8. KATHERINE RICH (National) Link to this
to the Minister of Education
What rights do parents have to information about their children’s schooling?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY (Minister of Education) Link to this
The Labour-led Government is committed to supporting parents to take an active role in their children’s education. The National Administration Guideline 2(iii) states that schools are required to “report to students and their parents on the achievement of individual students”. The best way for parents to be informed about their child’s education is to visit the school. They could also talk to teachers and the principal, look at the latest Education Review Office reports, and visit the school directory website. If parents talk to their school they will gain access to comprehensive information, including what sort of environment the school has, the kinds of teaching programmes in place, and what actually happens in the classroom to benefit students.
Why, under his ministerial leadership, is Rangiora High School charging some parents $20 per copy for school reports, and also denying that information if the money is not paid, when it is any parent’s right to know how his or her child is doing in school?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY Link to this
As I mentioned before, National Administration Guideline 2(iii) states that schools are required to “report to students and their parents on the achievement of individual students”. Therefore, the school is not allowed to take that action, and we will ensure that it does not.
Hon Brian Donnelly Link to this
In light of clear evidence that failure of children to develop phonological awareness skills during pre-reading and early-reading stages impacts negatively and significantly upon the development of literacy skills, will the Minister facilitate the creation of appropriate assessment tools and remediation programmes for use in our schools and preschools?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY Link to this
The member may like to know that the kind of formative assessment approach we take, which is different from the summative approach, which often leads to the kinds of difficulties that the member is pointing out, is, of course, what underlies the whole development of tools such as asTTle, which not only set a benchmark for us to understand where students are up to, but also provide teachers with the very tools that the member is talking about. So good are these tools that today, for example, in Auckland there is a US - New Zealand round-table discussion on these very matters, with people from France and Britain here as well. We are seen, indeed, as leaders in resolving that issue.
What is his response to the school’s argument that the reason for charging some parents for copies of school reports is a limited operations grant, and why are schools under his ministerial leadership seeing communicating with parents about their kids’ performance as a fund-raiser?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY Link to this
The national guidelines say they must inform students, and they must do it.
Moana MackeyWhat is the Government doing to ensure parents have good information about their local schools and are able to get involved in supporting their child’s learning?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY Link to this
The Government is providing a wide range of information to ensure that parents are well informed and get engaged in their children’s learning. We do this because we know that one of the factors in the outcomes for children is parental involvement or caregiver involvement. Initiatives include such things as the Team-Up and Te Mana campaigns, the school directory web page, asTTLe, as I have just mentioned, which provides very good quality information about teaching and learning, and I intend to do more in this area, extending the information available on the school directory website, supporting home and school partnerships, particularly things that are done through the computer, and developing new resources for parents through Team-Up.
Does he think it is an absolute right for every New Zealand parent to get a free copy of his or her child’s school report; if so, will he issue a special instruction to schools to clarify this point, because there seems to be some confusion?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY Link to this
Yes. We are talking about one school, and it will have that clarified.
Te Ururoa Flavell Link to this
Tēnā koe, Madam Speaker. Tēnātātou katoa. What explanation can the Minister provide to explain the fact that half of the 8,000 non-enrolments notified to the Ministry of Education in 2005 were wrong, and does this give any parent confidence that his or her child is in good hands?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY Link to this
I think this is a problem that arises from the history of us not having an enrolment number for students. That is why I have introduced it, and that is why I am paying $4 million to roll it out this year.
Can the Minister assure every New Zealand parent that he or she can and will receive free copies of his or her children’s reports, so they can see how they are performing within New Zealand schools?
Hon STEVE MAHAREY Link to this
As I mentioned before, the National Administration Guideline does guarantee that. It requires that schools report to students and their parents on their achievement. Section 3 of the Education Act 1989 states that students have the right to a free education now. That is what schools are required to do.