Issue 107 Term 3 | 2015
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LEADERS IN EDUCATION NEWS SINCE 1989
LAND OF NOT SO PLENTY Why are kids arriving at school with empty stomachs?
The $10.8 billion education spend HEKIA PARATA ON THE BIG EDUCATION INVESTMENT
GREG MACKLE The Prime Minister’s Supreme Award winner shares his views on school culture, teaching and learning
THE GENDER AGENDA Will the transgender community find mainstream acceptance?
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Principal Administration Dept Board of Trustees Property Manager Outdoor Ed Dept Teachers
Issue 107 Term 3 | 2015
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LEADERS IN EDUCATION NEWS SINCE 1989
LAND OF NOT SO PLENTY
Contents IDEAS
NEWS
5 The gender agenda
6 KIWI TEACHERS SIT COMFORTABLY AMONG THE BEST
Why are kids arriving at school with empty stomachs?
The $10.8 billion education spend HEKIA PARATA ON THE BIG EDUCATION INVESTMENT
GREG MACKLE
Getting to grips with gender identity
The Prime Minister’s Supreme Award winner shares his views on school culture, teaching and learning
THE GENDER AGENDA
The transgender debate hits the headlines - but will it find mainstream acceptance?
Will the transgender community find mainstream acceptance?
ISSN 1170-4071 HAVE THE FOLLOWING PEOPLE SEEN THIS?
Principal Administration Dept Board of Trustees Property Manager Outdoor Ed Dept Teachers
Principals Today
Issue 107
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While that’s great, PPTA president Angela Roberts says what students think is more important
11 NUMERACY PROJECT ACCUSED OF NOT ADDING UP The Numeracy Project changed the way maths is taught and because of this, is being labelled a failure
12 KIWI KIDS TO HAVE THEIR VOICES HEARD Local voices are being sought for global children’s survey
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6 Supporting the power of education
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The Government’s $10.8 billion education spend
NATIONAL SALES MANAGER Clive Greenwood
Education Minister Hekia Parata on the biggest investment in education ever
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Kylie Palermo Stacey Coy Jade Haylett Laura McLeod Lyn Wright Angela Barltrop
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Issue 107 / Term 3, 2015
8 Land of not so plenty
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Why are kids arriving at school with empty stomachs? Common factors relevant to all demographics and all regions of the country
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12 SEEKING TOP TEACHERS Entries are now open for the National Excellence in Teaching Awards
TOOLS RESOURCES 14 ENSURING EDUCATIONAL EQUITY AND EXCELLENCE The School Evaluation Indicators explained 14 BEING AWARE OF STRUCTURES IN MATHS Helping students take the leap from additive thinking to multiplicative thinking
WORKING SPACE 16 ICT Getting your school website up to scratch 16 KEEPING IT CLEAN Inadequate cleaning leaves teachers and students sick
20 GREAT SURFACES The benefits of the Burgess system 22 PLAYGROUND PERFECTION The soft fall product that wears well and doesn’t scatter
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News | Gender Agenda
The gender agenda By Davina Richards
Self identity is integral to the human condition and something we all, generally speaking, take entirely for granted. But what happens when this essential component of your self is clouded in a fog of uncertainty; when the person you identify yourself as being bears little or no resemblance to the person staring back at you in the mirror, either physically, mentally, or both. In the last couple of decades there has been an evident change in attitude towards sexuality in society, which mean stigma and prejudice against homosexuality may be coming to an end. But what of transgender people who simply want what everyone else wants: acceptance. They may be a minority but the issue of transgender is encroaching. The awareness of transgender reached new heights when Caitlyn Jenner (formally Bruce Jenner) a 1976 Olympic decathlon champion and American television personality came out as a transgender woman earlier this year. Caitlyn’s story was plastered across the media and brought the subject into mainstream consciousness, but she hasn’t been the first person to publicly speak about transgender. Last year’s Eurovision Song Contest winner Conchita Wurst, the bearded lady, instantly became an icon and inspiration for millions of people in the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community and Isis King, one of the most famous transgender models who was the first transgender contestant on the reality television show America’s Next Top Model, have also lead the way to normalising it. Sadly, for many, it’s not all good news. The number of transgender suicides is on the rise. A 2014 report titled ‘Suicide attempts among transgender and gender non-conforming adults’ released by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and the Williams Institute at the University of California, School
of Law, revealed 45 percent surveyed attempted to take their lives – this number was highest among 18 to 25 year olds. Gender identity for young people has been highlighted following the tragic suicide of 17 year old transgender Ohio teenager Joshua (Leelah) Alcorn in December last year. She left a note penning her parents’ disappointment when she came out as transgender and was sent off to have “conversion therapy” – a programme which aims to change sexual orientation – with a “Christian therapist”.
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What the child really needs is affirmation of their unique personality and appropriate treatment for their unhappiness and other presenting emotional issues
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- BOB MCCOSKRIE, NATIONAL DIRECTOR OF FAMILY FIRST NZ
She intended her fatal act would spark action for a change in attitude towards transgender people and wrote before she died: “Gender needs to be taught about in schools, the earlier the better.” Just like how same-sex marriage has been accepted into many western countries, will there be another wave of change for the transgender community? Is it time? In February, the New York Times website published a story about how a US public institution, The University of Vermont, agreed to use the word “they” as a substitute for “he” or “she” for individuals in the transgender community. Going further than this, it validated a third gender: gender neutral or “genderqueer” and allow students to choose a new name (irrespective of
treatment for their unhappiness and other presenting emotional issues,” Bob says.
whether it has been legally changed) and a pronoun “ze” (this replaces the words “his” and “her” in German) or “they”.
Although Bob refers to gender identity as a “trend” which connotes that gender identity is a choice, the Ministry of Health website states there is a distinction between eligibility and readiness to undertake gender transition, and it is standard practice for patients to have a comprehensive multidisciplinary evaluation before undergoing surgery, which means gender conversion is not as black and white as some people may think.
In order to be gender sensitive and know how to refer to gender neutral individuals, their chosen name or pronoun is added to the class roster, and the LGBT Resource Centre at the University of Wisonsin, Milwaukee created a pocket-sized pronoun chart for faculty members to help them with appropriate identification of their students. Family First NZ says students with gender dissatisfaction should be treated and cared for on a case by case basis by families in conjunction with professionals and the school. “A child’s gender at birth is an objective biological reality and is entirely consistent and unambiguous. The ‘gender agenda’ will simply lead to confusion in schools,” says Bob McCoskrie, national director of Family First NZ.
A 2007 Dutch study found that 52 percent of the children diagnosed had one or more diagnoses in addition to Gender Identity Disorder (GID), including anxiety disorders and behavioural disruptive disorders.
The desire to become the opposite gender was not GID but was symptomatic of other psychiatric illnesses. Gender change does nothing to resolve these issues. One study suggested that most children with “It must also be remembered that some gender dysphoria will not remain individuals have committed suicide after gender dysphoric after puberty. having sex-change surgery and coming Professor of Psychiatry, Paul McHugh, out as the opposite of their biological whose studies of transgender surgery sex. Their deaths are as regrettable and brought the procedures to an end tragic as the death of Joshua-Leelah. at Johns Hopkins University, said Are the marchers today also marching “We psychiatrists would do better to against sex change surgery? concentrate on trying to fix their minds “The current trend of gender identity and not their genitalia”. being changeable fails to take into So there is now debate about the account the possibility of deeply transgender agenda, but will the fog unresolved psychological issues that, when treated first, could avoid the need clear for those who stand in front of the mirror? And will they finally have a for any change in gender. What the person smiling back at them? Only time child really needs is affirmation of their will tell. unique personality and appropriate
www.principalstoday.co.nz Term 3, 2015 | 5
News | Viewpoints
Supporting the power of eduation By Hekia Parata, Minister of Education
I am a big believer in the transformative power of education. It is a belief that arises out of personal experience.
knowledge more widely available and enabling them to stay in the classroom will help lift the quality of teaching.
