Raising achievement rates of Maori and Pacific Islanders

Credit to Kieran Meredith, 16 as he takes matters into his own hands to deal with the achievement rates of Maori and Pacific Islanders, whom he said the current school system was failing. Some pass rates are as low as a quarter of the national average.
It is good to hear that the scheme has been identified and seems to be gaining traction through enthusiasm from different colleges and schools. Perhaps this ‘grassroots’ initiatives is the way to address this issue rather than Government dealing with it from the top down.
But how do you turn a single school success story into a national drive toward success?

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D9 Teacher Newsletter Term1

From the Editor,

Here is the Term 1 2011 newsletter. I hope you will find some useful links to resources and materials to assist you in the classroom. Many thanks to those of you who have provided relieving days to D9 Teacher, your ongoing support is greatly appreciated.

Partner School
St Matthew’s School sits in the heart of Hastings. It’s 130+ pupils range from Year 0 to 8. The noise and disruption of renovations to the church are coming to an end and the buildings are looking fantastic. Their motto is "teach our children to use the right path, and when they are older they will remain on it" Proverbs 22:6 and achieve this by offering high quality values and curriculum based education within a special character context.


Resources
Sparklebox 1000s of FREE teaching resources for Early Years Foundation Stage and Key Stage One Primary School teachers.
Essential Resources: Reading Comprehension with Attitude!
Capture their attention. This high-interest reading programme is the result of a teacher's search for comprehension activities that have real meaning for students and link strongly with higher order thinking skills.


Vancancies
Te Mata Primary School (3 positions) – New Entrants- Applications close 8 April 2011
Taradale Intermediate - Fixed-term Scale A maternity leave - Applications close 15 April 2011
Eskdale School - Y4–5 class LTR maternity leave - Applications close TBC
St Patrick's School - Senior teacher Y3–4 1PMU + 1FTU - Applications close Monday 4 April


Useful Links
Education News: Educating the Dragon this blog offers opinions and discussion around the educational issues of the day.

New Zealand Curriculum Update 6 - Illustrations supporting the National Standards(PDF, 4 MB) This Update focuses on the illustrations that support the National Standards for reading, writing, and mathematics and how teachers can use them.
 
 
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Mummy? ... Mummy?... Mummmmmmy!!!!!

Apparently, it takes Children's Commissioner John Angus a full investigation to determine that under one’s are best cared for at home. I could have saved a lot of time and money and just given him my Gran’s telephone number, she’d have told him.
Also the report stated that the ratio of staff member to child should be lowered. Again another thing my Gran may mention, only two arms per staff member and so much sobbing/ crying/ comforting to be done.
Sure, wouldn’t it be nice if all mum’s could stay at home, look after bubs full time and not have another care in the world. For that matter, wouldn’t it be nice if Dad could do that instead, oh, I mean ‘as well’.
There are about 32,000 children under the age of two in formal early childhood education.
Reality is that many parents need to go back to work, some even prefer to go back to work. Parents who return to work full-time and good parents are two groups that are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Options need to given. Government does not need to provide full-funding for one or the other but some funding offering some choice may be appreciated.
Angus said there was "room for government policy" to better support parents who make a choice to stay at home to care for their child.

There needs to be some fairness to the system. Its no good a mother on one toddler having to go back to work where another of 3 or 4 teenagers can afford to stay home.

“...stop paying parents while thier kids are at school 30 hours per week, they can work .”  

Robymac from the the TVNZ item

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Rewriting New Zealand history

"You know they have suffered as a result of New Zealand's ignorance of who they are, where they came from and their history."

It seems that a correction has been made in the School Journal regarding the origins and characteristics of the Moriori people. And long it has been in coming.
The version of events surrounding this issue appears to still be divided. Long it has been used as an apologists argument to support  ‘natural selection’ process within New Zealand. Argument going something like this: “Don’t witter on the injustice of European occupation of New Zealand over the Maori when you did exactly the same, and worse, to the Moriori centuries before.”
Obviously, using one genocide to argue and debate another is nonsense.
What is past is passed. To be ashamed of, or defend, the decisions and culture of our ancestors is counter-productive. So says I:

• A member of the British Empire, whose people slaughtered ‘ savage natives’ across every continent in the world.
• An Englishman whose people drove the Scots and Irish into famine of the mid 1800’s.
• Whose fore-fathers shed French blood for 100 years through the use of the longbow of the 13th and 14th centuries.
• Of Saxon decent, trampling Picts, Celts and Britons in our bid to reach the ‘western sea’.
• Of Roman decent, whose ancestors conquered the known world and tried desperately to destroy the Christian faith in blood sports of the arena. 
• I am of Homosapien decent, whose descendants out thought, out fought, and out lived the Neanderthal people.

My history, all our history, is riddled with pain, bloodshed, injustice and war. All of it is despicable and incomprehensible against our 21st century sensibilities and ‘political-correctness’. Just let me know in which century I am permitted to cease guilt-ing over the decisions and direction my forbearers took. 
Let us move forward together, having taken the greatest gift our history has to offer...

“Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it”  George Santayana

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PPTA: No secondhand car purchase.

The PPTA are close to reaching a settlement with the Ministry of Education. Is this really still dragging on? I am clearly not one to speak to delicate negotiations, I am more of the "How much do you want for your car? How MUCH? I'll give you half that. Three Quarters? Done!".

"With the situation the country is in at present, it would be good to achieve a settlement and return to some sense of normality" PPTA president Robin Duff said.

You think?
The time for fighting is over and the time has now come to lay side petty, see the big picture... be the better person and agree to a settlement before the whole economic situation changes and negotiations begin for a new pay deal for 2012.
I just hope that the ratification process is merely a formality and we can all return to the business of educating the next generation.
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