Sep. 22, 2009
Teacher axed for wanting sex with student
Pull your children out of school and home educate them.
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/2887924/Teacher-axed-for-wanting-sex-with-student
By JOHN HARTEVELT – The Press
A teacher with 15 years experience asked a pupil for sex, telling her she was “a sexy beast”.
The teacher has been deregistered and has left the country.
The pupil says she was snubbed by the teacher’s colleagues, who refused to shake her hand at a school prizegiving.
The case was revealed in a decision by the Teachers Council, which does not reveal the names and location of the people involved.
The decision said the teacher had developed a relationship with a Year 13 pupil while they were on an overseas sports trip in 2007.
“Her evidence was that for a time, at least, she had been with him alone in his room, talking until early in the morning, and that there had been some discussion about her remaining there for the night, though there was no suggestion of a physical relationship on this occasion,” the decision said.
When they got back to New Zealand, the two carried on a relationship through text messages and lunch-time meetings.
“Hey babe in all our rambling today I forgot to say how amazing it was yesterday and talking to you was an uplifting experience … I want us to do so much more … Love you XX,” one text message said.
The pupil told the council that she had felt confused about the relationship. The teacher had talked to her about his partner and his former girlfriends.
“I said I had to choose either him or God because what I was doing would end up not being in God’s will for me, if it had not already gone there,” she said.
She visited him at his home during school hours and he gave her a massage on one occasion.
“As we were driving back from his house that day, at around 3pm, he said to me that he wanted to make love to me. I kept saying ‘What?’ He kept repeating it,” she said.
The pupil said the teacher, who was a head of department, suggested that at the forthcoming school social they could get a room together.
“[She] told us that by this time she was upset and, when she was approached by another member of the school’s staff, disclosed the relationship, which led to the matter being referred to the principal,” the council decision said.
The pupil said the investigation that followed caused her stress, which may have led to a physical illness.
“And she was, to one extent or another, affected by some of the other teachers refusing to shake her hand at the end-of-year prizegiving, apparently because of what had taken place during the course of the year,” the decision said.
The teacher told the council that the relationship developed when he tried to help the pupil with issues in her home life while he was also facing problems at home.
The council said the teacher seemed to “more or less” accept the details of the pupil’s evidence.
“The [disciplinary] tribunal was inclined to the view that the relationship only fell short of a full sexual one because of the reluctance on the part of the student to allow that to happen,” the decision said.
The council censured the teacher for serious misconduct, deregistered him and ordered him to pay costs of $4000.
The man now lived overseas with his partner and their baby.
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Sep. 14, 2009
Half school leavers 'financially illiterate'
By AMANDA MORRALL – The Press
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/2839335/Half-school-leavers-financially-illiterate
Kiwi youngsters are leaving school “financially illiterate” and ill-prepared for the future, a new money knowledge survey shows.
The survey, released today by the Institute of Financial Advisers (IFA), shows that just over half of the 443 pupils surveyed could answer eight out of 40 questions correctly. The questions covered personal spending and saving, tax, KiwiSaver, earning power and education, credit-card interest, and rates of return on investments.
Institute president Lyn McMorran said the results underscored an “urgent need to increase focus on financial literacy in secondary schools”.
“We can conclude from the survey that most New Zealand senior secondary school students have a poor understanding of personal financial management and knowledge.”
She said the results were particularly disconcerting as more than 27 per cent of respondents reported they had had over 40 hours of financial literacy instruction.
The results were gathered from a cross-section of pupils from 54 schools around New Zealand.
Pupils did best on questions where they most likely had experience, such as ATMs and third-party car insurance.
Researcher Alex Neill, of the New Zealand Council for Educational Research, said it was well known that many pupils struggled with basic numeric skills, let alone their application to more complex financial situations.
However, he questioned whether the survey properly judged their financial intelligence.
“A test which has that few items, that fewer than 50 per cent of students can get correct, has the mark of a test which is too difficult.”
First-year Canterbury University commerce student Saboor Masud could be an exception to the rule.
At 17 while at Shirley Boys’ High School in Christchurch Masud earned his realtor’s licence, selling his first home.
The proceeds from three home sales had paid for his university tuition so far, and he planned to graduate debt-free and with no parental assistance.
Masud said he did not want to be disadvantaged when starting his career.
He was not surprised school pupils fared so poorly on the tests, as “most don’t even bother to show up for school”.
Retirement Commissioner Diana Crossan said the new school curriculum would incorporate a stronger financial literacy component.
In the survey, pupils had struggled most with questions on risk, compound interest and investment.
Only 10 per cent could correctly calculate monthly interest rate charges on a purchase and how long it would take to pay off.
When asked whether a savings account, government bonds, shares or a cheque account delivered the highest long-term interest rate, only 13 per cent answered shares.
Institute members would be talking to secondary school pupils this week to help raise awareness about the value of professional advice and financial education.
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Sep. 14, 2009
Porno gang’ warning at school
By CATHERINE WOULFE – Sunday Star Times
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/2838214/Porno-gang-warning-at-school
Six teachers at an Auckland school have been caught with inappropriate emails on their school computers.
Outraged insiders have dubbed the group a “porno gang”, and say authorities are covering up a scandal.
The school is Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate (SEHC) in Otara, Manukau, a decile-one state school with a roll of 548, and about 50 staff. It is not known which teachers were involved and school commissioner Gail Thomson refused to give details about the emails, saying only that they contained images and text “inappropriate for a school”.
Five teachers were found out last year during a routine sweep of the school’s computer system. The sixth was picked up this year during an audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Thomson said five of the teachers were still working at the school, but were on final written warnings and would be fired if they reoffended. A computer sweep early this year revealed one of the teachers caught in the first check had reoffended; that person resigned and left the school that day, and Thomson said “appropriate authorities” were informed.
Without access to school records, she could not say yesterday whether a complaint was made to the watchdog body, the Teachers Council. The council’s 2009 decisions are not yet public but decisions between 2006 and 2008 show it has little sympathy for teachers looking at pornography on school or even home computers. It has stripped six teachers of their registrations in that time, forced one to work under strict conditions and given another a formal warning. The council is powerless to investigate a teacher, or ban them from the classroom, unless a complaint is made by an employer or the teacher reports a conviction.