I grew up in a community that was not particularly rich in material goods, but was rich in other ways. One of those ways was a belief in the value of education, both for its own sake and as a vehicle for achieving a better life, and the high expectations our community held for all of us.
We want principals to be challenged and we want the very best of you to go where you can make the greatest difference. And we want new forms of leadership such as this one focussed on achievement, not the running of the school.
Parental engagement has been identified by educational experts as one of the key factors in determining students’ educational success. However, community expectations and parental engagement are not sufficient on their own to ensure kids get a good education. The inschool factors that have the greatest impact on students’ education are the quality of teaching and the quality of leadership. This financial year our government is budgeting to spend $10.8 billion on early childhood, primary and secondary education. That is more than we spend on police, defence, roads and foreign affairs combined. That is the biggest investment in education ever. We need to make sure that as much of that as possible is focussed on one or more of the four factors that have been identified as making the greatest difference to student learning. Take for example, our Investing in Educational Success initiative. By creating communities of schools, IES is making it easier for teachers and schools to share expertise and resources. We’re also making it more attractive for good teachers to remain in the classroom. Making their expertise and
By creating new roles for principals and introducing a principals’ recruitment allowance, we’re investing to raise the quality of leadership.
By involving communities in the critical role of setting achievement challenges for communities of schools, we’re engaging parents in their children’s education and raising community expectations. There are many other initiatives that reflect my approach, such as the public achievement information that we are publishing to inform parents and communities about what is happening in their schools, the cross sector forums that I am convening to encourage systematic collaboration between different parts of the sector, and the better public service targets that we have set to drive achievement. But you get the picture. The evidence is clear that, within the schooling system, it is teaching and leadership that have the most influence over the educational success of students. What you do really matters. One day the kids in your schools will be running the country, staffing the hospitals and educating the next generation. We need all of them to be achieving to their potential. Thank you for the things you and your colleagues do every day to make a difference to the kids in your classrooms. There are few roles in society which provide a greater opportunity to make a positive difference to other people’s lives.
6 | Term 3, 2015 www.principalstoday.co.nz
Kiwi teachers sit comfortably among the best By Angela Roberts, PPTA president
I don’t know if it is a particularly Kiwi thing to worry a lot about how we stack up against the rest of the world, or if it’s normal for people from small countries.
Students who report liking school a lot, a bit, or thinking it is okay, have increased from 85.5 percent in 2001, to 87.8 percent in 2007, and to 90.2 percent in 2012. This isn’t perfect, but it’s good and getting better.
We’re notorious for constantly asking overseas visitors “How do you like it here?” so it’s no surprise that whenever an international league table comes out it makes a big splash in the media.
Working with a film crew and the schools’ principals, we invited students to come and speak frankly about things like what makes a great teacher and what they think teachers do all day.
The latest TALIS report on New Zealand teachers, headlined by TVNZ, ‘Kiwi teachers ranked amongst the world’s best, and most hard working’ was one that many teachers would have felt gratified to see at the end of a long term.
Students were keen to talk about their teachers and while they were overwhelmingly positive, they were also honest and realistic about the work that their teachers do.
I was also pleased to see Minister Parata taking the opportunity to praise the profession, something that she’s been doing assiduously of late. As any teacher knows, often the most useful feedback on your practice comes from your students. There are some interesting reports which do this on a national level, both with international comparisons and in a time series. PISA 2009, an international comparison, included questions on students’ views of teacher-student relations. New Zealand teachers were rated well above the OECD average by their students. Eighty six percent of the 15 year olds in the survey said their teachers treat them fairly (compared to 79 percent average across the OECD) and 87 percent said if they need extra help they will get it (79 percent is the average score again). On a national level, The Youth 2000 series, which surveys around 9,000 high school students, shows a steady increase in their satisfaction with school between 2001 and 2012.
And on a much more anecdotal, and fun level, PPTA recently filmed a bunch of students in high schools around Wellington talking about their teachers.
It strikes me that whatever effort is put into ‘raising the status of teachers’ through bodies like EDUCANZ or fancy award ceremonies, young people see the day to day reality of the teaching profession much more closely than anyone else, and they’ll take far more notice of that when they are deciding on careers than any marketing spin. So, yes, we seem to stack up pretty well against the rest of the world, and that’s great. But much more importantly, we’re doing well and getting better by our own students too. And as one of the fabulous girls said in the videos we made, “Teachers, they’re worth a lot”.
Check out the videos PPTA made for their #fair4teachers #good4students campaign at : www.youtube.com/user/NZPPTA
News | Cover Story
Land of not so plenty Why are kids arriving at school with empty stomachs? By Chris Fortune
It was a simple question I asked myself: why do some children in New Zealand go to school without breakfast? As I am a father of two children I thought that this would be easy to answer, but I have come to realise there are so many different factors and reasons why some kiwi children do not eat the most important meal of the day… breakfast. Since our project began, the Kids Can Cook Kitchen and Teens Can Cook Kitchen, has visited more than 250 schools nationwide and worked with over 40,000 children and teens. We have met some of New Zealand’s most outstanding teachers and principals, health advocates, parents, children, teenagers and students who have the most amazing school educational programmes and school gardens. What we have found is some common concerns that are relevant to all demographics and all regions of the country:
1. Some families do not have the money, knowledge or willpower to supply breakfast on a consistent basis, which may be caused by not prioritising the most basic needs first, that of ensuring a child is in the best position to learn every day of the week. The fact is that breakfast is the cheapest meal to provide, at just 50 cents per person, and the most important, is sometimes overlooked by some families. A common human trait is that the simplest things can be the hardest to do in the supposedly busy world that we live in. Solution: This could be addressed by providing social service agencies or
8 | Term 3, 2015 www.principalstoday.co.nz
schools with access to a breakfast vouchers and knowledge scheme for healthy cereals that can be eaten in the home environment by families. This puts the focus onto ensuring that each day starts with doing the basic things well i.e. having breakfast. By eating at home it ensures the next generation of kids have the right skill sets and knowledge. While schools currently provide the short-term, safe, proactive and essential service of breakfast clubs is it the best longer term solution? 2. Factors such as poverty, alcohol, tobacco and drugs can have an adverse effect on both the physical environment and economics of providing the most important meal of the day for children. Children love to learn and they are better at this when they are not distracted by simple things such as hunger or adult problems. The fact that there are a lot of social agencies that are able to help families before their children get to school begs the question; why
are some families not asking for help if they cannot feed their own children breakfast? Solution: This could be addressed by ensuring that there is easy access to budgeting, quit line and social help groups when asked or identified by either children or teachers. An Eat it Forward Programme where help is given and can be repaid by time in community gardens, church or food bank projects would provide a payback focus. Highlighting parental responsibilities of what a family is and how anybody can break past habits and turn these into future opportunities would be a key focus. Alcohol, tobacco and drugs are all recreational escapes from reality, whereas breakfast and feeding energy giving foods to a family are the bare bones of reality. Use and highlight champions, groups, organisations and mentors in the community who have risen above past personal issues to show a way to eat it forward.
News | Cover Story
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The fact is that breakfast is the cheapest meal to provide, at just 50 cents per person, and the most important, is sometimes overlooked by some families. A common human trait is that the simplest things can be the hardest to do in the supposedly busy world that we live in.
