Education changes: Area schools ‘copping it from all directions’
By David Hill, Local Democracy Reporter
A North Canterbury principal says area schools are ‘‘copping it from all directions’’ with Government changes to education.
Amuri Area School principal Matt Barlow has written to Education Minister Erica Stanford to ask whether the pace of change can be slowed down.
Area schools cover all year levels from new entrants to year 13, tend to be smaller and are based in rural areas, meaning they face pressures to implement curriculum changes across the board.
‘‘Schools like Rangiora High School don’t have to worry about year 1 to 3 literacy and numeracy, and primary schools don’t have to worry about changes to NCEA.
‘‘We are a bit of an afterthought. Area schools are like an airport and principals are like air traffic controllers, with planes coming from all directions.’’
While some rural school rolls are falling, Amuri Area School is managing a growing roll.
The roll has jumped from 335 to 380 students since the start of 2023, which includes its largest roll of year 7s (50) and year 13s (22).
Barlow said the school is working with the Ministry of Education to design a new building for science, technology and arts classes.
No budget or timeframe has been decided.
Amuri Area School is in Culverden, on the way to Hanmer Springs, and the relative isolation adds to the challenges.
The relief teacher pool is limited, meaning Barlow and his two deputy principals have had to step into the classroom several times this year.
Roger Hornblow became principal at Cheviot Area School in term four last year, having been a long serving primary school principal.
‘‘Area schools are very complex and I don’t think it is appreciated by everybody.
‘‘We are dealing with the NCEA changes and the year 0 to 8 changes. It is really complex.
‘‘But that is part and parcel of the beast and we need to make sure we do it in a way which give students the best outcomes.’’
It means professional development is constant, and Hornblow is pleased with how his staff are stepping up.
He would like to see ‘‘a unified education policy’’ which did not change every time there is a change of Government.
The New Zealand Education Institute Te Riu Roa and the New Zealand Principals' Federation also called on the Government last week to slow down the implementation of new structured math and English curriculum.
New NCEA literacy and numeracy online tests have also come under fire from secondary school principals around the country.
Education Minister Erica Stanford said extra support is being provided to area schools in North Canterbury, with curriculum advisors visiting schools, assisting with teacher only days and providing webinars.
The schools also have the support of the ministry's area school leadership advisor Stephen Beck, who is taking a year out from his role as principal at Hurunui College.
"Support will be ongoing as the local team looks to ensure our rural area schools have the assistance they require to implement and embed these changes."
But she said introducing structured literacy and numeracy will take time, especially for schools teaching it for the first time.
"Embedding a curriculum refresh, running professional development and responding to our sector feedback are things we will work on together over the coming years."
■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
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Census ‘anomalies’ leave council staff scratching their heads
By David Hill, Local Democracy Reporter
‘‘Anomalies’’ in Census data on North Canterbury's population growth is creating a headache for a local council.
The Hurunui District Council’s south ward, including Amberley, has experienced a building boom in recent years, but this is not reflected in the latest provisional Census data on population growth.
According to Census data released earlier this year, Hurunui’s south ward had a population of 5620 in March 2023, an increase of 410 people from the 2018 Census.
This suggests an increase of 1.53% a year over the last five years, much lower than the yearly average increase for the ward of 2.45% since 2001.
But council chief executive Hamish Dobbie said the council’s own data suggests a much larger population increase.
‘‘We would rate the period 2018 to 2023 as a high growth period. You’ve just got to look at the number of houses being built.
‘‘Maybe when they did the Census, people weren’t in their houses and did it somewhere else.
‘‘There is something that doesn’t add up, or maybe it is right and the population was over estimated in 2018.’’
A Stats NZ spokesperson said the current calculations are subject to change and net migration can be difficult to estimate.
Over the last five years, the council has issued 373 consents for new houses in the south ward, mostly for three or four bedroom houses.
Dobbie did not believe there were lots of empty houses in Amberley.
If Census data is unreliable, it can complicate council planning, he said.
But he acknowledged predicting population is ‘‘an inexact science’’.
‘‘It is when you don’t know there are anomalies that you can get things wrong.’’
When the council conducted a representation review ahead of next year’s local government election, it had to rely on 2018 Census data as the 2023 data was not available.
A rapidly rising population formed part of the reasoning behind a proposal to establish a community board for the south ward.
But when presenting to the Local Government Commission last week, the council presented the 2023 Census data while noting the number consents issued.
‘‘We do our own numbers for planning for things like water supply,’’ Dobbie said.
‘‘If we utilised growth numbers that come from the Census, we wouldn’t have water available when it is needed.’’
A Stats NZ spokesperson said the figures for Hurunui’s south ward compared the 2018 Census with population estimates and projections.
‘‘Estimated population change for an area comes from estimated natural increase (births minus deaths), plus estimated net migration.’’
Migration is hard to estimate because there is no single authoritative data source to measure migration into and out of an area, the spokesperson said.
‘‘Estimates for June 2023 are provisional and subject to revision,’’ the spokesperson said.
Building consents are useful, but not all consents result in completed houses, there is a lag between consent and occupancy, some are for second homes and some are to replace demolished buildings.
A second release of 2023 Census data is due on October 3, while population estimates will be revised next year.
Local Government Minister Simeon Brown said the Government is not considering allowing alternative data sources to be considered in representation reviews.
"Representation review data looks at the entire population, not just ratepayers or those eligible to vote, so care would be needed in considering whether alternative data sources could be used in the future.''
■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
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