The SEHC incidents emerged last week when the Sunday Star-Times received an anonymous letter from authors who said they could not reveal themselves for fear of dismissal. It said: “The Ministry of Education [and] Education Review Office [ERO]… are involved in a `cover-up’ which defies belief.
“There is a porno gang of five guys at SEHC who have collected, composed and distributed serious porn on their school computers. Some pupils have seen some of it and most staff are aware of it. We wrote to the commissioner three times urging appropriate action, to no avail. We then wrote to the Ministry and ERO. Still no action. Why?”
Thomson said the “cowardly” letter-writers were trying to undermine positive work at the collegiate. There was a small volume of problematic emails, and most were sent to teachers from outside the school. Some emails had been “recirculated”, but she had no evidence any pupils had seen them.
The emails she had seen were “not at the highest level of concern, but inappropriate for a school”.
The former board of trustees dealt with the first five teachers caught, after seeking advice from the secondary teachers’ union and the School Trustees Association. In January the education minister sacked that board and replaced them with Thomson, following an ERO report raising serious concerns about student safety.
Thomson handled the teacher who reoffended, and the sixth teacher who was caught during the audit this year. She said the audit revealed a “historical matter”, but that teacher’s email use had been clean for the past two years.
All staff and pupils were subject to a computer use agreement, Thomson said.
The Ministry of Education refused to comment last week. Principal Karen Douglas, and other staff at the school, were not permitted to speak to media.
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Sep. 4, 2009
Five suspended after violent attack
More weapons used in school fights
LATEST: An Auckland secondary school today suspended five students after an attack on a pupil at another school.
The victim, a 14-year-old boy, was beaten up at Lynfield College on Monday by a group armed with a softball bat.
Lynfield College yesterday suspended one of its own students, who led the group of eight teenagers to the classroom where the incident took place.
Nearby Mt Roskill Grammar School today said five of its students had been suspended as a result of the assault.
The five would appear before the school’s board of trustees next week, principal Greg Watson said in a statement.
The board would decide whether the boys would be excluded or allowed back to school under certain conditions.
All eight in the group are also being dealt with by police, although police have said they will not face criminal charges.
Police are also investigating an incident in Porirua in which about 20 boys, believed to be from Mana College, went to Bishop Viard College and threatened students on the rugby field.
They were believed to be armed with a baseball bat.
Meanwhile, Secondary Schools Principals Association president Peter Gall said anecdotal evidence of an increase in school-related incidents involving weapons was a cause of real concern.
“It could be a baseball bat, a cricket wicket, an iron bar, a hammer, a screwdriver,” he said.
Mr Gall, principal of Papatoetoe High School in south Auckland, said people carrying such items, when questioned, would reply that they did so for their own protection.
“Well, that’s nonsense,” he said.
“As far as I’m concerned, they don’t need that sort of protection – ever.”
Mr Gall said his own school had been troubled by a youth gang that was “obviously working in a planned and co-ordinated way” in targeting students on their way home.
“They had hammers and stuff, and they were pinching cellphones off kids,” he said.
“We got some good information to the police and they made four arrests and that cleaned that up pretty quickly, but the fact that it happened is a real concern.”
He said the issue was a difficult one for schools to address and they had to be “incredibly security conscious”.
Staff had to be active while on duty and management relied on students to pass on any information about unusual activity.
- NZPA
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Aug. 29, 2009
Violence blamed on removal of corporal punishment
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/2814572/Violence-blamed-on-removal-of-corporal-punishment
NZPA
A big increase in the number of primary school children suspended for violent acts is being blamed on the removal of corporal punishment in schools.
Figures from the Ministry of Education show a 88 per cent increase in suspensions of eight-year-olds from 2000 to 2008 for assaults on classmates, a 73 per cent rise for seven-year-olds, a 70 per cent increase for six–year-olds while the suspensions over the same period had increased by 33 per cent for five-year-olds.
“It is significant that as schools have removed corporal punishment, schools have become more violent,” Family First national director Bob McCoskrie said today.
“School yard bullying by pupils on other pupils and staff is now the new form of ‘corporal punishment’ in schools.
“We have a generation of children who have been victims of a social experiment of how best to raise our kids and the role of correction.
“And it continues with the smacking debate – another example of undermining parental authority and `state knows best how to raise your kids’.”
Mr McCroskie said student behaviour would continue to deteriorate “for as long as we tell them that their rights are more important than their responsibilities”.
Auckland Primary Principals Association president Marilyn Gwilliam said schools were struggling to handle the children because by law, they were not allowed to touch children to calm them down, even when they “kick and they bite and they hit.”
In many cases, schools had no choice but to stand children down, she told The Weekend Herald.
The Post Primary Teachers Association is set to discuss solutions to combating the schoolyard violence at its annual meeting next month.
Because of schools limited number of in-school counsellors and teacher aides, the association’s advisory group on conduct problems will suggest that schools need access to trained psychologists and social workers.
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Aug. 19, 2009
Radio Rhema
Aug. 18, 2009
Teachers to get help to curb pupil violence
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/2761290/Teachers-to-get-help-to-curb-pupil-violence
By JOHN HARTEVELT – The Press
The Government plans to curb schoolyard misbehaviour as new figures reveal a growing number of attacks on teachers and pupils.
Ministry of Education figures released yesterday show expulsions as a result of physical assaults on other pupils rose from 9.4 per cent of all expulsions in 2000 to 25.3 per cent last year.
Expulsions for assaults on staff have increased from 3.1 per cent of the total in 2000 to 6.5 per cent last year.
Last year, 15,930 pupils were stood down a total of 20,279 times. The rate of stand-downs 28.5 pupils per 1,000 was lower than in 2007 but equal or higher than in five of the previous eight years.
A pupil at Auckland’s Avondale College faces jail after he stabbed teacher David Warren in the back on March 3. Warren, originally from Christchurch, is understood to have returned to work part-time but faces months of rehabilitation.
