Inquiry response “a really positive start to the new year” for schools

A document tabled in parliament last week has detailed the government‘s commitment to all parents, whanau, aiga and other primary caregivers becoming active partners in their children’s schooling and early childhood education.

NZSTA is very pleased to see that the government has accepted all of the recommendations that Select Committee made from the inquiry into engaging parents in the education of their children says Lorraine Kerr, President of the New Zealand School Trustees Association (NZSTA).

The Select Committee made 18 recommendations all of which have been accepted. The government’s response identifies a number of highly successful partnership models as well as further work that is either underway or already planned to boost the effectiveness of the community-education partnership.

“It’s a really encouraging read” says NZSTA President Lorraine Kerr. “We were very happy with the Select Committee report when it came out back in July, and we’re really pleased with the government’s response.”

“Because these recommendations came from the Select Committee they’ve got cross-party support, so we’ve got a good chance that as we build up momentum it will be sustainable in the longer term. That’s something that the sector has been asking for over the past couple of years.”

“Both reports recognise the important work that boards of trustees do, and the work NZSTA does to make sure they have the support they need to do it.

“On the whole board members are not education professionals, and they don’t need to be to contribute something valuable to the engagement of parents process, so it is good to see the report recognize Boards as the main link between communities and their local schools as well as contributing in helping the Principal shape the kind of partnership the school’s professional staff develops with their local community.

“Boards of trustees provide the opportunity for local communities to be involved at a different level, planning and monitoring how their local school provides for the community’s children and young people.

“NZSTA has found a lot of constructive ideas for us to look into in this report”, Lorraine says. “It’s given us a really positive start to the new year.”

Links to the Select Committee report and the government response can both be found on the NZSTA website www.nzsta.org.nz.

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