Many schools feel their hands are tied when it comes to providing for children with high special educational needs, according to NZEI.

  Media Release (0.1mb pdf)

A hui of more than 200 Māori educators has issued a strong vote of no confidence in National Standards, saying they will damage the learning of tamariki Māori.

  Media Release (0.1mb pdf)

Today’s 2010 Budget is a nice-looking parcel with some nasty surprises wrapped inside when it comes to education, according to NZEI.

  Media Release (0.1mb pdf)

NZEI is challenging the Associate Education Minister to explain why he is ignoring the 80 percent of Māori children who will be affected by the government’s untrialled National Standards policy.

  Media Release (0.1mb pdf)

In this issue: World teacher day, support staff paid union meetings, initial teacher education and more...
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NZEI News - 12 October 2009/19e


Hands Up for Learning – World Teachers Day is on 30 October 2009
Imagine the power of thousands – or tens of thousands – of students, teachers, children and parents putting their “Hands Up for Learning” at the same time!

World Teachers Day on Friday 30 October 2009 gives us that opportunity. NZEI is asking members in schools and ECE centres around the country to hold celebrations of teaching and learning.  Our main focus is for everyone to join in a synchronised “Hands Up” at 12.30pm on World Teachers Day, 30 October. We encourage you to reach out to students and parents in your school/ECE and your wider community and ask them to join in this event.

Posters and a checklist have been sent to schools and centres this week. NZEI branches will also be funding advertisements endorsed by NZEI, NZSTA, PTA, NZCA Te Tari Puna Ora o Aotearoa and NZ Kindergartens in many local papers in the week of World Teachers Day. You can read more about how to get involved in World Teachers Day at www.nzei.org.nz





Support staff paid union meetings
NZEI is holding a series of paid union meetings in order to report back to support staff members on the lack of progress on their negotiations and to discuss a way forward.  These are critical meetings and all NZEI support staff members should attend.

Members will be asked to endorse three principles that will guide the negotiating team at the next set of negotiations on November 18-19th.  Members will also be asked to endorse a Day of Action if the negotiations fail.

A schedule of the meetings can be found on the NZEI support staff page of www.nzei.org.nz





What should initial teacher education look like?
For the first time, the New Zealand Teachers Council has asked for feedback from the teaching profession about the requirements and processes for the approval, continuing approval and monitoring of initial teacher education programmes. The overall aims of the review are to increase the effectiveness of the approval and monitoring processes and to strengthen the quality of graduates entering the profession.

The Council has released a consultation document with a deadline of Friday 30 October 2009 for responses.  Members who have an interest in the current and possible requirements for ITE programmes are encouraged to participate in the consultation, and can download the consultation survey from the Teachers Council website - www.teacherscouncil.govt.nz/education/ite-approval-review.stm





Year Two PRTs — Apply now for full registration
If you are a PRT who will complete your eighth ten-week block of teaching this term, you are able to, and should apply for full registration during this term.  You may apply at a later time, but NZEI urges you to apply now to avoid delays.

NZEI’s checklist of the things you need to do when applying to move to full registration is available here: www.nzei.org.nz/Teacher+Registration/PRTs.html





Quicker, more accurate school payroll next year
Novopay – the new payroll service being rolled out to schools from 2010 – means payroll staff in schools will be doing payroll work online and using fewer forms.  The new service will cut errors because payroll staff will be able to check the payroll information as they enter it. Novopay will alert the payroll user if information is missing or incorrect.

For more information on how Novopay will make your job easier check the Novopay webpages: www.schoolpayroll.govt.nz/Site/Novopay/Default.aspx
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In this issue: World Teachers Day, Support staff back to the bargaining table, NZEI’s Annual Meeting and much more...
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Hands up for Learning!
World Teachers Day Friday October 30th
World Teachers Day celebrates the contribution of teachers to our society. It’s a good opportunity to talk to our communities, as well as to people working across education, about why “teachers matter”. So mark 30th October in your diary now!

The theme of World Teachers Day 2009 is “Hands Up For Learning!”, reflecting Education International’s message that investment in teaching and learning should be a priority, especially during a recession.

