Category: PPTA

Source: Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA)

Candidates for PPTA President:

Chris Abercrombie – James Hargest College

Having had the experience of working in a range of schools and in different areas of Aotearoa New Zealand, I have dealt with the variety and breadth of pressures that we as educators face. With the continuing impacts of Covid, the NCEA change package, the Curriculum Refreshes, and the prolonged industrial round – we find ourselves having to deal with an ever-increasing workload.

In my roles as JVP and acting President, I feel that I have gained the experience needed to fight for members at this time of great change. I have been a strong voice, one that reflects the diversity of experience of teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand.

I understand the many obstacles and concerns we face in our daily working lives, but I still believe teaching is an amazing career. It is a career that I love, and I’m energised by the joy and sense of pride that we all have as teachers within our classrooms and schools.

We are on this journey together and if we continue to move forward together as one, success will take care of itself.

We must continue to ensure that every teacher – from the top of Te Tai Tokerau to the very bottom of Te Waipounamu – has what they need. Support for teachers should not be dictated by the postcode lottery. By investing in our teachers, we are investing in the future for all New Zealanders. When we stand together in solidarity, we bring out the best.

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Source: Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA)

Chris Abercrombie – James Hargest College

Having had the experience of working in a range of schools and in different areas of Aotearoa New Zealand, I have dealt with the variety and breadth of pressures that we as educators face. With the continuing impacts of Covid, the NCEA change package, the Curriculum Refreshes, and the prolonged industrial round – we find ourselves having to deal with an ever-increasing workload.

In my roles as JVP and acting President, I feel that I have gained the experience needed to fight for members at this time of great change. I have been a strong voice, one that reflects the diversity of experience of teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand.

I understand the many obstacles and concerns we face in our daily working lives, but I still believe teaching is an amazing career. It is a career that I love, and I’m energised by the joy and sense of pride that we all have as teachers within our classrooms and schools.

We are on this journey together and if we continue to move forward together as one, success will take care of itself.

We must continue to ensure that every teacher – from the top of Te Tai Tokerau to the very bottom of Te Waipounamu – has what they need. Support for teachers should not be dictated by the postcode lottery. By investing in our teachers, we are investing in the future for all New Zealanders. When we stand together in solidarity, we bring out the best.

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Source: Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA)

Louise Ryan – Western Springs College

Throughout my over 20 years in the education sector, I have witnessed first-hand the significant improvements won by the union to benefit teachers. While obvious examples of this include the ongoing gains won as a part of our collective agreements, in fact it is the ongoing support and advocacy across the public education system that reminds me how important PPTA Te Wehengarua is.

The role of PPTA is crucial in advocating for, and protecting the public education system. Through my time as part of the PPTA Executive I have seen and been involved with so many aspects within the education space: the NCEA Change Package, Curriculum Refresh and RoVE – three bodies of work which will have a significant impact on teacher workload and wellbeing over the next few years. I have had the opportunity to hear from middle leaders about the significant workload issues facing pastoral and curriculum leaders. I have seen the work on ending streaming; the PLD fund and the opportunities it has opened for teachers, the list could go on… important valuable work to ensure that we have an equitable and fair education system for all.

The past four years have been so challenging on teachers, students and the wider community. From lockdowns, significant weather events, industrial action – we have experienced challenging times. And there is further uncertainty ahead.

However, what it has reinforced for me is the importance of our public education system and the role that teachers have to play. I have felt so proud to be a PPTA member and an executive member seeing the way in which teachers are prepared to fight for quality education, for their colleagues and for their students.

PPTA has the opportunity to be a powerful voice for teachers at this time. I would see it as a privilege to be able to contribute to the teaching community as your PPTA Junior Vice President.

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Kieran Gainsford – One Tree Hill College

Tēnā koutou e te whānau o Te Wehengarua. We have been through a lot, together, over the last 14 months. We know all too well the challenges in our schools, and we all experienced the resistance our government showed towards investing in a sustainable teaching profession. As a member of your negotiating team, I felt this resistance first-hand. Throughout the campaign, nothing made me prouder than our commitment to fighting for a fair deal. We knew that better salaries and conditions were needed for our profession to have a future, so we stuck to our actions despite the difficulties these posed. What we achieved through bargaining was a direct result of our members’ power – and we should be proud of it.

