The Ministry newsletter keeping principals up-to-date
Support to implement the National Standards
The Ministry of Education is offering schools extensive information and support following the publication of the National Standards.
We recognise term four is a busy time, so we are making sure staff can access support as and when it suits.
Information includes printed and online material and web-based seminars. Ministry of Education regional offices and School Support Services staff will provide face-to-face support where requested.
The Ministry has developed a self-review tool that supports teachers, school leaders and boards of trustees to use the National Standards in reading, writing and mathematics.
You can use the tool on your own or with other educators, as part of the regular self-review process to identify professional strengths and learning needs. All Ministry-funded professional learning support providers (in literacy, assessment, numeracy, school leadership and management) will be able to help you use the tool.
The self-review tool will be available online from 23 November and can be used at any time from then.
National Standards packs will be distributed in early November and will include:
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a foldout, National Standards: Information for Schools
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a literacy book, The New Zealand Curriculum: Reading and Writing Standards
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a numeracy book, The New Zealand Curriculum: Mathematics Standards.
A copy is going to every primary and secondary principal and two copies to every primary and secondary school for reference. Every teacher in Year 1-8 is receiving one of the packs and Year 9 teachers get a reference copy. Three copies are going to boards of trustees in schools with students in Years 1-8.
Additional National Standards packs will be available and free to order online at:
Use your school logon to view products and to place an order. For further enquiries, phone the Down the Back of the Chair team on:
The pack and further information will also be available on the New Zealand Curriculum website, go to:
From 9 November, the Ministry is offering a one-hour online webinar about the National Standards. The webinar will cover the same content as the term four face-to-face regional information sessions.
The webinars will be held Monday to Thursday at varying times including 9am, 12pm, 3.30pm and 7pm.
You will be able to see the full timetable and book a session by going to the e-Admin Training website at:
For more information, email the team at:
The next few issues of the Education Gazette will include extensive information about the National Standards and the support the Ministry is offering.
The 9 November issue will contain a special pull out with details of changes to the National Administration Guidelines, as well as a summary of the support for schools.
The main magazine will provide information about the reading, writing and mathematics standards and look at how some schools are planning to work with the standards.
The 23 November issue will include more information about assessment, reporting and the self-review tool. It will also look at how teachers can engage with the standards.
The 7 December issue will provide information about planning, students with special education needs and the Māori-medium standards.
Ongoing information and support will respond to the emerging needs of teachers, principals and boards. Refer to Board View and Principal View for regular updates.
EOTC guidelines now available
The Ministry has revised the Education Outside the Classroom (EOTC) guidelines and is distributing copies this month.
Please keep an eye out for EOTC Guidelines: Bringing the Curriculum Alive.
Included with your copy is a CD ROM with a toolkit for EOTC management (refer to Appendix IV). All forms featured on the CD ROM can be modified to suit your school’s needs. Please make them available on your school’s intranet.
Please also make sure staff are aware that the new guidelines replace Safety and EOTC: A Good Practice Guide for New Zealand Schools.
For the next year, Ministry staff will be available to present information about the new EOTC guidelines to schools, clusters of schools and education sector groups. If your school is interested in attending an information session, please email the Ministry at:
Meanwhile, schools are now welcome to download extra copies of the EOTC guidelines from Te Kete Ipurangi (TKI) at:
Additional hardcopies of the guidelines can be ordered from the Ministry of Education’s resource catalogue Down the Back of the Chair at:
New privacy guide for schools
A new book on privacy in schools has been published by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner.
Privacy in Schools – A Guide to the Privacy Act for Principals, Teachers and Boards of Trustees has been written by leading New Zealand privacy lawyer Kathryn Dalziel and published by the Privacy Commissioner. It gives schools practical advice about how the Privacy Act works.
The book includes discussions and examples of each of the privacy principles and looks at other relevant legislation that may need to be applied first. For instance:
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can schools use CCTV cameras?
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should they put photos of students on their websites?
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do school counsellors have to disclose information to parents?
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when do schools have to disclose information to other agencies?
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how much information needs to be collected on school enrolment forms?
The book is available for purchase in hard copy and as a free PDF available for download from the commission’s website. Go to:
Ordering copies
Printed copies of the book are available for $20.00 each or $15.00 per copy for orders of 10 or more (plus $2.00 postage and packaging). Please contact the commission on:
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner, PO Box 466, Shortland Street, Auckland 1140, PO Box 466 Shortland St, Auckland.
Te Akatea – supporting Māori principals
and managers
We’re reminding Māori principals and senior managers about a representative organisation called Te Akatea.
Te Akatea provides a range of services, including networking, access to information and support about te reo me ōna tīkanga and professional leadership, research scholarships and an annual conference.
Next year’s conference is being held in September. Keep an eye on Principal View for more information.
Para Meha, tumuaki at Lake Rotoma School, is the organisation’s president.
Te Akatea will be of particular interest to principals and managers interested in contributing to the policy development of the Māori-medium sector and Māori education generally.
The Ministry of Education and Te Akatea have developed a formal relationship exploring both policy areas.
For more information about Te Akatea, contact Para Meha on:
Or check out:
Keeping parents updated on ENROL
We are encouraging you to share information about ENROL with parents in your communities.
ENROL is the electronic school student enrolment register.
