Education Minister Nikki Kaye says the Ministry of Education has been working closely with the ICT industry on ways to enhance digital technologies learning, and is finalising criteria for the $6 million Digital Technology for All Equity Fund.

“This fund is about securing providers who can deliver high-quality programmes, either in-school or out-of-school, which engage young people in innovative digital technologies learning,” says Ms Kaye.

The fund will open for proposals from the technology provider market next month.

“Our aim is to provide opportunities for up to 12,500 students each year, with programmes to be offered from Term 1, 2018,” says Ms Kaye.

“A focus of the programmes will be ensuring that young people from disadvantaged backgrounds have access to learning experiences that inspire them to develop a passion for using and creating digital technologies.

“It’s important we support every young person to reach their potential and develop the skills they need to thrive, regardless of their background.”

The Digital Technology for All Equity Fund is part of the $40 million digital fluency package announced in June, to support the integration of new digital technologies content into the New Zealand Curriculum and Te Marautanga o Aotearoa, the Māori-medium Curriculum.

“The Ministry of Education has been holding workshops around New Zealand, getting feedback from more than 3000 teachers, principals, school leaders, students, parents and industry on the proposed curriculum changes,” says Ms Kaye.

“Teachers will lead the delivery of the new curriculum, but it’s important we foster a closer relationship between the education and tech sectors, to enable students to be exposed to industry experts and cutting edge technological developments as they happen.

“I know from my discussions with businesses in the ICT industry that they’re really keen to get more involved in education.

“This will have the benefit of opening up exciting new learning opportunities for students, and ensuring we’re equipping them with the skills they need to pursue successful career paths in an increasingly digital world.

“It’s clear there’s no shortage of ideas within the tech sector about innovative ways to teach young people about digital technologies, and I’m really looking forward to seeing the proposals we’ll receive when the Digital Technology for All Equity Fund opens next month.

“Increasing teachers’ confidence in teaching the new curriculum is a critical part of supporting students’ learning, and the programme supported by the fund will aim to include teachers where possible.”

Details on how to make proposals under the new fund will be provided on the Government Electronic Tendering System (GETS) and Ministry of Education website next month.

“I encourage all prospective providers to think about the tremendous opportunities that this new fund could support, which is about inspiring our young people to succeed, and building stronger foundations for the future of our economy and nation.”

A new site has been purchased for Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Te Wānanga Whare Tāpere o Takitimu in Hastings, Education Minister Nikki Kaye and Associate Education Minister Tim Macindoe announced today.

“I’m delighted to announce that the Ministry of Education has purchased 90-120 Bennett Road in Waipatu, Hastings, to provide a long-term home for the kura,” says Ms Kaye.

“This is a great outcome for both the kura and the community. The site provides plenty of room for future growth and development, and its location will enable the kura to build on its local cultural connections.

“I’d like to acknowledge the patience of teachers, students and whanau who have had to wait for a new site to be identified, after an earlier site earmarked for the kura was ruled out on environmental grounds.

“Student safety and wellbeing is always paramount, and the Ministry must be guided by due process to ensure sites chosen for education purposes meet required standards.”

Mr Macindoe says around $12 million will be invested in the land purchase, design and construction of facilities for the new kura.

“The process to designate the new site for education purposes is now underway,” says Mr Macindoe.

“It’s estimated that designation could be confirmed early in 2018. In the meantime, the Ministry will progress a master plan for the new kura and prepare for the capital works project.

“Our investment in the kura means we’ve now committed around $37 million for education infrastructure projects in Hawkes Bay since June 2016.

“This is part of this Government’s record investment of over $5 billion to upgrade and expand schools nationwide since 2008.”

Notes

Recent investments announced for Hawke’s Bay schools

Havelock North Primary School, $1.9m approx for four new classrooms, on-track for delivery by October 2017 Lucknow Primary School, $1m approx for two new classrooms, on-track for delivery by December 2017 Te Mata Primary School, $1m approx for two new classrooms, on-track for delivery by December 2017 Eskdale School, $0.8m approx for two new classrooms, on-track for delivery by October 2017 Clive School, $0.4m approx for one new classroom, on-track for delivery by October 2017 Greenmeadows School, $0.8m approx for two new classrooms, on-track for delivery in Term 1, 2019 Flaxmere College, $14m approx redevelopment, on-track for completion in early 2019 Kimi Ora Community School, $5m approx redevelopment, on-track for completion in early 2019.