However, I know that there is more to do. While we now have a settled collective agreement, I know that the next bargaining round will not be easy. Teacher shortages will not be resolved overnight, and we need to be strategic in how we approach the next negotiations round if we want to make headway on this. The NCEA Review and Curriculum Refresh rollouts leave plenty to be desired and are imposing significant workloads on teachers. On top of this, we face an uncertain political environment, where education issues have become a hot topic. In short, there is plenty to do!

I am up for this challenge. Representing members on the Executive has been a privilege, and I have the experience to help to lead the Association’s responses to the complex issues we are facing. I also know that the strength of PPTA Te Wehengarua comes from our democracy. I intend to listen and to ensure that the diverse voices of our 21,000 members are heard at all levels of decision-making. I know both the joys and challenges of secondary teaching. It can be the best job in the world, but there is more to do to secure its future. Waiho i te toipoto, kaua i te toiroa!

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Source: Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA)

The report, Me aro ki te hā o Hine-ahu-one | Wāhine Māori in Leadership, is based on research carried out by Te Wāhanga – the NZ Council for Educational Research,  for PPTA Te Wehengarua.*

Te Aomihia Taua-Glassie, PPTA Te Wehengarua Māori vice president and leader of learning -Te Reo Māori at a Northland high school, says PPTA Te Wehengarua identified support for wāhine Māori leaders and aspiring leaders as a key priority. “We commissioned this research to help us get an accurate and comprehensive picture of the experiences of current and aspiring wāhine Maori leaders in our secondary schools and how they could be better supported.

“As a wāhine Māori in a formal leadership position, the research findings resonate so strongly with me on various levels. While on one hand it’s reassuring to know that I am not alone in terms of what I experience as a wāhine Māori leader, on the other hand the findings show that our rangatahi are being deprived of many wonderful potential wāhine Māori leaders because the support is lacking.”

Lack of support was one of several barriers to leadership for wāhine Māori identified in the report. ‘The barriers were multi-layered and extensive’, the report states. Most commonly perceived barriers were concerns about work-life balance, feeling overworked and lack of confidence. Other barriers wāhine Māori experienced were not being able to see people like themselves in leadership, and having to battle an education system that was not set up to benefit or value Māori.

Te Aomihia Taua-Glassie says the report provides clear evidence of what the issues are and and sets a clear direction for supporting wāhine Māori to become leaders in secondary schools. Initiatives it recommends include strong, bespoke mentoring programmes and support networks, apprenticeships for aspiring leaders, and professional development wānanga, courses and hui.

“I really hope schools, principals, and organisations such as the Ministry of Education and  will join us and ensure we all do better by our wāhine Māori leaders and aspiring leaders. More amazing wāhine Māori leaders in our secondary schools are the role models our rangatahi need. I urge people to join us in making this happen.”

*For the research, more than 340 wāhine Māori completed a survey and 24 participants were interviewed.  More than 90 percent of participants work in English-medium secondary schools and just under 10 percent work in kaupapa Māori secondary schools.

Source: Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA)

“While secondary teachers would agree with the apparent purpose of the report – to assess how well ITE programmes prepare beginning teachers for the classroom and explore ways of making ITE more effective – we disagree with most of the report’s findings and its solutions which seem to be ideological rather than genuinely analytical or evidence-based.

“The report argues that the Teaching Council’s standards for certificating teachers are what’s wrong with ITE and they need to be far more ‘rigorous’. We would strongly oppose the Teaching Council developing overly prescriptive standards for how ITE providers should operate – research shows that learning to teach is a complex interplay of many skills and dispositions that need to operate in a wide variety of contexts.”

Chris Abercrombie said the report’s proposed solution – to enable groups of schools with similar values and philosophies to establish their own professional bodies each with their own set of standards – was simply bizarre. “A national teaching service is a cornerstone of our public education system in Aotearoa New Zealand, where every child and young person has the right to a similar standard of education no matter where they live.”

PPTA Te Wehengarua has set up a taskforce to look into ITE and particular concerns about the proliferation of providers offering a range of different programmes and the need to ensure that ITE prepared beginning teachers as well as possible for starting their careers. “Schools generally give beginning teachers a huge amount of support but ITE’s role in ensuring beginning teachers are as prepared as they can be, is one of the areas our taskforce is looking into.”

In the early 2000s in New Zealand colleges of education, that were staffed largely by registered teachers, began to follow international trends and amalgamated with universities. By the mid-2000s 90 percent of secondary ITE students were studying at universities. These amalgamations meant that ITE became valued for its academic focus and possibly less so for time spent learning the practice of teaching in schools. “It’s imperative that we make sure the balance is right.”

