Latest news with #NorthlandCollege
RNZ News
5 days ago
- General
- RNZ News
Northland school rosters students to stay home over winter staffing crisis
Photo: 123RF A Northland school has been forced to roster students home due to a winter staffing crisis. Northland College in Kaikohe which has more than 300 students is currently about 10 teachers short, according to its website. College tumuaki (principal) Duane Allen told Midday Report students were being rostered home over four weeks although he admitted it wasn't an ideal situation. "So we started last week. This is our second week and we'll have two more," he said. "We want our kids to be able to come in and engage in their learning as much as possible at the college. "But we have to be pragmatic about health and safety and also the obligations that the board has as an employer as well. So in the past, in the first few weeks of the term, what was happening when we had high staff absence through illness was we were having to call on the goodwill of some of our staff to use the non-contact time to cover some of our classes." The principal said the school was forced to do the same thing last year for about the same period of time, however, the difference was the school made the decision later in the term. He said while he hasn't received any formal feedback from parents, whānau had mostly been understanding around the staffing circumstances the Te Tai Tokerau school was facing. The staffing crisis comes on top of a recent scathing Education Review Office report. Allen said he didn't think the report was a factor in the situation the school found itself. "No one from board level, management level has ever shied away from the black and white reality of our data. "However, that reality is something that extends well beyond the past sort of 12 or 24 months or even four or five years. It goes well back probably a decade or more. So we have to accept that and we don't shy away from what the data says." Allen said the school had found the ERO process challenging. "We found it difficult to have a conversation with the Education Review Office when they don't [listen] or they made it quite clear to us that they weren't here to listen to context or any of the narrative around the why things might look the way they did. "They made it very clear that they didn't want to hear about the inputs. They had a focus on the outputs and the outputs were those data measures that they have. Northland College is located in a challenging community in many respects, a beautiful community nonetheless. "We have an equity index number of 254. So, you know, we're kind of up there in terms of that recognition but that doesn't seem to have a place currently in the conversation with ERO or [the Education] Ministry around their perspective on where we sit," he said. Allen said considering the elements of transience, poverty and social challenges in the community, he accepted that sending students home could exacerbate existing challenges. "That is a question that we ask ourselves as a leadership team and a board before coming to this decision but ultimately, we need to make sure that we are looking after the health and safety of those people who are on site and if we don't have teachers to put in front of classes, that can become an issue. "Furthermore, the board needs to and has recognised our obligations as an employer. We recognise that our staff have demonstrated incredible goodwill in terms of using some of the non-contact time that is part of the collective agreement that we work under to cover some of those classes. "We also recognise that in doing that and asking staff to use that time that they might usually be using for planning or for marking or for following up on pastoral care for students, that we actually exacerbate the pressure that's on them." It was not a decision the school wanted to have to make, nor was it made lightly and all of the implications had also been considered. The ERO has been approached for comment. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
5 days ago
- General
- RNZ News
Northland school dealing with winter staffing crisis
education employment 20 minutes ago A Northland school has been forced to roster students home due to a winter staffing crisis. Northland College Principal Duane Allen spoke to Charlotte Cook.
