Tuesday 13 December 2011
FREE
Natureland ’s newest resident Page 2
Page 18-19
‘Our way is better’
Boating & Fishing
Read us online at www.nelsonweekly.co.nz
Marty Grant back on the diamond Page 21
Principal slams govt plan for charter schools Jonathan McKeown The head of the region’s oldest college says he is thrilled with progress on its new trade centre but has slammed the government for not attempting to replicate it for other regions. Nelson College headmaster Gary O’Shea says that John Banks and John Key should take a look at the new Gibbons Trade Education Centre at his school before they launch into funding charter schools, which they proposed a fortnight ago. “I don’t actually think Act or National has given any real thought to the research on charter schools. There are better ways to use money than to just sort of have this vague
concept of charter schools. I think the motivation for the announcement without the fine detail is naive,” he told Nelson Weekly this week. Gary says technically Nelson College could become a charter school, but he warns that schools have to be careful about how businesses get involved and that they remain “junior partners”. The government didn’t come to the party with any funding for the new $1.5 million dollar Trade and Automotive Centre at Nelson College, which is due for completion in February next year. Gary says with a clear educational vision, and
At least
20% OFF
*
Lynfords Proudly a family owned and operated business
SEE PAGE 3
MAIN MAN: Santa Claus waves to his adoring fans in central Nelson on Sunday for the annual Nelson City Santa Parade. Photo: Andrew Board.
Santa comes to town... finally Worried children watching the weather forecast for Sunday needn’t have worried – Santa wasn’t going to let rain ruin his parade two weeks in a row. The Nelson City Santa Parade was cancelled last week due to heavy rain and the same was predicted for Sunday. But the sun shone, the families were out in their thousands and Santa took his rightful
position as the main attraction in the parade. Organiser Huup Waagen says he is thrilled the weather held off and the parade went ahead. “About ten floats pulled out but numbers were about the same as last year, maybe down just a bit. It’s hard to say but I’d say we had about 10,000 people there,” he says. Prizes were handed out to the best
First Birthday Sale!
floats but Huup held special praise for the Purple Cake Day float, which added plenty of colour to the parade. He says postponing the event due to rain last week did affect it but he liked the later date. “I think people were more in the Christmas spirit and perhaps we should look at moving it to that date for next year.”
Storewide Reductions of at least 20%!!
All high quality! *Excludes Stressless Chairs. Exclusive brands
302 Queen St, Richmond (next to Noel Leeming)
Ph: 541 0425
www.lynfords.co.nz
Open Mon - Fri 9.30 - 5.30, Sat - 10.00 - 4.00