Tae Won Chung, 17, has been convicted of injuring Warren and will be sentenced next month.
Education Ministry acting manager for schools and pupil support Joanne Allen said the Avondale College case was “very extreme”, and there had been no similar attacks since.
“It may be something that is minor. It might be that a child is lashing out when they’re angry and sort of having an angry fit, and the teacher gets hit or a child gets hit in the process,” she said. “It could be as much as a child and another child having a fight and the teacher getting in the middle. There is a whole range of issues.” Education Minister Anne Tolley has told Auckland principals that a plan had been prepared after a summit on behaviour in March. “Our approach to these issues in the past may have been well-intended, but the results have been mixed and too reliant on strength of personalities to achieve results,” she said.
“We need to improve support for teachers and schools and make wide-ranging improvements to services.” The Press understands the use of resource teachers of learning behaviour will be reviewed and teacher-training institutes will be asked to improve training in behaviour management.
Schools will be given formation on how they can deal with extreme behaviour.
Principals’ Federation president Ernie Buutveld said: “The problem is not going to go away. What we’re looking for is better answers, and it may be that you have to endure these stats a little bit longer.” The new figures “might prompt some speeding up” of measures, he said.
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Jul. 2, 2009
Prime Minister turns down offer to call off referendum
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Email correspondence released today confirms the Prime Minister John Key turned down an offer to call off the referendum and save taxpayers money.
Kiwi Party Leader and Petition organiser Larry Baldock said he had made a genuine offer that could have put the whole matter to rest.
“It seems that the same man who rushed to make a compromise deal with Helen Clark and Sue Bradford in 2007 is no longer interested in finding sensible solutions,” said Mr Baldock
On April 18th, 2007 John Key’s reported position was very clear when he said, “If Labour really believes that ‘light smacking for the purposes of correction’ will not be outlawed, then they need to explain that. But no matter how you read this bill in its present form it will be illegal to ‘lightly smack for the purposes of correction’.
Last week, after fudging on the question for more than 4 years, Sue Bradford herself finally admitted on National Radio that every parent who uses a light smack or any reasonable force for the purpose of correction was now a criminal in this country, regardless of whether they are eventually prosecuted or not!
John Key then went on to say, “The way to send a strong message on child abuse is to make the law clear and precise and then to police it strongly and vigilantly. This bill as it stands does the opposite. For me, a result that sees the criminalisation of parents for a light smack is simply not on the table.”
In May 2007 the whole nation was shocked by the news that John Key was willing to suddenly change the National party’s position on the anti-smacking law and strike a compromise deal with Helen Clark and Sue Bradford.
I recall John Key explaining his actions then on the basis that the Anti-smacking law was a bad law, but since the Government had the numbers to pass it anyway, he felt responsible to do what he could to minimise the harm the law could cause to parents and families all over the country.
Now that he has the power to amend the ‘bad law’ he seems to have completely changed his position and thinks his amendment has made it into a ‘good law’. In the email reply to my offer, Wayne Eagleson wrote, “As the Prime Minister has indicated publicly on a number of occasions, the government is of the view that the current law is working.”
Perhaps the Prime Minister would take the time to explain to Glenn Groves who was recently convicted of assaulting his 7 year old son for nothing more serious than shoving him in the back, how well his amendment to the ‘bad law’ is working.
My proposed amendments as outlined in the attached correspondence (posted below) would remove the criminalisation of good parents,” said Mr Baldock.
Ends
Contact
Larry Baldock
021864833
From: Larry Baldock
Sent: Wednesday, 17 June 2009 2:23 pm
To: Hon. John Key (MIN)
Cc: Hon. Bill English (MIN); Wayne Eagleson (MIN)
Subject: Proposal to withdraw the referendum.
The Prime Minister,
Parliament Buildings
Wellington
June 16, 2009.
Dear Prime Minister,
In the interests of saving our country most of the estimated $9 million to complete the referendum, Sheryl Savill, the petition proposer, and myself would withdraw the referendum, (as per Sec 22A (1) of the CIR Act 1993) in return for an agreement by yourself to amend the current sec 59 of the crimes Act in the following way.
Delete the following sub clauses from the amended Sec 59,
(2) Nothing in subsection (1) or in any rule of common law justifies the use of force for the purpose of correction.
(3) Subsection (2) prevails over subsection (1),
In this way, the criminalisation of parents who use some reasonable force to correct and train their children would be removed, whilst the other clarifications in Subsection (1) of the permissible use of reasonable force would remain.
Your amendment emphasising the need for the police to use discretion could also remain.
I would be happy to discuss these proposals with your officials and act promptly to call off the referendum and save the hard-earned money of the taxpayers of New Zealand.
Yours sincerely,
Larry Baldock.
`````````````````````````````````````````
On 18/06/09 11:45 AM, “Wayne Eagleson (MIN)” <Wayne.Eagleson@parliament.govt.nz> wrote:
Dear Larry,
The Prime Minister has asked me to reply on his behalf to your email regarding the s59 referendum.
As the Prime Minister has indicated publicly on a number of occasions, the government is of the view that the current law is working. On that basis, the Prime Minister does not support your proposed changes to the law.
With respect to the issue of the cost of the referendum, the Prime Minister said in the House yesterday that while he was concerned at having to spend $9 million, with a legal process having triggered the referendum it would be followed through on.
Thank you for writing to the Prime Minister on this issue.
Yours sincerely,
Wayne Eagleson
Chief of Staff
Office of the Prime Minister
Ph:     64 4 817-9365 or 64 21 709 067
Parliament Buildings
Wellington |
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Apr. 30, 2009
Legal option after School bullying
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Dear Everyone,
I’ve pasted below a news article that exemplifies many of the vast multitude of things wrong with the state’s schooling institutions. I’m letting off a bit of steam because I am so angry at this rotten system that systematically practises institutionalised child abuse by teachers and administrators who are so desensitised to it, they will round on parents and bully them if they dare question what goes on. Many of these lousy schools are in blatant denial, refusing to admit they have a problem. The most amazing thing is that parents and even doctors and nurses will often side with the school against the victimised child, even in the face of bruises, cuts, crying themselves to sleep at night and having vomiting fits the next morning at the thought of returning to the place of torture.
