Parenting: turning experiences into lessons
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RNZ News
3 days ago
- RNZ News
Papanui High School brings back uniforms for seniors after decades without
School uniforms at Papanui High School will be compulsory for year 13s in 2026. (File photo) Photo: Left Hand Rotation/Flickr A Christchurch college is bringing back uniforms for senior students after decades of them wearing their own clothes, despite strong opposition from its community and students. At the moment, year 13 students at Papanui High School get to wear their own clothes in their final year. The school surveyed more than 800 students, teachers and community members about a uniform refresh. Overwhelmingly, students and the community did not want uniforms made compulsory for year 13. Some of the teenagers said wearing their own clothes in their final year helped prepare them for the workplace and was a reward for staying in school. A petition's been launched to try and halt the change. But for now, the uniform will be compulsory for year 13 from next year. Papanui High School Principal Robert Gilbert told Checkpoint the main reason the school decided to re-introduce uniform was down to "safety concerns". "We're a very large school, now 1600 students... the school is so large that it's not possible to keep our student community safe because we don't know who the people are on site when they're not wearing a uniform." Gilbert said it had become nearly impossible to differentiate year 13 students from other groups of people on site. "We can't differentiate between say a year 13 student, maybe a trainee teacher, maybe a year 12 student out of uniform, a visitor, or some thug down the road coming in to sell drugs." While Gilbert could not confirm if there had been drug dealers on the school site, there had been issues with non-students entering the grounds. "We wouldn't know because we can't tell which are our students and which aren't. That's probably the point. "We have certainly had unwanted people on site, usually from other schools not in uniform and causing havoc in our school, and it has become a health and safety issue." He said there had also been issues when it came to students off school grounds, particularly at the shopping mall next door. "We want to be able to know where our students are... so if our year 13's go to the shopping mall, that they're identified as representatives and role models from our school, and not just any other random teenager who's wandering through the mall." He said it wasn't uncommon that their students had been accused of behaviour they weren't responsible for, due to their lack of uniform. "What happens if you've got other youths in the mall who are causing trouble? We automatically get blamed because we're the school right next door, whereas if they're in uniform, they're easily identifiable." Gilbert said while the school had considered other options to identify students, such as an ID card, lanyard, or badge, health and safety was not the only factor in reinstating the uniform. "That is a big reason, but that's not the sole reason. "For a lot of students, having a wardrobe, a selection of clothing, the right labels, clean clothes, it is not a problem for them, but for some families that's an issue." He also had concerns about causing divides between the students. "What we actually end up doing by saying you can wear whatever you like... is we start creating an us and them situation with our students." As a solution to this issue, year 13 students can currently opt into wearing a uniform if they would like to. However, Gilbert said this option was no longer viable due to the added health and safety concerns. He also cited a sense of belonging and pride for the students who had managed to reach year 13. However, in a survey sent out to students, staff and community about the proposed changes, only 24 percent of year 13 students supported a compulsory uniform. Parents said they were only made aware of the change through a school newsletter, which outlined progress on the development of a refreshed uniform. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
09-08-2025
- RNZ News
New York declares 'total war' on rats
By Ana Fernández , AFP A rat is seen in a Harlem backstreet in the Manhattan borough of New York City on 1 August, 2025. Photo: CHARLY TRIBALLEAU / AFP New York is waging a war on multiple fronts to combat the near ubiquitous rats that plague city streets and the subways, leaving some residents afraid to let their children walk on sidewalks. Faced with an overwhelming and ever-growing problem, officials have moved beyond gassing burrows to suffocate rodents and are now using high-tech mapping tools to try and sterilise the population. Alongside targeted interventions, officials are mounting an effort to educate the public about the need to avoid leaving behind food waste that feeds and sustains the rat population. Caroline Bragdon, director of neighbourhood interventions for Pest Control Services within New York City's Department of