On October 30th at 12.30pm, NZEI is proposing schools and centres invite parents and their wider community to join thousands of others across New Zealand in a synchronised “Hands Up!” for learning.  In the first week of Term 4 (October 12th), we’ll be sending worksites a pack about this activity, along with a WTD poster and ideas for other events and activities that promote teaching and learning.


Support staff back to the bargaining table
Support Staff negotiators will be back at the bargaining table on September 23-24th.  The negotiating team want to thank all those members who participated in the nation-wide day of action on 7 August.  Undoubtedly your actions persuaded the government to come back to the negotiating table.  It remains to be seen if the Ministry negotiators will have been given a fresh mandate – we will be reporting back to members immediately after the talks to let you know the outcome.

Dates have not yet been confirmed for the Kaiarahi i te Reo, Therapists’ ATSSD and Special Education Assistants’ Collective Agreement but it is envisaged they will get underway in Term 4.

Photos of the activities on 7 August can be seen at www.nzei.org.nz or at www.fairdeal.org.nz


NZEI’s Annual Meeting just over a week away
Around 500 NZEI members representing members across New Zealand will  meet in Wellington from Sunday 27th September for four days for our annual meeting.  The meeting will focus on “Strengthening Our Union”  – proposals for change resulting from the 18 month-long organisational review, the impact of national standards, and NZEI’s priorities for 2010. Resolutions from NZEI branches and district councils are also up for discussion.


Pay equity petition presented to mark Suffrage Day
NZEI members can be proud that 10,000 of the 15,000 signatures on a pay equity petition being presented at Parliament this week were collected by them!  NZEI national secretary Paul Goulter and Support Staff representative Pukeatua School kaiarahi i te reo Putiputi Temara will speak at the event, which is sponsored by Labour MP Sue Moroney.  The zero pay offer to GSE support workers recently, in spite of a Government-commissioned investigation that found these workers were significantly under-paid and under-valued underlines why pay equity is such a critical issue for our union.  Bargaining for GSE support workers resumes next week (21st September).


Principals meet to discuss claims
Principal members are meeting at the moment and giving valuable feedback about the framework for claims that will be negotiated next year.  NZEI has also up-graded www.principalskit.org.nz, a valuable tool for principals in their varied daily tasks.


Adult education cuts
Auckland NZEI members joined PPTA members and the public in a march protesting the Government’s cuts in adult education classes on September 12th.  Members say they wanted to support the campaign because many NZEI members use community classes to develop skills directly related to their work.


Allocating units in schools (0.5mb pdf)
Schools are being informed of their provisional staffing entitlement for 2010 over the next few weeks.  An NZEI News on surplus staffing for 2010 should also have been received by your school.

Included in the staffing entitlements will be the additional leadership and management units won by NZEI teacher members in the 2007 agreement round. These units were won to enhance career structures within schools and to remunerate staff for their leadership and responsibilities.

Please encourage your school leadership to consult about the way these units will be used in your school to recognise and remunerate roles such as  Deputy, Assistant, and Associate Principles, Syndicate and team Leaders, Curriculum Leaders and Sencos. For more information see Unit Allocation Guidelines (0.5mb pdf)


Parental leave payments to increase
Families with new babies got a boost to their parental leave payments from July 1. The maximum parental leave payment has increased from $407.36 per week to $429.74 per week from July 1. The minimum payment for self-employed parents has increased from $120 to $125 per week.


Online payroll service for schools next year
A new online payroll service available from next year will make life easier for school managers and administration staff.  The new service – Novopay – will let school payroll staff control their own school’s payroll information, working directly online in a web-based system. There will be training available for all payroll users in schools to access and support available from the Novopay Service Desk.

If you want to get a Novopay e-newsletter every month please go to the Novopay web pages at www.schoolpayroll.govt.nz and use the feedback form to request it.
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An OECD report on children’s wellbeing is a wake up call that education initiatives alone won’t lift the achievement levels of New Zealand’s disadvantaged children.

  Media Release 2009/40 (0.1mb pdf)

In this issue: Pay Equity, National Standards, ECE Together and Area School paid union meetings...
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Support Pay Equi-Tea!
GSE support workers have been offered a 0% pay rise and told their 2008 pay investigation report showing they are significantly undervalued is not on the table for discussion. Talks have been adjourned while NZEI seeks GSE members’ feedback.