This week has been amazing. I’ve had so many phone calls and emails from parents wanting to start home education because of the bullying their children have suffered for months, sometimes for years. One mum felt she didn’t want to send the child to school since he was so tender at age 5. She considered home schooling, but decided it was too radical a step. Now, at age 6, her son is toughed up and so much more sophisticated as everyone typically said he needed to become…and he is also defiled because of the sexual abuse he suffered at school. She now forever regrets the day she ever trusted him to the state. Another mum’s 10-year-old has significant physical disabilities which require a full-time aide. But the boy has had enough of the school-supplied aides and the constant teasing, as the nature of his disability is somewhat personal. He would prefer his mum, but the several schools approached will not have it as they not only dislike parents observing the reality of the classroom, they say it causes children to become too dependent upon their parents! And besides, they say, the boy stinks (due to his disability), and they’d prefer it if she would find another school. And so the boy refuses to enter the school grounds, the parent is begging them to let her instead of aides attend to her son’s needs, but they won’t let her, and she is now being threatened by a Group Special Education person with police and CYFPS and truancy officers if the child is not in school immediately!
It’s a flamin’ madhouse!
This article below has a typical school response to bullying. “Oh, it’s only girls being girls, boys being boys. It’ll blow over.” So when the girl spirals downhill and hits bottom, it turns out she has parents willing to do something: sue the school. Good on them, I say! Man, has it sobered up the school! The principal all of a sudden comes out of denial and makes a statement most principals would confess to only once they’d been stretched on the rack: “It does not matter what a school does, it can never be resolved completely.” This woman admitted that it is a permanent, on-going, unstoppable problem. We got a straight honest answer at last. I mean, this girl was bullied even after she left the school…by text messages!
The very threat of a legal suit also flushed out the fascinating, yet totally unknown fact, that “it is a statutory requirement for schools to take all reasonable steps to prevent bullying from occurring while pupils are at school,” and that “Failure to take such steps could result in criminal prosecution and hefty fines.” If all parents of school-abused children would simply threaten to sue the school, bullying would be slashed. A few successful suits, some bullies taken down, and the problem would recede way out onto the horizon.
But worst of all is the so-called Children’s Commissar, Cindy Kiro, criticising the parents for considering such an option, but uselessly offering no course of action in its place.
If you don’t know what is going on in these institutions of systematic child abuse called state schools, you need to find out. And then tell your friends and rellies to get their children OUT of those places as soon as possible. All I have to do is read the education column of Stuff.co.nz…it’s enough to make your toenails curl. But I’ve been reading it and other sources for over 20 years…I have stacks of clippings and e-articles of the most horrendous goings on, that just don’t stop, no matter how hard the schools try to cover up…and don’t fool yourself…they go to great lengths to slam the lid on any negative publicity.
Get yourself a subscription to TEACH Bulletin http://hef.org.nz/2007/teach-bulletin-1yr/. It’s only $9 lousy bucks for 6 issues a year and almost always has a good sampling of the latest in state school violence, as well as other political and statist trends in relation to schools, home education and parenting. Get your friends and neighbours a subscription, too, for it will open their eyes. We’ve got to be informed and stop pretending everything is all right. We’ve got to get children out of the schools, and we’ve got to embolden parents to speak up when their children are being abused by the system.
TEACH Bulletin is available from us at:
Craig & Barbara Smith
Home Education Foundation
PO Box 9064
Palmerston North 4441
New Zealand
Ph. +64 6 357-4399
craig@hef.org.nz
www.hef.org.nz
Legal option after bullying
By NATHAN BEAUMONT - The Dominion Post
Last updated 05:00 21/03/2009
http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/2281076/Legal-option-after-bullying
A family is considering legal action against a school after a girl was bullied for so long that she lost 12 kilograms, spent three weeks in hospital and had to move to another school.
The children's commissioner has described the case as "completely unacceptable" and said she would be prepared to investigate.
And a lawyer is warning school boards that they could be prosecuted by parents whose children suffer emotional harm as a result of bullying.
The parents of the 15-year-old victim said St Mary's College in Wellington did not do enough to stop the ordeal, which started in August 2007.
Though the bully had written an apology letter to the victim, her family said it was still seeking answers from the school board.
The victim informed the school counsellor when the bullying started, but was told it was just "girls being girls" and would "blow over", her mother says.
But it did not blow over. Instead the victim said she endured taunts and rumours for a further seven months at school.
The girl's mother said her daughter developed an eating disorder, lost 12 kilograms and spent three weeks in hospital recovering. The claim was backed up in a letter from a clinical psychologist that was sent to the school.
"After assessment it was clear that [her] weight loss was not due to concerns about her appearance but rather was as a tool to help her maintain control of herself during an episode of bullying by girls at school."
The parents removed their daughter from the school, but said the taunts continued, with bullying text messages.
St Mary's principal Mary Cook said the school did everything in its power to deal with the situation.
"The issue with bullying is that it is very difficult to deal with and isolate. It does not matter what a school does, it can never be resolved completely. We do everything we possibly can."
Meanwhile, a lawyer has warned that it is a statutory requirement for schools to take all reasonable steps to prevent bullying from occurring while pupils are at school.
"Failure to take such steps could result in criminal prosecution and hefty fines," John Miller said.
Children's Commissioner Cindy Kiro said it would be a "sad day" if bullying victims started taking legal action.
"It's not a route we want to go down, that's the American way. It is an option, but it is the least constructive option."
The victim's mother said the family was keen to explore legal action. "Definitely, we would be keen to look into that area.
"All schools have different approaches to bullying, but St Mary's seems to be: keep it quiet and deny, deny, deny."
LETTER TO VICTIM
Letter from the bully to the 15-year-old victim after she left St Mary's School.
