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Initiative to boost teacher supply extended

Source: New Zealand Government

Headline: Initiative to boost teacher supply extended

Acting Minister of Education Tracey Martin has announced a further $700,000 to help more teachers into classrooms, with the extension of the Teacher Education Refresh (TER) Programme.
Approximately 280 additional teachers will now have access to the fully subsidised TER Programme, announced as part of the Government’s $9.5 million teacher supply package last year.
“The subsidy removes the cost barrier associated with undertaking the TER course.
“We need more teachers in classrooms and the TER subsidy has been so successful that it’s oversubscribed. We want to encourage providers to keep taking on more enrolments.
“The announcement today will see approximately 780 teachers in total able to remain in or re-enter the profession as a result of the TER initiative.”
The extra placements for the subsidised courses are available till 30 June 2018. These additional places will continue to help address immediate teacher supply pressures. The funding has been made available within Ministry of Education baselines.
“This is part of the Government’s ongoing work to increase teacher supply, reduce teacher workloads, and lift the status of the profession,” Tracey Martin says.
More information on the teacher supply package is available at: http://www.education.govt.nz/teacher-supply

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Prepping for Pasifika Festival Tips for having your best Pasifika Festival experience Summary The 26th Pasifika Festival takes place at Western Spring Park on Saturday, 24 and Sunday, 25 March The festival goes ahead rain or shine Western Springs Park is well-served by public transport services, close to the Northwestern Cycl… Published 21 MAR 2018

Source: Auckland Tourism, Events & Economic Development (ATEED)

Headline: Prepping for Pasifika Festival

Tips for having your best Pasifika Festival experience

Summary

The 26th Pasifika Festival takes place at Western Spring Park on Saturday, 24 and Sunday, 25 March
The festival goes ahead rain or shine
Western Springs Park is well-served by public transport services, close to the Northwestern Cycl…

Published
21 MAR 2018

Tips for having your best Pasifika Festival experience

Summary

  • The 26th Pasifika Festival takes place at Western Spring Park on Saturday, 24 and Sunday, 25 March
  • The festival goes ahead rain or shine
  • Western Springs Park is well-served by public transport services, close to the Northwestern Cycleway, and local schools offer paid parking as fundraising activities
  • There is also free parking at Unitec and a free shuttle bus between Carrington Rd and the park.
     

The Pasifika Festival takes over Western Springs Park this weekend, the 26th annual showcase and celebration of Auckland’s Pacific Island cultures and communities (9am – 5pm Saturday, 24 March and 10am – 4pm Sunday, 25 March).

The festival goes ahead rain or shine – this is Auckland and the weather is changeable, so bring sunscreen, a hat and a raincoat.

With tens of thousands of people expected to attend the two-day festival, parking restrictions and road closures in place, the surrounding area will be busy and parking will be in high demand so plan ahead for your travel to and from the event.

Western Springs Park is close to the Northwestern Cycleway and is well-served by public transport services, operating on the regular bus and train weekend timetables. Multiple bus routes stop on Great North Rd, next to Western Springs Park, which is also a 30-minute walk from Morningside or Baldwin Ave Station on the Western Train Line. Plan your journey at https://at.govt.nz/bus-train-ferry/events/pasifika-2018/.

Pasadena Intermediate School and Western Springs College have paid parking available on their school fields as fundraising activities. Parking is $10 per car, cash only. Mobility parking and drop off is along Motions Rd.

There is also free parking at Unitec and a free shuttle bus between Carrington Rd and the park, at 30-minute intervals.

For newcomers to the festival, Pasifika has 11 distinctly different villages, each with a performance stage and market stalls selling dishes and crafts unique to the village’s culture. The villages represent the Cook Islands, Fiji, Niue, Aotearoa, Hawaii, Kiribati, Samoa, Tahiti, Tuvalu, Tonga and Tokelau.

The festival is free to enter, with lots of free activities and live entertainment. There are food, craft and retail stalls where festival-goers can buy authentic food, clothing, traditional arts and crafts, food stuffs, skin care, novelties and souvenirs. Pasifika Festival sponsors offer a range of activities, competitions and giveaways.

Bring some cash – some food stalls have EFTPOS, but many only take cash. There are three ATMs on-site at the park, marked on the festival map, but be patient – there may be queues as they will be in high demand.

To find your way around the festival, there are wayfinding towers and large-scale fixed maps, maps available from volunteers and at the festival’s three information tents, online at www.aucklandnz.com/pasifika or on the Pasifika mobile site. To access the mobile site, text ‘Pasifika’ to 332 to receive a unique link to the 2018 Pasifika Festival mobile site*, powered by Spark, featuring highlights, tips and an interactive festival map (or visit aucklandnz.com/pasifika). * Standard text rates and terms and conditions apply. See https://www.spark.co.nz/privacypolicy for full Ts&Cs.