3. The vast majority of children are eating breakfast consistently, but only the minority are eating the right energy giving breakfasts. Fancy cereals, instant satisfaction foods and overpriced energy deficient manufactured foods are over-represented at the breakfast table of many NZ children. The “puffery” by food companies plays a major role in the weekly shop and the pester power of children adds up to the wrong types of foods being consumed. Solution: Ensure that food labels are effective, easy to read and that “puffery” is not a viable defence of common marketing practices. The transparency of what is in our food needs to speak for itself rather than the hidden ingredients and marketing ploys that are engaged to promote foods that have a low nutritional value but high profitability value. Engage and actively network with food producing companies to highlight the value of future communities’ health and wellbeing as a shared responsibility. Look at what messages we are saying by the advertising in our bus shelters, community facilities and shared spaces. What messages are we sending our communities? Is it balanced and meeting the needs of the community, or is it just puffery? 4. Schools are effectively sowing the seeds with environmental and sustainable school programmes, life educational programmes, garden programmes and health programmes, thus providing the right environment for every child to learn and participate in a more meaningful way. There are numerous champions who are outstanding in their fields of expertise and they should be allowed to nurture and grow their current work and the future work that needs to be done. Solution: Ensure primary schools are provided with enough resources and tools to set high goals that are the very essence of future good learning practices. It is a partnership between themselves and what happens at home. It is not a one way system of learning but a shared responsibility for the whole community. 5. Children are more likely to eat breakfast if mum and dad sit down with them at the same time to share the first meal of the day. In some families mums and dads are at work first thing in the morning and breakfast is something that children have to organise themselves. Just because parents are not at home does not mean that is it not their responsibility to provide for their children. Nobody likes to eat alone and children are no exception.
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Solution: Ensure that we understand the underlying issues around families who are unable to provide or do not have the skill set to provide. The kitchen table is the key to unlocking the best in our future learners. Education and promotion of good eating habits to all communities will go a long way to resolving future health problems. There is a responsibility to raising families and if the start of the day is to lead by example then the rest of the day is easier to maintain.
6. School garden programmes are leading the way in putting our children in touch with real food and the teachers and principals who run these programs deserve a bucketful of recognition for the often understated and underfunded roles they are playing in New Zealand society. It is not their core function but it is in their best interest for longer term learning environments where we naturally have some academic learners and there is a whole range of practical learners. Solution: Ensure that there are resources and tools available to all educators to continue and expand the programmes that are currently running. The implications of not supporting these grass roots teachers and programmes who are leading the way in sowing the seeds will lead to poor succession and uptake at a community level. 7. The marketing of convenience foods often drowns out the message that is being broadcast by parents, grandparents, teachers and health professionals, who cannot compete against multinational companies with million dollar budgets. The abundance of advertising that surrounds our schools and is associated with youth sporting teams far exceeds the best practice that most ethical companies would be put forward to their own employees. Solution: Ensure that there is a balanced and fair representation in sensitive areas (schools, sports grounds) so that there is a conscious focus on what is best for that community, rather than what is best for the bottom line of a commercial food producer.
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having such a worldly availability of foods does not register with some. To perform at your best means you have to ensure that you are feeding your body the right foods on a consistent basis. Solution: Provide the education tools and resources at a primary level so that our teenagers of the future are equipped with the correct information to make the right decisions at the right times of their lives. Primary schools are the incubators and if we sow the seeds of knowledge in younger educational groups, then these seeds will germinate later in life. Use our national treasures (i.e. sporting heroes) to highlight the essence of how anybody can achieve their goals if they feed the right energy to the right places. 9. There are very few children in New Zealand who are really hungry and starving. We are feeding our children the wrong foods at the wrong time and this is leading to a country of future adults with poor nutritional eating habits. This will ultimately lead to compounding health issues that we are fully aware of but fail to grasp the longer term ramifications of. Solution: Continue to highlight and promote the ramifications of excess sugars, fats and lack of physical movement to ensure that it is a balanced message. There are a number of very good and efficient participation and sporting programmes that have a large impact on youth.
While we live in a free world to make our own decisions, it is very hard to think about when you are being shouted at.
Ensure that these programmes are given the tools and resources needed to make a difference in the community. Education is not something that is limited to school hours but it is something that can be done 24 hours of the day.
8. Some teens are less likely to eat breakfast due to extreme social pressure from their peers and the “time” factor. The fact that breakfast has never been easier to prepare or
10. Educate, educate, educate. Give our youth and the communities the tools to make the right decisions at the right time and place. While schools are doing a great job there are many other
To perform at your best means you have to ensure that you are feeding your body the right foods on a consistent basis.
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groups and agencies that are educating our youth in the community. These include community gardens, Churches, local iwi and councils, sporting groups, government agencies and regional food systems. Solution: Educate, educate, educate. New Zealand is a very different place than it used be, with 24 hour shopping and 24 hour eating. Our fast-food restaurants have bigger, taller and brighter signs, unhealthy foods are sold as dietary supplements and we have now become used to an Americanised diet of supersize me. While a hardware store used to sell hardware they now sell everything from energy drinks to ice blocks to nails and hammers. The fact that our supermarkets, who are our biggest food promoters, now provide us with more energy drinks and alcohol than fresh vegetables and fruits at the entrance, highlights that the future health and wellbeing of New Zealand children is an issue that will get worse before it gets better. Education is the key.
Chris Fortune is the founder of the Kids Can Cook Kitchen and Teens Can Cook Kitchen, and the immediate past Chairperson of Farmers Markets New Zealand. For further information visit: www.kidscancookkitchen.org.nz and www.teenscancookkitchen.org.nz
www.principalstoday.co.nz Term 3, 2015 | 9
News | Principal Q & A
Greg Mackle
Gisborne Boys’ High School Greg Mackle has been Principal of Gisborne Boys’ High School since 1997. The school recently won the Prime Minister’s Supreme Award at the Education Excellence Awards 2015, as well as the Excellence in Teaching Award for its Whakairo course of study.
What do your recent awards at the Education Excellence Awards 2015 mean to the school? We did not enter these awards for the money or the recognition that has consequently come from winning. Both the money and recognition are great. However, what was really important for us was affirmation from the expert panel and the judges who came to Gisborne Boys’ High School, that the numerous programmes and strategies being implemented at the school focussed on the engagement and achievements of the young men. Of particular importance was the values-based Tu Tane programme at Year 10 – it has transformed our teaching and learning. The model which we have set up for the Whakairo programme and the flow into other curriculum areas, shows what every school can achieve by considering the cultural background and interests of young men before developing any curriculum course of study. We have introduced a programme called Tu Whanau at Year 9 and 10, because we know that as well as engaging and listening to our young men, we must also engage and listen to our community or whanau. What are the main objectives of the school? This is a simple one. Surely every school in New Zealand does this. Our focus is to provide every young man with the opportunities to achieve and grow into a man based on his individual needs and wants. We have five values on which we base this focus: respect, courage, perseverance, honesty and loyalty. These values are the foundation of our school culture. They hold up our school’s motto: “Virtus Repulsae Nescia” – “Toa Hinga Kore-Toa Mate Kore” or “Courage Knows No Defeat”.
