Rotorua Daily Post
  • Rotorua Daily Post home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Residential property listings
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Rural
  • Sport

Locations

  • Tauranga
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō & Tūrangi

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales

Weather

  • Rotorua
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Tokoroa
  • Taupō

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua educators: Mixed views on new Government

Stephanie Arthur-Worsop
By Stephanie Arthur-Worsop
News Director, Rotorua Daily Post·Rotorua Daily Post·
20 Oct, 2017 05:04 PM4 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

Rotorua's education sector has had mixed reactions to the country's new Government and what it could mean for controversial projects like charter or partnership schools and National Standards.

Rotorua's first partnership school, Te Rangihakahaka Centre for Science and Technology, to be run by the educational arm of Ngati Whakaue, was announced in July to much fanfare.

Now, with the prospect of having a new Government opposed to the partnership model, change could be on the horizon before the school even opens.

But Te Taumata o Ngati Whakaue Iho Ake Trust general manager Roana Bennett said it was "highly unlikely" contracts would be reneged.

"We may see a push for no new partnership schools or moves to change the schools to distinctive character schools, but we don't believe the Government will go back on those contracts already established.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

"We wouldn't welcome a move to change to a distinctive character school, we like our partnership agreement but at this stage we don't know any more than anyone else.

"It's not just the Government that doesn't like partnership schools, there is a really big cohort of New Zealanders who dislike the whole philosophy of privitised education.

"But we are a prime example of how the New Zealand model differs from the American model - it is not being picked up by businesses, it's community organisations and iwi that have whanau and student needs at the forefront."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Te Rangihakahaka Centre for Science and Technology is on track to open at the end of January.

National Standards, the way primary-aged children are tested, is another aspect of the sector likely to be reviewed by the new Government.

Western Heights Primary School principal Brent Griffin said in its current state, he would be happy to see National Standards disappear.

"National Standards is a ropey system at best. In a low decile school with high levels of transient children, the system does not match up.

"It shouldn't be about getting children to a certain benchmark, if our children are making good progress, that's what we're after.

"This is a good opportunity for a new system to be put in place that focuses on value-added progress and allows teachers to be more creative and innovative in the classroom."

Linda Woon, principal at Otonga Rd Primary School, said she was "a lone voice" when it came to National Standards.

"I believe it has a place in the sector, I just think a review is needed to refine and improve the annual reporting of the data.

"Each level is two years long yet the current requirement is annual reporting. A review is needed to make this more natural, more common sense."

Ms Woon said she would also like to see the new Government focus on special needs education and wages.

"But I don't want to see any gung-ho decisions - those are rarely beneficial. The Government needs to take its time and not be hassled to do everything in its first 100 days."

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

What the students say:

Rotorua Lakes High School students Maggie Donovan-Cotter, AJ Jackson and Summer Milner discuss the new Government. Photo/Ben Fraser
Rotorua Lakes High School students Maggie Donovan-Cotter, AJ Jackson and Summer Milner discuss the new Government. Photo/Ben Fraser

Rotorua Lakes High School Year 13 students Maggie Donovan-Cotter, AJ Jackson and Summer Milner, all 18, had been waiting with bated breath for the new Government to be announced.

"We all voted for the first time so it's been pretty exciting. It's the first time I've seen people our age so interested and involved in politics," Maggie said.

"I think now it is as important as ever to vote. It actually upsets me when I see young women not voting, particularly because there are women around the world who aren't given that opportunity at all."

The trio said they were pleased with the final outcome.

"I can't wait until our generation starts to get into positions of power because I think the younger generations are much more environmentally and socially conscious than some of those in older generations," AJ said.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

AJ said it would interesting to see if there was "enough agreement between the three-way coalition".

Save

    Share this article

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Daily Post

Pene bags season-best performance at mountain biking World Cup

13 Jul 04:37 AM
Rotorua Daily Post

'Palpable grief': Motorcyclist who killed two people had 11 previous driving convictions

12 Jul 11:00 PM
Rotorua Daily Post

Rotorua Barn house has shrine to Harry Potter under the stairs

12 Jul 07:10 PM

From early mornings to easy living

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Rotorua Daily Post

Pene bags season-best performance at mountain biking World Cup

Pene bags season-best performance at mountain biking World Cup

13 Jul 04:37 AM

A Rotorua downhill rider clocks the fastest speed of the round-six final for an 8th place.

'Palpable grief': Motorcyclist who killed two people had 11 previous driving convictions

'Palpable grief': Motorcyclist who killed two people had 11 previous driving convictions

12 Jul 11:00 PM
Rotorua Barn house has shrine to Harry Potter under the stairs

Rotorua Barn house has shrine to Harry Potter under the stairs

12 Jul 07:10 PM
No more 'hunting hui': Māori educators launch association to curb feelings of isolation

No more 'hunting hui': Māori educators launch association to curb feelings of isolation

12 Jul 06:00 PM
Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky
sponsored

Solar bat monitors uncover secrets of Auckland’s night sky

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Rotorua Daily Post e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Rotorua Daily Post
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP