Finalists showcase strength of NZ content

Finalists showcase strength of NZ content in educational publishing

New Zealand students need strong local content to help them think critically, engage in their own environment and learn. The finalists in this year’s CLNZ Education Awards showcase the very real strength and breadth of our home-grown educational resources.

The 2015 finalists demonstrate that a need for local content on a subject area is most often identified and invested in by our own local publishers. The four resources named as finalists in the Te Reo Māori category – as well as the higher education finalists The New Zealand Dyslexia Handbook and Working with Māori children with special education needs highlight this.

New Zealand topics also feature prominently in the ranks of this year’s primary and secondary category finalists. Finalists in these categories include Huia Publishers’ Meariki, a graphic novel originally published in Maori; and Bridget Williams Books’ Tangata Whenua, which charts Maori history from ancient origins through to today.

This year, resources with strong local content also feature in the export category. Primary category finalist the Connectors Fiction Series, which takes a peer-to-peer approach to reading development and links in to the New Zealand curriculum, was also selected by the judging panel as an export finalist – demonstrating that resources for export markets are often adapted from those that perform well locally.

Paula Browning, CEO, CLNZ says: “This year’s finalists highlight the important work New Zealand’s educational publishers are doing to source, create and invest in local content. The educational publishing industry not only contributes significantly to learning in this country but is also an important contributor to employment and GDP.”

A recent PwC report* values the New Zealand publishing industry’s total impact on gross domestic product at $308 million – and attributes $69 million of this to educational publishing.

The CLNZ Education Awards judging panel named the following resources as finalists for 2015:

Best Resource in Primary

Connectors Fiction Series, Jill Eggleton, Global Education Systems

Living Things: Sorting Animals Series, Kathleen Ferrier, Lanky Hippo

There was an Old Woman, Kaitrin McMullan and Liz Weir, Clean Slate Press

Best Resource in Secondary

Meariki: the Quest for Truth, Helen Pearse-Otene, Huia Publishers

Tangata Whenua: An Illustrated History, Atholl Anderson, Judith Binney and Aroha Harris, Bridget Williams Books

Unravelling Scholarship English, Jenny May, Ryan Publications

Best Resource in Te Reo Māori

Hui E! Term 2 2014, Huia Publishers

Ka hoki tāua ki te whare huri ai ē!, Agnes McFarland, NZCER Press

Rona, Chris Szkely, Te Kauru Nohotima, Huia Publishers

Te Reo Singalong Books, Sharon Holt, The Writing Bug

Best Resource in Higher Education

The New Zealand Dyslexia Handbook, Susan Dymock and Tom Nicholson, NZCER Press

Working with Māori children with special education needs: He mahi whakahirahira, Jill Bevan-Brown, NZCER Press

Best Resource for Export

Connectors Fiction Series, Jill Eggleton, Global Education Systems

CSI Literacy Kit 7, Neale Pitches, South Pacific Press and Pacific Learning

Keylinks Shared South African Afrikaans, Jill Eggleton, Global Education Systems

About the 2015 judging panel:

Andrew Cowie: currently a future focussed and e-learning facilitator with CORE Education, Andrew works with a variety of schools’ leadership teams, teachers, students, parents, and board members. He has 15 years of teaching experience across primary, intermediate and secondary as well as in a variety of learning environments throughout New Zealand, Canada, and the UK. His areas of expertise include: digital citizenship, psychology, e-Learning, leadership, innovation and parenting in the 21st century.

Angela Fitchett: Angela has a wealth of in-classroom experience as well as experience of the publishing process. Her previous teaching roles include Curriculum Manager, Dean and Head of English for Nelson College and she currently teaches English to senior and junior classes. She is the author or co-author of six text books on English for ESA Publications and is a columnist for the Nelson Mail.

Dr Jenny Robertson: Jenny has a PhD in education. She has been a secondary school teacher and now works as monitor and evaluator for in-service professional learning and development contracts at The University of Auckland, Faculty of Education. Jenny has worked on a variety of curriculum related projects for the Ministry of Education and the New Zealand Qualifications Authority. She also has experience of the publishing process as an author and has published educational texts with ESA Publications and health sector non-governmental organisations.

David Glover – consulting judge, export: Founder of Creative Strategies, David regularly advises New Zealand businesses as they explore new markets. He is the former CEO of Learning Media, which exported to over 30 countries, a past member of the PANZ Council, and the first non-American appointed to the board of the U.S. Association of Educational Publishers. He has over 25 years’ experience as a CEO and Board Director in New Zealand, Australia, the UK and Indonesia.

Brenda McPherson and the Te Reo Tuatahi teaching network – consulting judges, Te Reo Māori:

Brenda is Principal of Windy Ridge School, one of the first schools to participate in the Te Reo Tuatahi programme. Te Reo Tuatahi supports the teaching of Te Reo Māori in schools through language assistants (kaiawhina reo) who deliver lessons in Māori – a model of language learning that is also used to teach other languages in New Zealand schools.

The 2015 judges’ selection winners and the results of the Teachers’ Choice voting will be announced at a ceremony in Auckland on Thursday 19 November.

ENDS

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