What inspired you to become an educator? At first it was a career that I wanted to try. But the superb teachers who supported me as a Year 1 – 5 teacher simply reinforced for me that it was my career. I learned from them and watched them develop what could be best called ‘relationship teaching and learning’. The rewards and “payback” from both young men and women who I taught in those initial and subsequent years was, and still is, the best affirmation any professional teacher can get. It was not all plain sailing, and even now I have lots to learn about being a relationship teacher. What has been the highlight success of your career to date? Again an easy one: being appointed as the principal of Gisborne Boys’ High School. I am lucky to have a job which I love doing. I am also very lucky to have a BOT, SLT, staff, and school community who willingly support and share the vision and workload. I have yet to wake up in the morning and think “I don’t want to go to school”. Accepting the challenge to provide each young man with opportunities to be a man is challenging, frustrating, at times funny, but just so satisfying. What is your best piece of advice for fellow educators? Be prepared to listen and learn from fellow professionals, and young people who depend on you to show them what can be achieved. They are all unique and deserve to be valued. Really listen to your parents, caregivers and whanau. Don’t confuse what I have called relationship teaching with being a “mate”. All young people want you to support them on their journey
to being young adults. This support is very much about having clear boundaries/consequences and most importantly role-modelled values. What are the most compelling challenges within today’s education system? Providing for rapidly changing needs and wants of tomorrow’s world. Trying to out-guess what is required in a school’s curriculum next year, let alone in three to five years time. Preparing today’s young person for the amazing pathways, which are potentially theirs to follow. What new initiatives are you looking to implement at the school? As mentioned above, our Tu Whanau programme is the third side of the triangle required in our teaching and learning partnership. Engaging our community/whanau, so that each of them absolutely knows that Gisborne Boys’ High School is our school. Our whole school writing programme ‘Write That Essay’, which is focussed on every young man’s writing skills. Dr Ian Hunter is the driving force behind this programme. He and his Auckland University-based team is providing valuable expert support for both teachers and young men. We are also examining our whole school curriculum to ensure that it is able to provide for the needs and wants of our young men. What is the role Gisborne Boys’ High School plays in the life of its students? It is their school. Without them, without their incredible and unique skills, qualities, cultural and family backgrounds, the school is just empty concrete and wooden spaces. Each of the young men deserves the best of what we can teach and
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learn together. Our 106 years of achievements and successes would not exist without them. Their future and the future of Gisborne Boys’ High School relies on them accepting the challenges put in front of them. What would you change if you were the Minister of Education? I had better be careful here! At the moment I am struggling to enlighten central MOE that a New Zealand “Code of Whatever” cannot be applied to every school in a black and white method. Gisborne Boys’ High School is completely different from Southland BHS or Waimea College. There is not enough flexibility to allow for this “Code of Whatever” to allow different schools to fulfil these central requirements or rules. Not easy I know, but if you don’t try, how do you know whether it will work? What is the most rewarding aspect of your job? Another easy one! People… young men, professional hard working staff, always supportive BOTs, totally committed and supportive dads, mums, nans, grandads, whanau, my fantastic wife, who by the way, is the best of all the best professional teacher colleagues I have learnt from. What have your students taught you? Enjoy what you are doing. Have fun teaching and learning… together. You never know what they can achieve or what amazing skills and qualities they have, until you give them the opportunities to do it! Never give up. Always respect yourself, each other, your family and school. Step up to any challenge put in front of you. Humility.
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News | Curriculum
Numeracy Project accused of not adding up Get inspired at Capital E Students falling behind in maths might be because they are learning too many methods for solving maths problems, and aren’t spending enough time on the vital basics.
If you’re seeking an LEOTC experience that will empower and inspire students in your school, then look no further than Capital E. Capital E’s digital studios have new programmes and have recently installed the latest technology equipment in their OnTV Studio and MediaLab, including 3D printers, a TriCaster and Raspberry Pis. MediaLab has two new programmes sure to ignite children’s creative spark in design and technology. ‘Think It, Make It, Print It’ is Capital E’s latest session where students design their own 3D object. Firing up Capital E’s 3D printers, Capital E tutors will print the student’s designs and send them to the school as a memento of their creative work.
That is a key finding of Un(ac) countable: Why millions on maths returned little by Rose Patterson – a report by The New Zealand Initiative covering the history of the Numeracy Project, a programme rolled out across most primary schools 15 years ago. The Numeracy Project changed the way maths is taught, at a cost of $70 million, but is now facing criticism for leading to deteriorating maths performance in young children. The report says a lack of emphasis on the basics such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, and using traditional written methods, is holding children back from developing mathematically, and that maths performance has been in decline since the programme was introduced.
International Student Assessment (PISA) as the measures from which she drew her conclusions. “It’s a huge leap to conclude that there is a causal link between an international league table ranking and the failure of a numeracy project, decline in the standards of mathematical teaching competence and decline in children’s knowledge of basics,” Denise says.
“Learning basic mathematics takes concentration and effort at first, but with practice it becomes automatic. You have to be fluent with the basics in order to get really good at maths,” says Rose Patterson, the report’s author.
“It’s an even greater stretch of credibility to suggest that New Zealand’s TIMSS and PISA rankings can be lifted by introducing a certificate of mathematical competence for teachers.
According to the Initiative’s report, both the traditional and modern methods are important, but the pendulum has swung too far towards the new.
“NZPF would welcome a robust study conducted by qualified professionals and academics in mathematics, to identify the benefits of ongoing professional learning development opportunities for mathematics teachers,” she says.
Arguably the most confrontational finding of the report, in regards to teachers in New Zealand, is that too few primary school teachers have adequate levels of maths to teach the subject. The report cites a 2010 study which found that a third of new primary school teachers could not add two fractions (7/18 + 1/9) together. Commenting on the report, New Zealand Initiative executive director, Dr Oliver Hartwich says, “Teacher proficiency in the subject is absolutely essential for student achievement in maths. You can’t teach maths if you don’t know maths. Teachers are motivated to see their students succeed. They are the key to solving the maths problem.” New Zealand Principals’ Federation (NZPF) president, Denise Torrey says the report doesn’t add up and the research “… may have reached quite different conclusions had it sought critical input from education’s academic and professional sector”. Rose Patterson used international student achievement league tables, Trends in International Maths and Sciences (TIMSS) and Programme for
Are your students interested in how computers work? Capital E will work with them to discover how with ‘A Slice of Raspberry Pi’. A Raspberry Pi is a credit card sized computer, able to plug into a monitor or TV. This doesn’t just sound impressive, it is! With a dedicated
tutor in MediaLab, children will learn programming and the intricacies of how a computer works. If your school is focussed on learning about World War One, Across the Trenches is Capital E’s new educational OnTV programme for your school! Specially designed for students, this session commemorates the centennial and discovers lifestyle in World War One. Coming to Wellington for a short visit? Capital E will ensure your visit gets as much of a Wellington experience as possible. Visit the OnTV Studio for either Zoos News (a collaboration programme with Wellington Zoo), Eye on the Hive (includes a special tour of Parliament and an OnTV session), or Capital City Connections (another collaboration project with City Gallery, Wellington Museum and Space Place followed by an OnTV session). Discover more at www.capitale.org.nz
“It is much more likely that the removal of specialist expert maths advisors has impacted on students’ maths results, not the removal of learning basics by rote.” The Royal Society of New Zealand has come out in support of discussion on how numeracy is taught in primary schools. Distinguished Professor Gaven Martin, Royal Society of New Zealand vice president – Physical Sciences, Mathematical Sciences, Technology and Engineering, says the Society welcomes The New Zealand Institute report. Professor Martin says the Society agrees with the broad thrust of the report which seeks greater balance between basic numerical skills and strategies for solving problems. “The Society encourages educators to see if there are opportunities to improve. “Any activity that raises the mathematical skills of teachers will surely enhance current activities and enable positive change for New Zealand’s long-term benefit.” www.principalstoday.co.nz Term 3, 2015 | 11
News | In Brief
Working Space | Performing Arts
Kiwi kids to have their voices heard
Setting the stage
10-12 year olds needed for global children’s survey ChildFund wants Kiwi children to have their views heard worldwide in the largest annual poll of children’s opinions.
different parts of the world and send strong messages to parents, governments and agencies everywhere.
Now in its sixth year, ChildFund’s Small Voices, Big Dreams survey asks thousands of children from Afghanistan to Zambia their views on important issues encountered in their daily lives.