"I don't want you to have to leave all your friends because of all this ****. I am so sorry for everything. You have no idea how bad I feel. I would do anything to take back what's happened and everything I have said and done, not only to you, but your friends.
"I know that we will never be friends, but I want us to be anything but enemies. I am so sorry for everything that has happened in the past year. I hope you get better soon and that this letter means even a little something to you." |
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Jan. 8, 2009
Teacher conduct cases hit high
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By LANE NICHOLS - The Dominion Post | Thursday, 08 January 2009
Nearly 1300 teachers have faced allegations of serious misconduct, violence, viewing pornography, sexual misconduct, dishonesty, alcohol and drug use, or incompetency since 2002.
Last year was the worst on record, with 233 formal complaints lodged against teachers with the Teachers Council nearly a third for alcohol and drugs.
But unions say teachers are easy targets for “spurious and vexatious” complaints by aggrieved parents, who are free to make formal allegations often groundless to employers and police.
“There are some parents who won’t be happy unless they see somebody getting punished,” Educational Institute president Frances Nelson said.
“And it doesn’t matter how guilty that teacher is, they still want a pound of flesh.”
There are 90,000 registered teachers, but since 2005, just 40 have been referred to the council’s disciplinary tribunal for formal proceedings over the most serious misconduct allegations.
Nearly all those cases resulted in censure and 26 teachers were struck off for misbehaviour mostly for sexual misconduct or viewing pornography.
The cases included:
Former Wairarapa College drama teacher Luke McIndoe eloped with a 16-year-old pupil after they developed a sexual relationship.
A teacher in her 30s had sex with a secondary school pupil, later saying a breakup with her fiance left her “emotionally vulnerable”.
Retired Havelock North principal Ian James Wilson was convicted on child pornography charges after 9000 illegal images were found on his home computer.
Figures made available under the Official Information Act show misconduct, including inappropriate communications with pupils or parents, was the most common allegation against teachers. Then came incompetency, violence, alcohol and drugs, dishonesty, sexual misconduct and pornography.
Since 2004, misconduct complaints have been investigated by the council’s complaints assessment committee.
It can dismiss complaints if groundless or vexatious, recommend a teacher’s suspension for reasons of safety, impose conditions or refer the most serious cases to the disciplinary tribunal for possible deregistration.
Post Primary Teachers Association president-elect Kate Gainsford said teaching was a public job and there had always been spurious complaints.
“Sometimes they’re just not substantiated enough to take further. There is a concern if there is a lack of natural justice, if people are criticised or attacked unfairly. But that’s why the process is so important.”
Teachers supported having an independent body to assess complaints and discipline wayward colleagues, provided the process was fair and robust. |
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Jan. 7, 2009
Mum fearful of school fines
http://www.stuff.co.nz/4803156a11.html
By REBECCA TODD - The Press | Friday, 26 December 2008
A Christchurch mother is angry at the prospect of having to pay heavy fines because she cannot get her son to go to school.
Under new laws passed by the National-led Government, parents of truants can be fined $300 for the first offence and $3000 for subsequent offences.
They can also be fined $3000 if they fail to enrol their child in school.
In the past, parents could be fined $150 for the first offence and $400 for subsequent offences.
Michelle Chalmers said her 14-year-old son had not been in school for much of this year, but she could not force him to attend.
“We haven’t got any control, but we are being prosecuted,” she said.
“How do you forcibly get them out of bed, into school and keep them there, and even if they are there, how do you make them learn? I just don’t understand what they want us to do.”
Chalmers put much of her son’s problems down to lead poisoning from eating flakes of house paint as a baby. He was diagnosed with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) before starting school and has behavioural issues that have brought him close to expulsion.
At 14, he was diagnosed as dyslexic, but Chalmers said it was too late by then to make him want to be in school and learn.
“I was dropping him off, seeing him walk in and picking him up at the same place, only to find out later he had been bunking,” she said.
The former Aranui High School student was no longer enrolled at any school, but Chalmers had not been threatened with prosecution despite her son’s prolonged absence.
“There’s nothing I can do to stop it and it’s heartbreaking,” she said.
“I know I’m not the only one out there.”
Linwood College principal Rob Burrough said the move to heavier fines was positive, but cases needed to be looked at individually.
“Part of it is parental issues and part is student problems, so I think a $3000 fine will have some impact, but there needs to be a multi-pronged approach,” he said.
“Some parents have lost control of their children by their own admission, and so this is a burden for them.”
Linwood has been trialling anti-truancy programme Rock On, in which the Ministry of Education, police, Child, Youth and Family and truancy services work with the school and parents to get students back in school.
Canterbury police youth services co-ordinator Senior Sergeant John Robinson said police were working on their third prosecution this year for parents of truants.
“We’ll never prosecute anyone if the child is the issue, only if the parent is the issue,” he said.
Heavier fines sent a message to people that attending school was a priority.
“No parent wants to be held out there having to front up before the court and told they are not a particularly good parent because they can’t get their kids to school,” Robinson said. |
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Dec. 23, 2008
Call to extend the school day
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http://www.stuff.co.nz/4800976a11.html
By LANE NICHOLS - The Dominion Post | Tuesday, 23 December 2008
Teachers could be forced to work radical new hours, with the daily routines of thousands of children and parents disrupted, under suggested changes to make the school day longer.
The School Trustees Association, which represents most of the 2700 school boards, wants a national debate on whether schools should open well before 9am and shut much later each day to better cater for pupils’ changing needs.
Education Minister Anne Tolley has welcomed the suggestion, saying there is an “appetite” for fresh ideas to benefit pupils, teachers and principals.
Association general manager Ray Newport said any such changes would require a law change.
He conceded that extending the school day had huge implications for staffing levels, teachers’ hours and the effects on pupils and working parents.
But proposed changes to the education system by both major political parties, and a standoff with secondary teachers over their legally entitled breaks, presented an opportunity to consider whether the traditional school day was the best way to serve children.
“Schools should exist for kids, not for teachers,” Mr Newport said. “What are these kids going to need? Are they going to be able to access school outside the normal school hours?”