#VectorLights is supporting the Pasifika Festival, lighting up the Auckland Harbour Bridge with a regular light show from Thursday 22 March – Tuesday 27 March. The show will run every 30 minutes from 8pm. Vector Lights is part of a smart energy partnership between Vector and Auckland Council in collaboration with the NZ Transport Agency, the guiding light toward a smart energy future.

The Pasifika Festival is organised by Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED) on behalf of Auckland Council, in partnership with the Pasifika Village Coordinators, who represent the different communities and guide the cultural integrity of the festival.

Pasifika is sponsored and supported by AMI, Vector Lights, Western Union, Mai FM, Spark, New Zealand Post, Air New Zealand, Edgewater Resort, Resene, Pacific Media Network, University of Otago, Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, Ministry of Health, Ministry for Pacific Peoples, Department of Internal Affairs, Te Wananga o Aoteoroa, BCITO.

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Wairarapa Police seek Dane Dickson

Source: New Zealand Police –

Headline: Wairarapa Police seek Dane Dickson


Location:

Wellington

Police are looking for 25-year-old Dane Dickson who has warrants out for his arrest for failing to appear in Masterton District Court on two occasions, in late February and early March.

He is on a number of active charges including threatens to kill and disorderly behaviour.

It is believed he is in South Wairarapa.

If anyone knows of Dane’s whereabouts they should contact their local Police.

END

Issued by Police Media Centre
 


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Advance Care Planning Day, 5 April 2018

Source: Health Quality and Safety Commission – Press Release/Statement:

Headline: Advance Care Planning Day, 5 April 2018

Advance Care Planning

Advance Care Planning Day is an opportunity for each region to connect with their communities to enhance the profile and knowledge of advance care planning. Advance Care Planning Day was previously known as Conversations that Count Day.

The Health Quality & Safety Commission is overseeing the national advance care planning programme, with funding from district health boards (DHBs).

Advisory and steering groups have been established to support and guide the programme.

About two weeks before Advance Care Planning Day, key messages and tweets will be sent to DHB communication managers and ACP contacts; and a national media release will be sent out on 4 April.

Over 60,000 resources have been dispatched to DHBs and others. A new resource entitled What matters most for your future care is available in hard copy, or can be downloaded from our website.

For further information please email Clare O’Leary.

We look forward to hearing more about your events across the regions.

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Public media panel void of Maori representation

Source: National Party – Headline: Public media panel void of Maori representation

The Government has set out to ignore the voices of Maori by ensuring that there is no Maori representation on the panel which will investigate funding allocated to public media, Maori Development spokesperson Nuk Korako says.

“Public media platforms are one of the few avenues Maori have to communicate their views, but the Government’s latest commission – the one that will allocate millions to media organisations – is void of any Maori representation,” Mr Korako says.

“Maori public media platforms including Radio Waatea, Maori Television, and the various regional Maori radio stations rely on public funding, so any decision on the future of Maori public media should include consultation with Maori.

“Are they saying that Maori voices don’t matter? These are the places dedicated to sharing our reo and our stories.

“This panel is extremely important and will essentially decide the future of public media in New Zealand.

“Clearly Labour has been paying lip service to its commitment to Maori. The pre-election rhetoric is not matching up with its actions now in Government.

“So far Maori have seen very little benefit from the Labour MPs who claim they are there to represent Maori. The deliberate snubbing of Maori in these appointments is bitterly disappointing.”

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Access to Palliative Care Bill in members ballot

Source: National Party – Headline: Access to Palliative Care Bill in members ballot

Every New Zealander has the right to access a high standard of palliative care and the support services they need, whether it’s in a hospice, hospital, rest home or their own home and wherever they live in the country, Maggie Barry MP for North Shore says.

“My Members Bill lodged yesterday, the Access to Palliative Care Bill, seeks to amend two health and disability acts to ensure that all New Zealanders can access the best possible palliative care as they near the end of their lives,” Ms Barry says.

“We know that there are challenges to providing end of life care to people living in remote or hard to access parts of New Zealand, so this Bill aims to ensure that DHBs provide equity of access to specialist and generalist palliative care across all communities around the country.

“There are too many distressing reports of people struggling to cope with chronic pain. This is why I have drafted this Members Bill, after extensive consultation with palliative care experts and medical practitioners as well as people whose loved ones have experienced pain and distress.

“The Bill requires DHBs to prepare and publish a strategy for providing palliative care which outlines what the expected palliative care needs are for their community and how these expectations will be met and provided by the DHB.

“This includes, but is not limited to, access to pain and symptom management, psychological support for the person and their family as well as information and support regarding the person’s condition and palliative care.

“It also outlines that the Minister must ensure that service standards for the provision of palliative care are in force at all times.

“I have had a long involvement with palliative care going back to the late 1990s following the death of my father and have been a patron of Mary Potter Hospice, Hospice NZ and Alzheimers Wellington.

“I also chaired a working party for the National Health Select Committee into the care of people who are dying. It is in these roles that I formed the view that the answer to compassionate and effective end of life care is guaranteed access to world-class palliative care.”