“Children have far more knowledge and understanding of the world than they are often given credit for. Their views and experiences are important and they deserve to be heard.”
Any child in New Zealand aged 10 to 12 years old is eligible to give their views on six questions. The survey takes only a few minutes to complete online at www.childfund.org.nz. ChildFund New Zealand CEO, Paul Brown says results from the Small Voices, Big Dreams survey provide valuable insights into childhood in
Last year 6,000 children from 44 countries, including more than 600 Kiwis, gave their opinions on child rights. This year the questions focus on their views on safety and protection for children. The results will be released on November 20, 2015, in recognition of Universal Children’s Day.
Joint education agreement is good news for kids’ education NZEI Te Riu Roa and the Ministry of Education have agreed to boost children’s educational success through development of a new model of learning communities. NZEI Te Riu Roa president, Louise Green says the new model is an exciting educational development shaped by educators. It had come about because NZEI members had fought for a child-centred, workable model that would be responsive to local needs and could change over time.
improving engagement with the community and boosting cultural competency. A critical change from the January 2014 Investing in Educational Success “Community of Schools” model to the new “Community of Learning” model is its expansion to incorporate early childhood and potentially stretch up to tertiary education.
The model will be flexible and responsive to children’s learning needs, and give communities themselves the ability to design the roles and resourcing required to meet the needs of their own students.
The agreement recommends that each Community of Learning determines its own leadership and teaching, collaboration and support functions that align with its achievement challenges, making the best use of its own and new resourcing. Some leadership and teaching roles and their functions will be required for all Communities of Learning; other functions may be particular to the Community.
It includes teaching roles focussed on better supporting children’s transition from ECE to school and from school to school;
The model includes a leadership role and the recognition of a range of leadership expertise communities may require.
Seeking top teachers Communities all around New Zealand can now nominate outstanding teachers for the ASG National Excellence in Teaching Awards (NEiTA). Every two years ASG NEiTA gives school communities, parents, grandparents and boards of management an opportunity to recognise and thank teachers for the crucial work they do and making a real difference in education. Nominated teachers, principals and centre directors have the chance of becoming the regional award recipients, with the national award recipients announced in October 2016.
The national award recipients will be presented with professional development grants, helping them to pursue further studies and embark on international study tours. Nominations for the awards close on September 30, 2015. To nominate go to: www.asg.co.nz/nominate. Teachers can be nominated across early childhood, primary and secondary school categories. Almost 30,000 teachers have been nominated by their communities across Australia and New Zealand since the awards started in 1994.
12 | Term 3, 2015 www.principalstoday.co.nz
The Stronglite Staging® range of portable, modular stage and seating equipment is designed and manufactured exclusively in New Zealand including: • Stage platforms, catwalks, tiered risers, choir risers • Portable grandstands for the gym, sports field or by the pool • Steps, ramps, trolleys, lecterns, bridges, ballet barres, sports shelters etc • Stage extensions and pit infills • Theatre and venue design or refit. IDEAL FOR SCHOOLS Strong, light, safe, durable, simple, versatile, portable, modular, premium quality products that are engineer certified and tested. Strength: Stronglite Stage and Seating products are designed and manufactured to be strong and durable and are tested to make sure they meet our high standards of performance under live and static load conditions. Lightness: Innovative design and use of material creates equipment that is light and easy to handle, saving time and possible injury. Safety: Engineer’s design certification, documented test results, qualified trades-people, monitoring of product in the workplace, established safe working loads, and our products conform to or exceed industry regulations and guidelines. You can be sure that our premium quality products meet exacting safety standards. Simplicity: Superior design ensures our products are quick, simple and easy to transport and assemble, saving you time and effort. Versatility: Particular attention has been paid to designing stage/ seating systems that are multi-use wherever possible, including indoor and outdoor use. Stage sections can form stage platforms, catwalks or can be tiered for audience seating
or seated choir/orchestra use, stage extensions and pit infils. Portability: We design for easy handling, transporting and storage. Choir risers fold up and wheel away. Grandstands quickly disassemble for easy transport and storage. Wheels and trolleys are also available for increased manoeuvrability. STAGE SECTIONS These are portable, safe and easy to handle and store. They’re ideal for stages, catwalks, tiered audience seating, seated choir/orchestra risers, display/work tables, ramps and more. No tools are required as there are no folding or moving parts to trap fingers etc. Sections can be stacked on castor wheels for storage and moved as a stack. PIT INFILLS & STAGE EXTENSIONS These can be custom designed and are ideal for either new venues or refits. CHOIR RISERS Two, three and four-level, folding choir risers with safety rails and carpeted decks are quiet, stable, easy to handle, transport and store. GRANDSTANDS These all-aluminium grandstands can be demountable or fixed. Wheels can be fitted for manoeuvrability making them ideal for the gym, around pools and the sports field. PORTABLE SPORTS SHELTERS Excellent for use at the tennis or netball courts or on the rugby fields. BALLET BARRES Perfect for dance studios. For professional, stylish products guaranteed to enhance any venue or event, choose Stronglite Staging®. Stronglite Staging Limited 196 Finlayson Rd RD10, Hamilton T (07) 825 2933 E stages@stronglite.co.nz
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Over 1,000 musical instruments So Music is a direct importer of musical instruments and accessories. We recognise how important it is to foster a child’s musical ability and are proud to continue offering our 15% discount to Schools. We have been operating for nearly ten years and strive to provide the best possible prices so that everyone can afford to play an instrument. We currently work with over 500 schools throughout NZ supplying everything from drumsticks and music stands to keyboards and cellos. One of our most popular instruments is the ukulele. We have the largest selections of ukuleles in New Zealand at a fraction of the price retail music shops charge. Learning the ukulele is a fantastic way to introduce children of all ages to music thanks to the simplistic chord structures and fun sounds. A really big seller that we offer to schools is our unpainted Corde model. These unpainted ukuleles provide children with an exciting task of designing, painting and learning to play their own unique instrument.
Percussion instruments are also a great way to get young children excited about music. Using small percussion instruments is a simple and entertaining method of teaching rhythm. Our Ryan brand offers almost every possible percussion instrument from the hilarious kazoo’s and wood blocks to fully tunable tambourines and conga sets. For older students we truly have every base covered. Supplying affordable brass instruments is an area that we continue to grow in. As most people are aware brass instruments can be very costly and many students resort to hiring one. Hiring instruments can turn out to be even more costly as often the student wants to continue playing. Why not buy one from the start? Our Westpoint brass instruments have been verified by local technicians and are up to three times cheaper than if sourced elsewhere.
We stock a full range of electric & acoustic instruments for your students who dream of playing in a band. Our brands Corde, Mannix, Ryan, Medeli & XM have everything you need at prices that cannot be beaten. We also have a full range of accessories that could potentially save you thousands of dollars a year. Our prices for accessories such as drumsticks, guitar strings, tuners, bows and maintenance supplies simply cannot be matched! While our prices are rock bottom our quality is not! We regularly visit the factories to ensure that the standards are held high and offer a 12 month warranty on all of our products. Call or email our friendly team to see how we can get you set up into our schools program. Over 500 schools cannot be wrong!