The GSE support workers are at the sharp edge of the campaign for equal pay for work of equal value. Many of you signed the pay equity petition – please consider now supporting GSE support workers by joining them at Pay Equi-Tea events on the steps of  Parliament on Friday September 18th at 10.30am and around the country on Suffrage Day (September 19th).  Further details of the events will be available at www.nzei.org.nz as they come to hand.


National Standards: working with parents
With the Ministry of Education’s public consultation phase for national standards over, the Government is now considering the standards for gazetting in October. NZEI’s goal is to ensure the focus is on the New Zealand Curriculum as the driver of teaching and learning.  National standards should be tools to support learning by providing signposts for literacy and numeracy.  We will continue to guard against league tables and advocate for the “safe warehousing” of assessment data.

It’s important that parents understand these issues. With parent/teacher/student assessment interviews coming up this term in many schools, consider how you can communicate to parents the importance of personalised learning and the ways teachers use “rich” assessment – the formal and informal interactions between teaching and learning – to provide evidence of student progress and achievement.  See this pdf document for information on these issues.



ECE together  www.ecetogether.org.nz
Join your ECE colleagues at www.ecetogether.org.nz and be up with all the news from ECE networks around the country, professional information and ideas, and much more.  It’s your community online, so check it out and join the conversation.


Area Schools Paid Union Meetings (PUMs)
The area schools collective agreement expires on 30 June 2010 and members will be holding joint PUMs with the PPTA during September.  The meetings will be co-facilitated by the NZEI worksite representative and the PPTA branch chair.  Following their PUMs, area school members will send their feedback in to both unions and the next meeting of the area schools advisory committee in October will analyse these results and consider next steps to keep area school members informed and involved.


Education Aotearoa – in your mail box next term!
Education Aotearoa is a new quarterly magazine that is to be launched at Annual Meeting in September and will be with you at your worksite shortly afterwards.  A high quality, visually appealing feature magazine, we aim to make it a magazine that reflects your concerns.  It will be accompanied by a lively website where you can listen to interviews, follow video, and discuss issues raised by the magazine with other NZEI members. We see it as flagship for ideas and discussion about teaching and learning and a professionally-focussed journal that reflects and supports your daily work at the “chalkface”, whether you’re a primary teacher, teacher aide, librarian, ECE teacher, GSE support worker, principal or office administrator.


Tweet NZEI...
Sign up for the latest updates on Twitter… for the Fair Deal Support Staff Campaign NZEI_Fair_Deal or for general news and events: NZEInfo.  You can also follow the links from the Twitter icon on the NZEI website.


Missed out on a Fair Deal for Support Staff t-shirt?
If you missed out on the t-shirts, and would like to buy one, please let NZEI know! Email sarah.grant@nzei.org.nz indicating how many and what sizes you need.


Surplus staffing – what does it all mean?
An NZEI newsletter about surplus staffing is being sent to schools this week. Watch out for it – it’s the ultimate guide to understanding what it all means.
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In this issue: The Connected Curriculum, Telecom workers need your support, and the first wave of swine flu over...
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NZEI launches The Connected Curriculum DVD
The Connected Curriculum is a new NZEI video and print resource for schools, produced in partnership with well-known educationalist Lester Flockton. It’s a great resource to support a school’s learning, development, design and review of its curricular practice.

The DVD was launched by President Frances Nelson, Secretary of Education Karen Sewell, Lester Flockton and NZEI Principals’ Council chair Tony Hamilton at Mt Cook school in Wellington last week. Copies have been sent to principals and you can view it at www.nzei.org.nz/connectedcurriculum


Telecom workers need your support
Nearly 600 Telecom lines engineers in Auckland and Northland are faced with being made redundant and then having to buy their jobs back.  That’s because Telecom’s new Australian contractor Visionstream has decided to remove their employment rights and make them dependant contractors.

That means they’d need to stump up with up to $60,000 to buy their own vans and tools and face a loss of income of 50-65%  -- or leave the industry. They’d also have no guaranteed work and would have to take on huge business risks. There would be pressure to do fast shoddy work in order to cover enough jobs to earn a living income.

The Telecom workers are fighting back through strike action and by refusing to sign up to the contracts. That’s not easy to do and it means many of them are facing serious financial hardship.

