Speak Up for Education

Speak Up website launched

The new www.speakup.org.nz website is up and running. It has a unique whiteboard design which you can zoom into to explore and interact with various areas. You can write on the board, vote in a poll, email an MP, and view recent content from campaign sites and social media sources. Take a look at www.speakup.org.nz

What's it about?

We are aiming for 100,000 conversations about education in election year

Why? The Government talks about a "crisis" in education – there isn't one. We want to re-frame the public debate to talk about the positives of NZ schools and centres and how we can get even better.

What is the conversation about? The conversations need to identify what is great about our schools and centres already; what shifts are needed to make things even better; and what the impediments to moving forward are (for example, ECE cuts, National Standards).

Speak Up For Education before the general election!

If you're keen to speak up for education before the November 26 General Election, here's three ideas:
 
1.   Attend an NZEI Speak Up For Education Forum in your area
See the list of forums between now and the election.
 
2.  Tell your local Member of Parliament and political party candidates that you care
Explain you live in their electorate and care about education because you're a teacher/parent/whanau.  You can contact your MP by clicking on the "email your MP" icon on www.speakup.org.nz.  Here are some brief facts and questions to guide you
 
3.  Inform yourself!
See commentator Bernand Hickey's site for an analysis of the political parties' policies for education and economy/jobs.

Don't forget to enrol and to encourage people, especially young people to enrol to vote. You can access all the information you need at www.elections.org.nz/enrolment.

Campaign Launched

NZEI Te Riu Roa launched the Speak Up for Education campaign to the great New Zealand public, with the first of two advertisements about why we need to invest in quality public education to meet every child's needs screening on TV from 1 August.


Real live teachers, principals and students showcasing our world-leading schools.  Hear them make the case for why investment in a broad education is so important (see below).

But don't just sit back with the remote!  Our Speak Up For Education campaign is an opportunity for you to join our 100,000 conversations this year about why your school or centre is a great place.  Ask your parents if they've seen our adverts. Take the opportunity to talk to them, whanau, community leaders and your local media about what your school or centre does well and what it needs to become even better!

Examples of some conversations "scripts"

If you're in an ECE context...

"Hi - what do you do for a living?"
“I'm an ECE teacher. I love teaching because every child is unique – they learn at different rates and in
different ways, they have different interests and strengths.  My job is to teach
each of them to realise their full potential.

“You probably don't know it, but New Zealand’s centres and schools are rated among the top handful in the world.  But some kids are still missing out.  That’s why we need more investment in education to meet every child’s needs.

“Every child deserves a fully qualified early childhood education teacher to give them the best start in life. They deserve teachers who know how to build strong relationships with children, grow their strengths and interests, work with them to develop a keenness to learn and explore etc etc

We want the Government to move education in the right direction for all our children and invest in what we know works best for children and their learning.  So please think about signing our ECE petition here...

********************
“Hi - how did Amy do at school today?

" She did really well.  She's making good progress in her maths this term.  Of course she's learning at her own rate and her own strengths - she's got a wondeful way with words and her art skills are spectacular!  We want to boost her confidence so she realises her potential. 
"That's one of the reasons its so important we keep a broad curriculum that meets her needs and interests, not a narrow “one size fits all” approach  - that's one of my concern about National Standards.  Amy and the other kids here need school to boost their confidence to learn, not label them as failures. As teachers we can give you a better picture of a child's progress and achievement than any national standard because we use robust tests like PAT and our own knowledge of the child, not fuzzy and unreliable standards that were never trialled.
 If you're interested in finding more about what all the great things the school is doing and why teachers across the country have concerns about National Standards, why don't you think about coming to the meeting on Thursday night here at school to talk about these issues?"