NZ Herald
04-08-2025
- Politics
- NZ Herald
Northland College faces intervention after ERO report on absenteeism
'I stand by the work being done here. 'I accept [ERO] data has a place in the story of every school. 'Now the data is not where we want it to be. 'But I'm confident we're in a better position now than in the last few years.' The report says the school urgently needs to improve student progress and achievement, as less than half of students achieve NCEA Level 1, a small majority achieve Level 2, and very few students achieve Level 3 or University Entrance (UE). However, the Government yesterday announced a radical shake-up of NCEA that will see it abolished and replaced with two new qualifications at Year 12 and 13. Under the new scheme, Year 11 students will face what is being called a 'Foundational Skills Award' with a focus on literacy and numeracy. The ERO report stated few students in Year 9 and 10 are at expected curriculum levels in reading, writing, and mathematics. The review also says 'very few' students attend school regularly. The school, which has around 300 students, needs to 'act immediately' to improve regular attendance and reduce chronic absence levels, and to improve teaching practices and support systems. Allen, who has been principal since January 2021, said there were a range of social challenges facing the school and wider community. 'Northland College is a reflection of a broader crisis in education that exists in Kaikohe and beyond. 'There are elements of transience and poverty and social challenges that are not new in this community,' he said. 'They've been well known to leaders in the community, and staff and the board, and well known to the ministry and ERO. 'Kaikohe has an amazing community with amazing whānau, and beautiful kids here at school ... but I recognise we need to do more.' Northland College may have a Commissioner appointed again after its latest ERO review. Allen said the school leadership team had developed an immediate plan in response to the review, including more focus on literacy and numeracy. Mentors had also been employed to work with students to support engagement, he said. Allen said some positive shifts regarding attendance had been seen. Northland College previously required intervention in 2012. The Government replaced the board of trustees with a limited statutory manager after buildings were found to be in need of urgent attention. The college also received a scathing ERO report in 2017, when on-going concerns were identified, including inadequate systems to ensure student safety and staff accountability. That year, the school celebrated a $14 million rebuild, which marked a new start for students and staff. The latest report recommends that the Minister consider intervention under section 171 of the Education and Training Act 2020. The act specifies nine types of intervention, ranging from minimal support, such as a request for information, to appointing a statutory manager or commissioner. Ministry of Education north acting leader Leisa Maddix said most Northland schools operate successfully. 'But a small number develop difficulties ... that they cannot resolve without outside help. 'Where we do step in, an intervention aims to bring expertise and a fresh perspective. 'For Northland College, the ERO report clearly outlines areas of concern that are to be addressed with urgency and we will meet with the board to discuss the level of intervention to ensure better outcomes for students.' Northland MP Grant McCallum said the school needs to work with the community 'to achieve better outcomes for its students'. 'My number one concern is for the education of the students; we need the whole community to focus on that.' Northland currently has interventions in three primary schools, three composite schools (Years 1-15), and one secondary school. A commissioner was appointed to run Dargaville High School after an ERO assessment found fewer than half of its students were regularly attending school, with the same number failing NCEA level one. Barbara Alaalatoa was appointed as commissioner for the school board on June 25. The review office said it would revisit Northland College in early 2026 to assess progress. Jenny Ling is a senior journalist at the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering human interest stories, along with finance, roading, and animal welfare issues.
Scoop
10-05-2025
- General
- Scoop
Hundreds To Gather To Remember Battle Of Te Kahika
Hundreds of people are expected to gather at Northland's Lake Ōmāpere on Saturday to remember a battle that event organisers say is as pertinent today as it was 180 years ago. The Battle of Te Kahika, one of the early confrontations of the Northern War, began on 8 May, 1845. Ngāti Hine leader Pita Tipene said British forces were unable to take Hone Heke's pā at Te Kahika but they did inflict heavy losses. The dead included Taura, the son of Kawiti, Hone Heke's most important ally. Saturday's commemorations were due to start at 5am and would include karakia, haka and a re-enactment by more than 100 students from Northland College, Ōkaihau College and Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Kaikohe, with the action illuminated by fires and strobe lights. Spectators would be taken to the pā by shuttle bus from Ōkaihau College starting at 4am, returning to the school afterwards for wānanga and breakfast. Among those sharing their stories would be descendants of those who fought in the battle. Tipene said the reasons Māori went to war in 1845 were as relevant now as they were 180 years ago. 'The motivation for the conflict is what we're putting the focus on. Why were they fighting? And it was all about rangatiratanga and the eroding of Te Tiriti o Waitangi,' he said. Tipene said the organisers were deliberately drawing parallels with what many Māori saw as erosion of Te Tiriti today. 