The fate of the Telecom workers will ultimately affect most New Zealanders – because we all rely on a reliable and secure telephone and internet network.  And if Telecom can succeed in driving through these changes, other employers may try and implement this model of working.

NZEI is supporting a Council of Trade Unions campaign to relieve the financial pressure on the lines engineers, so that they can continue to say no.  NZEI’s National Executive has made a donation to the workers’ fund, and we’re asking NZEI members, worksites and branches to consider donating to the fund too. You can make a donation at:

02-0568-0177685-00
Bank of New Zealand
Reference: Telco

You can also make an automatic $10 donation by calling 0900 STAND TALL.
For more information call 0800 1 UNION or visit www.epmu.org.nz/telecom



First wave of swine flu over
The Ministry of Health have advised that schools may now stand down from their absence monitoring.  Based on data received, the Ministry has concluded that the first wave of the swine flu pandemic is over.  However, it believes there is a strong chance of a second and possibly more severe wave to come, so the Ministry of Education is looking at ways to improve the system for monitoring absences to make it easier for schools in future.
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In a co-ordinated effort last Friday more than a thousand school support staff marched and rallied outside the offices of dozens of government and coalition MPs as part of "Fair Deal Friday".

  Media Release 2009/39 (0.1mb pdf)

School support staff around the country are turning today (Friday 7 August) into “Fair Deal Friday”. In a co-ordinated effort nationwide, they will be descending on the offices of government MPs to deliver a strong message that school communities back their fight for fair pay.

  Media Release 2009/38 (0.1mb pdf)

The Education Minister has released a timeline which recognises and takes account of concerns raised by teachers and principals that the draft timeframe was too tight.

  Media Release 2009/37 (0.1mb pdf)

Strengthening your union - proposals for change

Over the past two years, there has been a movement for change in our union.
It’s about ensuring people have the opportunity to participate and become more involved at all levels. It’s about making sure we plan and resource our activities and that we’re accountable for them.

After extensive consultation with members, NZEI’s National Executive has agreed four change proposals to go to September’s Annual Meeting.

These are:

1. Greater accountability: linking funding more directly to activity plans
2. How we come together: changing from an Annual Meeting for the whole of the union, to one every two years for the whole of the union, with Regional Meetings in the intervening years.
3. How we operate at local levels: changing the focus of District Councils and establishing Area Councils.
4. How we govern ourselves: changing the size and composition of the National Executive
   

Worksite Reps:   Please familiarise yourself with the information in Special Report: Strengthening Our Union. Discuss it with members in your worksite.  Provide feedback to your Annual meeting representatives so they can come to Annual Meeting prepared to debate the change proposals. You can download more copies at www.nzei.org.nz/NZEI+Organisational+Review.html.

This week in NZEI News - support your support staff on Fair Deal Friday, attend primary teacher cluster meetings, rate yourself in the support staff survey, learn more about the child discipline referendum and more...
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Fair Deal Friday - 7 August
Support staff pay negotiations are still “stuck”, with the Government not yet moving from its zero percent pay rise offer. This week all worksite reps should receive a pack in the mail to support activities on “Fair Deal Friday”. The pack includes a pledge poster for all school staff to sign and then mail to local NZEI offices by 3 August, ready for delivery to Government MPs on 7 August. We need to show the Government there is strong support across the school community for a fair deal for support staff.



Support staff seminars in August
NZEI is holding nationwide seminars for support staff worksite representatives and designated support staff worksite contacts from 4 August – invitations will be sent shortly. If your school does not have a designated support staff representative, please encourage a support staff member to attend. If you identify someone, please send their contact details to shelley.hughes@nzei.org.nz


Primary teacher cluster meetings
Pay, workload, national standards... you told us what issues mattered to you during last term's Education Agenda discussions. Worksite reps will receive a pack this week which includes further information and feedback forms for primary teacher cluster meetings in August. This is your chance to have a say in shaping the re-negotiation of your collective agreement, so please make sure three teachers from your school attend a cluster meeting. From next week two video clips will be available on nzei.org.nz to help you understand teacher staffing and payscales.


