Todd McClay: New initiative will help Rotorua schools

Rotorua MP Todd McClay

The new school year is starting, with our children heading back to the classroom. If your home is anything like mine, getting the kids out of bed and ready for school is taking a little extra effort after the summer holidays.

Education is the gateway to opportunity. Doing well at school lays the foundations for a lifetime of success. From kindergarten or kohanga reo to the day we leave school, educational excellence is essential in every part of our community.

National is working hard to ensure all our young people have the opportunity to engage in learning that meets their needs and is the best they can get. That is why Rotorua is the first place in New Zealand to run a new education programme that brings schools together with the community to raise achievement through co-operation and a focus on the educational needs of the child. The Rotorua Educational Initiative, Excel, is about putting the children of Rotorua first.

We are making great progress here and around the country with kids starting earlier in education, staying longer, and leaving better qualified.

There will be more than 60,000 new entrants starting school this year, and we want every single one to have the chance to do their very best and grow up to be successful in life.

This would not be possible without our dedicated teaching profession, our school leaders, and the parents and whanau who make sure their kids are attending early childhood education (ECE) or school, and support their learning at home.

I am hugely impressed by the dedication and passion of Rotorua's teachers. Our schools are doing a good job, with local teachers being at the heart of this achievement.

Over the past six years we have increased ECE funding to its highest level ever, to get more young Kiwis into education earlier, and provide more targeted services to best suit communities that need them the most. At school we introduced National Standards, so we would have better data to help identify where more effort and resources need to be focused to raise achievement.

And now we are investing in supporting our great teachers and principals, and their practices, across communities of schools.

National's $359 million "Investing in Educational Success" initiative will lift achievement in schools by helping them share their best resources - their best teachers and principals. Children will benefit from shared teaching practices and expertise.

Evidence shows quality of education and school leadership are the two most important factors in a child's education, so we are investing in these areas.

We want to see greater collaboration among schools, improved transition through the education system for children, and better career pathways for teachers.

The first 11 communities of schools will begin working together this year, across different areas of the country. Together they cover 38,000 students from primary, secondary, intermediate and area schools.

This year Rotorua will see an increased focus on trades training. The Rotorua Trades Academy, established at Waiariki Technical Institute, is going from strength to strength. Last year, we announced 3000 new places for Maori trades training and Rotorua is in line to get its fair share.

An unrelenting focus on high-quality school education backed up by solid hands-on trade training will lead to better outcomes for our young people and their families.

The Government is making sure all children have their very best shot at succeeding in education by improving the quality of teaching and leadership in our schools.

All parents want to see their children lead happy, successful lives. National believes giving every child the best education possible will help achieve that.