Mrs Tolley said teachers and principals had already suggested to her that schools’ opening hours be reviewed. “I welcome that. It’s a big opportunity for education [groups] to devise something that fits around the needs of the students.”
Schools could open for separate morning and afternoon sessions, she said.
Any changes would require widespread consultation.
“Some teachers might find they’re working afternoons rather than working nine to three. That might suit them or might not.
“I sense there is an appetite around the country to discuss some of these ideas.”
The comments come amid a standoff between school boards and principals with secondary teachers over new break requirements, due to come into force in April.
The Post Primary Teachers Association has advised teachers of their rights over breaks, but principals say the union’s hard-line stance would disrupt schools, forcing some to stay open till 4pm.
The School Trustees Association has now issued guidelines to all schools saying teachers’ non-contact time with pupils qualifies as a break sparking an angry response from the teachers’ union.
PPTA president-elect Kate Gainsford said teachers already had heavy workloads.
Non-contact time was essential for marking and lesson preparation and entirely separate from teachers’ legally entitled breaks: “It’s all pre-booked. It’s not people sitting around having a coffee.”
Some schools already had flexible operating hours, with many based around local bus timetables.
Secondary Principals Association president Peter Gall said the key consideration was whether changes could improve the transition from secondary to tertiary education and to work.
Note the poll on this page too:
Should the school day be extended?
Results as at 9:28am. You should be able to keep voting until midnight.
Yes (905 votes, 44.2%)
No (1141 votes, 55.8%)
Stuff polls are not scientific and reflect the opinions of only those internet users who have chosen to participate |
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Dec. 23, 2008
Broadcaster ‘disgusted’ with school after bullying
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http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10549045
4:00AM Saturday Dec 20, 2008
Kate Hawkesby says deciding to remove her sons from Victoria Avenue School was a no-brainer. Photo / Supplied
Broadcaster Kate Hawkesby has pulled her two children out of their Remuera primary school after its handling of a case of bullying.
A Ministry of Education inquiry is underway after a 10-year-old child was bullied at Victoria Avenue School in Auckland.
An independent report commissioned by the school’s board of trustees said the school’s handling of the case was “so badly flawed and biased that it has revictimised the complainant child”.
Hawkesby, who reads the news on Auckland’s radio station NewstalkZB and yesterday read out the report about the school, is among parents who say the lack of quality leadership and intimidation has led to the “downslide” of the school.
The former TVNZ Breakfast co-host said the case had contributed to her decision to remove her children from the school - but there were other factors as well.
“I’m absolutely disgusted. They [head staff] were very ineffectual in dealing with us [parents] and they didn’t seem interested in what we had to say or enforcing the necessary punishment to the perpetrator.”
In the incident in question, a child was pushed up against a wall and “humped” (simulated sex).
Hawkesby said one of her sons had also been bullied - in a completely different way - and she had been unimpressed with the school’s handling of the case.
Taking him and his brother out of the school was a no-brainer, she said.
“No mother wants to have their kid go through that.
“You’ll do anything for your kids. I think the reason I took it so far [to the Ministry of Education] was because many parents had gone through the same situation - [head staff] just did not care.
“There was a culture there that was pretty rife. It wasn’t the staff, but the leadership at the school.”
Another mother, who wanted to remain anonymous, said she initially sent her children to the school because of its high reputation and fond memories that she had had of the school where she was a pupil years before.
But “appalling treatment” of parents and students had led to her regretting the decision, she said.
“Very manipulative and intimidating. It’s terrifying for parents. My son was accused of being a bully. He was basically screamed and shouted at and told that he was lying - they later found that it wasn’t true,” the mother said.
The school did not return calls from the Weekend Herald yesterday.
The ministry has said it has been assured the school is developing a plan to follow up on the report. |
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Dec. 23, 2008
Hardcore truants by the thousand
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http://www.stuff.co.nz/4798639a11.html
By LANE NICHOLS - The Dominion Post | Saturday, 20 December 2008
Thousands of the most at-risk children are still missing from classrooms, forcing education officials to act as detectives hunting long-term truants.
Principal Youth Court Judge Andrew Becroft said the “unexploded time bombs” who were mainly male represented the hardcore youth offenders. It was unacceptable that so many had fallen out of the schooling system.
“They’re our toughest kids with a constellation of problems. As Youth Court judges, we’re terribly concerned by the lack of engagement in education of these top-end offenders.”
A year after The Dominion Post revealed a “lost tribe” of nearly 7000 children not enrolled at any school, the Education Ministry admits more than 2500 are still missing “on any given day”.
About 450 have not been to school in more than six months 148 of them in more than a year. Most are junior high school pupils.
Education Minister Anne Tolley has ordered an urgent briefing from officials and warned yesterday that parents who failed to enrol their children were jeopardising their futures and committing a serious offence.
Ministry senior manager Jim Greening said numbers had dropped significantly in the past year but the situation remained unsatisfactory. Pupils who dropped out of the school system were at risk of spiralling into trouble later in life, he said, potentially costing society millions of dollars through crime and their drain on health and social services.
“We’ve got people across the country working very hard on this issue. We want to give all these kids every chance we can.”
All the missing kids are aged under 16 so are legally required to attend class but have been absent for at least 20 days.
Mr Greening said the hardcore truants were revealed by a computer enrolment tracking system in all schools since August last year. More than 30 staff were employed nationally to find the truants.
Of the nearly 7000 cases identified last year, many of the most-difficult pupils had been hunted down and re-enrolled.
An information-sharing agreement with the Immigration Service showed thousands of others had left the country, or were on the list only because of processing errors. But many hundreds more were missing.
“Often they don’t have any address,” Mr Greening said. “[Officials] go to the place where the family was. If they’re not there, they’ll ask neighbours. It becomes a detective thing, I guess.”
The missing children often came from dysfunctional families with complex problems. Ministry officials sometimes alerted other agencies such as police and Child, Youth and Family. “The really long-term hard ones, our people might locate. But we know in three months’ time our people are going to be looking for them again because they won’t be in class.”