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Learning Spaces | Resources
Equity and excellence in education Achieving equity and excellence of education outcomes for all children and young people is the major challenge for the New Zealand education system. While we are seeing some improvement overall in the number of students achieving, our system is still characterised by increasing diversity of students and persistent disparities in achievement. At ERO we are working to deepen the impact our work has on changing what schools do, and how the system works to ensure equity and excellence for all kids. The School Evaluation Indicators were released on May 25 and are currently being trialled. These indicators identify the conditions needed to ensure equity and excellence in the educational outcomes of all our children and young people. The indicators are based on deep research and best evidence and tell you, your staff and your trustees what will make a difference. The indicators are an integrated package of domains and effective
practice centred on learners. There are six domains to focus on, descriptions of effective practice within each domain and indicators to tell the school and ERO how they are progressing toward really effective practice. The evidence shows that all of these domains are equally important and success happens when they are all attended to. The good news is that when you succeed in one domain, you will also find that that you achieve success in others – because they are so interdependent. And front and centre of the evaluation indicator framework are four Māori concepts: manaakitanga (the responsibility for caring for the whole well being of our children), whanauatanga (establishing meaningful, culturally appropriate connections), ako (reciprocity, the teacher is sometimes the learner, and the learner, the teacher), and mahi tahi (the group heading in the same direction, the same purpose). These four concepts together frame how we need to approach education provision in our unique New Zealand context. Research shows that adopting practices that meet these concepts will ensure that our schools meet the needs of all learners.
Being aware of structures in maths Multiplicative thinking is a challenge for students who have not made the transition from additive thinking. It’s a trap that will prevent them from higher thinking and bar them from taking maths beyond Year 10. So how can we help them? Show children right from the beginning groups of objects, helping them subitize up to five objects. Talk about groups and manipulate those groups without, and then with, the task of counting until they are comfortable with ‘conservation’- that the group has not changed in quantity.
Enjoy adding more items and removing items from the group. Talk about more, fewer, taking away, adding, subtracting, increase and decrease. Create patterns and order them. This leads to comparisons of sizes of groups introducing concepts of ‘greater than’, ‘less than’ and ‘equal’, avoiding the use of ‘same’. Maths is all about patterns and their relationships.
What are the actions? What is the structure? Understanding the structures leads to important ideas. Doing and undoing is important for children so understand those relationships. This is the foundation of algebra. Each of these groups requires different thinking. Be aware!
A natural progression is made to multiplicative thinking, which is not skip counting. Make groups of the same cards. Join them and separate them – doing and undoing with the language of multiplication and division, equal parts, how many groups of…, times.
How many groups? Total? Being aware of groups is more efficient and you can’t achieve a concept of grouping with ‘counting’ teddies. A group is a structure and what you do with those groups leads children from additive thinking into multiplicative thinking. What are the actions? What is the structure? Understanding the structures leads to important ideas. Look at these structures. Be aware. They lend themselves to algebraic thinking:
Counting - word and numeral order will have significance. The children can see it. It’s easier to ‘see’ quantities if the objects are arranged into a pattern. Five is a significant pattern. You can do so many things with five. You can see patterns within five!
Adding the groups provide rich conversations, especially around the structures.
and in undoing: By using structured apparatus such as Numicon and Cuisenaire, students can see the structures to develop their thinking and applying in mathematics. Numicon is highly successful at all levels giving students confidence and a belief that maths is achievable for them. References to Numicon NPC 1 and 2 Implementation Guides and John Mason and Anne Watson’s presentation at the NZAMT conference 2015
Maths
That kids and teachers love
Email info@ero.govt.nz for copies 14 | Term 3, 2015 www.principalstoday.co.nz
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Working Spaces | ICT
Working Spaces | Health
Websites that work
Keeping it clean
Obviously, being able to access instant information has made the Internet a bit of a hit. But with continually evolving software and higher spec hardware to run it, keeping up with the pace of change can seem a little daunting. But it doesn’t need to be if you get the right people to advise and help. Let’s say it’s been a few years since your website was given a facelift, then SchoolWeb may be the answer you’ve been looking for. The SchoolWeb Website Content Management System (CMS) is an easy and cost effective way for schools of all sizes to implement a website.
This extends far further than the visually unappealing sticky surfaces in classrooms, or the well used water fountains, or even the bathrooms. Even the school computers could literally be making Kiwi kids more vulnerable to the flu and cold. Typically it is these high-touch surfaces that become quickly contaminated which, on being frequently touched, spread the flu and other pathogens across the school environment.
The system allows schools to log in to a password protected system and maintain their website. Unlike other competing systems, SchoolWeb allows full control over creating and amending webpages, and it’s almost as straightforward as using Microsoft Word! You do not need any knowledge of HTML, web programming, or how to upload your site using complicated FTP software. You can update the site from wherever you have a web-browser and an Internet connection.
For this reason alone, those surfaces must be effectively cleaned. But are they? The annual flu season inevitably brings about more student and staff absences, resulting not only in poor academic performance, but budgetary pressures for schools. It is as simple as this: If school cleaning is not up to standard, the spread of bacteria and other virus will result in more children (and teachers) being absent from school.
To begin with, your website is designed by a professional graphic designer, who goes to great lengths to ensure that the graphical design reflects the unique culture of the school. Then free training is provided to get you started and there are no expensive yearly licensing fees.
While undeniable that public and private sector illness costs the government billions of dollars annually, schools’ wage bills can also be negatively impacted through the constant need for relief teachers.
Now of course you’ll want to update, improve and adapt your site as time goes on, so all the editing is done through the CMS system that’s easy enough for even the most technophobic classroom teachers and admin staff to use. As well as a general website media, SchoolWeb features ways for staff to collaborate, parents to participate, children to communicate and the whole community to share in the activities of schools in a safe way moderated by the schools. Newsletters, calendars, homework downloads, classroom projects with visitor and parent comments, forums, rosters, resource bookings, calendars, blogs and surveys are among the many abilities of the SchoolWeb system. The schools are in control and anything is possible.
A lack of cleaning standards across the education sector is having adverse health and financial effects on schools, studies from the United States have revealed.
Another focus is the growing trend towards integrating content from external websites. Schoolweb allows content from Youtube, Teachertube, Slideshare, Twitter, Blogger, Google Apps and numerous other style sites to be easily embedded into the system. Schools can obtain more information from either www.schoolweb.co.nz or by calling 0800 48 48 43
I T ’ S T I M E T O S TA N D O U T
Need a new website? Want to update it yourself? Current site looking out-dated? You need SchoolWeb, the leading website content management system designed specifically for schools’ needs. Unlimited number of pages Pre-formatted page layouts Newsletters & online surveys Detailed statistics about visitors East to use - just copy and paste text from Word Upload photos, documents, videos & podcasts Staff and students can have their own sections Controlled access to different areas Search engine optimised (for best Google rankings)
www. s c h o o l w e b .co.nz ph: 0 8 0 0 4 V I V I D Ask for our free DVD to see how it could work for your school
16 | Term 3, 2015 www.principalstoday.co.nz
According to the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment there are approximately 30,000 commercial cleaners working in the sector across New Zealand. Currently there is no Cleaning Industry Training Standards (CITS) that provides confidence to the education sector, or for that matter all employers, that the cleaners you have
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on your school grounds have the necessary skill-sets to provide an adequate level of hygiene and cleaning services. CrestClean, New Zealand’s largest privately owned commercial cleaning company believes this is wrong and is continuing to advocate for the introduction of Cleaning Industry Training Standards (CITS). They believe this could be an answer to reducing teacher and students’ risk of illness and effectively reduce absenteeism from school. A school’s cleanliness is often defined by visual inspection. There is increasing evidence to show this is no longer appropriate, and quantitative methods need to be adopted by cleaning companies in order to effectively reduce the spread of cold and flu viruses. With young children succumbing to approximately 12 colds per year, the common cold is the leading cause of visits to the doctor and absenteeism from schools, with about 62,000 students absent from school each week. Patterns of absence from school can place students at risk of poor achievement and early dropout, significantly reducing a child’s opportunities later on in life. While somewhat dated, a study in 2006 found that over half of early school leavers said they fell behind in school work because of absences including sickness, and found it difficult to catch up. A third of New Zealand schools have unclean hand drying in toilet facilities, and only half the boys and three quarters of the girls surveyed washed their hands. If school facilities haven’t been cleaned to a high standard, bacteria can survive on surfaces for months and spread between individuals. Dirty schools aren’t just affecting the students; teachers have on average 6.7 sick days per year. Employee sick leave costs the government $1.26 billion annually. This should be a wake‐up call for more preventative methods to improve the health and hygiene of New Zealanders. These issues should be a concern for both the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Health. As a result, we believe it is essential for more extensive research to be done in order for New Zealanders to understand the negative effects that a dirty school has on a student’s health. Something as simple as Cleaning Industry Training Standards (CITS) applied consistently across the commercial cleaning sector could have the potential to reduce annual wage costs, and improve academic performance of students at school. More fundamental is that Cleaning Industry Training Standards (CITS) will install a degree of confidence in schools knowing that the cleaning is fulfilling a key requirement to assist the prevention of sickness in students and staff.
