Local support key for schools, says Peachey

Allan Peachey says he always aimed to make the schools he led the first choice in their area. Picture / Martin Sykes

Allan Peachey, the MP whose "knife in your back" email made headlines, says a measure of a school's success is how much local support it gets.

In an oblique reference to Selwyn College, in Auckland's affluent eastern bays, National's associate education spokesman said that in his 16 years as a principal he aimed for his school to be the first choice in his area.

Selwyn, a school with a multi-cultural roll and an accent on the arts, is struggling to attract pupils from the wealthier sections of its zone.

The college has received anonymous criticism in a letter - also sent to the Weekend Herald - signed "Friends of Selwyn" which gives perceptions about why many parents and students prefer other schools.

And Meadowbank Primary School principal Peter Ayson has said parents are wary of enrolling their children at Selwyn. Kohimarama Primary declined to comment.

Mr Peachey - who apologised this month for adding "P. S. Yes I do have a knife in your back, so be careful" to an email declining Selwyn co-principal Carol White's invitation to the school's awards - said he didn't know anyone who was part of the Friends of Selwyn group.

Although he didn't want to comment expressly about Selwyn, he said: "From time to time you get major dislocations in communities when a school doesn't reflect the aspirations and the ambitions, values and standards of the community."

If the schools he led (Hawkes Bay's decile 2 William Colenso High School, and North Shore's decile 10 Rangitoto College) weren't first choice for most in their vicinity "then I shouldn't be in the job".

Mr Peachey, who resigned as principal of Rangitoto (68 per cent Pakeha) to enter politics, rejected racism as a factor.

"I don't think it's about race, I think it is about aspiration. I think the challenge for politicians like myself is how do we create a situation in which the local state school is the outstanding school for those who live in the immediate [area]."

"You can't talk about school choice unless you are choosing between excellent schools ... If [parents] choose to go somewhere else other than the local state school it needs to be for reasons other than the quality of the school. To me that's the utopian objective I would aim for in any schooling policy."

He said Tamaki College, at the lowest end of the one to 10 socio-economic decile rating, gave the lie to "all the excuses some people make for why schools are not successful".

It was doing "superbly well because it's got outstanding leadership, outstanding teaching, emphasis on success and academic results, on sport and music and expectations as to how students behave. It's very, very simple".

Charmaine Pountney, a former head of Auckland Girls Grammar and Waikato University's School of Education, urges parents to visit Selwyn before making judgments. She said the college got results when viewed from a value-added perspective, its top students achieving top standards nationally, and the school often performing miracles with pupils who entered with very limited academic achievement.

She believed racism and misunderstanding educational statistics were factors. "I know from experience the power of rumour and gossip about schools which have large numbers of students from other than middle-class Pakeha and European backgrounds."

Some parents were anxious that ethnically diverse schools would have lower standards than "a decile 10 white-and-gold public school, or a private one" and looked at raw exam results without knowing whether a pupil spoke English or was literate when they arrived at the school.

The anonymous letter claimed Selwyn's problems included disrespectful students, failure to set and enforce clear behavioural standards, focus on students in the performing arts and applied learning streams to detriment of others, and "a lack of facilities, equipment and physical environment ... in keeping with the needs, demands and expectations of a modern and progressive school".

A member of Friends of Selwyn, who did not want to be named, said the group of about 24 people was set up to help with fundraising, managing and coaching sports teams and the like. A minority within the group had an agenda to force change.

Co-principal Paul Williams said the college did not want to comment.

SELWYN COLLEGE

Roll
1068 pupils, 82 teachers
Ethnic makeup
Pakeha 38%, Maori 9%, European 7%, Chinese 7%, Tongan 4%, Samoan 4%, Middle Eastern 3%, Slavic 2%, Niuean 2%, Indian 2%, Sri Lankan 2%, Cook Island 1%, African 1%, Other Asian 16%, Other 2%
Education Review Office 2004 Report
Generally positive. It said the school's culture was based on tolerance, fairness and respect and that it catered well for the diverse needs of students. Areas for improvement included motivation of students and meeting needs of all in mixed-ability classes.