Education

Laidlaw College has appointed a new National Principal. Dr Rod Thompson, who was previously the College's Head of School (Theology), will formally begin his tenure from September 20. A special members meeting held at Laidlaw College on Friday (July 30) overwhelmingly ratified a motion from the college's National Governing Council to appoint Dr Thompson. NGC chairman Graham Burt told members Dr Thompson had been a stand-out candidate from among a large pool of applicants - the largest number of candidates ever to have shown interest in the position. "When Rod articulated his ideas around the implementation and facilitation of the vision that the college has been building over the past six years, I could see that vision coming to life," Mr Burt said. "He was able to show us how the dream could become the reality, in a stunning way. "The important thing for the NGC was that the new principal would not begin a new vision - we have been building the vision for some years, but the focus now is on its implementation, and on the Laidlaw College graduate." Dr Thompson said he and wife Rosanne were looking forward to being involved in the shaping of lives "in faithful response to the gospel, for incisive engagement with culture in New Zealand." "One of the things that excites us most is the opportunity to form close relationships with church leaders and communities throughout New Zealand and the Pacific region," Dr Thompson said. Dr Thompson will begin a five-year term as principal...

A concerted chorus of voices has been raised against private schools in the last few weeks, particularly as community concern is rising at Budget education cuts in areas such as night classes and special needs resourcing. Since the Private Schools Conditional Integration Act was passed in 1975, most private schools - of which the majority are religious-based - have teacher salaries paid by the state, although buildings and property costs are the responsibility of the school. The Post Primary Teachers' Association is calling for the Act to be repealed. According to the NZ Herald, papers to be delivered at the union's annual conference this month state that integrated schools get an advantage at a cost to the taxpayer. Labour's spokeswoman on disability issues, Lynne Pillay, said that a $35 million budget boost to private schools was giving to the most privileged while $2.5 million was cut from disability support. Others have complained that the additional $35 million is unfair when night class funding has been slashed, enviro-school funding cut and low-decile state school funding reduced. The Child Poverty Action Group said increasing funding for wealthy private schools at the expense of low-income children is neither effective or fair. Supporters of private schools point out that the Act was set up to recognise that there is a place for schools of special character in New Zealand. Parents are paying the same taxes towards education as parents of pupils at state schools, but...

Religion in New Zealand Schools
Questions and Concerns 2009 (Draft Document) Submission from Visionnetwork of New Zealand
June 2009 Introduction We are thankful for this opportunity to respond to the Religion in Schools - Final Consultation Document. We affirm the purpose of this initiative, described in the document as being "to offer guidance and act as a resource for thinking about the issues and on how schools [sic] can give a place to religion that ensures the security and dignity of all". We acknowledge the huge amount of effort that has gone into developing the document to its present stage, and record our thanks to all those involved. We also record at the beginning of this submission our appreciation for the expert opinion offered on the specific questions covered in the document. If this can help people avoid the need to resolve issues through legal measures, it will be a worthwhile exercise indeed. However, we are disappointed that this latest draft continues to repeat a problem highlighted in our previous submission (September 2008), which was discussed at length, and which we thought was resolved at the time of the Statement on Religious Diversity discussions (2006-2007). We submit that in the interests of accuracy and fairness, this matter needs to be addressed both before this document is finalised and in the other statement when it is reviewed (scheduled for some time this year). If our education system is to develop qualities of truth and...