Decile funding currently accounts for less than 3% of a school’s resources, but is a blunt tool that frequently results in them being stigmatised. National thinks that is an unhelpful distraction to good schools focussing on getting results for kids.   

Children, young people and their families deserve to take pride in their school, so we are introducing changes that will better target funding to where the need is greatest to support all children to achieve.  

Rather than allocating this funding on the basis of neighbourhood characteristics as the current decile system does, we’re introducing a Risk Index to provide fairer funding that better reflects the needs of children in our schools and services.

This will mean extra resources are better targeted to support schools to lift achievement.

The specific factors to be used in the index are subject to further analysis before being finalised and rolled out in a couple of years. But, they will be the indicators which evidence tells us have the greatest influence on student achievement. 

As a part of this change, National will make the commitment that no school, early learning service or ngā kōhanga reo will see a reduction in their funding as a direct result of this change. In fact, we expect some will gain significantly from it.

This change sits alongside other new initiatives National is working on to make it easier for parents to find and assess information about the quality of schools, including a project with ERO that improves their reports and key information as well as making it more accessible to parents – such as online.

All of these things are the positive results you get from National’s strong, consistent economic plan that means we can afford to invest in the areas that matter to you and your family, like education. And it’s just the beginning – there’s a lot more we’re going to do.

We are hugely positive about New Zealand’s potential, and what we can achieve together. But success isn’t guaranteed. 

A vote for any other party is a vote for chaotic Labour/Greens/NZ First coalition, with a relentlessly negative view of New Zealand. They will take New Zealand backwards. 

Only a Party Vote for National will keep a strong, National-led Government that is focused on a consistent plan to keep growing the economy so we can afford to lift educational achievement and deliver more for you and for family.

 

 

Education Minister Nikki Kaye has announced that thousands more children and young people will benefit from a new approach that’s making it easier for children to access additional learning support services (previously described as special education).

“I’m pleased to be rolling out a pilot that’s been trialled in three Bay of Plenty Communities of Learning to up to another 30 Communities across the country,” says Ms Kaye.

“This will see the pilot expand out to another 70,000 children and young people in early learning services and schools across the ten Ministry of Education regions. The Ministry estimates around one in ten of these children will require extra support for a variety of reasons.

“Nationally we will be placing the equivalent of up to 15 Ministry of Education senior staff as facilitators across the participating Communities to coordinate learning support, and I’m looking forward to seeing the results. We are changing the way these people work to free up this resource.

“The new process trialled in the Bay of Plenty has made access to learning support faster and more flexible to meet the needs of the children and young people. This is part of my desire to see us move to a system where we better assess the additional learning or health needs of children and deliver more flexible and faster services to support their personal needs.

“A senior staff member from the Ministry works directly with the schools and early learning services in the Community as a facilitator making sure that the children and young people are accessing what works best for them. When additional needs are identified a key worker then becomes the one point of contact for the student, their family, teachers and other specialists.

“This is about identifying at a much earlier stage the most appropriate support for each child. So rather than parents and teachers filling in multiple forms to request different types of support, or dealing with multiple people across the Ministry they have one person who knows their child.

“We have also seen Facilitators identifying groups of children across Communities who can be supported together. For example, the Taupo Community of Learning worked with a group of students on oral language needs, whereas in the past, either the parents or the schools would have had to seek individual support for students.”

Key elements of the new approach trialled in the Bay of Plenty include:

Single point of contact – a key worker to be the primary point of contact for a child or young person and their family, and all those that support them. One child, one plan – having one plan for each child or young person receiving individualised services. This means support will be better joined up and a better fit to the support needs of the child or young person. Collaborative practice – schools and early learning providers working together as Communities of Learning to better support children and young people. This has led to better transitions for children moving from early learning to primary school. Facilitation – a facilitator within each Community of Learning to provide a point of contact and coordination for learning support, and connection to wider social services. Flexibility – enabling specialists and learning support decision-makers to use their judgement about whether a child or young person should have access to low or moderate supports rather than applying inflexible criteria.

“Before starting the pilots we sought feedback on the current state of learning support services and what changes were required,” says Ms Kaye.

“I want to thank the 3650 parents, families and whānau, and the many groups from the disability and education sectors who responded.