Attached: Access to Palliative Care Bill

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Polling shows Kiwis support charter schools

Source: ACT Party

Headline: Polling shows Kiwis support charter schools




“Polling conducted by Curia Market Research shows New Zealanders support charter schools remaining open and disapprove of the Government’s handling of the issue”, says ACT Leader David Seymour.

57 per cent of decided voters agreed charter schools should be allowed to continue operating in their current form, while 60 per cent of decided voters disapprove of the way the Government is dealing with charter schools.

“The Government is on the wrong side of public opinion on this issue. It needs to stop taking advice from the teachers’ unions, start listening to Kiwis, and drop its ideological push to deprive kids of choice.

“I urge New Zealanders who value educational choice for our kids to go to savecharters.kiwi and sign the petition telling the Government to back off. More than 2600 people have already signed it.

“This website also tells people how to make a submission on Chris Hipkins’ legislation to scrap charter schools. It only takes a few minutes and can easily be done online.

“There’s plenty of anger about the Government’s decision to take school choice away from 1500 disadvantaged students. Kiwis nows need to translate that feeling into action”, says Mr Seymour.

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Police appeal for sightings of vehicle following Massey incident

Source: New Zealand Police –

Headline: Police appeal for sightings of vehicle following Massey incident


Location:

Waitemata

Please attribute to Detective Sergeant Chris Goldsmith, Waitakere CIB

Waitakere Police are appealing to the public for information following an incident in Massey where a firearm is believed to have been discharged.

Police are investigating the incident, which occurred on Doone Pl, Massey around 8.20pm yesterday evening.

An individual inside an address reported hearing loud bangs and saw a male running towards the road.

Two parked vehicles were discovered to have been fired at and had their windows damaged.

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Regional GDP another benchmark for new Govt

Source: National Party – Headline: Regional GDP another benchmark for new Govt

Regional GDP figures out today from Stats NZ provide a further benchmark for the new Government to live up to, National Party Regional Development Spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.

Growth figures of 9 per cent in the Bay of Plenty, 8.2 per cent in each of the Waikato and Northland, 7.9 per cent in Southland and 7.1 per cent in Otago in the year to March 2017 are clear proof that the regions have been thriving and not struggling as the rhetoric would have it,” Mr Goldsmith says.

“For New Zealand’s sake, we need that growth to continue. The challenge for the new Government is to keep these numbers up and not do anything to stuff them up.

“The previous Government’s consistent sensible economic policies have encouraged investment in the regions and brought in skilled people to work for growing regional companies.

“The new Government clearly needs to stay the course with that approach and not head down the haphazard inconsistent path of Shane Jones which will only discourage private sector investment.

“Regional GDP growth has now averaged 26.2 per cent over the last five years while Northland has grown at 30 per cent.

“The figures also contain a warning for the anti-oil and gas crowd. They show that Taranaki is our wealthiest region but also hasn’t grown much recently. It would only take a continuation of the sort of rhetoric we’ve seen in the last week to send Taranaki backwards.

“Regional development is all about applying predictable coherent economic policies that businesses can base their investment decisions on, and building the infrastructure that people actually use.

“If the coalition Government still says the regions are struggling I look forward to seeing their growth figures exceed these in the years ahead.”

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Massey University Press publishes ‘Poetry New Zealand Yearbook’

Source: Massey University – Press Release/Statement:

Headline: Massey University Press publishes ‘Poetry New Zealand Yearbook’

Poetry New Zealand Yearbook is New Zealand’s longest-running poetry magazine; the esteemed home of exciting new writing from talented newcomers and established poets. Continually in print since 1951, when it was established by poet Louis Johnson, this annual collection of new writing, reviews and poetics discussion is mandatory reading for poetry fans.

Proudly published by Massey University Press, Issue #52 of Poetry New Zealand Yearbook features 130 new poems by 87 poets, including Alistair Paterson, Jennifer Compton, David Eggleton, Sue Fitchett, Ted Jenner, Bob Orr, Albert Wendt and Mark Young.

“More than 300 submissions were received for this issue, making the selection particularly difficult,” says editor Jack Ross. There are also six essays and reviews of 30 new poetry collections.

Issue #52 is notable for a skew towards younger writers, some still in their teens. This issue also publishes the three winning entries in the 2018 Poetry New Zealand Poetry Prize. Claiming first prize is University of Otago medical student Fardowsa Mohamed; Semira Davis from north of Wellington takes second prize; and Nelson-based poet Henry Ludbrook receives third prize.

About the editor

Dr Jack Ross is a senior lecturer in creative writing at Massey University’s Auckland campus. He is the author of five books of poems, including City of Strange Brunettes (1998), Chantal’s Book (2002), To Terezin (2007), Celanie (2012) and A Clearer View of the Hinterland (2014), as well as three novels, a novella, and two collections of short fiction. He has edited a number of books and literary magazines, including (from 2014) Poetry New Zealand.

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