Submissions

30 March 2005

Freepost Schooling Strategy Responses

C/- Ministry of Education

PO Box 1666

Wellington

Making a Big Difference for all Students: Directions for a Schooling Strategy

Rural Women New Zealand appreciates the opportunity to comment on the directions for a schooling strategy. Our submission is in response to rural education issues in particular.

Q 3c

How can all teachers and school leaders, especially those in small schools, participate in professional communities which contribute to sustained improvements in student outcomes?

•  Teaching staff in small rural and remote schools have the challenge of teaching a wide range of ages and abilities (eg Yr 0 – 8 in one classroom) with minimal professional support. In order to maintain and improve the education delivery in these schools the following need to be implemented:

•  equitable opportunity to access national curriculum contracts eg assistance with travel costs, relief teachers

•  improved support from educational agencies, supported by funding and resourcing eg Resource Teacher Literacy

•  access to a robust advisory service that is delivered at the school, and fully funded from within the Ministry

•  improved access to educational resources, including funding to support it eg out of hours music/art classes funding

•  equitable resourcing to enable staff to participate in mentor groups/support groups/cluster groups

•  resources to enable principals to attend the Rural Principals Conference annually

•  strategies and resources that help the transition ‘to school', and ‘from school to school'

2.   Small rural schools to be staffed at a minimum of 2.0 FTTE (not 1.3 as at present) which will provide the following benefits:

•  provide a safer working environment eg one staff member at school when an accident occurs – who goes with the child, who stays with the other children

•  make it easier for Boards of Trustees to appoint full-time staff rather than continually seeking for a 0.3 part-timer and/or occasional relievers

•  reduce the risk of professional isolation

•  reduce cost of relievers, and need to find relievers for professional development

•  provide a wider range of teacher skills, team teaching, and multi level organization options

Q 3d

What are the implications of this Priority for school leaders and boards?

1. inequity of access will mean inequity in the delivery of education eg many rural school, currently, are missing out on contracts and support services because of the cost to access/deliver

Q4a

For beginner teachers, what areas of knowledge, skill, practice, and beliefs need to be strengthened most?

1. the importance of ICT use, delivery and technical knowledge as an educational tool
2. management of time eg paper compliance versus teaching children

Q6a

How do we build and use knowledge about effective school-home links that are feasible for busy teachers and families/whanau, and are clearly focused on meeting student learning needs?

1. be responsive to parent involvement
2. encourage ‘open' schools

Q6b

How can other potential contributors support these links?

1. Encourage partnerships between local businesses, iwi and community groups to use any appropriate experiences, skills, expertise available

Q7a

How can capability among teachers, specialists, school leaders, teacher educators, researchers and government be strengthened to use, share, and develop knowledge about practices which support learning for diverse students?

1. To consider a wider range of governance and leadership models that enable rural schools and rural communities to decide what suits them eg a community elected commissioner rather than a full BoT; one Principal for a cluster of schools, with senior leaders supporting
2. To consider opportunities for more clustering/collaboration/shared governance that reduces parent/trustee workload eg one BoT for several schools
3. Increased resourcing and opportunity for School Administration Support Clusters for rural schools. This concept is proving very successful and has huge potential.
4. Encourage collaboration and co-operation between schools, not competition
5. The Principals Professional Learning Communities be extended to include teachers

Q10a

How are families and whanau maintaining relationships with teachers, schools, and specialists which help teachers and schools to meet the learning needs of students?

1. Parents support teachers in the classroom by:

• providing transport eg EOTC, sports days, technology days
• reading lessons
• specific skills eg technology, languages, music

2. Parents assist as volunteers within the school

•  in libraries

•  coaching/training eg sports teams, debating

3. Parents and community groups assist with raising funds for additional resources eg swimming pools, computers, play/sport equipment

4. Parents are informed of student progress eg reports, interviews

Q 12b

How might additional resources best be allocated to support improved student outcomes?

1. Increased incentives to recruit and retain quality staff in rural schools through the following:
• carry out a full review of what it actually costs to run a small rural school then develop a funding formula that adjusts accordingly
• increase to Staffing Incentive Allowance (SIA) as a way of encouraging teachers to apply for rural school positions – given directly to schools affected, not by application only
• introduce incremental SIA allowances for continuous rural school teaching
• increase the Targeted Funding for Isolation (TFI) so that BoTs are adequately funded to enable staff to access quality PD and curriculum contracts
• consider other incentives for remote and SIA/TFI schools such as subsidised schoolhouse rentals, travel assistance, bonus payment on completion of 3 years, etc.

2. Increase minimum staffing of our smallest schools to 2.0 FTTE, as follows:

•  staffing to include all management components and professional development reliever component

•  2.0 staffing to have flexibility to be used for some time for administration/secretarial tasks eg as much as .5

•  allocate a management unit (1MU) for all U1 schools

3. Significantly increase the Operations Grant to recognise the real costs of running a rural school, and to recognise the hard working efforts of voluntary parents/trustees so that these people feel valued and respected, and in a position to provide curriculum and PD support for their teachers, and make meaningful enhancements to the learning environment.

Thank you for the opportunity to provide these comments.

Yours faithfully,

Maggie Bayfield

Executive Officer