Day to celebrate teachers

Rotorua schools are set to showcase what they do as part of a global celebration of teachers tomorrow.

The New Zealand Educational Institute's Rotorua branch plans a celebration at the Village Green at 11am for World Teachers Day.

The secretary of NZEI Rotorua, Glen Law, said there was a lot of negative talk about education in New Zealand at the moment.

"We want to show that, in fact, New Zealand schools are doing a wonderful job in many areas.

"The interesting thing is that the wonderful things schools will be displaying can't be assessed by National Standards, yet the learning involved is real and important," Mr Law said.

There will be a range of activities and local schools will showcase some of the things they do on a daily basis. Members of the public can also listen to school bands and kapa haka groups and watch jump jam demonstrations.

There will be a bouncy castle and sausage sizzle with the money raised being donated to support Christchurch schools.

Mr Law said teachers did more than just plan, teach and assess. They coached sports teams and specialty activities such as kapa haka, choirs, bands and more.

"They organise and carry out trips and camps, they act as counsellors, nurses, and do many other activities to ensure that the children in their care get the best opportunities and learning. World Teachers Day acknowledges this."

July Te Huatahi Mclean, senior teacher at Kaitao Middle School and NZEI Aronui Tomua o Rotorua chairwoman, said World Teachers Day would also be celebrated at the Rotorua Intermediate kapa haka regionals being held at Rotorua Girls High School Arena.

"The purpose is to recognise and celebrate the good work teachers do and to highlight some of the issues that our profession is facing at the moment like charter schools, performance pay, national standards and league tables," she said. "We hope to talk to whanau and encourage them to think about these issues."