responsive in their teaching, through enacting the Tapasa strategy. This is also delivered by Pacific Island principals.

She encouraged her audience to connect, collaborate and co-construct teaching and learning with their Pacific Island communities, for the benefit of Pacific Island students in their schools. ‘Pacific Island students travel in multiple lives in your schools,’ she said, ‘and it is important to understand that at times there will be priorities for those students that sit outside of the school’s academic priorities.’

She left the regional presidents with two questions. ‘How are you supporting the Pacific Island students and staff in your school?’ and ‘How are you growing your competence and confidence to successfully lift Pacific Island students’ achievement?’

Political Panel

Brief summary from party representatives

Green Party: Marama Davidson, Co-Leader, and Violence Prevention Minister

Marama Davidson acknowledged the vital role schools play in communities across the motu. She said the biggest underlying issues for tamariki are inequities. When tamariki turn up at your schools, they do not arrive the same or equal, she said. Inequities include housing and homelessness. ‘You confront that every day in your mahi,’ she said. ‘Housing must be considered a human right,’ she said. ‘There are also income inequities,’ she noted. ‘It is the job of politicians to prioritize these basic family needs and rebalance wealth.’ ‘As leaders of parties, we must stand up and fight for these basics and we all must speak on education.’

[To view housing as a human right and rebalance wealth] these are political choices. ‘We have what we need to do it; what we need is the political will to do it.’

She was clear that teachers are not valued by politicians or society at large. Neither is the work that teachers and principals do to connect children with their communities.

‘Tamariki in a modern global world need analysis and inquiry skills. They need to be connected today,’ she said, ‘just as I am here to learn from you today.’

The Green Party has always understood the need for equity for all students. ‘Years ago, our Education spokesperson, Catherine Delahunty, led an inquiry into dyslexia and dyspraxia and those with different ways of learning. That is how those different needs were recognized and resourced, but it is still not enough,’ she said.

National Party: Erica Stanford

Erica Stanford agreed that we are all here today to learn and to listen. She noted that her party had very recently made an education policy announcement.

‘To give you a broad outline of the policy, I spent the last year and a half visiting schools and what I found is that we have a failing system which is letting you [principals] down. The evidence is all there in the declining achievement statistics. You can talk about collaborative learning but if our kids can’t do reading, writing and mathematics, then they can’t think critically,’ she said.

‘For over 30 years the system has been letting us down. ‘[National’s] National Standards [2008–2017] made sure we didn’t continue the mistakes of the past. In 6 years [since 2017] our year 8s are the same. The Prime Minister, Chris Hipkins said that National Standards didn’t improve anything, but we didn’t go backwards.’

‘[When we last had National Standards], kids were told they were below, at or above the standard, but we wouldn’t use that again. We need information from the system so we know where to put resources. If we don’t have the data, we don’t know where to put the resource.’

Investing in teachers PLD in reading, writing, maths and science is more important than any other subject areas. Teachers have been let down by Initial Teacher Education providers, who will have to do more. Teachers need an exit exam to ensure they are ready to teach on graduating. We have spent $5 billion more on education in the last 5 years – did any of it get to your school?

Labour Party: Angela Roberts

The regional presidents had earlier in the day been addressed by the Minister of Education, Hon Jan Tinetti, so there was no intention for Angela Roberts to repeat what the Government has been doing and what it has achieved in the past six years.

‘Three years ago today, as a secondary school teacher, I was preparing for lockdown,’ she said. Lockdown meant huge efforts from teachers to accommodate home learning, blended or hybrid learning and online learning. The shadow cast by Covid is a long one and is still with us, she told her audience.

‘From our early reviews, we knew that transformation had to happen, and you have been part of the evidence informed plans that have emerged, making sure our kids are central to changes,’ she said.

‘Together, we know why and how to make the changes, and now it is time to start implementing those change plans,’ she added.

Teachers need support to do this work and as collaborators in the process, will be part of it, not just told what to do. The government has been working with you, the sector, with iwi and with school communities, she said.

She spoke about the Common Practice Model, which is an excellent teaching tool.

Most importantly, she said, we must overcome the inequities, rebuild the attendance service and re-engage the kids.

She urged her audience to stay engaged in the transition.

Questions to the Panelists

Q: Our biggest problem is managing students with high learning and behavioural needs, including violent behaviour. The funding is not there.

Green Party: Speaking as the Violence Prevention Minister, the tools available for schools do not adequately address this kind of behaviour. I launched workforce tools with Police, the Courts and with Corrections, so they could all recognize the dynamics of violence and refer to the right place with the right support. I would like to work with schools to help you deal with extreme behaviour and recognize the signs of violence and better understand it. If you are equipped properly it will help your own mahi. When young people manifest extreme behaviour, that usually reflects other things going on. What we need is expertise and specialist care and that would be my priority. We shouldn’t be concerning ourselves about the resourcing we should just do it.

Labour: Investment in specialist support is critical and we must make sure every school can access it. We have increased counselling by 330,000 hours. It is about prevention and needs full wrap around services, reduced class sizes, and structural changes. That is why we launched the ‘Highest Needs Review’ which has made it clear that we need to spent more on the front line. This is not over, it has just started.

National: Early intervention is best and we have announcements to come on this. This Government made100,000 hours free for ECE yet less than 10 per cent have showed up. The funding is not flexible and needs to be. When a child comes from CYFs [Oranga Tamariki] they turn up on your school doorstep with no funding. It’s my view that those children should bring funding from MSD. This Government has spent $5 billion more on education yet there is no money for this really important work.

