Educational Leaders

Principals' sabbatical reports recently added

Mon, 02 Apr 2012 06:06:06 GMT

Principals' sabbatical reports added in March look at the following:

Effective oral language programmes in multi-cultural schools (Linda Birch, St Michael's School,Taita).

What environmental factors can be incorporated to meet the vision, principles and key competencies of the NZ curriculum as well as meet the needs of the school's children and aspirations of their parents (Allan Day, Spotswood Primary School).

The tension that exists between the role of the principal as captured by the business leadership model of "Tomorrows Schools" and the educational leadership model as promoted by Professor Viviane Robinson and others (Chris Grinter, Rotorua Boys' High School).

The ways lead schools in NZ are using ICT to improve teaching and learning with regards to the NZ curriculum, with special reference to how these schools are improving student achievement as a result of the use if ICT (David Olivier, St Peter's College, Palmerston North).

School self-review models and their application for primary schools (Louise Shannahan, Fairlie School).

New website supports Ka Hikitia in action

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 01:09:20 GMT

Te Mangōroa - a site designed to bring you stories of Ka Hikitia in action from across the sector - is now live on TKI.

A resource for English-medium schools, it is a portal to stories, reports, statistics, and reviews from across TKI and other sites that reflect effective practices to support Māori learners to achieve education success as Māori.

Te Mangōroa contains practical illustrations of what Ka Hikitia - Managing for Success means for teaching and learning.

The examples come from a wide range of schools and offer a wide range of examples of where they were at, what approaches they used to get started, what worked and what didn’t, and how they measured their success.

Go to Te Mangōroa

New employment section on Minedu

Tue, 20 Mar 2012 01:58:56 GMT

The Ministry of Education has a new Employment section on its website. It will take you quickly and easily to employment agreements, plain English explanations of terms and conditions, and guidance on employment matters at your school.

Information covers the employment of teachers, principals, and support staff in New Zealand state and integrated schools and kura.

It is for employees, boards of trustees as employers, and staff who manage employment in their school or kura.

Go to the new employment section

New resource for middle and senior leaders

Thu, 22 Mar 2012 20:20:35 GMT

Leading from the Middle: educational leadership for middle and senior leaders has been sent out to all schools this week.

It describes the qualities, practices, and activities middle and senior leaders (MSLs) need to lead in ways that enhance learner outcomes.

This resource is the third in a series that includes Kiwi Leadership for Principals and Tū Rangatira: Māori Medium Educational Leadership.

Together the series describes the knowledge, skills, and qualities that are at the heart of every level of effective school leadership.

About Leading from the Middle

We now know that after quality teaching, school leadership has the biggest system influence on student learning. When principals distribute leadership effectively to middle and senior leaders, and all focus their work on educational leadership, there is a significant and positive effect on student achievement and well-being.

Enhancing learner's academic outcomes, personal well-being, and personal development is the key responsibility of all middle and senior leaders. As a tool for personal and professional reflection Leading from the Middle will help MSLs to see their work in this context.

Leading from the Middle references seven video case studies. These can be accessed from the Educational Leaders website. They will be of value to MSLs working in professional learning groups, and to mentors and coaches.

All schools have received copies of Leading from the Middle. It can also be downloaded as a PDF file from this link.

Go to Leading from the Middle

Update on 2012 PLD

Mon, 27 Feb 2012 19:33:49 GMT

From this year, PLD is being prioritised according to the need of schools to support learners and raise student achievement, particularly for Māori learners, Pasifika learners and learners with special education needs. Regional offices will confirm the PLD allocations to those schools which have been successful.

PLD available for secondary schools

There is PLD support available for New Zealand secondary schools, including:

Secondary Student Achievement
Leadership and Assessment
Provisionally registered teachers (PRT)
Overseas trained teachers (OTT)
Secondary English for speaker of other languages (ESOL) and Home School Partnerships
Gifted and Talented
Pasifika Success years 1-13
Te Reo Māori years 1–13 in English medium schools

PLD support is primarily for middle leaders in secondary schools and teachers-in-charge, in all learning areas and specialist subjects.

The key strategies

The key strategies are literacy and language support so that students can access The New Zealand Curriculum. The focus will be on supporting teachers to be more effective and responsive to the needs and interests of an increasingly diverse student population. The support will develop literacy and language strategies for each learning area and specialist subject. It will assist students with specialist vocabulary to learn how to read, understand and use its texts and language.

Support from your Ministry regional office

If you would like more advice or information on support that maybe available to your school, please contact your Ministry Senior Advisor.

Sources of information

Articles on PLD are available at www.edgazette.govt.nz/Articles, search for ‘PLD’.

Directions for education renewal in greater Christchurch launched

Thu, 10 May 2012 05:09:01 GMT

Directions for Education Renewal in Greater Christchurch has been launched.

The draft programme has been developed based on your feedback to the Shaping Education engagement process and the knowledge and expertise of educational leaders, teachers, city and business leaders and Ngāi Tahu.

We invite you to read the document and provide your comments so you can be a part of confirming the directions for education renewal in greater Christchurch.

Go to the Shaping Education website to download the document and feedback online

Did you get our May e-newsletter?

Tue, 08 May 2012 04:50:16 GMT

We send out an e-newsletter close to the start of each term to keep you up-to-date with what's new on Educational Leaders and give you other pieces of leadership information that might support you in your leadership role.

Our latest e-newsletter was emailed on May 8th to leaders who are on our database.

If you've missed this, or any other e-newsletter, click on the link below which will take you to the archive. You can also sign up to receive the e-newsletter from this page.

Go to e-newsletter archive

Sabbatical leave awards for 2013 now open

Mon, 30 Apr 2012 21:45:35 GMT

If you wish to apply for sabbatical leave during 2013, the closing date for applications is Friday 29 June 2012.

Paid sabbatical leave of 10 weeks (one term) is available to principals in state or state integrated schools, under the provisions of the primary, secondary, and area principals' collective agreements. A sabbatical is also available for secondary senior managers covered by the secondary teachers' collective agreement. Visit TeachNZ for more information and to download 2013 application forms and guidelines.

Go to study awards

Ruia tools released

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 00:46:21 GMT

E kore au e ngaro, he kākano i ruia mai i Rangiātea.

I will never be lost, for I am a seed sown in Rangiātea.

The Ministry has released the Ruia tools for principals and other school leaders.

Developed as two websites, the two tools have been designed to support better educational success for Māori students and provide in-depth resources in appraisal for learning and school-whānau partnerships.

Go to information about Ruia and link to the two websites.

New NCEA website on TKI now live

Thu, 19 Apr 2012 23:18:06 GMT

The new NCEA site on TKI is now live! 

Here you will find resources to support internally assessed Level 1 and Level 2 achievement standards, as well as draft Level 3 standards and resources for internal and external assessment.

Registered standards and subject resources can be found on the NZQA website. Let us know what you think: ncea@tki.org.nz

Go to NCEA site