Kia ora e te whānau
It is not too early to be thinking about the NZPF conference, to be held at the Sky City Convention Centre in Auckland,
July 3 - 5. You can visit the website to register now and save $100 by picking up the early bird rate.
This year we will be opening our conference at Orakei Marae, with a powhiri and the first keynote speaker, on Wednesday
3 July. I hope you will all make yourselves available to participate in this very special event. It will be the first
time we have held a conference powhiri at Ngāti Whātua's Orakei Marae, which sits above Okahu Bay on the shores of the
Waitematā Harbour, and is based on the site of Bastion Point. It is a place of huge historical significance and the
ancestor the marae represents has connections to all major tribes throughout Aotearoa. It may be your first opportunity
to participate in a powhiri at such a significant location, so ensure you attend.
You will also find a declaration on the conference registration form this year, regarding expected professional
behaviour at all the conference events, including social events, whether they are on or off site. The vast majority of
you need no reminder about behaving professionally at all times. You respect that in attending the NZPF conference, you
are representing your own school and Board and of course conduct yourselves accordingly. This declaration ensures that
we all conduct ourselves with professionalism.
This year is an incredibly important one for our sector. We will be tailoring the conference programme accordingly and
intend to give you the best professional learning experience we possibly can.
We are on the cusp of what could be the biggest system change we have witnessed in decades. We have an opportunity to
inject our professional knowledge, experience and aspirations into those changes. We are in the unique position of being
invited to contribute to the future shape of education in Aotearoa for the foreseeable future. This is a position we
have often dreamed of. For years we have argued that Government policies have lacked professional insight and at worst
had a negative impact on the learning of young people in our schools.
We constantly called for a voice or opportunity to help shape policies that would enhance learning and teaching. That
day is now here. Our voice is being invited to comment on the recommendations of the Tomorrow's Schools report.
Whilst it is a privilege to be involved in this high level work, it is also a challenge to reflect on the issues, sift
through all the recommendations, think through what they mean, discuss them and draw your conclusions. I hope that the
survey that we are constructing will assist you to focus and assist us to better understand where you sit on the
different areas.
I had envisaged sending you the survey this week, but constructing the questions has taken longer than anticipated.
Realistically I expect it will be with you next week.