Support Staff - rate your worth
All support staff have some level of impact on student learning. As part of progressing support staff negotiations and the ongoing support staff campaign, NZEI invites support staff members to help us gather information about the value of the work you do in supporting teachers and students’ learning. Whether you are a teacher aide working directly with students or do administrative work, we strongly encourage you to participate in the survey – just click the link above.


Special deal for NZEI members
NZEI members get cheap rates when registering for SHIFT! – the third Education Leaders Forum in October. You pay just the early bird school rate whenever you register – saving more than $500 on the full registration fee!  Make sure you tell them you are an NZEI member when you register. The conference, which looks at how education leadership can shift student achievement, is to be held in Rotorua, October 14-15th, 2009.


Pay equity petition follows campaign launch
NZEI was well-represented at the launch of the Pay Equity Campaign at Parliament on June 30th. You can see photos and video at www.fairdeal.org.nz. On Thursday this week, a petition with ten thousand NZEI members’ signatures calling for pay equity will be presented to petition organiser Labour MP Sue Moroney. Sue Moroney will present the petition to Parliament on Women’s Suffrage Day in September.


UnionAID
NZEI is a foundation member of UnionAID - an independent charitable trust set up to help workers overseas organise collectively to improve working conditions, pay and human rights. Leaflets about UnionAID are available from NZEI regional offices. You can send cash or cheque donations to UnionAID, PO Box 6689, Marion Square, Wellington, or make a phone bill donation by calling 0900 UNAID (0900 862 43). You can also become a Kiwi Solidarity member and make regular donations.



Child discipline referendum
NZEI encourages members to think about the issues involved and to vote in the child discipline referendum, which runs between July 31st and 21st August. The implications of a yes or no vote are well-canvassed at www.yesvote.org.nz which urges keeping the status quo – that is, the retention of Section 59 -  and www.voteno.org.nz which supports the referendum and the overturn of the “anti-smacking” law.


Teaching Samoan
The Teachers Refresher Course Committee (TRCC) is holding a three-day course in Wellington in October to support Samoan language teachers in New Zealand. The course aims to share best practice, understand the learning principles underlying the Ta'iala Samoan Curriculum and update language teaching and research skills.


National Library’s school services
An 0800 school library advice service, a virtual school library network and a new professional development model using online and video conferencing will be rolled out by the National Library in 2010. The supply and distribution of books will continue to be provided from Auckland, Palmerston North and Christchurch. However, there are changes to the advice and consultancy services, and overall 14 staff positions will be lost in the new structure, creating concern that commitment to online learning has a high drop off rate if it is not linked to face to face relationships with advisors.
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For those of you with term breaks approaching, we hope you have some rest and relaxation planned...and that you stay healthy.  It's going to be a busy Term 3! This NZEI news includes the Fair Deal charter and the Pay Equity challenge.
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August 7 -  Launch of The Fair Deal Charter

Please put Friday August 7th in your diaries now!  NZEI is planning a Day of Action to send a message to the Government that our union values the work of support staff.   We believe support staff deserve a fair deal - not a 0% wage offer!

We will be asking all primary school members to add their voice to this campaign by adding their names to a charter that will be sent to worksites for signature in the first week of Term 3.

On August 7th, NZEI branches will coordinate visits by NZEI members to Government MPs to present the charters.  Please alert members at your worksite to this date.  Worksite representatives will get more information and materials in the mail in Term 3.



The Pay Equity Challenge is launched in style

NZEI members joined Pay Equity Challenge launch events around the country this week, calling for equal pay for work of equal value and a fair deal for support staff.  Check out pictures and video at www.fairdeal.org.nz

A big thank you to the thousands of you who have signed the Pay Equity petition that has been circulating this term.  It will be presented to Sue Moroney MP, the petition organiser, at Clyde Quay School on 23 July - so get your last petitions back in to NZEI, POBox 466, Wellington as soon as possible!  If you'd like to attend the petition presentation, please email sharyn.gibbons@nzei.org.nz for further information.
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This week in NZEI News...a reason to celebrate July 1, kindergarten teachers overwhelmingly ratify their new collective agreement, join the Pay Equity challenge, swine flu news, the early childhood teacher supply summit and more...

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Celebrate July 1 - Download the poster
NZEI primary and area school teacher and principal members will see a 4% increase in their pay packets from July 1. The pay increase was part of a significant package won through the settlement of their collective agreements in 2007. It was made possible through high levels of NZEI membership among principals and teachers.


