If Jo Brunskill could wave a magic wand, she’d like the result to be the same as one in the movie, The Princess Bride, when Westley rolls down the hill, shouting ‘As you wish’. “Except in our case, Westley would be the Ministry of Education.” Jo, a former language teacher turned advisory officer, has plenty of ...
Despite being a ‘super Pollyanna’, PPTA Te Wehengarua President Melanie Webber says she is struggling in the face of the huge challenges facing secondary education at the moment. Speaking at the launch in Tāmaki Makaurau of PPTA’s Collective Agreement campaign, Invest in Teachers, Invest in Aoteaora, Melanie Webber said teachers’ workloads are increasing. “Wellbeing is ...
Hon. Aupito William Sio at the Pasifika Fono “As a matai I have a clear vision of what I want our children to achieve. I’m calling on you to Tū Toa, stand strong as warriors and learn from your ancestors to help you navigate the challenges you face.” That was the message from Hon. Aupito ...
I completely understand the reluctance to use your personal device for school purposes …. however, I heard all about cyber-attacks in schools and that feels like even more of a risk. – Melanie Webber, PPTA President Cyber crime does not know boundaries and cyber criminals do not look for victims, they look for opportunities.[1] In ...
Secondary teachers have a vital role to play in steering students away from violent extremism Critical thinking is a crucial element towards reducing violent extremism and secondary teachers’ role is vital, Rebecca Kitteridge, Director of the New Zealand Security Intelligence Service (SIS) told participants at the recent PPTA Te Wehengarua National Leadership Summit. “Having a ...
At the Provisionally Certificated Teachers’ Conference, held in Wellington in July, Haley sat down with PPTA Te Wehengarua advisory officer Susan Haugh and talked to her about her experiences, and how she was finding the conference. I applied for the job at Pāpāmoa College that I’m in now, it was the only job I applied ...
“COVID has taken a huge toll on rangatahi, particularly those who, for a variety of reasons, haven’t been able to keep engaged with their learning through such hugely disruptive times. More funding for supports to help these young people re-engage and get the skills and qualifications they need is absolutely the right thing to do. ...
PPTA is aware that there are possibly large numbers of teachers who have difficulty gaining access to a full practising certificate because they cannot meet the requirement for recent satisfactory teaching experience. Recent satisfactory teaching experience is defined in the Teaching Council registration policy as being “at least two years uninterrupted teaching in the last ...
“Research is increasingly finding that streaming in schools is educationally harmful particularly for Māori and Pasifika students, lowering expectations of them and denying them opportunities given to other rangatahi,” says Melanie Webber, President of PPTA Te Wehengarua. The conference paper recommends that PPTA advocate for the removal of streaming by 2030. Streaming is one of ...
At the recent PPTA Te Wehengarua annual conference delegates, representing 20,000 secondary teachers around the motu, acknowledged the historic and present harm caused to rangatahi Māori and Pasifika students through the practice of streaming and will advocate for more resourcing to enable schools to move away from streaming by 2030. “Research shows that streaming creates and ...