2012

Education Wrong Place for Performance Pay - 16 May 2012

‘The suggestion that performance pay would prompt higher quality teaching in primary schools misses the point,’ said Paul Drummond, President of the New Zealand Principals’ Federation.

‘We would agree with the Minister of Education that a high quality teaching force makes a difference to children’s achievement. We have it already! The Minister needs only look at our world class rankings in achievement to see that our children continually rank amongst the highest achievers in the world,’ he said.

Bigger Classes Blow for Battlers - 16 May 2012

‘The most common question parents ask when their child starts school is ‘how big is my child’s class?’ said Paul Drummond, President of the New Zealand Principals’ Federation (NZPF).

'Instinctively, parents understand that the smaller the class, the more teaching attention their child will get and they are right,’ he said.

Quality Teachers need the right sort of Training - 16 May 2012

The Minister of Education’s announcement today that a post-graduate qualification for trainee teachers will increase teacher quality has been received with scepticism by the President of the New Zealand principals’ Federation, Paul Drummond.

‘A subject specific degree, followed by a shorter teacher training period may well be a suitable qualification for teaching in the secondary sector,’ said Drummond, ‘but in the primary sector, teachers are required to teach all subjects right across the curriculum, not just a single subject,’ he said.

National Standards Suck Soul out of Science - 2 May 2012

Principals are saddened but not surprised to see that Science is not thriving in schools. They warned two years ago that this was just one inevitable outcome of the national standards policy.

‘The Principals’ Federation predicted that focusing on the three areas of reading writing and maths, as the national standards policy does, would be detrimental to the wider curriculum,’ said Vice President of the NZ Principals’ Federation, Philip Harding today. ‘You get what you measure and this Government wants to measure just three things,’ he said.

Moerewa Students and Community Rally Support for School’s Stance - 24 April 2012

“The decision to sack the Board of Trustees at Moerewa School is a sad day for self-managing schools and their communities,” said Phil Harding, Vice-President of the New Zealand Principals’ Federation.

“Moerewa is a tiny community, working with its people to do all in its power to provide high standards of education, while achieving success as Maori,” said Harding. “Rather than being celebrated for its efforts and excellent ERO reports, the Moerewa School Board has been punished, and its senior students excluded from their school of choice,” he said.

Performance Pay Misses the Point - 26 March 2012

‘The suggestion that performance pay would prompt higher quality teaching in primary schools misses the point,’ said Paul Drummond, President of the New Zealand Principals’ Federation.

‘We would agree with the Minister of Education that in school the key to making a difference to children’s achievement is to have a high quality teaching force, but performance pay would be counter-productive to that,’ said Drummond, ‘because it would create a culture of unhealthy competition,’ he said.

Class Size Does Matter - 21 March 2012

‘The most common question parents ask when their child starts school is ‘how big is my child’s class?’ said Paul Drummond, President of the New Zealand Principals’ Federation (NZPF). ‘Instinctively, parents understand that the smaller the class, the more teaching attention their child will get and they are right,’ he said.

National Standards Implementation Not Standard - 15 March 2012

‘The latest research report on the implementation of the controversial National Standards paints a picture that is anything but standard,’ said Paul Drummond, President of the New Zealand Principals’ Federation in response to the results of the latest study by Professor Martin Thrupp.

Principals’ Federation Calls for Leadership in Ministerial Inquiry - 29 February 2012

‘The latest news that a convicted sex offender has been employed in schools allegedly through fraudulent means is unacceptable,’ said Paul Drummond, President of the New Zealand Principals’ Federation today.

‘There are 98,000 law abiding, dedicated teachers in our system in whom our parents and communities can rightly expect to have full confidence and trust. One miscreant in our schools is too many for us. It unfairly taints our highly regarded profession,’ said Drummond

OECD Report Praises NZ Current Education Model - 24 February 2012

‘We welcome the latest OECD report which praises New Zealand’s current education model,’ said Paul Drummond, President of the New Zealand Principals’ Federation. ‘It is vindication of what we have been saying for the last three years. We are already headed in a good direction which is bringing us world class success and we are ambitious to do even better.’

The report shows New Zealand yet again being ranked at the top of the world in student achievement.