Whanganui electorate MP Carl Bates and Avon School principal Lisa Hill. Photo / Alyssa Smith
Whanganui electorate MP Carl Bates and Avon School principal Lisa Hill. Photo / Alyssa Smith
“We’re not just education providers. We are health and social workers too. We are the society’s safety blanket and at the moment, that blanket has massive holes.”
A Taranaki primary school principal says she is not happy with the Government’s proposed education changes, and took the opportunity to voice the concerns to her local MP while he was on a school visit on Thursday.
Lisa Hill, principal of Avon School in Stratford said she believed the changes would take education in Aotearoa New Zealand backwards rather than forwards.
“Going back to prescribed workbooks is not what New Zealand education is, we’re going backwards. As a school with a diverse set of students with different learning needs, that won’t work.”
Changes include a structured maths programme and the reintroduction of charter schools, which are government-funded facilities that run their curriculum based on philosophy, culture, or religion.
On Thursday, during Whanganui electorate MP Carl Bates’ visit to the central Taranaki school, Hill shared her concerns with him about the changes and the lack of funding for neuro-diverse students.
The Stratford school, which has a role of 66 students, operates out of three classrooms, with Ministry funding only covering three teachers. The school would need a role of 75 students to receive funding for an extra teacher, said Hill.
“We have our year ones and twos in one class, three, fours and five in the next and year sixes to eight in the last. The board are investigating whether we can fund a fourth teacher next year and looking at ways the funding won’t come out of our school reserve.”
Whanganui electorate MP Carl Bates with principal Lisa Hill and some of the pupils at Avon School in Stratford. Photo / Alyssa Smith
The school board funds two and a half teacher aides through operational funding supplied by the Government. That’s 50% of the school’s teacher aides being funded by the board, not the Government, Hill said.
“We have two teacher aides that the Government fully funds and one that is partially funded. Our school board funds the rest. This means there are other things we’ve stopped doing like bus trips for the pupils and also professional development courses for our teachers. There is a lack of funding to support our neurodiverse pupils.”
She said the school’s teacher aides were important, providing the school’s neurodiverse pupils with additional support, which is why the board decided to fund the extra teacher aide hours.
“They work with our pupils with learning or social barriers so they can actively participate in class. While the teachers teach, the teacher aides support those pupils to help them be successful and engaged with what is going on in the classroom.”
Hill said she felt teachers and principals were not valued.
“We have the Nga Aukaha forum in New Plymouth in September to address the lack of resourcing for our ākonga with special needs or neurodiverse learning needs and not one MP is attending.
“This forum allows teachers and parents to discuss their concerns. We sent out invitations months ago and [the MPs] all said they can’t attend.
Bates said teachers and principals were valued in New Zealand.
“Both the Prime Minister and Minister of Education have been clear they value the work by teachers and principals.”
When asked about fixing the education system, he said the first step was at the core.
“We want to make sure people have the literacy and numeracy skills so they have the skills they need in life to get a job, engage with the world and also organise their budgets ... We have to drive the economy.
”Let’s look at what is being done to make a better and more resilient New Zealand by growing the economy.
“We want to ensure that our students in New Zealand have the skills to be appointed to roles we need to keep New Zealand as the sort of country we wish to live in.”
Bates said having robust conversations was important.
“I’ve been out and about across the electorate and the feedback I’ve received is people appreciate that I visit schools, businesses and organisations to discuss their feedback. They appreciate having the opportunity to talk to their local MPs.”
