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Thursday, 21 March 2013 00:00

Jill with Exec

ISEA’s Executive recently marked the retirement of our hardworking administrator Jill Brookes after 12 years service to the union. ISEA President, Malcolm Walker thanked Jill for her work for the union and presented her with a gift.

Jill was first employed as part-time administrator in 2000 and has given twelve years service to establishing our databases, keeping in touch with our members, overseeing production and dispatch of the Newsletter, and dealing with the day-to-day finances. Many members will have heard her friendly and helpful voice at the other end of the phone.

For most, Jill has been the first point of contact, and her ability to remember names and schools accurately has been a great asset!

She will be greatly missed, and we wish her and husband Dave a long, relaxing and well-earned retirement!

Above: ISEA President Malcolm Walker congratulates Jill and gives her a gift to recognise her contribution to ISEA on her retirement, at the Executive meeting on 16 March 2013. Also pictured are Mairi, Diana, Ros, Tui, Mark, Matthew, and Glen.

Thursday, 21 February 2013 07:21

"Charter Schools could undermine the reputation of our teachers as highly qualified professionals and create barriers for movement of teachers within New Zealand" said Malcolm Walker, President of the Independent Schools Education Association (ISEA).

ISEA is presenting its submission to the Select Committee at 10.30 today (Fri 22 Feb) in Auckland.

Proposed changes to the Education Act could allow charter schools to hire non-registered, unqualified teachers and ISEA says this is unacceptable.

All schools in New Zealand currently require teachers to be registered and subject to the rules of the Teachers Council. These teachers can move freely between the state and independent sector. The checks and balances of this system (including the mandatory reporting regime) are valued and expected by parents.

ISEA is also concerned that the charter schools will be unaccountable to the public.

"The rationale for the introduction of charter schools is bewildering. This unfortunate experiment singles out Christchurch and South Auckland as regions for the introduction of Charter Schools. It ignores the existing character schools in Christchurch that already fill many of the roles proposed for charter schools but with full accountability.

We already have a wide number of independent schools available in New Zealand, faith based schools, neighbourhood schools and so forth, so we fail to see why the introduction of Charter Schools is necessary" continued Mr Walker.

"Whilst many independent schools in Christchurch were impacted by the earthquake they are up and running today and I am confident of the future of independent schools and what they offer.

"We do not need to undermine our teachers and threaten our state and independent schooling system by emulating a failed model from a different culture with a different history of schooling children. The Bill is an embarrassing attack on schools, on the New Zealand education system with its agreed educational standards and on teachers for purely ideological reasons." concluded Mr Walker.

The text of the ISEA submission is here:

ENDS

ISEA’s hardworking administrator retires

Media Release - Non-registered, unqualified teachers could damage NZ’s reputation says ISEA

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