"Student success is vital. It opens doors to life's best opportunities and allows school graduates to contribute positively to society," Shore told CathNews.

Acknowledging that the factors impacting state schools also affect Catholic schools, he remains optimistic that attendance numbers will improve. Shore's comments follow an earlier statement by the head of New South Wales Catholic schools, Dallas McInerney, who warned of the potential for school attendance not to return to its pre-pandemic norm.

"Government regulations meant our students were physically isolated from their peers and teachers.

"Too many were exposed to heightened levels of health and economic unease, through the media and in their homes," McInerney commented last week.

"There is a lasting effect on school attendance.

"We know that the workforce has not, and perhaps will not, return to pre-COVID levels of at-work attendance, and the same is true of students in NSW."

Shore acknowledges that areas worst hit by poverty and deprivation also suffer the most from truancy, and low attendance rates could result in several adverse outcomes such as a low-skilled workforce, poor social and relationship skills, and a perpetuating cycle of poverty and deprivation.

However, he added that an advantage of being a state-integrated school is that all support provided to state schools is available for Catholic schools as well.

Shore observed that historically, pre-pandemic data showed the attendance rate in Catholic schools was about 5-6% higher.

He attributes the difference to the community-shared values and beliefs that encourage strong relationships between home and school.

Catholic schools have generally been successful in creating powerful bonds with parents.

Citing a case in Northland where community support has boosted attendance rates, he said "Successful partnerships between schools, local iwi and the use of truancy officers is a recipe that works."

Minister of Education, Jan Tinetti, acknowledges the negative effect that Covid-19 has had on school attendance.

Facing criticism for a $1m advertising campaign that did not increase school attendance, Tinetti told the NZ Herald on Wednesday that improving school attendance is multi-faceted.

She said that the Ministry of Education is using a range of initiatives to encourage children back to school, and engaging with the broader community, such as parents and employers, is a necessary part of the solution.

Reinforcing the multi-faceted approach, Tinetti told NewstalkZB's Mike Hosking, "Every single initiative and effort they've made (the Ministry of Education) is making a difference."

Independently, Shore echoed Tinetti's Covid comments to CathNews, saying the pandemic has introduced many 'downstream' complications, such as students working to support families during tough times, disruptions causing students to disengage from education and fall behind in their studies, and poverty affecting access to schooling.

Shore is encouraged by Catholic schools and their pastoral support processes that focus on human dignity and which help create respectful and inclusive environments, fostering a sense of belonging.

Sources

• CathNews
• NZ Herald
• NewstalkZB
• Supplied

On April 17, The Minister of Education Jan Tinetti announced class ratios in Years 4 to 8 will be reduced from 1 teacher to 29 students to 1 teacher to 28 students.

Shore says reducing the ratio by one student is unlikely to significantly impact state-integrated schools.

However, he concedes in some cases it is possible new classrooms will have to be built, adding that, if that were the case, the government would meet the bulk of the cost.

The agreement signed in 2016 between the Association of Proprietors of Integrated Schools (APIS) and the Secretary of Education outlines the Government's commitment to fund to a minimum of 85 percent of additional property costs resulting from any future education policy changes.

"Proprietors can feel assured that the Government will be required to fund this to at least 85 percent of the cost," Shore says.

APIS has promised to communicate with stakeholders as further information comes to hand.

Tinetti says the smaller classes will improve education outcomes for students as a response to the current concerns over falling achievement levels in literacy and numeracy.

By the beginning of 2025, class ratios for years 4 to 8 will move from 1:29 to 1:28, she says.

This will result in an extra 320 full-time teachers in primary and intermediate schools nationwide. Half these teachers will be in classrooms from next year.

Sources

• Supplied
• RNZ

Those in South Auckland look to be particularly affected by the new equity index, especially those with Pasifika students, it claims.

Mangere's De La Salle College, for instance, is reportedly likely to lose about $100,000 in annual funding. That's more than $100 a student at the former decile 1 school.

The Treasury warned the Government about this outcome, the article says. It suggested the Government increase funding to help low decile schools. The Government rejected the advice.

Most schools seem likely to benefit though. About 90 percent have been told their funding would increase under the new equity index.

The New Zealand Catholic Education Office (NZCEO) says the report about the new funding scheme's impact on De La Salle College is disappointing.

At this stage, NZCEO isn't willing to comment further as it's had no direct contact from Catholics schools about the week-old scheme.

"That is something that we will be seeking from the Ministry of Education so we can look at the sector as a whole", says Kevin Shore, NZCEO chief executive.

The equity index

The equity index will distribute a pool of nearly $240 million. It replaces the near 30-year-old decile system.

