Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Māori language week starts te reo teaching conversation, Tax Working Group looking likely to reject capital gains tax, and landlords propose alternative to rental WOFs. So what exactly is the government’s te reo Māori education policy? As Māori Language Week has got underway, that’s been a … Read more
There is simply no way to present this material without misrepresenting the science and undermining the principles and values you are supposedly imparting to your students writes cosmologist and academic Richard Easther Given how often astrophysics shows up in the news, you might think it was one of the biggest branches of science. And yet, … Read more
Mike Hosking’s latest ‘modern parenting’ whinge is about children not walking to school. Jacquelyn Collins explains exactly why he’s wrong, and why parents are right to be concerned for the safety of their children on the school run. Mike Hosking is a keen and frequent participant in the popular modern pastime of reminding parents that … Read more
Former Auckland Grammar headmaster John Morris recently warned that ‘genuine education’ is in danger of being replaced by reforms amounting to ‘social engineering’. School principal Marama Stewart responds. As demonstrated by the intense competition to live in certain Auckland neighbourhoods, New Zealand continues to place great value on a traditional education. Auckland Grammar is still … Read more
Studies show high levels of racial bias and discrimination in schools continues to disadvantage Māori and Pasifika children. Some say a new initiative has already yielded results but isn’t getting the support it needs. The Ministry of Education has told the government it could achieve a “step change” in Māori children’s achievement by tackling their … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Meth pamphlet at high school sparks furious debate, historical police inaction on sexual assault revealed, and NZ misses out on steel tariff exemption. Massey High School in Auckland has come under fire, for distributing a meth education pamphlet that some parents believe condones drug use. The NZ Herald reports … Read more
Opinion: Some would have you believe that charter schools are the only ones transforming education for Māori and Pasifika children. That’s just not true, argues Laures Park. Success for all tamariki is the aim of education. It’s what their parents, their whānau, their teachers and their communities all want. But claims that charter schools are … Read more
Children are the real winners now that National Standards have gone, according to primary principals and teachers. So what will schools be getting up to in the brave new world of 2018? Kirsten Warner looks for answers. “It’s been six years and we’ve just been so unhappy this whole time,” reads the celebratory email from … Read more
Set by the previous government, a one-size-fits-all proficiency target simplifies a complex picture of school success. Martine Udahemuka of market-oriented think tank the New Zealand Initiative explains how the new education minister can improve on the current system. With a new government comes opportunities to shake up a long-entrenched status quo. Nowhere is this more … Read more
Is Auckland in crisis over transport, housing, schools, you name it, or are we heading in the right direction? The answer, says Simon Wilson, is yes. The city voted both ways. Here’s what it really needs from the new government. We are two cities living as one, and each of those cities sees the place … Read more
Jai Breitnauer speaks to her sons’ primary school principal Riki Teteina about teaching in New Zealand and the teacher shortage Bill English says doesn’t exist. This is our final piece on The Spinoff Parents this week about education. We think it’s such an important topic for parents that it deserves this much attention. Monday, we … Read more
When you work at a decile one high school, you’re confronted with the realities of child poverty on a daily basis. Details of this article have been changed to protect privacy. It’s intended to show the challenges confronting students in low-income communities like Manurewa and therefore leaves unsaid the enormous achievements of the school and … Read more
Better than algebra! The Greens’ Chlöe Swarbrick and Labour’s Jacinda Ardern talk personal aspirations and politics with students at an Auckland inner-city school. Jacinda Ardern told the students at ACG Senior College this week she got saddled with a nickname when she entered parliament: “Socialist Cindy”. She hates being called Cindy, although her mother has … Read more
Two women teachers who were sexually harassed by male students have resigned following ‘considerable distress’. Here a parent writes of her dismay at the way the college has dealt with the incident and the message it sends to young men. Two women teachers at St Patrick’s Silverstream who were sexually harassed by male students who … Read more
Sacred Heart College opened its music-focused School of Imagination last week. Play It Strange CEO Mike Chunn says it a guiding light for how schools can nurture and embrace creativity. The opening of the School of Imagination at Sacred Heart College last week is the great leap forward for the creative pursuits of the young … Read more
Education in New Zealand is obsessed with assessment and ticking the right boxes, and not doing the Wrong Thing. A new book argues in favour of positive disobedience as practised and taught by that apparent figure of authority: the teacher. It’s late at night. Outside you can hear the hum of commuters as they make their … Read more
School libraries are a sanctuary and safe place for many children. Here Sarah Forster, co-creator of the amazing children’s literature website The Sapling, lists the things all parents should know about school librarians. I spent a LOT of time in school libraries as a kid. Remember the index cards in those fit-for-purpose filing cabinets? Remember … Read more
For many parents, the new school term marks the beginning of a new era in the life of their child. Mum and kindergarten teacher Donna Eden has some words of encouragement for parents whose children are starting school. Starting school is a big milestone in the life of our littlies and us as parents. Often … Read more
When it was scrapped in 2000, teachers and parents thought they’d seen the last of bulk funding, the hugely unpopular scheme for funding schools. Now it might be back. Donna Eden, a teacher with 20 years’ experience and a mother of two, explains why that’s a terrible idea. The first I knew about this bulk … Read more
We’re in the middle of the single biggest democratic act in the land and there’s hardly been a ripple about it. Paul Brislen issues a clarion call to New Zealanders – or at least those with kids at school Every three years we, as a nation, get to make this decision and what we decide … Read more