“Parents told us they wanted services that were easier to access, child -centred, flexible and better connected with other social and health services.

“So that’s what has been designed, and we’ve had positive feedback from those involved in the Bay of Plenty pilot.

Other benefits that have come out of the pilot include better links with local health services, for example the Learning Support Facilitator for the Otumoetai Community of Learning established a connection with local health services that resulted in the Bay of Plenty District Health Board providing funding for a dedicated Child and Adolescent Mental Health Practitioner to support the Community with its mental health priorities. 

Another benefit of working across Communities of Learning has been identifying children that need extra support at an earlier stage,whilst they’re in early learning. This means children are getting learning support earlier in their lives and are better supported for starting school. 

“This Government has high ambitions for our children and young people. We want every young New Zealander to achieve educational success,” says Ms Kaye.

“For this, we need an inclusive education system where all children get the support they need to succeed in life.

“This Government is investing around $658 million a year to provide children and young people with additional learning support.”

“Scaling up over the next 12 months is a significant next step in improving access to learning support,” says Ms Kaye.

“I intend to work with the education sector to look at access to more flexible and faster support for those schools and children not in communities of learning as well.

“Ensuring children and young people are able to access that support at the earliest opportunity and without difficulty is vitally important. We will be continuing to look for ways to improve how learning support is provided to all students, including disengaged children and young people.

Around $18 million will be invested to build more new classrooms in Auckland, say Education Minister Nikki Kaye and Associate Education Minister Tim Macindoe.

Ms Kaye made the announcement this afternoon during a visit to Torbay School.

“The focus of this investment is building additional classrooms to accommodate roll growth, but it includes some replacement classrooms to continue our ongoing modernisation of existing school infrastructure,” says Ms Kaye.

“The investment will see 30 classrooms constructed at four schools across the city, and builds on the $21 million we announced in June for 41 new classrooms in Auckland.”

The schools benefiting from the latest investment are:

Torbay School – 12-classroom block (comprising 8 additional and 4 replacement classrooms) Owairaka District School – 8 classrooms (5 additional and 3 replacement) Kereru Park Campus – 4 additional classrooms Clendon Park School – 6 additional classrooms.

“Today’s investment will provide around 460 extra student places, adding to the 680 additional places announced in June,” says Ms Kaye.

“In total, we plan to deliver 4,000 extra student places for the Auckland region as part of Budget 2017.

“Combined with 17,000 student places previously announced, we’re on-track to deliver a total of 21,000 new student places for Auckland by 2021.

“Auckland is one of our fastest-growing areas, and the Government is committed to ensuring the city’s school network can accommodate this.

“To help plan for growth, the Ministry of Education is working more closely with local authorities and infrastructure providers and taking a longer-term view to identify where land may be needed for new schools.

“This year’s Budget provided an additional $8 million to support the Ministry to better forecast and plan for future growth in the school network.”

Mr Macindoe says that the building of extra classrooms is often combined with replacement classroom projects, as this makes both financial and practical sense.

“We want to achieve the best result for taxpayers and also minimise disruption to schools,” says Mr Macindoe.

“When new schools or classrooms are built, this also offers the opportunity to build flexible learning spaces that support an innovative learning environment.

“A school’s physical environment plays a part in supporting and inspiring students’ success, and the new classrooms announced today will be able to support a range of teaching approaches, from one-on-one to group learning. They will also feature high-quality lighting, acoustics and ventilation, as well as the latest digital infrastructure to support digital learning.”

Mr Macindoe says today’s investment is part of $240 million allocated for Auckland school infrastructure under Budget 2017, with $87 million provided for roll growth classrooms across the city.

“As well as new classrooms, the $240 million investment will deliver four new schools, one major school expansion, the relocation of two special education schools to co-locate on one site, and additional special education satellite units,” says Mr Macindoe.

“This follows more than $160 million announced under Budget 2016 for five new schools, four of which will be delivered through public private partnerships, as well as a school expansion and new roll growth classrooms in Auckland.”

Budget 17 is investing $456.5 million in education infrastructure nationally, taking this Government’s investment in extending and upgrading schools to well over $5 billion.

Youth Minister Nikki Kaye today announced that in 2017/18, the Government will invest a total of $1.78 million into the Partnership Fund that supports youth development opportunities created in collaboration with business, philanthropic, iwi and other partners.