The index is based on analysis of every student's circumstance in each school.

A statistical model analyses the extent to which a school's students might face socio-economic barriers that could get in the way of their achieving at school.

This considers the impact of 37 socio-economic factors linked to NCEA levels 1 and 2 achievement, Shore explains.

"There are four types of measures - (a) parent socio-economic factors, (b) child socio-economic factors, (c) national background and (d) transience.

"It uses the circumstances and results of past students to understand the barriers current students are facing based on their circumstances.

"I have met with the team who were designing and developing this tool and it seemed to be very comprehensive and, from the outside, something that would identify those students most in need.

"The model looks at cohorts of children from the last 20 years who have already passed through the school system," he explains.

Shore says there should be no bias in the application of the EQI across state- and state-integrated schools if the index is applied impartially.

The new funding model effects

"I have no evidence to suggest that there are any issues specific to Catholic schools in the application of the index," he says.

Nor does he have information regarding whether the very positive achievement outcomes of many Catholic schools has resulted in a negative impact on the EQI and a resulting loss of funding.

Shore says he would need to see summary data on the EQI for Catholic schools across the country to be able to analyse this.

Any policy that increases inequity is a concern. NZCEO will continue to seek information on the impact of the EQI, he says.

The Ministry of Education says schools that lose funding would be provided transition support.

The EQI replaces the controversial decile system of funding schools.

"The EQI uses anonymised individual-level information from the actual students attending schools over the last three years," he says.

"The information is then aggregated up to a school level to give a more nuanced and up-to-date picture of the socio-economic barriers faced by the schools' students."

Shore says the move away from the current decile system will be welcomed by many since the decile system has become a de facto measurement of school "quality".

That's actually a fallacy - it's not what the decile system was set up for, he points out.

"The decile system was intended to help understand and respond to the relationship between socio-economic circumstances and student achievement.

"Whether the removal of deciles and the use of the EQI will change this perception and support schools in changing current views linking decile to quality will take time to assess."

Shore notes that within the country's state-integrated education network there are many examples of low-decile, high quality schools.

"This is something that we should take great pride in and celebrate with these schools."

State integrated schools "show us how important it is to have high expectations of our young ones, and to value strong community collaboration and action within our schools".

They also show us the value of beliefs that empower and enhance the dignity of each child, and the teachers who want each child to be the best possible version of themselves, he says.

Source

• NZCEO

The funding package was announced in late 2019 but applied only to state schools.

Last year, state-integrated schools' proprietors filed papers in the High Court seeking a judicial review of Education Minister Chris Hipkins's decision to leave them out.

The preliminary court hearing was delayed and rescheduled to take place in early March, rather than last month as was originally arranged, New Zealand Catholic Education Office (NZCEO) associate chief executive Paul Ferris (pictured) says.

"The Crown Law office asked to extend the time for the hearing, while they sourced some documents," he says.

The Association of Proprietors of Integrated Schools' view is that the government should have included them in the handout because state-integrated schools are entitled to the money as much as any other state school.

Unlike state schools, however, state-integrated schools can charge attendance dues to cover costs not provided by the state.

Ferris says: "This is not a matter of discretion, this is a legal entitlement that we have under the agreements we have with the government on integration."

"In the Catholic space, we give the government the use of $2.6 billion dollars worth of property to use rent-free every year and the government agree to maintain it to a similar standard to a similar state school and if they spend it on a state school, they should be spending it on a state-integrated school."

Back in 2019 Hipkins defended the government's stand, saying integrated schools were already getting more than $65million to upgrade and modernise buildings, under existing policy for 2020. He also noted integrated school proprietors could charge attendance dues.

The Association of Proprietors of Integrated Schools' response was that if other state schools can get double funding in this regard, integrated schools should too. There is an agreement with the Crown that they be treated the same way.

Last year, Hipkins said he was hopeful of finding a solution early in 2021.

Citing lack of funding because of Covid-related issues, Hipkins now says "any initiative to accelerate upgrades of state-integrated schools will now need to be considered as part of decision-making for Budget 2021."

Ferris says: "We remain committed to the principle that state-integrated schools were to be maintained in an equivalent manner to state schools, and, no matter where the funding is generated from, the Government has an obligation to fund our schools in the same way.

"Covid responsibilities continue to focus on the minister.

"This makes the wider education sector appear to take second place to the challenges created by his duties with Covid management."

A statement of defence from the Education Minister was filed last year, in response to the schools' court action.

The NZCEO indicated last year that after negotiations, the Ministry of Education "recommended the settlement we had worked towards."

Source

• NZ Catholic
• RNZ
• Image: New Zealand Catholic Education Office