NZ Initiatve Report

Source: Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA)

“We have a world leading curriculum and trained, qualified teachers who are best placed to know how to deliver that curriculum. All teachers know that one size does not fit all; tamariki and rangatahi learn in a range of different ways. If you really want to help every student achieve, make class sizes smaller, ensure that schools are well resourced and that teachers are fully supported, have time to reflect on their teaching,  and have top notch professional development.”

“Legislating how teachers should teach literacy and numeracy is a slippery slope and sets a worrying precedent. Today, it’s about how to teach reading and maths but who’s to say with future governments it won’t be about how to teach health, social studies or science?

Taking pedagogy (the method and practice of teaching) away from the profession and putting it in the hands of politicians is of serious concern. Doctors don’t have laws about how they treat patients day to day, lawyers don’t have laws about how they prosecute their clients’ cases; making laws about how teachers teach is the thin edge of the wedge.

Chris Abercrombie said secondary teachers support measures that help to have all students start secondary school with basic reading, writing and maths skills. “It’s good that the government is keen to explore ways to make this happen but legislating for it seems to be a step in a dangerous direction.”

Source: Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA)

The offer followed prolonged campaigning by area school teacher members, including participation in the largest education strike in New Zealand history and joint-union bargaining throughout 2023. 

The new Area School Teachers’ Collective Agreement, negotiated by both NZEI Te Riu Roa and PPTA Te Wehengarua, is based largely on the recent settlement of the secondary teachers’ collective agreement. 

“This agreement is the last one to be settled in the school sector and I’m pleased that all of our members can focus now on teaching and learning in a settled environment,” says Chris Abercrombie, PPTA Te Wehengarua acting president. 

As well as a 14.5 percent increase to the top of the basic salary scale over three years and lump sum payments of up to $7,210, other benefits of the new area school collective agreement include: better sick leave entitlements, a cultural leadership allowance for every area school, increases to the Māori immersion teacher allowance, better pay rates for day relievers and payment of certification fees for beginning teachers. 

Lagi Leilua and Kaareen Hotereni, negotiators for the NZEI Te Riu Roa Area School Teachers Collective Agreement, say: 

“The increase to the Māori Immersion Teaching Allowance and the introduction of a Pasifika Bilingual Immersion Teaching Allowance are significant wins, and recognise the unique skills and expertise of kaiako and their cultural knowledge. Paying teachers fairly for their skills and knowledge will have a flow-on effect of attracting more Māori and Pasifika teachers into the sector. Having cultural representation at teacher level means tamariki will experience an education journey which reflects their own language and culture.

“Another big win is the increase in non-contact time which will more than double for some teachers. Work demands on teachers were unsustainable and we’re pleased to see the Ministry recognise the positive effects this will have on tamariki. This gives teachers more time to plan, assess and give individual attention to students.”

Chris Abercrombie said the introduction of ‘pastoral care time allowances’ recognised and valued teachers with specific skills and responsibilities, such as counselling and cultural leadership, which weren’t accounted for in their time before. 

Ends 

Notes to editor: 

Area schools are state schools in rural and often isolated settings which provide for students from Years 1 through to 13. 

About 2800 NZEI Te Riu Roa and PPTA Te Wehengarua members teach in area schools throughout the motu. 

Source: Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA)

Members are hereby notified that, in accordance with Rules 65(i) and (ii) of the Constitution, nominations are invited for the 2024-2025 year as follows:

1. President
2. Junior Vice President
3. Māori Vice President
4. National Executive members in the following electoral areas:

– Northland (Upper, Central and Lower) Regions 1
– The four Wards of the Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland Region* 4
– Counties-Manukau Region 1
– Waikato Region 1
– Hauraki Coromandel, Western Bay of Plenty Regions 1
– Bay of Plenty, Central Plateau Regions 1
– Manawatu/Whanganui Region 1
– Taranaki Region 1
– Hawkes Bay, East Coast Regions 1
– Hutt Valley, Wairarapa Regions 1
– Wellington, Marlborough Regions 2
– Nelson, West Coast Regions 1
– Canterbury Region 2
– Aoraki Region 1
– Otago Region 1
– Southland Region 1

* The composition of these Wards, as ratified by the Executive, are attached
as Appendix A and distributed to Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland Region
branches only. 