Still fighting for a Fair Deal for Support Staff
The Government has offered support staff a 0% wage increase. This is totally unacceptable even in the current economic climate. We are currently seeking feedback on this offer from members. It is likely that we will need your help shortly to ensure that all Government MPs get a clear message that by undervaluing school support staff, they put in question their commitment to children's learning, efficient school systems and fairness for the lowest paid people in the education sector.


Kindergarten teachers ratify new agreement
Kindergarten teachers have ratified a new collective agreement which maintains a unified pay scale and pay parity with primary teachers for another two years. 99% of the ratification votes were in favour. Mapping of kindergartens around the country shows around 84% of kindergarten teachers are members – the focus for kindergarten members now is to encourage ALL kindergarten teachers to join to be able to take advantage of the new terms negotiated in the settlement.


Join the Pay Equity Challenge
On 30 June at 12.30pm, union members and community organisations will join forces at a lunchtime rally at Parliament to stand up for pay equity and challenge the Government to reveal its plan to close the gender pay gap – the average hourly rate for men is around 12% higher than women. An NZEI school support staff member is one of the rally speakers.

This is a call for members in the greater Wellington area to get along to the rally. Let’s show the government and New Zealand that NZEI members intend to maintain parity where it has been won and win fair pay for all NZEI members.  Let’s also stand up for other women workers who are undervalued for the work they do.


3800 educators to National Standards meetings
More than 3800 principals and teachers have attended the Ministry’s national standards consultation meetings, indicating a high level of interest and concern.  A much lower number (164) have provided online feedback. There is still time to voice your views.

About 470 parents have also attended meetings, with a further 450 providing online feedback. You can find out more about the pros and cons of national standards at www.nationalstandards.org.nz


Swine of a winter
A number of schools and centres have been closed due to the swine flu, but at this stage, there is no official requirement for staff without symptoms not to come to school. If you have no symptoms but you are advised by your health professional, board of trustees or principal to go into isolation and you choose to do this – then this will count as taking sick leave. However, if you have no symptoms but your school or centre directs you to stay home, then you must be paid as normal, and any associated costs are borne by the employer. The Ministry of Health and Ministry of Education websites are being updated daily on the swine flu alert, but if you have an employment related query, call NZEI Help on 0800 693 443.


Don't dumb down ECE targets
NZEI’s early childhood teacher supply summit last week delivered a strong message that there must be no watering down of targets for moving towards a fully qualified workforce, despite the added pressures they place on teacher supply.  Currently all early childhood centres must have 50% of their teachers fully qualified and registered to remain licensed, but that target is to increase in 2010 and again in 2012.

NZEI National Secretary Paul Goulter says both community and private providers at the summit agreed that any move to water or dumb down those targets would compromise quality education for young children.


How are you feeling?
The Health Research Council and the Department of Labour have commissioned some research on work and well-being, including trying to get a national benchmark on the prevalence of workplace bullying in New Zealand. If you’re interested, you can take part in an on-line survey. Enter number '29' as your organisation ID.


Do you use the school journal?
The School Journal is a state-published reader that has been a feature of New Zealand classrooms for over 100 years. Its longevity makes it unique in the world, but there has been little written about how it has influenced classroom pedagogies. NZEI encourages teachers to take part in an on-line study to investigate the impact of the School Journals on teaching and learning in New Zealand primary schools in the hope of gaining a better understanding of how teachers have used them across the generations. The survey should take no longer than 20 minutes to complete. You can email nzteach@oakland.edu for more information, or the survey can be accessed directly by using the link above.
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Curriculum Guidelines for Teaching and Learning Te Reo Māori in English-medium Schools are now available and have been sent out to all schools. There are a range of resources available online, to support the use of the document, which can be accessed via the url below.

Check these out and also watch out for further information on professional development opportunities relating to these Guidelines. Further copies are available on request from the MoE phone 0800 660 662 or email orders@thechair.minedu.govt.nz quote item number 33273.

