Area Schools Brace For Busy Year

Wednesday, 22 January 2025, 9:22 pm
Article: David Hill - Local Democracy Reporter

Area schools are coming up with innovative ways to overcome the challenge of isolation and a wave of curriculum changes.

Hurunui College board of trustees chairperson Robin McKinlay says area schools tend to be small and mostly in rural areas, making it difficult to attract staff.

Being year 1-13 schools, area schools also tend to be hit by all Government changes, including the curriculum changes across all year levels.

While Hurunui College at Hawarden is not as isolated as some schools, Mr McKinlay, a New Zealand Area Schools Association executive member, said he is aware of the difficulties in attracting staff.

Some schools get few, if any, New Zealand-trained teacher applicants, with several employing LAT (limited authority to teach) teachers to fill staffing gaps.

‘‘A LAT teacher is someone who has a trade or a skill and is trained by the school to be a teacher over a number of years,’’ Mr McKinlay said.

‘‘We are not pushing through the numbers of teachers we need, so I think the LAT initiative is a great one. Some people are natural born teachers.’’

Hurunui College will be without its principal again this year, with Stephen Beck completing a two-year secondment as the Ministry of Education’s area schools leadership advisor.

‘‘It is a good opportunity for him and for our team,’’ Mr McKinlay said.

‘‘Our staff have all stepped up and had a lot of learnings and now we can put those learnings into place.’’

Deputy principal Jane Marsh will continue as acting principal for another year.

Mr Beck is playing an important role in being a voice for area schools, Mr McKinlay said.

‘‘Stephen is still very much a part of our school and he is just a phone call away for Jane and I.’’

While there are no major projects at Hurunui College this year, the board and staff will be busy navigating the curriculum changes, he said.

Mr Beck said he travelled around the South Island several times last year to meet with area school principals and boards, and connected with North Island schools online.

He expects a busy year ahead supporting new principals and school boards at Lawrence, Karamea and Reefton, and acting principals at Cheviot and Collingwood.

The turnover is mainly due to retirements, but principals are also under pressure with the changes.

‘‘My role is to support principals and boards through these changes. The business as usual stuff can demand a lot of your time and finding the time to do the change is difficult.

‘‘Clarity is what they’re looking for, with the amount of information coming through - what needs to happen and when.

‘‘I don’t think there is any principal who doesn’t support the changes, but it is the speed of change.’’

Mr Beck said graduate teachers should consider working in an area school.

‘‘There are a lot of benefits to working in an area school, but you need to be flexible as you will be in a small department with a small number of teachers.

‘‘You can have a PE (physical education) teacher teaching students from years 4 to 13, so it can be a challenge, but it can also be enjoyable.’’

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.

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