Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 10:24 am, February 24th, 2017 - 10 comments
This is what you get with a hasty, reactive, “top down” policy process.
Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:35 am, May 3rd, 2016 - 260 comments
National told us “New Zealand elected a Government that promised to introduce national standards so that every single child could read, write, and do maths when they left school.”
Written By: notices and features - Date published: 11:27 am, March 30th, 2016 - 31 comments
Evidence of growing poverty hitting “mid-decile” schools.
Written By: notices and features - Date published: 2:16 pm, November 27th, 2015 - 2 comments
I/S at No Right Turn compares the government’s treatment of two very different schools. “National’s racism and pandering to the rich pervades every aspect of policy.”
Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:01 am, November 4th, 2015 - 31 comments
National is initiating a review of education. They will of course be excluding consideration of resourcing and their sacred cows (national standards, charter schools). One possible outcome appears to be shifting resources from poorer schools to richer ones.
Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 11:09 am, September 4th, 2015 - 15 comments
The Nats have created the (spurious) data for school “league tables” so that parents can be fully informed and make choices, so they tell us. But it seems that parents don’t deserve to be fully informed about the dangerous physical health of schools. That would be just too inconvenient.
Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 7:11 am, July 6th, 2015 - 29 comments
Key claimed that the number of hungry kids in schools was limited to “the odd one or two”. Everyone knew it was nonsense. Now a survey by the New Zealand Principals’ Federation indicates the true extent of the problem.
Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 9:15 am, July 2nd, 2015 - 48 comments
A charter school banks an “operating surplus” of $2.4 million, while state schools remain chronically underfunded.
Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 2:38 pm, May 31st, 2015 - 12 comments
Schools are not adequately funded for the job we ask them to do.
Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 8:29 am, April 15th, 2015 - 8 comments
Key’s attempts to drum up enthusiasm for this year’s upcoming budget have fallen absolutely flat. And as usual, promised funding actually represents an ongoing cut in real terms.
Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 11:38 am, April 9th, 2015 - 15 comments
On the one hand the government are pushing for more and more NCEA passes to feed the league tables, and on the other they are acknowledging that those passes are no longer enough to suggest success at Tertiary level and tightening criteria to exclude students. Mixed messages, perverse incentives, a giant shambles.
Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 11:45 am, February 18th, 2013 - 73 comments
As widely reported, Chirstchurch schools find out their fate today. The damaged Hekia Parata was the wrong person to front this process…
Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 8:58 am, July 16th, 2012 - 29 comments
Threats to schools over the contents of their newsletters? The “brighter future” doesn’t like dissent.
Written By: Anthony R0bins - Date published: 12:14 pm, June 27th, 2012 - 12 comments
Competition is the wrong model for education, and National’s nonsense “league tables” are going to make it worse…
Written By: r0b - Date published: 12:45 pm, April 26th, 2010 - 35 comments
Comment from an international expert reported in The Herald today reminded me that National Standards aren’t the only ideologically driven folly that Tolley is forcing down the throats of schools. She’s also doing her bit to contribute to a major health problem…
Written By: Guest post - Date published: 9:27 am, February 6th, 2010 - 86 comments
School principal Pat Newman posted the following as a comment on Red Alert. It’s not a polished piece written with distribution in mind, but it’s from the heart, and well worth reproducing here (minor typos corrected). Pat added several further excellent comments, follow the link above. I speak as a principal of a Decile 2 […]
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