Q: Restraint issues place principals and schools in danger. I’m talking about kids with knives. Teachers are considered to be in the wrong until they can prove they are in the right. We are expected to meet with the parents the next day – in most cases they are the cause of why their child is in this state. This whole process is putting myself and my teachers in danger.

Green Party: Keeping staff and principals safe is important. I am keen to learn how to balance staff safety with an informed response to those displaying violent behaviour.

National: A teacher feeling unsafe quit recently because of this. There are no supports for the teachers. I’m keen to learn more and to work with you on this.

Labour: Restraints guidelines have been circulated twice and no one is happy yet.

Q: Restraint training is only provided to teachers involved with a child who is on an ‘Initial Behaviour Plan’. It is not provided for all staff which is what’s needed. We need training for all our staff, but there is no funding for training all.

Labour: True, restraint training is not a systemic response.

National: The government needs to take that point on board.

Q: Would you commit to extra support staff for our Special Schools? When we are talking about diverse needs, we don’t need restraint, we need supportive helpful adults. Give schools extra staff and the spaces to manage these kids.

National: We have a policy coming out on this but I can’t talk about it today.

Green Party: All schools should be supported to meet all student needs as required.

Labour: We also need the right structures including proper professional pathways to train the specialist and expert teachers. Schools should not be finding money out of their Operations Grant to employ Teacher Aides who must be treated differently now.

Q: How has NCEA been treated in the ‘Curriculum Refresh’?

Labour: We have taken small standards and made bigger standards. We have now embedded Tikanga Māori. Finally, Te Ao Māori is in the NCEA system.

Green Party: I’m hearing there is still inequity in the way we are measuring achievement. Mātauranga Māori is a component which will solve future problems for us and must be given a valued place in the system.

National: If we get kids to succeed they can go on to live the lives they want.

Labour: I taught the NCEA pilot. It is very different now. What complicates matters is having both the Ministry and NZQA involved in the design. What we need is for principals and teachers to design NCEA, make the most of pilots, and be open to making changes.

Qu to the National Party: In your initial presentation, you cited reading, writing and mathematics as curriculum issues and made the assumption that all kids coming to school are ready to learn. That is not true. They can be compromised by the level of pastoral care they have received. That means that they cannot all learn at the same pace. That is why we have three-year bands for our learning levels not one year expectations.

National: The curriculum is just one issue. I understand children arrive at school at different levels. We are planning to deal to those issues.

Green Party: We can’t have kids ready for learning till we address housing and health. People say get these agencies talking to each other. We can’t get rid of violence till all the agencies are talking.

Labour: Schools do not have time to coordinate this.

National: I want to make sure that every child has access to Reading, Writing and Mathematics. That was part of our announcement. It’s important to keep kids on track. If you have 3-yearly bands, a child can’t access help till they are 3 years behind. Kids get lost in bands.

Q: I have been advertising for 5 weeks for a teacher and have not received a single application. How can we attract good candidates for teaching positions?

Labour: Pay and conditions play a part. Retaining good teachers also relies on class sizes, support for struggling students and engaging students to lift achievement.

National: Statistics show that the teacher supply for primary schools is ageing, and teachers are not attracted to certain areas. Māori medium specialists are in short supply. Yet we have a teacher workforce strategy. This year we have attracted only 22 overseas teachers on a two year work visa.

Green Party: What would help the pressures?

Labour: There is more and more piled on to principals and nothing is being taken away. Principals need good leadership support. The Teaching Council is supposed to provide this.

National: Was the wellbeing payment delivered to principals? I take on board the workload stress principals are experiencing.

Q: What are the main inequities in the system? Who are the winners and the losers?

Green Party: Māori [and now Pacific Island] whānau have been neglected and left out for 200 years. The social inequities are big and complex. The curriculum framework was structured to leave Māori behind.

Labour: There are families with no housing, who are transient and disconnected.

Green Party: We need to support teachers to better understand te reo and tikanga and to be honest about systemic things like why streaming started.

Q: Why are years 4–8 the most poorly funded? Why are there inequities between primary and secondary?

Labour: Years 4–8 would require new money to address the funding disparity at these year levels.

Q: Our land was stolen from us. To move forward, Te Tiriti o Waitangi should be at the centre of everything, yet I haven’t heard a single Tiriti argument today. The curriculum has perpetuated racism and that must change. The curriculum has to help leaders and teachers to be more inclusive and include Te Tiriti o Waitangi. We are reorientating a system that has underserved Māori since the beginning.

Green Party: Yes, these are the roots of colonialism.

National: When I see how teachers contextualise [Te Tiriti o Waitangi] I am heartened.

Q: Is it the political system or the education system that is iniquitous?

Labour: PPTA members have been trying to get bipartisan support for education for years.

National: I understand the frustrations, but political consensus is not likely. For example, receiving briefings on education from the Labour Ministers just doesn’t happen.

Green Party: The political system has been a failure for generations.

When asked to name the number one priority for education as they see it, the regional presidents proffered the following:

1. Primary schools to have equitable funding with secondary schools.

2. Take the politics out of education and have some long-term strategic planning.

3. More collegiality and support for principals through Kahui Ako and Principals’ Associations.

4. Embedding Te Tiriti o Waitangi in all we do.

5. Funding teachers to become trauma informed teachers and increasing learning support resources.

The regional presidents engaged fully in the presentations and the political panel questions. In the afternoon, they provided helpful feedback to the NZPF national executive that will shape the NZPF manifesto as the 2023 election campaign builds momentum. The manifesto, once completed, will be posted on the NZPF website and will be disseminated through the fortnightly Principal Matters newsletter in due course.

NZPF thanks the regional presidents for travelling to Wellington and for generously making such a valuable contribution to NZPF’s work plan for the year.