Posts Tagged ‘Ministry of Education’

School rolls at peak capacity and still growing

Monday, November 13th, 2023
school rolls

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 under review after Employment Court ruling

Monday, July 24th, 2023

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

Extra funding for alternative education welcomed

Thursday, June 29th, 2023

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

Catholic schools not exempt in support of trans students

Thursday, June 22nd, 2023

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

Gore School Board chair should resign says Catholic principal

Thursday, May 18th, 2023
School Board

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

College placed in limited statutory management

Monday, May 1st, 2023
St Peter's College

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 is racist

Thursday, March 23rd, 2023
streaming students

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

Learning suffers as teachers struggle with Covid’s effects

Monday, August 8th, 2022
Learning suffering

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 at “crisis” point, Catholic schools attendance above average

Monday, August 16th, 2021
Truancy in schools

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

Catholic school welcomes student barred from mainstream classroom

Monday, November 30th, 2020

A seven-year old expelled from school last year has just completed his second week in a mainstream classroom. His transition to Saint Mary’s Catholic School in Putaruru has gone smoothly, says his mother Tracey Lithgow. It’s over a year since Lithgow’s son was expelled from Tokoroa’s Tainui Full Primary School for extensive behavioural issues. For Read more