  Curriculum guidelines for Te Reo Māori in English medium schools (www.tereomaori.tki.org.nz)

NZEI Te Riu Roa will be looking for clear signs in Thursday’s Budget that the government is prepared to make a strategic investment in teaching and learning. In the lead up to the Budget, and in the current economic climate, the government has been strongly pushing a message of fiscal constraint.

  Media Release 2009/24 (0.1mb pdf)

NZEI News - 26 May 2009/08e
This week: pay parity success for kindergarten teachers, support staff negotiations, having your say on National Standards, NZEI organisational review focus groups, PRT support seminars, a pay equity protest and more...
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Pay parity victory for Kindergarten teachers
Kindergarten teachers have won continued pay parity with primary teachers through the successful negotiation of their collective employment agreement. NZEI negotiating team leader and Tauranga Kindergarten Association senior teacher Marion Dekker says the team was very pleased to see the ongoing commitment to pay parity and the professional status of ECE teachers. "It was the number one issue for us going into these negotiations," she said. The settlement will go out to members for ratification shortly.



Support staff negotiation
Bargaining success for kindergarten teachers has not been mirrored in support staff negotiations. NZEI has been extremely disappointed with the government's offer to support staff and very little progress has been made. Two key goals, a reasonable pay increase and a plan for the future to help schools employ support staff, need to be addressed.

Support Staff Day on June 10 is an opportunity to show how valued support staff really are. For example, MOTAT in Auckland has invited support staff to a free wine and chocolate celebration at 3pm. RSVP to bookings@motat.org.nz. Other events can be viewed on www.fairdeal.org.nz.



National Standards – six weeks to have your say!
The Ministry of Education's consultation meetings have now started with only a dozen teacher and parent meetings planned nationally. It is a very tight timeframe and NZEI urges all teachers and parents to get out and have their say. You can email the Ministry and request a representative to consult in your area. NZEI encourages you to do this. If you ask for Ministry representation and don’t get one, please let NZEI know.



Five proposals to change our union
Focus groups are to discuss the five draft proposals for change to NZEI’s structure in the next step of NZEI’s organisational review. The National Executive will refine the proposals based on the focus group feedback and the final proposal will go out to the full membership for debate in the run up to Annual Meeting in September. Please contact your district council if you wish to attend these focus groups:

    * 4.30 to 6.30pm May 26th, Hamilton Field Office
    * 4.30 to 6.30pm May 28th, Napier / Hastings Field Office
    * 4.30 to 6.30pm June 2nd, Upstart House, Dunedin
    * 4.30 to 6.30pm June 3rd, NZEI Southern Regional Office, Christchurch
    * 4 to 6pm June 5th, NZEI Central Regional Office, Wellington



Support for beginning teachers
NZEI seminars focussing on issues that are relevant to people early in their teaching career are being held across the country between 11 and 30 June. These seminars focus on the rights and responsibilities of early career teachers including collective agreement entitlements, managing responsibilities and difficult situations, and NZEI campaign activity. These seminars are supported by employment related education leave (EREL).



Rural and Teaching Principals conference
Rural and teaching principals meet in Rotorua this week for their annual conference. This year, there will be workshops on issues of concern for principals and debate on national standards, with speakers including Education Minister Anne Tolley and NZEI President Frances Nelson.



ECE Symposium
NZEI is hosting a symposium to bring together the views of employers and teachers from the public and private sector to address the teacher shortage issue in early childhood education. NZEI National Executive member and kindergarten teacher Hayley Whitaker says it will be an historic opportunity to engage with everyone in the sector on a problem that affects them all. Information on the outcomes of the symposium will be available later in June.



Ready to implement the Curriculum?
ERO has released the first of two aggregated reports that will give the Ministry of Education information on the progress that schools are making towards the full implementation of the curriculum.

Schools reviewed in terms 3-4 last year are progressing well in their preparation. Most schools are where they could realistically be expected to be at this stage and have begun the process of reviewing their curriculum. The report identifies four factors common to the good progress made by schools whose preparations are well advanced. What are the strengths of your school's progress towards implementation of the NVC? What are the concerns? Send your thoughts to sandra.aikin@nzei.org.nz



The connected curriculum
NZEI Te Riu Roa has received Ministry of Education funding and support to produce a comprehensive DVD resource to clarify the intent, spirit and content of the New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) and to assist principals with its implementation. The resource will be available in Term 3.
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