Judge Becroft said Youth Court judges had always suspected a group of up to 3000 pupils had fallen out of the education system, but the ministry had only now been able to quantify it.
Children’s Commissioner Cindy Kiro said non-enrolled children were being denied their right to an education. |
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Dec. 23, 2008
Bullying ’second highest in world’
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http://www.stuff.co.nz/4792816a11.html
By MARTIN KAY - The Dominion Post | Monday, 15 December 2008
Kiwi children have reported the second highest incidence of bullying in the world, according to a major international report.
But the primary school teachers’ union is urging caution over the findings, which show New Zealand second only to Taiwan when it comes to children saying they have been hit, teased, stolen from or picked on.
Educational Institute president Frances Nelson said New Zealand had a high-profile focus on bullying, meaning Kiwi children were more likely to disclose incidents.
The Trends In International Mathematics and Science Study, which covered the equivalent of Year 5 pupils in nearly 40 countries, including 5000 from New Zealand, found Kiwi children reported incidences of bullying behaviour at twice the international average.
One in three Kiwi children said they were the victim of at least three of five tests to gauge safety in schools.
These were that during the past month:
Something of theirs was stolen.
They were shoved, hit or kicked by other pupils.
They were made to do something they did not want to.
They were made fun of or called names.
They were left out of activities.
Answering yes to three of the questions placed children in the low safety category. Taiwan, with 35 per cent, had the worst record, followed by New Zealand (33 per cent), Qatar (31 per cent), Tunisia (28 per cent) and Kuwait (27 per cent).
New Zealand also had the second lowest proportion, 25 per cent, of children in the high-safety category - those answering no to all five questions. Only Tunisia was lower.
The research was in a 2007 study conducted by the Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement. It examined safety in schools to put maths and science achievement into a wider context.
It found New Zealand Year 5 pupils were doing worse in the subjects than more than half the other countries surveyed.
Miss Nelson said she was wary of reading too much into the safety findings though she stressed bullying was unacceptable.
“I do think that we need to be cautious about saying that we’re one of the highest bullying countries in the world, because I’m not sure that we are. I just think that we address it more regularly and kids are much more aware.
“I would strongly expect New Zealand children to report more frequently because they are encouraged to do so.”
Education Minister Anne Tolley said she wanted to see the report and the data it was based on. She did not think the previous government had done enough to deal with bullying, and planned to gather information from schools on what they were doing to spread best practice.
Labour education spokesman Chris Carter said the findings were a “shocking wake-up call” for the new government, and showed he had been right to boost anti-bullying resources for schools.
The move, which included check lists on how children could keep safe in schools, were criticised by Ms Tolley at the time. She said she stood by those criticisms. |
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Dec. 23, 2008
A 15 Girl charged with intimidating teacher
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December 11, 2008, 8:16 am-year-old Taranaki girl, already in trouble for assaulting a teacher last week, has been charged with intimidation after allegedly confronting the woman twice at the weekend.
A police investigation into the school fracas last week has confirmed the girl assaulted the teacher after having non-regulation clothing confiscated.
The school, which said the student knocked the teacher to the ground and repeatedly punched her, has expelled the girl.
Senior Sergeant Matt Prendergast told the Taranaki Daily News the student had since stalked and intimidated the teacher.
Twice last weekend the middle-aged woman was allegedly surrounded by a predominantly female gang, including the girl, and abused.
Mr Prendergast said during both incidents, another girl was observed inches away from the teacher yelling obscenities at her.
The teacher’s car was also targeted and damaged, with mirrors smashed while she and her husband were shopping.
The girl has been bailed on two counts of intimidation and referred to Youth Aid. Others involved will also be dealt with by Youth Aid.
Mr Prendergast said pack mentality led to the “disgusting behaviour”.
“It’s uncalled for. Everybody’s tougher when they get into a pack,” he said.
Despite sustaining serious injuries in the original assault, the teacher had returned to work but was damaged by the events, her principal said.
“It’s just traumatic. This is her community, she and her whanau have lived here for many, many years,” the principal said.
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Dec. 23, 2008
Teacher struck off over sex notes to boy
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http://www.stuff.co.nz/4790729a11.html
Friday, 12 December 2008
A teacher has been struck off after exchanging explicit sexual messages in a journal with a 13-year-old boy in her class.
The journal was discovered by other pupils in the class and the teacher resigned from the school after she was confronted by the principal, the New Zealand Herald reported.
The teacher has been formally censured by the Teachers’ Council disciplinary tribunal and struck off the register.
The boy penned a “crush note” to his intermediate school teacher, and they had an inappropriate written relationship lasting several weeks last year.
The student, the teacher and school were not publicly identified.
The teacher ran a journal system in her class, where students could communicate anything they wished, the tribunal heard.
The journal had exchanges between the pair, in which the teacher discussed touching the student, showing her g-string and commenting on the size of his *****.
The teacher resigned from the school, undertook counselling, apologised and pointed to her relative professional inexperience.
The teacher engaged in an “entirely inappropriate relationship with the Year 8 (13-year-old) student”, said tribunal chairman Kenneth Johnston.
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Dec. 4, 2008
Parents convicted over son’s truancy
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http://www.stuff.co.nz/4777135a11.html
By NICOLA BRENNAN - Waikato Times | Saturday, 29 November 2008
The parents of a Morrinsville College student have been prosecuted and convicted over their son’s truancy.
Kathleen Kereopa and Chris Hemara, charged under the Education Act, pleaded guilty when they appeared in the Morrinsville District Court last week for the repeat non-attendance of their 15-year-old son.
They were both convicted and discharged.
Matamata couple Belinda Witaka and Jason Aoake faced a similar charge on the same day and were convicted and discharged, but ordered to pay $130 in court costs.
Morrinsville College deputy principal Marian Fogarty welcomed the convictions, and the message they sent.
“The available penalties are fines and so it is probably more important that the parents are given a clear message that if their children truant they can be prosecuted. I am sure if the same parents were convicted again there would be a substantial financial penalty.”
A second offence carries a fine of $400.
Ms Fogarty said the college took the issue of truancy “very seriously” and monitored their students’ attendance closely.