Any full member is eligible for nomination provided that (with the exception of the four Wards of the Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland Region) nominees for the Executive must be employed within the electoral area for which they are nominated. In the case of the four Wards of the Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland Region, the nominee may be a member of any branch in the Tāmaki Makaurau Auckland Region, but the nomination must be in respect of a specific ward

Where a member is nominated for the office of President and any other office, ballot papers and instructions will be issued so as to permit preferential voting for the candidates in that particular election.

At the conclusion of the voting, the votes cast will be counted in the order of President, Vice Presidents, Executive members, and the votes recorded against a candidate in an election for a lower office will not be counted if that person has been elected to the office of President.

Please note that the proposers and seconders of all nominations must be full members of the Association. Proposers and seconders of Executive member candidates (with the exception of President, Junior Vice President and Māori Vice President positions) must be members from within the electoral area concerned. Proposers and seconders for the Māori Vice President position must be from the Māori electoral roll.

Each year all candidates are asked to provide information about themselves (on the form supplied) with their nominations. This has a twofold purpose: it enables preparation of the election material without undue pressure and gives the Association information about all its officeholders, even those for whom an election is not required. Presidential nominees should also supply a photo of themselves.

Candidates for the positions of President, Junior Vice President, Māori Vice President should submit a video up to 60 seconds in length [MX15/008]. The video must adhere to the attached ‘Conduct of Association Elections – Note to All Candidates’. Specifically:

a) Avoid making ‘personal policies’ or ‘policy platform’ statements.
b) Do not canvass for support.
c) Demonstrate knowledge of te reo Māori (Māori Vice President nominations).
d) Please give full personal and biographical information of a factual and relevant nature to assist member voters

Nominations close with the Acting General Secretary, NZPPTA, P O Box 2119, Wellington 6140, at 5.00 pm on Friday 1 September 2023. Nominations must be made on the attached form, with the written consent of the person nominated in the space provided. All Nomination forms must be accompanied by the completed candidate’s information sheet.

The rolls for the purpose of any elections to be held following nominations will close at 5.00 pm on Wednesday 6 September 2023.

The forms of nomination to be used, together with material for candidates, are attached. The special freepost envelope, addressed to the PPTA Returning Officer, is provided for the purpose of returning nomination forms. In no circumstances should it be used for ordinary correspondence.

Full details are in the attachment above

Source: Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA)

“I’m delighted that PPTA Te Wehengarua members have shown such strong support for our new collective agreement,” says Chris Abercrombie, PPTA Te Wehengarua acting president.

“Members’ collective, determined and sustained action this year ensured that we received a much improved offer via  arbitration than what we were offered in negotiations.

“There are still significant issues around secondary teacher recruitment in particular that need to be addressed, but today is for celebrating. I feel very proud and privileged to lead such a strong and committed union. Members are passionate about secondary education and the need for it to be valued appropriately. This settlement is a significant step in the right direction.

“Secondary teachers can now get on with the vital business of teaching and learning in a settled environment – something they have been wanting to do for a long time.”

Chris Abercrombie said the arbitration process had highlighted the need to find better and more productive ways of addressing teachers’ concerns and setting pay and conditions. “A different approach is required to setting salaries rather than the current ‘boom and bust’ process which produces periods with pay rates falling relative to other groups and a build up of pay and supply pressures. These issues then become too expensive to address effectively in a single negotiation round.

“We were very pleased to see the arbitration panel’s sensible suggestions for a different approach to setting teacher pay rates and we are really looking forward to exploring these. Today, however, it’s time to celebrate.”

The only school sector collective agreement that still needs to be settled is the area school teachers’. PPTA is working towards having a settlement for the Area School Teachers’ Collective Agreement by next week. More details will be available soon.

Source: Post Primary Teachers Association (PPTA)

“We are very pleased that the Government has acted in good faith and accepted the panel’s recommendations,” says Chris Abercrombie, PPTA Te Wehengarua acting president.

“We commend the arbitration panel for its mahi and its commitment to finding a satisfactory settlement of our collective agreement. Of course, it is not everything we wanted but it’s a significant step on the path to making secondary teaching a profession that people want to join and stay in.”

The Ministry of Education is expected to present PPTA Te Wehengarua within the next 24 to 48 hours with an offer for settlement which is based on the panel’s recommendations along with items agreed to before arbitration. These include more pastoral care staffing for secondary schools and pro-rated planning and marking time for part-time secondary teachers.

PPTA Te Wehengarua members will vote on the offer via electronic ballot next week. “It is now in the members’ hands – and the executive will be recommending they accept the offer.”