Ngā mihi o te ata
Welcome to Term 2. I hope everyone recharged over the break.
Last week, the Minister of Education, Hon Erica Stanford announced six education priorities, focused on lifting achievement. The Minister also made a pre-budget announcement of $67 million to support structured literacy to change the way children learn to read. These announcements echoed changes already underway such as teaching one hour a day of reading, writing and maths in primary and intermediate schools, and phones away for the day (in effect from the start of this term).
You can read the two press releases here:
Education priorities focused on lifting achievement – Beehive.govt.nz
Transforming how our children learn to read – Beehive.govt.nz
If you have any feedback or questions, please get in touch with your local Te Mahau office.
This afternoon, Associate Minister of Education Hon David Seymour will make an announcement about attendance data. A special bulletin will be circulated later today with information relating to this announcement.
Heoi anō tāku mō nāianei
Iona
$67 million for structured teaching approaches
On 2 May the Minister confirmed $67 million to support structured teaching approaches. This includes new funding for professional learning and development (PLD) in structured teaching approaches over the next four years as well as funding towards classroom resources.
To read the Minister’s announcement, visit:
Transforming how our children learn to read – Beehive.govt.nz
Read more about this on Tāhūrangi:
Reprioritising professional learning towards structured approaches to teaching
As part of our goal to strengthen students’ foundational skills, we will be providing professional learning development (PLD) and targeted supports consistent with structured approaches to learning (as per the Minister’s recent announcement referred to above).
A range of those evidence-based resources and supports are already available, with more currently in development. Read more about existing supports here:
What this means for Reading Recovery and Early Literacy Support
To make sure that the supports available to you are consistent with evidence-based practices, we are not going to continue funding alternative approaches to literacy learning. That means that this is the last year we will be funding Reading Recovery & Early Literacy Support (RR&ELS) intervention. That funding will instead be put towards the design and delivery of support that uses structured approaches to teaching. Tier 2 early literacy support supports will continue to be available from 2025, so that students have access to the help they need to build their literacy skills.
The intentional replacement of RR&ELS with targeted and tailored supports that use a structured literacy approach, is to ensure that all staff – including support and specialist staff – are able to use the same approach when supporting small group and individual students. This will maximise the opportunity to reinforce and deepen classroom learning.
If you are currently using RR&ELS, please keep uploading your data into Salesforce, so that we can continue to use it to inform future literacy supports – your Reading Recovery tutors will continue to help you do this.
Attendance: Refreshed health guidance available
Refreshed health guidance released by Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora is now available (and linked to our website) to help decide if a learner is well enough to attend school | kura, including learners experiencing anxiety.
The guidance is to support discussions with parents and caregivers about absence, the importance of minimising disruptions to learning and positive re-entry to learning after sickness:
Government creates establishment board for charter schools
Associate Minister of Education Hon David Seymour has announced the Charter School | Kura Hourua Establishment Board to guide the formation of the charter school model, so that the first schools | kura can open in 2025.
Charter schools will provide educators with greater autonomy and create diversity in our education system, with the aim of raising overall educational achievement, especially for students who are underachieving or disengaged from the current system.
The policy applies to new schools, or state or state-integrated schools that wish to convert to become charter schools. The board will work with us on key decisions relating to the establishment and ongoing functions of this charter school model.
Read more about the announcement here:
Government creates establishment board for charter schools – New Zealand Government
Salary assessment applications
Education Payroll Limited (EPL) has advised that applications are currently taking 22 working days to be completed if all required information is included and certified. This will take longer where the application does not include all the required information and certifications.
Issues with the online tool, which prevented applications from progressing, are being fixed and additional staff have been assigned by us and EPL to progress the processing of applications and respond to a large volume of enquiries. The teams continue to work overtime to complete assessments. Schools with multiple applications in the system have been contacted by us to help them work through their applications. This has resulted in over 600 applications being progressed in the last 2 weeks. For questions about the status of applications, or salary assessment generally please contact EPL on 0508 668 6729 (option 3).
We have also moved approximately 300 teachers who were on the unqualified pay scale to step 1 of the trained scale, while their full assessment is completed. Pay increases for these teachers, including backpay, were paid in pay runs on 16 and 30 April. Beginning teachers, who are registered, continue to be prioritised for salary assessments. Contact [email protected] if you have a beginning teacher who has not received an uplift in their pay.
Centrally funded wellbeing support remains open
Information about accessing the online wellbeing supports has moved from our Te Mahau website to the education.govt.nz website. Gold Star, an interactive online programme, will remain open until 30 June to all staff in state and state-integrated schools and kura.
Term 2 teacher-only day coming up
This term, between 27 May and 7 June, schools | kura are able to hold a teacher-only day for curriculum and assessment change planning.
School High Health Needs Fund
When students | ākonga have a high health need and care, and support is needed for more than 6 weeks, an application to this fund may be appropriate. The School High Health Needs Fund (SHHNF) supports ākonga health needs at school | kura while helping them learn to manage their own care needs to the best of their ability.
We have updated our website as follows:
Apply for the School High Health Needs Fund
Apply to extend ākonga time in the School High Health Needs Fund
Before starting an application, refer to the website so you are using the latest form.
If we receive an incomplete application the educator will be sent an email advising it has not been accepted and noting what else is required, including being asked to resubmit a fully completed application.
The SHHNF is not available to support ākonga learning. There are other services and supports available in the education system to help with learning.
Pourato update
Pourato ‘Summary’ tab
Pourato now includes a ‘summary’ tab on the navigation bar. This tab tells you what staffing or funding has changed and where to look in Pourato following an event or email notification.
Pourato online workshops
The Pourato online workshops have been popular and additional hui have been set up for principals who were unable to attend in Term 1.
The workshops will cover resourcing information, important staffing and funding updates in Pourato and useful tips.
Learning support coordinator payroll coding
Termly payroll check processes will no longer be completed for LSC FTTE.
LSC designated employing schools | kura will need to continue to check they are employing their LSC on the S13 designation code in accordance with their allocated FTTE. This should be done in Edpay.
If you are not an LSC designated employing school | kura, you should not code on the LSC S13 designation code. This is because you will be employing FTTE for which your school | kura will not be receiving LSC staffing.
If you are unsure about your employing arrangements, contact your local Te Mahau office.
New property maintenance guide
A new maintenance guide for schools | kura is available to read or download at:
Developed by BRANZ (Building Research Association of New Zealand), in consultation with us, the guide provides information on how to plan and carry out regular basic maintenance of school buildings. It includes maintenance plan templates, which you can use to develop your own plans.
National Education Outside the Classroom coordinator database
Ensure your Education Outside the Classroom (EOTC) coordinator, or person who holds responsibility for EOTC from your school | kura, is registered on the National EOTC coordinator database. The database supports the EOTC coordinator to:
- notify changes to good practice as it relates to EOTC safety management
- actively build capability within the EOTC coordinator role and ultimately the capability of the school | kura to provide quality EOTC.
The free database initiative is a mechanism that all schools and kura can take advantage of, with registration identified as an element of good practice.
You may want to add your SENCO as well as inclusive education supports for EOTC often communicated through the database too.
Implementation of variation to the Primary Teachers’ Collective Agreement 2023–2025
The PTCA was implemented by Education Payroll Limited on 30 April (pay period 3). The variation is backdated to 3 July 2023 and includes increases to the base salary scale and alignment of the salary qualification group descriptors.