“We have prosecuted a family once before, a number of years ago and we will certainly contemplate doing it again.
“But it is a last resort and obviously we would much rather not have to take this step.”
The parents in this case were reported to the police by the town’s ROCKON (Reduce Our Community Kids Offending Now) committee.
The attendance rate for the first three terms of this year was 63 per cent - the goal for secondary students is 92 per cent. A 60 per cent attendance rate is 76 days off a year.
ROCKON meets once a month and is made up of representatives of schools, Child Youth and Family (CYF), the police, Education Ministry and health providers. If an absentee problem arises, the first step is for the police to contact the parents. If things do not improve CYF is called in to set up a family group conference.
If all those interventions failed the next step was to prosecute the parents.
Ms Fogarty said truancy was an issue at every school - Morrinsville College was “no better or worse than others”. Year 10 students most often skipped school, although there were a small number of persistent truants at each level.
The college belonged to the Morrinsville District Truancy Service which employed two attendance officers to help track students and get them back to school. But she said funding had not increased in 11 years, and the service was struggling.
“It should be a government priority to fund all truancy services adequately and ensure that everything possible is done to keep students at school and off the streets. “ |
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Dec. 4, 2008
Armed robbery for lunch spurs concerns over school violence
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http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10545396
4:00AM Friday Nov 28, 2008
A 14-year-old schoolgirl who held a knife to the throat of a younger girl while demanding her lunch has heightened concern over the level of violence some Gisborne schools are having to deal with.
The incident came just days after a fight was filmed at another school and posted on a video website.
A small group of Gisborne Girls’ High School students approached another group of 13- to 14-year-old girls on the school field during lunch break last Wednesday.
Police said an altercation took place and a knife was used in a threatening manner.
The Gisborne Herald said it had been told a 13-year-old student was asked for her lunch, she refused, and her hair was grabbed and a knife held to her throat.
Details of the altercation remain unclear and investigations are continuing.
A parent of one of the girls approached said her daughter was shaken but “coping” and had returned to school.
“All of the parents, on both sides of the fence, are extremely upset at what has happened,” she said. “A knife at a high school is something you don’t want to see.”
She did not hold the school responsible.
“Something like this is out of their control. It’s not something you expect in a Gisborne high school,” she said.
The school’s board of trustees held a suspension meeting on Monday night to deal with three students.
Board chairman Ian Petty said one of the girls had since been excluded from the school, while the two others were on extended suspension pending further investigation by the school’s senior management team and police.
Exclusion applies to students under 16 years old and means the school needs to help them find another form of education.
Girls’ High principal Heather Gorrie said the situation affected a lot of people and it was important to allow due process to take its course effectively.
The school was understood to be supporting the victims.
The incident followed a fight at Gisborne Boys’ High School that was filmed and posted on a video internet site the previous week.
Principal Greg Mackle said a group of boys “wanting to set up a fight club” brought boxing gloves to school and began fighting during an interval period. It is understood camera-phones were used to film the footage.
The incident was stopped by school staff “straight away”.
Mr Mackle felt these fights were “mock-ups”. He was more concerned with the measures they might need to take to ensure general school safety.
His “real worry” was what they were going to do if situations such as the knife incident happened again.
“Put kids through metal detectors? It’s a real concern,” he said.
“We do what we can in terms of what we see and hear, but we do a hell of a lot in promoting the non-violent stuff as well.’
Mr Mackle sympathised with staff at Gisborne Girls’ High, saying he knew how hard they had worked to make their school safe.
“There is no way a school would tolerate that sort of violence. There’s no way a school would turn a blind eye.”
- NZPA |
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Nov. 28, 2008
Armed Robbery For Lunch Spurs Concerns Over School Violence
http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10545396
4:00AM Friday Nov 28, 2008
A 14-year-old schoolgirl who held a knife to the throat of a younger girl while demanding her lunch has heightened concern over the level of violence some Gisborne schools are having to deal with.
The incident came just days after a fight was filmed at another school and posted on a video website.
A small group of Gisborne Girls’ High School students approached another group of 13- to 14-year-old girls on the school field during lunch break last Wednesday.
Police said an altercation took place and a knife was used in a threatening manner.
The Gisborne Herald said it had been told a 13-year-old student was asked for her lunch, she refused, and her hair was grabbed and a knife held to her throat.
Details of the altercation remain unclear and investigations are continuing.
A parent of one of the girls approached said her daughter was shaken but “coping” and had returned to school.
“All of the parents, on both sides of the fence, are extremely upset at what has happened,” she said. “A knife at a high school is something you don’t want to see.”
She did not hold the school responsible.
“Something like this is out of their control. It’s not something you expect in a Gisborne high school,” she said.
The school’s board of trustees held a suspension meeting on Monday night to deal with three students.
Board chairman Ian Petty said one of the girls had since been excluded from the school, while the two others were on extended suspension pending further investigation by the school’s senior management team and police.
Exclusion applies to students under 16 years old and means the school needs to help them find another form of education.
Girls’ High principal Heather Gorrie said the situation affected a lot of people and it was important to allow due process to take its course effectively.
The school was understood to be supporting the victims.
The incident followed a fight at Gisborne Boys’ High School that was filmed and posted on a video internet site the previous week.
Principal Greg Mackle said a group of boys “wanting to set up a fight club” brought boxing gloves to school and began fighting during an interval period. It is understood camera-phones were used to film the footage.
The incident was stopped by school staff “straight away”.
Mr Mackle felt these fights were “mock-ups”. He was more concerned with the measures they might need to take to ensure general school safety.
His “real worry” was what they were going to do if situations such as the knife incident happened again.
“Put kids through metal detectors? It’s a real concern,” he said.
“We do what we can in terms of what we see and hear, but we do a hell of a lot in promoting the non-violent stuff as well.’
Mr Mackle sympathised with staff at Gisborne Girls’ High, saying he knew how hard they had worked to make their school safe.
“There is no way a school would tolerate that sort of violence. There’s no way a school would turn a blind eye.”
- NZPA |
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