“In mid 2016, we committed seed funding of $1 million to this fund, which was set up as part of a new direction for the Ministry of Youth Development,” says Ms Kaye.

“Since then 26 partnerships have been formed, and with over $3 million contributed by our partners, we’ve created over 7000 new leadership, mentoring and volunteering opportunities for young people.

“These opportunities have been part of programmes with a sports, technology, environmental, rural and creative focus, as well as initiatives aimed at supporting young people with disabilities and developing future Maori leaders.

“The funding for 2017/18 will support even more partnerships, with a focus on providing opportunities for youth from disadvantaged backgrounds.

“Around $500,000 will be prioritised for youth enterprise partnerships, aimed at generating opportunities for young people to develop entrepreneurial skills.

“Young Kiwis are already out there developing new, exciting businesses, and this is about inspiring more young innovators to follow in their footsteps.

“Another $280,000 will be set aside for partnerships formed with city, district and regional councils.

“With their extensive local networks, councils are well placed to build youth development opportunities that enable young people to have a voice in local decision making and contribute to their communities.

“The Partnership Fund recognises that many organisations see the value in and want to support opportunities for our young people to grow their skills and confidence.

“The Board that oversees the fund has done a great job to date, having exceeded the original target we set of creating 6,000 new youth development opportunities in the first year.

“Over the coming year the aim is to create even more opportunities, and I’m looking forward to seeing the new partnerships that will be forged in the months ahead.”

 

Applications have opened for the first round of funding under the Youth Enterprise Opportunities for Young People fund, Youth Minister Nikki Kaye announced today.

“This fund is about directly supporting young people who have a new or innovative enterprise idea to develop and execute their project,” says Ms Kaye.

“Innovation is incredibly important to the future of New Zealand and our economy, so it’s important we encourage and support our next generation of entrepreneurs.

“We all know that Kiwis have a can do attitude and we punch way above our weight on the world stage.

“I want to help inspire more young people who’ve come up with exciting ideas to set their sights high and take the next step towards turning their ideas into reality.

“The funding announced today can provide a range of support, from opportunities to access mentors who can offer guidance and expertise, to support towards intellectual property development and the design and development of products.

“In my role as Youth Minister I’ve met a number of young New Zealanders who’ve built successful companies, some with a global impact. The successful recipients of the funding I’ve announced today could well be the next to follow in their footsteps, and launch themselves onto the world stage as successful entrepreneurs.

“The Youth Enterprise Opportunities for Young People fund is one of several funds supported by the $6 million investment over four years under Budget 2017, aimed at funding more youth enterprise initiatives.

“As well as supporting young people directly with their ideas, this $6 million investment will also support organisations working with young people to help them develop entrepreneurial skills, and partnerships with business, philanthropic and iwi partners aimed at generating enterprise opportunities for young people.”

More information about the Youth Enterprise Opportunities for Young People fund is available here.

A Ministerial youth advisory group will be set up to enable young people to have their say and have more influence on the education system and issues that affect them, Education Minister Nikki Kaye announced today.

“Our schools are all about and for our young people, so it’s really important to me that we have a way for them to share their views,” says Minister Kaye.

“This is about ensuring that young people are at the heart of decisions made about education in New Zealand.

“I want them to be able to share their experiences of our education system, as well as ideas about any improvements we can make.”

The advisory group will be made up of ten young people.  Another group of young people will have the opportunity to be part of an online youth forum which will discuss and test insights gathered from the advisory group, to ensure diverse viewpoints are gathered on selected education topics.

“I encourage all students aged between 14 and 18 years who are keen to represent their peers to register their interest,” says Ms Kaye.

“I will approve the final members of the advisory group from a shortlist provided to me by the Ministry of Education.”

The first meeting will be held in February 2018.

“It’s totally up to the students what they want to discuss when the advisory group meets, but as a starter I imagine topics could include things like student wellbeing, the education priorities that matter most to young people, and the role of digital technology in learning and assessment,” says Ms Kaye.

“The students’ insights will be shared with the Ministry of Education’s leadership team, relevant business groups and other education agencies.

“I’m really looking forward to hearing directly from young people about their experiences of education.

“I expect them to bring a fresh perspective and insights about our education system, and the most important issues they’re facing.”

Online registrations of interest will open on Monday 14 August 2017 on the Ministry of Education website: www.education.govt.nz

Education Minister Nikki Kaye today confirmed the Government will replace the decile system for schools with targeted funding to better support those students most at risk of not achieving.