Health, told AFP that the lack of food "stresses" rats and other vermin. "Perhaps this forces them to go further in search of food, but perhaps they simply have fewer offspring," she said. "That's usually what we're seeing. Fewer rats over time. Less breeding leads to less rat activity," Bragdon added. The city is testing out an arsenal of different tools in the Harlem neighbourhood, aiming to find new products and methods to tackle the rats. For large, densely populated cities like New York - with its 8.5 million inhabitants - food sources for the rodents are bountiful, whether it's on sidewalks, in overflowing trash bins, or in parks. "Lately, I haven't felt that I have to run in between the mounds of trash to run away from rats because they have those new (sealed trash) containers," said Harlem resident Karen Del Aguila, 50. Rats, which survive on practically the same diet as humans, can flourish even on items discarded as trash - like soda cans thrown into recycling bins, or crumbs given to pigeons, warned Bragdon. A rat needs 28 grams of food per day to sustain itself, and it can have up to 12 offspring per litter. During its short life of less than a year, it can have between five and seven litters. The best way to counter the scourge of rats is to "remove their food source... So make it harder for them, then they're going to have to travel further to try and find something," said Alexa Albert, a supervisor for the city's pest control service. She swiped her screen to show the street-level data logged on a rat tracker app used by those involved in the crusade against rodent infestation. The city health department's 70 inspectors use the mobile app to detect, report and monitor rodent activity - as well as plot abatement tactics. Inspectors go door to door asking businesses and residents to clean buildings, stores, and sidewalks. Authorities also now offer training on how to combat rats, taken by thousands of residents and building managers. In October 2022, New York City vaunted a "trash revolution," aimed at installing sealed containers to allow the removal of black bags of organic waste from sidewalks after rats surged during the coronavirus pandemic. Pre-pandemic, their population had been cut by as much as 90 percent in some areas. "So we know it can be done," said Bragdon, who added that she hoped 2025 would be a "turnaround year." Local resident Jessica Sanchez said she had observed much fewer rats in her neighbourhood. "Not a long time ago, when you went to put out the trash, five of them came out," she said. "I was even afraid to put my son on the floor." The rat warriors are seeking to learn the rodents' dietary habits throughout the year by using samples of different food types to identify what bait they are most likely to take. In 2024, complaints about rat activity dropped 25 percent compared to the year before, according to official data. But so far, only Manhattan's Chinatown has managed to bring the rat population under control. - AFP
RNZ News
06-08-2025
- RNZ News
Students leaving school with no qualifications highest in a decade
Sixteen percent of last year's school-leavers had no qualifications, Ministry of Education figures show. Photo: 123RF Sixteen percent of last year's school-leavers had no qualifications, the highest figure in a decade. It equates to about 10,600 teenagers, and is 0.4 of a percentage point worse than the previous year and about six percentage points higher than the 10-11 percent recorded in the years prior to the start of the pandemic. The percentage of school leavers with no NCEA certificate has been rising since 2020, a trend teachers blamed on the after-effects of Covid-19 lockdowns combined with high employment prompting more young people to leave school earlier than they otherwise would. Some worried any weakening of those effects would be cancelled out by the introduction last year of a tougher literacy and numeracy requirement which applied to students who wanted to leave with NCEA level 1. The Education Ministry's figures showed 13 percent of last year's leavers had not reached the literacy and numeracy benchmark compared to about 10 percent under the previous requirement in pre-pandemic years. The figures showed 81 percent of last year's leavers had stayed at school until the age of 17 or beyond, up from 79 percent the previous year with bigger increases in retention at schools in poorer communities. Māori had the worst results - 28 percent left with no qualification last year, compared with 19 percent of Pacific leavers and 86 percent of European/Pākehā leavers. In Tai Tokerau nearly one in five leavers had no NCEA certificate. Socioeconomic barriers had a big impact - 28 percent of leavers from schools facing the most barriers had no NCEA certificate compared with 4 percent of leavers from schools facing the fewest barriers. The figures showed 76 percent of last year's leavers had level 2 NCEA or better, 0.6 of a percentage point more than in 2023. The percentage of leavers with at least NCEA level 3 rose 2.7 percentage points to 56 percent.
