2008 Media Statements

March 2008

• Moving from Good to Great (a think piece from Lorraine Kerr, President, NZSTA)

April 2008

• Budget 2008 must deliver.

May 2008

• The Boost in ops funding welcomed, but schools not in clover yet - B oards of trustees and principals will welcome the 5% increase to operational funding equating to $171.6m over the next four years, New Zealand School Trustees Association President Lorraine Kerr says.

June 2008

• Education issues will be under the spotlight   at NZSTA's conference in Christchurch next month, where more than 600 school trustees will tackle some of the big education issues.

July 2008

• Conference 2008 Christchurch
• New Zealand schools face the possibility of a shooting happening in their grounds - and police are calling on schools to have plans in place to deal with it.  Schools need plans to deal with armed incidents.
• Some school boards of trustees find themselves in the dark over who to turn to for help when dealing with student suspensions.  Trustees are urged to do their homework on student discipline.
• The constant worry of having to stretch already limited funds detracts from schools' focus on student achievement, but there are no excuses for underachievement.
• Increasing parental pressure sees kids quit sport says Sport and Recreation New Zealand's Lawrie Stewart at NZSTA conference.
• Education doesn't start when you walk inside the school gate and stop when you walk out - parents are urged to get involved in children's learning.
• With eight out of 10 bullying incidents in schools linked to cyber and text bullying, parents and boards of trustees must keep up with the play.

September 2008

• “Don’t let facts spoil a good position paper” – NZSTA hits out at PPTA’s inaccurate paper.
• NZSTA president Lorraine Kerr re-elected and promises to tackle unfinished business.

October 2008

• The people who manage school budgets say the adequacy of funding of schools must be up for debate during the election campaign.
• The government's failure to give schools enough money to operate means NZSTA cannot support significant pay rises for non-teaching staff.  Schools will struggle  to fund future pay rises for school staff.
• School boards of trustees have come out well  in the NZCER national surveys on curriculum changes, priorities and issues.
• School funding to go on the election agenda.  President of the New Zealand School Trustees Association Lorraine Kerr says parents all over New Zealand will be interested to hear how many cake stalls and galas they are going to have to run to support their kids achieving at school.

November 2008

• NZSTA congratulates Anne Tolley on her appointment as the new Minister of Education , along with Heather Roy and Dr Pita Sharples in their associate roles.
• Major political parties have failed New Zealand students  by ignoring the ongoing inadequacy of schools operational funding, the New Zealand School Trustees Association says.

December 2008

• The PPTA is clutching at straws in its attempts to discredit the Tomorrow's Schools process, and is insulting trustees in the process.
• School trustees are questioning recent NZCER comments critical of principal appointments saying the vast majority of principal appointments are successful.  NZSTA says the results speak for themselves.