'As Māori, we've put the muskets and cannons and the other fighting weapons away … but the struggle continues to hold onto our rangatiratanga, our authority, that was promised in Te Tiriti o Waitangi.' Māori fought on both sides in the Northern War, so reconciliation was another aim of the commemorations. 'There is still some deep-seated bitterness that some Māori in the North were fighting for the British Crown, so talking the truth and being forthright about why that all happened, and what it means in 2025, is also important,' Tipene said. Other goals were ensuring New Zealanders knew their own history, and having the Northern War included in the school history curriculum. Tipene wondered if students at Ōkaihau College, for example, were taught about the battle, despite their lessons taking place less than 5km from Te Kahika Pā. 'While we rightly commemorate Anzac Day, as we should, other battles, and people who sacrificed their lives, are largely forgotten. So, when we say 'lest we forget', we are already forgetting battles on our own patch.' Tipene said there was no obvious sign today of Te Kahika Pā. Hone Heke chose the site on a slight rise for its good 'field of fire' across the surrounding terrain. Tipene said the seeds for the Northern War were sown not long after the signing of Te Tiriti. Despite promises they would retain their rangatiratanga, the northern chiefs soon found their authority diminished. For example, chiefs Hone Heke, Kawiti and Pōmare had previously collected anchorage fees from ships in the Bay of Islands, a busy port in those days. However, within months of the Treaty signing, customs officers employed by the Crown started collecting the fees instead, Tipene said. Hone Heke had earlier gifted the timber for the flagstaff atop Maiki Hill in Kororāreka (now Russell) but, as anger mounted, he cut it down three times during the summer of 1844-45. He then travelled to Waiōmio, south of Kawakawa, to seek Kawiti's support for stronger action. He presented Kawiti with a greenstone mere, named Te Mere Whakakopa, but when Kawiti took it out of its kete, he found it was smeared with human excrement. Kawiti understood the symbolism immediately, Tipene said. 'The greenstone mere was the authority of the Māori people, and the excrement was the defiling of that rangatiratanga by the British authorities,' he said. On 11 March, 1845, Kawiti, Pumuka and others led an attack on Kororāreka township, while Hone Heke again cut down the flagpole on Maiki Hill. The entire British population fled to the safety of Auckland while the Governor called for reinforcements. Troops sent from Sydney blockaded the Bay of Islands and, on 31 April 1845, attacked Pōmare's pā at Ōtuihu in an attempt to bring the rebels to heel. Ōtuihu is straight across the water from where Ōpua wharf is today. Just over a week later, British forces attacked Te Kahika Pā, which Hone Heke was still building. The battle took place in the open with losses especially high among the defenders. 'Kawiti lost his own son, Taura, so it was devastating,' Tipene said. 'The British also suffered casualties, though not as many, but they were eventually forced to withdraw and returned to the Bay of Islands without taking the pā. It was inconclusive. You could call it a draw,' he said. British forces then travelled up the Waikare River to attack Te Kapotai and, in late May, fought a battle at Te Ahu Ahu, just outside present-day Ōhaeawai. The penultimate battle, at Ōhaeawai on 1 July, 1845, was a disaster for the British, who launched a frontal assault against a heavily fortified pā. At that point, Kawiti resolved to take the war back to his own territory, and spent the next six months building Ruapekapeka Pā, south of Kawakawa. The British made the long march inland to Ruapekapeka and eventually took the pā, though not Kawiti or his fighters, on 11 January 1846. Tipene said the theme given to Saturday's commemorations was Te Mere Whakakopa, the name of the greenstone mere Hone Heke gave to Kawiti to symbolise the defiling of Te Tiriti.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Over 100 employees to be laid off as college in northern Wisconsin closes in May, citing lack of attendance and high costs
ASHLAND, Wis. (WFRV) – A small liberal arts school in northern Wisconsin announced that it will officially close, likely for good, after the end of the school year, citing attendance drops and high costs. According to the Department of Workforce Development, Northland College's closure is expected to be permanent as of May 31. With a few exceptions, all employees will be impacted. Draft City Music Fest reveals schedule for Wednesday & Saturday at Leicht Park, De La Soul & Less Than Jake to headline 112 employees will be laid off as a result of the closure. Northland College, founded in 1892, originally announced the news in February, citing financial jeopardy that has been problematic since March 2024. 'Despite collaborative efforts, we no longer have the resources needed to navigate economic and demographic storms endangering small, liberal arts institutions today,' Board of Trustees Chair Ted Bristol said via a release. Bristol also cited declining enrollment in the February release. Four finalists named for UW-Oshkosh chancellor position 'With declining enrollment and soaring costs, it takes more to operate the College than we raise in tuition,' Bristol said via the release. 'Even after enacting aggressive measures to cut costs and raise revenues, Northland College has no sustainable path forward.' Bumping rights will not be available for any impacted employees. Interim President Barb Lundberg said that the official closure will be May 31. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
