schools Archive

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  Miramar South School – Low Decile and High Quality - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  As the debate rages about the proposed merger of two Miramar schools I want to challenge the perception that these schools have a lower quality of education, teaching staff and student behaviour. For the past two years I have been a proud supporter of activities at Miramar South School, presenting books to students and attending [...] read more
  May 31, 2011 10:22 am - 2 Comments
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  National Standards – fake it till you make it? - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  Some school principals have revealed that they are getting some interesting advice from the Ministry of Education about how to incorporate the National Standards into their school charters. The suggestion that they should essentially fake it – by inserting the words “national standards” into their charters, even if they are not actively using them – [...] read more
  May 18, 2011 2:30 pm - 4 Comments
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  School boards join the National Standards debate - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  It’s always nice to wake up to good news, and this morning it was the news that 225 school Boards of Trustees will today deliver the message to the Government that they have no confidence in National Standards, and will defer setting student achievement targets based on the standards for at least a year. read more
  November 3, 2010 10:32 am - 39 Comments
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  PPPs undermine school foundations - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  I was alarmed by the Government’s announcement on Wednesday that it has started pursuing Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) for school buildings. It sounds innocuous but it is the “not so thin” edge of the privitisation wedge in the public education system. The “business case’ Minister Tolley refers to is irrelevant given that the public education [...] read more
  July 23, 2010 10:49 am - 61 Comments
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  Bullying the Anti Bully - by Catherine Delahunty

  
  
  
  The Minister of Education Anne Tolley is quoted in the “Dominion” today attacking the Children’s Commissioner, Cindy Kiro, for releasing a report on the high level of bullying in our schools the day before the schools Summit on violence. Anne Tolley said the timing of the report was wrong because it would dominate the conference. [...] read more
  March 18, 2009 9:35 am - 24 Comments
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  Double the money into private schools but no standards - by Metiria Turei

  
  
  
  Kia ora from the Chamber. We’re debating the Education (National Standards) bill on a sunny Saturday in wellington. The Minister Anne Tolley confirmed that private schools will not be subject to the national standards regime, even where they get public money. QPEC has reported that National is to increase the funding to private schools by [...] read more
  December 13, 2008 10:51 am - 35 Comments
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  You’re free to pay - by frog

  
  
  
  Brian Rudman seems to have found a Labour Party candidate who agrees with Green policy All power to Viv Goldsmith, Labour’s candidate in East Coast Bays, for speaking out against the fiction that school fees are “donations”… Ms Goldsmith, a teacher herself, says she mails off her request for fees to the minister each time [...] read more
  October 31, 2008 1:33 pm - 13 Comments
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  The crusade - by frog

  
  
  
  I see John Key launched a crusade for literacy yesterday. Isn’t a crusade when a bunch of blood thirsty religious zealots go marauding across Europe pillaging and burning villages in the name of god? If something like that arrived in your local school all armoured and brandishing swords and it didn’t inspire kids to read [...] read more
  October 14, 2008 8:59 am - 16 Comments
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  Metiria on education - by frog

  
  
  
  This is Metiria speaking to primary and early childhood teachers and school support staff at the New Zealand Educational Institute on her a Green vision for education in schools: read more
  October 2, 2008 9:47 am - 32 Comments
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  More for school support staff rather than more tests - by frog

  
  
  
  National has come in for some flack over its suggestion that it would introduce national testing and national standards in schools. It doesn’t seem entirely clear that it is introducing national testing, with the media saying yes, and National’s education spokesperson Anne Tolley saying: I am mystified by the Federation’s references to National testing. We [...] read more
  October 2, 2008 9:41 am - 3 Comments
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  A green disabilities policy - by frog

  
  
  
  Earlier this week Metiria released the Greens’ disabilities policy.  It’s a typically detailed policy that covers a wide range of issues, and thus, because it doesn’t deal in flashy tax cuts or giving cops guns it has not received the sort of media attention and public debate that some less considered policies have. (Although the [...] read more
  July 24, 2008 9:30 am - 27 Comments
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  Key’s taxpayer subsidy to wealthy private schools - by frog

  
  
  
  I was quite astonished to see on Agenda that John Key is talking about ‘maybe’ doubling the tax payers’ subsidy to private schools. Key is saying he wants to see the government giving large taxpayer subsidies to private companies in order that they can compete with and undermine important public services. Look at his justification: [...] read more
  April 14, 2008 1:42 pm - 25 Comments
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  The war on obesity - by frog

  
  
  
  Yesterday the government released its response to the Health Select Committee’s inquiry into obesity and type-2 diabetes.  It adopted most, but not all of the recommendations, which led Health Minister David Cunliffe to say: “This Government has made health promotion and disease prevention a priority.” But the somewhat unimpressed Obesity Action Coalition called on the [...] read more
  November 28, 2007 2:15 pm - 32 Comments