ERO damns abuse of students at Te Kura o Matawaia

By ANGELA GREGORY

An Education Review Office report says the staff of a small bilingual Maori school condoned violence and abused students.

The hard-hitting report has been released after a visit in May by review officers to the isolated Te Kura o Matawaia, 20km southeast of Kaikohe.

The review office's Auckland area manager, Charlene Scotti, says there have been indications of significant improvements at the 24-pupil school in the past few months.

However, in May the concerns were serious. The review office found the school was not safe and students reported being hit by staff.

As a result some students appeared dispirited, downcast and submissive.

The report called for urgent action, and the need for permanent staff who put the wellbeing and education of students to the fore.

It said the unsafe environment and poor curriculum had severely affected the emotional, social and physical wellbeing of students.

"It is apparent that they have lost confidence in, and tend to undervalue, themselves."

Parents and whanau had complained to the school board about the physical abuse of students but interventions had been ineffectual.

The report said behaviour such as prolonged shouting at students was abusive and frightening.

The carrying of a large stick by a language teaching assistant when supervising fitness classes was threatening and unnecessary.

The report also found some students were mirroring the adults.

"These students are violent towards each other both in their behaviour and language. The permanent staff appear to condone such behaviour and are slow to intervene."

In February, the board of trustees had resigned, on advice of the Ministry of Education, and was replaced with a commissioner.

The ministry also arranged for a peer principal from Kawakawa Primary to help to manage the school.

During the May visit, the review officer found that the peer principal was already having a positive effect.

However the national curriculum was not being delivered and the learning programmes and teaching were poor.

A staff member who misrepresented herself as a registered teacher had been sacked. After the May visit, the principal resigned and another teacher's contract was not renewed.

The ministry's manager of national operations, Ray Webb, yesterday acknowledged that past support structures had not brought about the substantial changes required. But he believed the ministry had intervened "in a timely manner" with the new appointments.

He believed the problems facing the school were an isolated case centred around poor curriculum delivery, poor governance and difficulties with some local whanau.

Northland Maori language schools, whether bilingual or total immersion, succeeded in similar situations, Mr Webb said.

"The school should be able to deliver a quality education."

The acting principal, David Cowan, said that since he started eight weeks ago the students had done well with "pure teaching."

He did not believe they were damaged despite the "worrying" aspects of the May report.

"Take a look yourself; they are laughing and smiling."

The peer principal, Peter Witana, said a problem was the community lacked the professional understanding of how to manage a school.

A parent who did not want to be named said community politics had interfered with the primary goal of a balanced education.

The father was pleased his children, whom he feared would learn to write only their names, were now getting homework and could read. "They seem much happier."