Cameron "WhaleOil" Slater has caught himself a big, big fish. Someone from a Board of Trustees somewhere is breaking ranks, and e-mails are being leaked hither and yon. All the e-mails released so far by WO are from the desk of Perry Rush, the principal of Island Bay School in Wellington. Mr Rush is, as we blogged on Wednesday, a vociferous critic of National Standards. Some of those e-mails can be viewed here; others can be viewed here.
There's obviously a concerted anti-government agenda at play here. And one of the leaked e-mails delivers this wonderful line:
A few things to be aware of:
1 The Ministry have stated they will be ringing each school. Please remain firm during these calls and stick to the party line.
We can't help but wonder what party Perry Rush is talking about! And another of the e-mails leaked to WhaleOil closes in the name of Mr Rush and his Board chairperson, Jane Forrest, but interestingly, has been sent out under the e-mail signature of the Auckland Primary Principals' Association.
Now, we commend the NZEI and the primary principals for finding an innovative Trojan horse to help them push their agenda. As each day passes, it has become more and more apparent that this campaign is not being led by Boards of Trustees, but by school principals. But they ignore one thing; National campaigned on the introduction of National Standards, and there is widespread public support both for their implemenation, and for plain-English reporting of results. Just as the PPTA is copping a backlash from parents angry at rolling stoppages in high schools, the NZEI and the primary principals risk losing the support of the very people upon whom their jobs rely.
24 comments:
the fact that it is pushed by Principals is no surprise. Most BOT are run and organised and feed info by the Principal.
Will be interesting to see what happens when 'push comes to shove' and the NZEI union negotiate after PPTA. If the NZEI (mainly full with middle aged women who generally dont like striking) were to adopt a PPTA line it would be interesting to see the governments response.
My hunch: they dont have the backbone!
is it really anti-gov just for the sake of it? Like some looney left-wing conspiracy?
Or maybe it's just a bad idea and the people who behave like our masters are finally been told to act like our representives...
the botcott will gather steam and before you know it NZ will have joined the rest of the world and rejected National Standards...
Get over the fucking left/right shit and do some research.
xx
Reject National Standards! They are untested unscientific and unbelievably poor policy!
And I have been right before – christianity was a cynical political move from a very fractious political era. Afterlife my arse! Zeuss would be rolling in his grave... oh hang on...
Thomas.
I had a chat with the principal at the school my daughter attends about this today. While not being happy with National standards she recognises it is not about her but about the parents and kids. Her main concern is that this doesn't seem to have had much input from the principals but she will find a way to make them work.
I also asked about the union stop work meetings and I was surprised to hear her say that the principals had asked the union to hold the meetings at 3.30 on the basis that teachers (so they keep telling us) don't stop working when the bell rings and the union had point blank refused so we are left with these 1pm meetings. This does not affect us as our school is a small country school with 19 kids so she just picks up the slack and no one has been inconvienienced.....except her.
This current crop of Union leaders just don't seem to get it. Take tha parents with you and you may win, piss us off and you lose big time.
but the emails start by congratulating the BOT's for joining the boycott...
so they were sent after they joined right?
so this one guy hasn't organised anything other than to email and say 'good on ya'...
jeez, clutching at straws guys ... sorry, I'm mean 'esteemed educational experts'.
toot toot!
Go Thomas!
Hey INV2. Are you sure that odour you're smelling isn't Whaleoil's bum hole?
You and that self professed depressed, unwell, guy seem to be giving each other a lot of hat-tips/hand-jobs lately. Anything we should be aware from our motel forecourt here in Masterton?
That's right Thomas, we can't allow anything that might give a real measure of how good a school or a teacher might be.
It's imperative to keep parents in the dark and protect the underperforming from scrutiny.
I2, when you touch a nerve trolls are us appear.
well done.
I'm writing to my son's school Bot on this subject.
The reaction will be interesting.
As an aside listened to john Key at lunch. He basically said the silent "T'is not fit to balance his cheque book. as apparently he, the silent 't' is calling for intervention in the currency. Whiel superficaly attractive the Aussies are doing it and over the past month it has cost about 4bill which is nothing to sneese at. Idle gossip I know but interesting.
Well done alex.
I'm relieved that a) my eldest doesn't start school until March and b) that school appears not to be playing silly buggers.
James,
I've gone from peeved to irked to mildly irritated over this issue.
It's getting to the stage I may even make me pull the trigger and shift to the zone of a school that is participating wholeheartedly in the process, rather than dragging it's kids down into the shit, or send the kids to private schools.
Idle gossip is what you're best at Alex. When you say silent T why not just say you think someone is a cunt? You're about as inspiring as they come. You must have a lot of younger people look up to you huh?
Oh, and any reply you may have I and everyone else saw it coming a mile away. You are like a giant telegraph with all the subtlety of a rotting corpse.
Charmaine nails it:
"While not being happy with National standards she recognises it is not about her but about the parents and kids. Her main concern is that this doesn't seem to have had much input from the principals but she will find a way to make them work."
At the end of the day, it is the children that this debate is about. Standards of literacy and numeracy have deteriorated markedly under successive governments of both hues. Surely the current government should be lauded for trying to arrest the slide.
Annon, you are a keeper. hls!
Which Anon Alex? There are so many of them, it's doing my head in!
Thanks IV2 I was heartened at her attitude as I really like the school and would have hated to leave over this, which I would have I might add
Inventory2 - the question must be asked... are NS the best way to improve our education?
It will improve our education... but the cost of implementation and who actually gets the benefit is a debatable subject.
I think it only focuses on the bottom students. Parents will get a kick up the pants when their kids are below the standard. But it wont improve much those 'at the standard' or those 'above'.
We have 000's of 'average joes' who could be great. I dont believe national standards helps those kids.
League tables shown to improve student results especially those in the lower socio-economic groups.
No wonder Labour is against them!!
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1326092/School-league-table-naming-shaming-does-improve-results.html
So what's your solution Ozy? I have a child who was failing English miserably. apparent to all but his teachers it would seem. Unfortunately we never received a "kick up the pants", quite the contrary. If he'd been left to it. I dread to think where he'd be today..My son does have a natural inkling toward Maths, and hence we now pay $45 an hour for tuition to nurture this talent.
Take your pick I2, take your pick.
@ Alex..forgive my ignorance..what you getting at?
Anon @ 3.21...gonna have to borrow that line, simile + metaphor? Classic you rude bugga
This "campaign" is just more of the same from Labour and Unite - the people who brought you the industrial terrorism over the Hobbit are doing just the same with the state schools. Frankly I think you deserve it: if you love your kids they'd be in a private school already so who cares about NZs shit state provided childminding service being used as a political football?
The sooner we ban unions and sell all schools the better!
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