A flagship charter school has lost nearly a quarter of its students and is still battling problems as it nears the end of its first year.

Mike Hosking writes: One of the things you get used to very quickly when you grow up in Christchurch is that people believe the role of the school in your life defines who you are.

Catherine Zheng needs to plan her study time more than most, as exams start for her and thousands of other students.

Flimsy rules and poor enforcement around size mismatches are putting children in harm's way on the rugby field, says a Masterton mother.

As the Government runs the rule over the way our children learn, a US expert suggests change may be needed — but it should start at the top.

Prime Minister John Key says National is likely to outline "a broad sense" of the conditions needed for tax cuts before the election, but no specific details.

Luxurious holidays in the south of France or Rarotonga and an internship in New York are among the prizes on offer at an extravagant school fundraiser.

Her own boy has done okay - but over a 35-year teaching career Margaret McCaw has helped in the development of hundreds of other children.

Schools are being made to re-enrol students they had kicked out for bad behaviour including carrying weapons, physical assaults and drug use.

A high school teacher who had sex with her former student has been censured and banned from teaching by the Teachers Disciplinary Tribunal.

Adecile 10 Auckland school considered criminal charges after it uncovered a scam it says enabled out-of-zone families to fraudulently enrol children.

Students are being kicked out of some of Auckland's most sought-after schools after officials ruled they were not genuinely living within zone.

The number of young school children achieving or bettering the national standard in reading has fallen or flat-lined in half of the country's regions.

Hostile feedback from residents in some of the country’s most expensive real estate has caused an emerging school to back away from including them in its new zone.

New Zealanders would rather money was spent on improving teaching standards than on reducing class sizes, a Herald-DigiPoll survey reveals.

Only 4 per cent of non-Maori secondary school students are learning te reo Maori, the latest figures show.

As another school success story results in a new school zone, parents fear it'll end in changes to a zone so elite it can add 20 per cent to property prices.

Labour's new teaching policies are response to National's proposal to pay good teachers and principals more and require them to work with others.

Community Spirit category: When high school teacher Roshni Gounder came down with a sudden illness, many people expected her to give up her job.

Labour wants to end "voluntary" school donations by offering a grants of $100 per student to schools that stop asking parents to fund "day to day" spending.

A leading psychologist says parents are using lawyers to work out issues at schools, after a teen successfully challenged a suspension for refusing to cut his hair.

Act's education policy of allowing schools to opt into a charter school format has prompted an education union to urge National to steer clear of any coalition partnership deals.

Hawke's Bay student Lucan Battison and his controversial head of hair got the last minute all-clear to attend his school ball last night.