To make it easy, the Ministry has developed information answering commonly asked questions about ENROL, including why it was introduced and parents’ entitlements and obligations.
Information is available in hard copy (as a pamphlet) and online. It is also written in English and te reo Māori
View the brochure online at:
Order pamphlets from Down the Back of the Chair, the Ministry’s resource catalogue, by phone or fax:
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0800-660 662 (ph)
0800-660 663 (fax)
You will need to quote order number 116029 for the English version. Please use order number 116030 for copies of the pamphlet in te reo Māori. You are welcome to make bulk orders.
December deadline for PDPC
reimbursement forms
A reminder to send in your outstanding PDPC reimbursement forms for payment – the deadline is Tuesday 8 December.
The four-year Principals’ Development Planning Centre (PDPC) project ended in December last year. If you attended the centre and have PDPC invoices for reimbursement, you will need to send these into the Ministry before 8 December.
Please forward your PDPC reimbursement forms and invoices to Ministry adviser Judy Matthew at Ministry of Education, Professional Learning and Curriculum Support, PO Box 1666, Thorndon, Wellington. Contact Judy at:
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04-463 8303 (ph)
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04-463 8392 (fax)
judy.matthew@minedu.govt.nz
Salary assessment of improved qualifications
Please remind your teaching staff that if they gain a new qualification they may be entitled to a new qualification group.
Teachers who have gained a new qualification should complete a form called New/Improved/Additional Qualifications Form for Teaching Staff ESP17t available from the school payroll website. Go to:
2009 banking staffing
Schools should be managing their banking staffing to finish the 2009 banking staffing year (pay period 1822) with a zero balance.
If you are overusing, plan to staff under your entitlement, ie, charge fewer teachers to Teachers’ Salaries (TS).
If you are underusing, plan to staff over your entitlement, ie, employ more relievers from TS.
To request a retrospective costing or Ministry adjustment, use the Request for Banking Staffing Adjustments Form available from the Ministry’s website. Go to:
We must receive your application by 1 November, 2009.
If your school has under or overused at pay period 1822, you still have time to balance your staffing during the time-period for balancing, ie, pay periods 1823 to 1826.
If, by pay period 1826, you are still overused, we will recover this overuse from your operational funding in July 2010.
The recovery rate for the 2009 banking staffing year is $61,500.
For example, if you have overused your staffing by 2.70 FTTE, the recovery calculation is $61,500 ÷ 26 x 2.70 FTTE and we will debit your school $6,386.00
Important info on preventing overpayments
We’ve identified a substantial rise in the number of overpayments following a recent review.
The review found the rise was caused by schools not notifying changes to employees’ pay at the time they occur.
Please ensure that you promptly notify your pay centre of the applicable dates for staff going on leave without pay. This is especially important for staff about to go on maternity leave without pay, as the start date for this type of leave should be known in advance.
Advance notification should be given of the cessation of any allowances such as the Tutor Teacher Allowance or the Māori Immersion Teaching Allowance to avoid overpayments.
Prompt notification of changes to your employees’ circumstances should also reduce the likelihood that overpayments will occur from your Operations Grant, as you will be able to notify payroll (in advance) of any changes such as a reduction in hours.
The Staffing Usage and Expenditure Report should be checked each pay period to ensure that all your staff are being paid correctly.
2010 Tutor Teacher Allowances
Tutor Teacher Allowances that teachers receive for 2009 will end on 27 January, 2010.
The 2010 Tutor Teacher Allowance year starts 28 January, 2010.
Apply for your Tutor Teacher Allowances as soon as possible.
Schools must use the Tutor Teacher Allowance Application Form available from the Ministry’s website. Go to:
Please fully complete the application as we will not be able to process incomplete application forms. Ensure that both the tutor teacher and the first or second year teacher fully meet the New Zealand Teachers Council registration requirements.
If either teacher does not meet registration requirements, we will decline the application.
Email (from an authorised email address) the fully completed application to the Education Service Payroll at:
Alternatively, please fax it to the Education Service Payroll on:
Novopay
South Island to select access types
If you are a principal of a South Island school, you and your board will hear from the Novopay project next month.
We’ll ask you to select the type of Novopay access you and your payroll staff will have in 2010.
The information you provide to us will be used to set up Ids and passwords for the people in your school who’ll be authorised to use Novopay. It will also be used to set up access to Novopay online training for payroll users.
There will be five types of access. An authorised user will have one access type and will never be able to view his or her own payroll record.
‘Principal’ admin and ‘school-wide admin’ access allows the user to view and update all the school’s employee records.
The other access types are listed below and are limited to specific groups of staff.
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‘Teacher admin’ can view and update teaching staff records.
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‘Non-teacher admin’ can view and update non-teaching staff records.
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‘Reliever admin’ can view and update relief staff records.
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‘Com ed admin’ can view and update community education staff records.
You will appreciate that because Novopay will be a completely new way of working, this is all new information we need to gather from schools. And it is an important part of ensuring the security of your employees’ payroll information, linking each user to a secure Id and password.
Boards usually delegate payroll authority to principals, so you should be able to make and authorise these access decisions on their behalf. We explained boards’ role to them in the last Board View column. More information about delegation is available on the school payroll website. Go to:
We’ll update you again on Novopay in the next Principal View. For more information, check out: