Roncalli College is one of two Timaru secondary schools unable to accept new enrolments for next year. Their enrolment books are closed. One – Craighead Diocesan School – must even shed pupils. Like Roncalli College, Craighead Diocesan is a special character school. And like Roncalli, Craighead has had to close its books to new enrolments Read more
Secondary school rolls all over the country are bursting. Catholic schools and state schools alike. There’s been a steady increase in roll numbers, according to the Ministry of Education. Immigrants boost school rolls An immigration-driven surge in enrolments is adding to the pressure. The national school roll is now topping 831,038 children. In Invercargill, Catholic Read more
Gloriavale School is under review by the Education Review Office, the Ministry of Education has confirmed. Serenity Pilgrim, Anna Courage, Rose Standtrue, Crystal Loyal, Pearl Valor and Virginia Courage took Gloriavale’s leaders to court, arguing they lived in servitude working on the West Coast commune’s domestic teams and were not community volunteers. Last week, Employment Read more
The Education Review Office (ERO) has slammed alternative education for at-risk teens. The programme is underfunded and under-performs, it says. It wants the system overhauled and additional funding provided. Responding to the need for extra funding, Alan Blackie, chair of the Marist Alternative Education Centre in Glenfield, said additional funding would be very welcome. “Only Read more
Contrary to reports in the UK Daily Mail, the Catholic Church in New Zealand says no evidence suggests the teacher involved in the disciplinary tribunal case belonged to a Catholic school. When approached for comment, David McLoughlin, Communications Adviser for the New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference, said nothing in the Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal decision or Read more
St Peter’s College school board chair should resign, the school principal says. The Ministry of Education placed the Gore Catholic school under statutory management at the end of last month. Principal Tara Quinney (pictured) says she has no confidence in the school’s board chair, Ruth Mitchell, to lead. She says she has a dysfunctional relationship Read more
St Peter’s College in Gore has been placed in limited statutory management. The move “in no way suggests closure,” the Education Ministry says. The state-integrated year 7 to 15 co-educational Catholic school has about 450 pupils. Ministry of Education leader for the South, Nancy Bell, directed a limited statutory manager’s (LSM) appointment on 5 April. Read more
Streaming students by ability in schools is racist, researchers say. Yet streaming continues. This is despite evidence suggesting mixed-ability classes are more successful. Amid a long-term push away from ability grouping, both the Ministry of Education and the Government support think tank Tokona Te Raki – Māori Futures Collective aim to stop this. In a Read more
Students are missing out and their learning is suffering in New Zealand schools; Covid and its after-effects are taking their toll. Students are leaving school without qualifications, says Kevin Shore, Catholic Education Office CEO. Catholic school principals tell him of former pupils working instead of coming to school. They’re helping with stressed family finances. Others Read more
Truancy in New Zealand schools has reached a “crisis” point. More than 60,000 students are “chronically absent” from schools nationally. According to the Ministry of Education, chronically absent means the students are missing at least three learning days a fortnight. The ministry also reports that almost 40% of students are not going to school regularly. Read more