“For too long schools have been stigmatised and wrongly judged by their decile number,” says Ms Kaye.

“Children and young people deserve to take pride in their school and we need to better target funding to where the need is greatest to support all children to achieve.

“Today I’m announcing that the Cabinet has agreed to replace the decile system with a Risk Index that allows us to better target funding to schools with children and young people most at risk of not achieving due to disadvantage.

“We will also be replacing the equity index used to allocate disadvantage funding in early childhood education with the Risk Index.”

Decile funding currently accounts for less than 3% of a school’s resources.

“Rather than allocating this funding on the basis of neighbourhood characteristics as the current decile system does, the Risk Index will instead provide fairer funding that better reflects the needs of children in our schools and services.

This will mean extra resources are better targeted to support schools to lift achievement.”

The specific factors to be used in the index are subject to further analysis before being finalised. But, they will be the indicators which evidence tells us have the greatest influence on student achievement.

“However, I’m pleased to be able to confirm that no school, early learning service or ngā kōhanga reo will see a reduction in their funding as a direct result of this change,” says Ms Kaye.

“In fact, we expect some will gain significantly.

“This is the first major change to be announced as part of the Funding Review, and I would like to acknowledge the incredible work by my predecessor Honourable Hekia Parata who initiated this important piece of work. 

“As part of the Review the Government has been working with education leaders, such as those in the Ministerial Advisory Group for the Funding Review and a Technical Reference Group, which have advocated for change and further funding for disadvantage.

“With any system, whether it’s with decile or the Risk Index it’s very important that children and young people’s privacy is protected at all times. The way the system is being designed it will not be possible to identify which children generate the additional funding.”

There will be further engagement before any changes are implemented, although it’s likely the new model of funding will take effect from 2019 or 2020.

“Stripping out decile will change how schools are judged,” says Ms Kaye.

“We are working on a number of initiatives to make it easier for parents to find and assess information about the quality of schools.

“This includes a project with ERO that improves their reports and key information as well as making it more accessible to parents. This will involve some investment in greater online tools.”

Further work on other aspects of education funding is also ongoing. The Ministry of Education is due to report back later this year on the other parts of the Funding Review.

Related Documents

Applications have opened for funding under the $100,000 Youth in Emergency Preparedness Fund, Youth Minister Nikki Kaye announced today.

“This is about growing the involvement of young people in civil defence and emergency services in New Zealand,” says Ms Kaye.

“The fund will support a national programme run collaboratively by the Ministry of Youth Development (MYD) and the Ministry of Civil Defence & Emergency Management (MCDEM).

“I expect this to fund a diverse range of youth-led initiatives, from volunteering opportunities to public education and public preparedness campaigns.

“It’s important we build our resilience as a nation to natural disasters and emergencies. This is a great way to get our young people involved in opportunities that enable them to grow and develop new skills while contributing significantly to their communities at the same time.”

The Youth in Emergency Preparedness Fund will support two programmes, the Youth in Emergency Services (YES) programme and the Youth in Civil Defence programme.

“The YES programme opens the door for young people to volunteer for and potentially follow a career path with emergency services such as fire, ambulance, Coastguard and search and rescue, while the Youth in Civil Defence programme is about fostering innovative ideas to encourage young people to get involved in civil defence and emergency management,” says Ms Kaye.

“Applications for funding are invited from schools, councils, youth organisations and regional civil defence and emergency management groups who identify opportunities to grow young people’s skills and enhance local communities through either or both of these programmes.

“The YES programme has been a real boost for communities which can sometimes struggle to attract emergency services volunteers, and I have seen first-hand the real pride and confidence that young people develop by acquiring valuable skills and serving their communities.

“The Youth in Civil Defence Fund has supported initiatives such as simulated emergency responses, emergency management workshops and emergency preparedness campaigns and aims to highlight exciting, innovative ways to involve young people in civil defence and emergency management.”

A panel including young people, emergency services representatives and officials from MYD and MCDEM will consider all funding applications.

“I expect this funding to pay dividends not just in terms of supporting the development of young people, but also in strengthening the safety and preparedness of communities across New Zealand,” says Ms Kaye.

More information about the Youth in Emergency Preparedness Fund is available at  http://www.myd.govt.nz/funding/youth-in-emergency-preparedness-fund.html