Beyond the classroom | School Camps
Camp Raglan
Making the most of your time by the coast Pacific Coast Lodge is your 4 star ‘flashpackers’, being recently voted Best Accommodation New Zealand at the 2014 TNT Golden Backpack Awards. They have everything you need and more to accommodate small to large groups.
The beautiful 14 acre Camp Raglan campsite is pleasantly situated on the slopes of Mt Karioi overlooking the panoramic view of Raglan and the Tasman Sea. Camp Raglan offers a fully catered camp for a total of 150 children and adults in dormitory style accommodation which is particularly suited to primary and intermediate school children. All the main facilities are under one roof. The resident chef cooks excellent meals and special dietary needs can be catered for. Camp Raglan is known for its good food and excellent hospitality. Your host Roger Humphris will offer you a very warm welcome and is also happy to discuss your individual needs. Bethel House is an independent building available for hire separately from the main camp buildings. It has five twin share rooms and one double room as well as a kitchen, lounge room and two separate showers and toilets. It overlooks the breathtaking view of the Tasman Sea. An information pack to help you with your planning is available from the camp and gives full details of facilities,
accommodation and what you need to know to make your booking. Camp Raglan provides the following facilities and activities: • Flying fox
• Archery
• BMX track
• Air rifles
• Gymnasium
• Confidence course
• Playground
• Low ropes course
• Huge beach • Volleyball
• Orienteering course
• Swimming pool • Team building challenges. • Sports field The gymnasium has equipment for basketball, volleyball, badminton, and hockey and is a great space to use for many activities if the weather is not at its best. The main hall has a stage area with a large screen at the back which is excellent for showing movies etc. in the evening. Camp Raglan is also ideal for studies on native bush, beach and stream as well as small town studies. Camp Raglan 578 Wainui Road Raglan T (07) 825 8068 E campraglan@cbm.org.nz www.campraglan.org.nz Camp Raglan is a beautiful campsite situated on the bush-clad slopes of Mt Karioi and has panoramic views of the Tasman Sea and beach. It is a great place to get away from it all and have loads of fun! Our Activities Include: Paintball, climbing wall, low ropes course, team building activities, confidence course, swimming pool, archery, air-rifles, orienteering, flying fox, table tennis, BMX bikes, volleyball, trampoline, a developed playground area, beach and bush walks, a 6-person hammock, a camping area on a stream edge, sports playing field, and a large gymnasium.
Whether you are needing to be near the beach or are in town for a sporting event, Pacific Coast Lodge is conveniently located just 650m from downtown the Mount, 500m to Tay Street Beach, opposite Blake Park Sports Ground, and only few minutes drive from BayWave TECT Aquatic Centre and Bay Park Stadium and Arena. The lodge offers affordable, clean accommodation with 96 beds and contains one large kitchen, along with communal areas where your group can come together and engage. They also have free onsite parking large enough for mini-vans and trailers, along with bus parking in front of the facility. Having successfully hosted entire schools, sports tournaments, groups and clubs, they go out of their way to customise your requirements and can organise onsite continental breakfasts, day tours or team building activities - so it’s one less thing to worry about. Groups certainly are their specialty! Make this summer an occasion to remember, Pacific Coast Lodge is your number one choice.
Our camp has been developed to cater for a wide variety of groups, which include Primary, Intermediate and High Schools with endless scope for learning activities. This includes bush, small stream studies, inner harbour and ocean beach studies, farm and small town studies, just to name a few. Sleeping Accommodation is essentially under one roof, which provides easy and secure supervision. Camp Raglan has a resident cook who provides excellent meals, and with prior arrangements, special dietry needs can be catered for.
“
Testimonial “A huge thank you, we had such a good time at PCL. I was talking to some of the parent’s last week and they were saying that because we had such a good time at PCL it really set the mood for the rest of the trip. We enjoyed the hospitality, very clean rooms, willingness to help us with restaurants, activities, bookings, etc, nothing was a problem and there was always someone there to help us. “Staying at PCL was a fantastic experience and a great introduction to the world of backpacking for the tour team. Improvements – I can’t think of anything and not one of the 32 people on the tour had any complaints or bad comments, you and your team are doing a brilliant job.”
”
– LUCY WILLIAMS, LENNOX HEAD U17 RUGBY
Pacific Coast Lodge 432 Maunganui Road Mt Maunganui Freephone 0800 666 622 E info@pacificcoastlodge.co.nz www.pacificcoastlodge.co.nz
The camp is fully catered, and the teachers and campers will have every reason to enjoy their time away. We aim to provide a service and facility that will enrich and enhance your outdoor educational programme. If you have never been to Camp Raglan we warmly invite you to visit our facilities.
Camp Host: Roger Humphris Roger is available to answer your enquiries. Phone: 07 825 8068 Email: campraglan@cbm.org.nz www.campraglan.org.nz
SCHOOL & SPORTS GROUPS WELCOME 432 Maunganui Rd, Mount Maunganui 0800 66 66 22 info@pacificcoastlodge.co.nz www.pacificcoastlodge.co.nz www.principalstoday.co.nz Term 3, 2015 | 17
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Learning space | Energy efficiency
Energy efficient options With more than 1,000 units in use today, Taymac is New Zealand’s leading supplier and manufacturer of solid fuel, diesel and gas low pressure hot water (LPHW) boilers. Taymac HeatPak sectional boilers The HeatPak is a sectional Low Pressure Hot Water (LPHW) boiler. They are available from 150 kW up to 2.4MW, (the average school is typically 650kW). The HeatPak sectional construction is the most versatile and flexible form of boiler construction. Each boiler can be configured for the required output by specifying the appropriate number of boiler sections. Suitable for multiple fuel types, HeatPak boilers are compatible with virtually all solid fuels. There are HeatPak boilers currently in service around New Zealand supplied burning most types of wood chip, wood waste, pellets and coal. Ideally suited to central heating applications, they are found in municipal, state and private
sector facilities throughout New Zealand and Australia. Typical applications include schools, hospitals, swimming pools, hotels, motels, camping grounds and horticulture. There are many process industry applications for HeatPak which range from timber processing to wool scours, anywhere temperatures up to 90°C are required for production. The durability of the HeatPak is well proven with examples in service after 30 years, a testament to quality design, materials and aftermarket support. Wood energy conversions Many of New Zealand’s coal fired heat plants have been converted to run on wood fuel. The many benefits include reduced emissions, reduced ash production and reduced carbon emissions. However, like all solid fuels, wood combustion requires selection of an appropriate source of fuel, a suitable handling system, appropriate combustion conditions and suitable emission control equipment. Taymac has the expertise and many reference sites and satisfied clients to give prospective clients confidence in the outcomes of any proposed conversion.
