Independent schools conference at Collegiate

Independent schools conference at Collegiate

Wanganui Collegiate School will host the twelfth annual Independent Schools of New Zealand conference May 14-16.

"This is the first time since Independent School Heads and Governors have joined together as ISNZ that the annual conference has actually been held at a school," said Joy Quigley, ISNZ Executive Director. "Collegiate is celebrating 150 years of educating fine young New Zealanders and fellow independent schools are delighted to join with them to acknowledge this great achievement."

The theme of this year's conference is "Securing an Independent Future". Over the past decade the Chief Executive Officer of the Education Review Office, PricewaterhouseCoopers and the NZIER report last year have all noted that education in New Zealand is well served when there is a strong and vibrant independent sector. Independent schools not only save the taxpayer money, but they have been shown to lift education standards of a whole nation.

Being at the leading edge of educational research and practice is one of the reasons independent schools are sought after by parents. Educational psychologist Dr JoAnn Deak is being brought to New Zealand as the ISNZ 2004 Visiting Scholar. She is a well recognised in her field of educating with gender in mind, using latest brain research to develop teaching and parenting techniques that work.

Professor Richard Chait from Harvard University was the 2001 Visiting Scholar and he returns to this conference via DVD. He will update on his recent studies of evolving best practices in governance and also his new work on governance as leadership.

Dr Deak will be conducting workshops in Christchurch Wellington and Auckland at independent and state schools following the ISNZ conference.

She will be available for media interviews during her stay between 13 May and 2 June.