Dear Council Reps

Further to our council meeting last Thursday when Malcolm Milner addressed us
regarding the group of principals who have been meeting in Wellington in an attempt to
get Board of Trustees involved in supporting the motion about deferring the setting of
achievement targets based on NS until concerns are addressed.

I attach the form that I ask you to forward and even better, talk to if you have the
opportunity, to all your cluster principals asking them to pass on to their boards to
consider and if in agreement to sign the first page. Can you then ask them to forward
that page to you as their local contact and then for you to forward whatever you have at
the end of the time period to Alison at APPA office. It is very important that you as the
local contact encourage your principals to do so ... and that you put the time into doing
so. I realise we are all busy but this time will be much appreciated and IS needed!

We realise timing of board meetings is an issue ... meaning some may not be able to
reply (and if so even a phone around BOT members could be sufficient)!) but please
can you let Malcolm Milner know by phone 638 7960 or email
Malcolm@balmoral.school.nz by FRIDAY 10th SEPTEMBER the numbers and school
names from your cluster. Then mail the signed form (and keep a photocopied form for
yourself) to Alison Smith at APPA office, PO Box 24 371, Royal Oak, Auckland 1345.
On Wednesday 15th September Malcolm and I are in Wellington at a meeting where we
will be presenting our results and planning the next phase.

So ... your action NOW...

• Write an email to ALL your cluster principals about this, and attach the form to
sign. Even better if you have a meeting soon, or call an extra one which I believe
some clusters are already planning ...
• Advise all your cluster principals that you are their local contact
• Keep in contact with your cluster principals over the next 2 weeks to remind and
encourage to print off form and get BOT Chair to sign
• Ring or email Malcolm Milner on 10th September with your final cluster numbers
and names
• Mail the copy of the signed form to Alison Smith.

If you or any of your cluster principals are at all concerned please direct them to the
latest APPA Times statement (maybe include this in your email to them) which I include
again below....

A) Perry Rush, a Principal from Wellington has coordinated a parallel group to

NZPF’s work regarding NS, and in addition to the summary below you will be
hearing more about this very soon from your Cluster Reps.

This group is intending to make the following recommendation to all school

boards, asking them to sign up to support this:
 “The National Standards are fundamentally flawed, confusing and unworkable
and our school has no confidence in them.

Therefore we will defer setting achievement targets based on NS until these

concerns are addressed. We will, however, continue to use reliable data to set
high expectations for our children which reflects the intent of the NZ Curriculum
and Te Marautanga”.

Legal Position

Many boards and principals may be concerned about the legal position of not setting
targets for 2011so please see the explanation below:

The requirement to set national standards achievement targets is contained in the

Education Amendment Act 2008 (see below). But the Ministry has no statement in law
regarding the timeframe to submit. They state that they expect May but this is not
mandated in law. So a deferment during 2011 is not breaking the law.

The Ministry may try to pressure schools to expected timeframes but they are not legally
mandated. This advice was provided by both the NZEI and NZPF legal teams. I have
included the section about charters, which shows there is NO set statement about
timeframes.

61 School charter
• (1) Every board must, for each school it administers, prepare and maintain a
school charter.
(2) The purpose of a school charter is to establish the mission, aims, objectives,
directions, and targets of the board that will give effect to the Government's
national education guidelines and the board's priorities, and provide a base
against which the board's actual performance can later be assessed.
(3) A school charter must contain the following sections:
o (a) a section that includes—
 (i) the aim of developing, for the school, policies and practices that
reflect New Zealand's cultural diversity and the unique position of
the Maori culture; and
 (ii) the aim of ensuring that all reasonable steps are taken to
provide instruction in tikanga Maori (Maori culture) and te reo Maori
(the Maori language) for full-time students whose parents ask for it:
o (b) a long-term strategic planning section that—
 (i) establishes the board's aims and purposes; and
 (ii) establishes for the next 3 to 5 years the board's aims,
objectives, directions, and priorities for intended student outcomes,
the school's performance, and use of resources; and
 (iii) includes any aims or objectives that designate the school's
special characteristics or its special character (within the meaning
of this Act):
 o (c) an annually updated section that—
 (i) establishes for the relevant year the board's aims, directions,
objectives, priorities, and targets relating to intended student
outcomes, the school's performance, and use of resources; and
 (ii) sets targets for the key activities and achievement of objectives
for the year.
(4) A school charter must include the board's aims, objectives, directions,
priorities, and targets in the following categories:
o (a) student achievement, including the assessment of students against
any national standard published under section 60A(1)(ba):
o (b) the board's activities aimed at meeting both general government policy
objectives for all schools, being policy objectives set out or referred to in
national education guidelines, and specific policy objectives applying to
that school:
o (c) the management of the school's and board's capability, resources,
assets, and liabilities, including its human resources, finances, property,
and other ownership matters:
o (d) other matters of interest to the public that the Minister may determine.
(5) A school charter must—
o (a) contain all annual or long-term plans the board is required to have or
has prepared for its own purposes; or
o (b) contain a summary of each plan or a reference to it.

THANKS in anticipation of your active support and help...

Keep smiling and be positive!

Iain Taylor
Principal
Phone: (09) 2668268 Ext 203
Fax: (09) 2675633