Emission control equipment Taymac has unique experience in the provision of emission control equipment, fans and ducting systems to many of New Zealand’s primary industries and heat plant operators. Equipment designed and produced at Taymac’s Christchurch-based office and workshop is responsible for controlling emissions to meet resource consent requirements in applications as diverse as sawmilling, waste water treatment, coal and wood fired boilers, and lime production. The primary technologies employed are cyclones for large particles such as sawdust, multi-cyclones and wet
Heating Taymac is New Zealand’s longest established manufacturer of boilers, chimneys and emission control equipment for heating schools.
Taymac can provide replacement boilers, new
installations and resource consent upgrades for existing sites.
Taymac boilers, chimneys and emission control equipment are manufactured and supported locally.
We can offer boilers fired by: • Coal • Wood Pellets • Hogged Wood • Gas • Diesel
scrubbers for finer particles or aggressive applications, bag filters for meeting stringent clean air requirements, ceramic filters and electrostatic precipitators for demanding high temperature applications. Taymac’s ability to offer a full range of New Zealand designed and built, proven emission control equipment is unique. Along with the supply of equipment, Taymac offer onsite support for inspections, monitoring and refurbishment of emission control equipment as well as the supply of spare parts.
• Design • Manufacture • Installaton • Commissioning • After sale support • Spare parts Want to know more? Contact us at 03 389 7149 or email us at sales@taymac.co.nz or see us on www.taymac.co.nz
Taymac can meet your complete needs from spare parts to turn key Installations.
Recent upgrades to gain 15 to 20mg/m3 emission consents have been Waitaki Boys High School and Arana Hall-University of Otago.
Buy New Zealand Made. www.principalstoday.co.nz Term 3, 2015 | 19
Working Space | Property
The benefits of the burgess system Matting and surfacing products made to your specifications
Pinehurst School
Spring into Action
The reasons for using and benefits of a Burgess Wetpour system are varied. This great playground surface enables your matting to be installed as a continuous installation, flowing around equipment and poles, leaving no gaps, rolling over mounds and following contoured surfaces.
Does your school need more cost effective covered space all year round? Spring into action now to protect against the elements with a Uniport Cover.
Dozens of schools nationwide have already discovered the many uses of this innovative design. The Uniport Cover can be used for walkways, additional classroom covers, entrances, pools and more.
Uniport Covers cut out 75% of heat rays so you can avoid uncomfortable heat while enjoying natural light in your classrooms The cantilevered roof allows you unlimited freedom to move around, because the posts are on just one side only.
Hassle Free Installation There’s no need to worry about disruption to students when your Uniport is installed. The friendly team are happy to install the unit outside of school hours.
Best price in the industry - Uniport will beat any competitors’ price of a comparable quality product
Five Good Reasons to Equip Your School with a Uniport Cover Protect against the sun’s harsh rays with a polycarbonate roof which cuts out 99% of harmful UV rays, and is 250 x stronger than glass.
Some of the key features for using this system are: • Continuous installation, flowing around equipment and poles, leaving no gaps, rolling over mounds and following contoured surfaces
Engineered to tough New Zealand conditions, giving you total peace of mind for safety and protection.
• Fabulous coloured options and you can join these with a pattern or design of your choice and you have your own unique playground
For more information please call 0800 864 767, visit www.uniport.co.nz, or email Mark at hewett@xtra.co.nz
• 100 percent recycled rubber.
Modern Forms, Functional Design
Invest in Quality Roof Protection for your school Why not use your outdoor area all year round? Designed like an aeroplane wing the Uniport is...
Unique, Functional, Safe. • Ideal for modern learning environments. • Less posts, means less hazards for students and staff. • No connections to your school buildings means no leaks. • Protection while enjoying the natural light, helps learning. • Nation wide installers and service.
Wetpour is installed onsite in a similar way to pouring concrete. The resulting surface is dry and ready to play on the following day. One sqm shockpads are laid over a compacted base and then 15mm of rubber is laid on top (In line with safety standards). The thickness of the rubber applied is dependant on the required fall heights and substates. Unique patterns and designs can easily be incorporated into this flexible system. It is the most economic of systems for larger installations and can be contoured and moulded over existing mounds etc. We have a choice of seven standard colours: Marigold (Auburn), Tan, Sage, Light Grey, Black, Forest Green and Terracotta Red. Impact Pads for areas where a softer landing is needed, scuff pads, DIY modular long run and tiles, deck and ramp matting are also BMS specialties. The benefits of these products include: • Make it non slip and safe • Avoid tile joins
BURGESS MATTING AND SURFACING LTD
GET COVERED NOW!
M. 027 627 2127 | P. 0800 864 767 | www.uniport.co.nz 20 | Term 3, 2015 www.principalstoday.co.nz
We manufacture and supply many different types of domestic, industrial, recreational and commercial entrance matting.
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• Wetpour requires minimal maintenance – forget the days of topping up bark • Will last for many years as it’s very durable
• Base preparation prior to the matting installation is of the utmost importance and can add years to your playground surface. Burgess Matting offers a free, no obligation measure and quote. A sales representative can meet with you to discuss the matting systems which are suitable for your requirements. Invest in BMS Wetpour Playground Matting and provide your children with a safe and enjoyable environment and give yourself the benefit of reduced maintenance. Burgess Matting T 0800 80 85 70 E admin@burgessmatting.co.nz www.burgessmatting.co.nz
Providing Recycled Rubber Safety Solutions Custom Made to your Specifications •
Playground Wetpour Safety Surfacing
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Playground Rubber rolls for self installation
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Non-slip deck matting
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0800 808 570
Custom made doorway threshold ramps
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E: sales@burgessmatting.co.nz W: www.burgessmatting.co.nz
Impact pads for under swings and slides
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Cricket practice matting
NZ owned since 1951 Ask us about our school partnership programme, help us help you!
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Working Space | Property
Playground perfection Designers of playground equipment are constantly coming up with new exciting pieces – like spinners and rockers – as well as inventing new versions of the ever popular swings and slides. Equipment that is a winner with children also creates a challenge when choosing a suitable playground safety surface – how to find a soft fall product that does not wear out or scatter. Play Matta™ Original Scuff Pads are the answer. A self-draining modular system, made from durable plastic, with an underlying rubber shock pad for impact attenuation, Play Matta™ Scuffs will outlast the equipment.
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Scuffed out areas of woodchip that no longer provide the required fall height attenuation is a problem no longer. Gone are the dirty hollows under swings where water pools. Gone also the hard, rain-collecting depressions at the slide discharge points, and gone are the trenches around spinners.
With a six year warranty, Play Matta Original Scuffs keep performing and need little or no maintenance.
Constant raking and replenishing of woodchips is a thing of the past and playground providers no longer have to put up with ugly patched rubber wetpour that wears out with the abrasion of children’s shoes.
The surfacing system is installed over a compacted base, the interlocking tiles are welded together to doubly ensure there is no splitting at the seams, and the whole Scuff is prevented from moving by non-metal fixing pins driven into the ground.
High use and high impact areas are also the areas where ongoing fall height attenuation is most critical.
Play Matta™ Original Scuff Pads are compatible with woodchips and other loose fill products.
22 | Term 3, 2015
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Play Matta™ Scuff Pads are the cost-effective solution because they are installed exactly where they are needed, and they last. They can even be lifted and reused in another location when equipment is replaced. Their impact attenuation properties won’t be compromised when the loose fill is scattered over the surface, even if fine material falls into the holes in the mats. Play Matta™ Scuff Pads are the costeffective solution because they are installed exactly where they are needed, and they last. They can even be lifted and reused in another location when equipment is replaced.
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The playground can retain its ‘natural’ look with areas away from the equipment being left in woodchips or grass. And decision makers will be following ‘sustainable procurement’ principles by purchasing a product that has been made from 100 percent recycled feedstock. For further information phone Play Matta™ on 0800 628 827 or email: sales@playmatta.com.
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