Minister praises school charter completion

Education Minister Hekia Parata has praised the focus schools have put on submitting their charters, saying their work is greatly appreciated.

“I am pleased to see so many schools submitted their charters to meet the deadline of 1 March, and I thank them for their focus on getting these important documents in,” Ms Parata says.

“We have now received nearly 76 per cent of schools charters. On the day charters were due we had received roughly twice as many as we had at the same time last year which is part of our continuous important approach.

“Schools are busy and some schools have been under a lot of extra pressure this year so I thank them for ensuring that their core school business has remained on track.’’

The school charter sets out the mission, aims, objectives, directions of the board that will give effect to the National Education Guidelines and the Board’s priorities. Each year through their charter the school updates their achievements and seeks to improve.

“Charters are critical cornerstone documents which set out goals and targets for learning and outline how schools plan to achieve them.

“They underpin teaching and learning programmes and guide a school’s activities, they set out goals and targets for learning and outlines how the school plans to achieve them so it’s important for them to be in place at the start of the school year and for them to be living documents of improvement,” says Ms Parata.

For the first time this year schools will submit targets for National Standards and NCEA Level 2 as part of their charters.

As of this morning approximately 1845 schools (around 75%) had submitted their charters. The highest submitting areas so far were Invercargill with 98 per cent of schools having submitted, Whangarei with 88 per cent and Dunedin with 90 per cent.

All schools who have asked for an extension have received one. Schools that are finding it a challenge to submit their charters should contact their Regional Ministry of Education Advisor.

“If a school needs extra time or assistance to complete its charter, then the Ministry will do everything it can to support them. Charters are at the heart of every school’s aim to help every student achieve, so we want to make sure that schools get the help they need.’’

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