Supporting Parents to Support their Schools

Media Release governance…01

1 October 2009

Supporting Parents to Support their Schools

Twenty-six schools in the Pataka-Taranaki area have banded together to improve their school governance.

The schools are collaborating to improve the effectiveness of their boards of trustees in areas ranging from strategic planning to the new New Zealand curriculum. They are working with Cognition Education which is providing the necessary professional development for their trustees.

While trustees are very well intentioned, often strong members of their communities and have a range of professional and life skills, school governance isn’t necessarily something they are familiar with. With support in specific areas their performance can greatly approve.

“Cognition has provided us with the expertise and resources required to run various workshops to upskill, enhance and make new board members aware of their obligations”, said Grant Pepper of the Pataka-Takanini cluster. “Cognition has also tailored training to individual boards when requested as specific issues have arisen”.

Addressing their governance as a cluster has also been beneficial for the schools. “We’re stronger working together,” said Mr Pepper.

The cluster believes that improving school governance will result in increased school effectiveness in the area, a view which is shared by Cognition Education, New Zealand’s leading independent education consultancy.

“Effective schools have effective boards of trustees,” said Cognition Principle Consultant, Dr Phil Coogan. “Our aim is to continue to make available the range of expertise and vast experience we’ve gained over the last four years as part of the Ministry of Education’s Board Training and Support contract”.

Cognition has been the Ministry of Education’s preferred provider of board training in Auckland and Northland and has supported 60 percent of the 637 boards in the region with more than 95 percent of the participants reporting that the service they received was very good or excellent.

Cognition’s governance facilitation team includes some of New Zealand’s most respected and experienced educational management specialists, all of whom have been formally approved by the Ministry of Education to deliver training and support to school boards.

Workshops range from the big picture (how the principal and trustees can collaborate for the benefit of the school community) to workshops with a specific focus (do you know how well your students are really doing?). For more information, go to www.cognition.co.nz.

ENDS

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