Much is ‘reaction to pace of change’

Press, 13 December 1989, Page 21

Much is ‘reaction to pace of change’

0 AKUNDS SCHOOL, with entances on all four side, is set right in the heart of tie Oaklands suburb, on the outskirs of the city. It is an established school; 25 years ago, it was one of the largest South Island prinaries with 700 pupils. It now teaihes about 300. The pincipal is Mike Andrews, "he board chairman, John Davits, has lived in the area for .9 years. Both are critical oi the Tomorrow’s Schools nejativeness they hear from some schools and through the news rredia. “I persondly wonder how political it all is. We think our school is faring reasonably well,” says Davies’. “A lot of it is reaction to the pace of change. There’s-so much coming from Wellington, and much of it lacking in the finer details to reassure schools. We’re not worrying about issues we can't get answers to — we’re working from the information we do have,”, says Andrew. “We’re not getting fazed by dates, we’re working at pur own pace,” says Davies, who thinks boards had a fair idea of what to expect when standing for election.’ 1 i ’•< • Based dp the information received by.la.st

thinks it will have more money per child than under the old system. One of the school’s main aims is developing a partnership with the community. Already community support is strong — helped, in part, by the suburb’s clear geographical identity. While 25 years ago Oaklands was a working-class suburb, the development of subdivisions has since seen more wealth moving in. People with “a few more bob in their pocket," says Davies. “But even if the school catchment is well-off that doesn’t necessrily mean better financial support,” says Mike Andrews. “I believe the most successful schools are those which develop their relationship with their community. That has more bearing than income levels. “If a school board has some professional people on it, it will fare better under this system than boards with fewer commercial backgrounds.” The Oaklands board has two chartered accountants, the manager of an electrical engineering company, a grocery stockbuyer, a teacher at present out of the paid work force, and the deputy principal, who is the staff representative. ■/ Oaklands is balding its com-

munity pamership by keeping parents informed. Material is sent out every 10 days, on average. “All communication is easily understood and encourages parents to give us their views,” says John Davies. The school’s Parent Teachers’ Association was re-established in May and is now called The Oaklands School and Community Association (0.5.C.A.) It has proved to be an essential twoway information vehicle, the men say. O.S.C.A. puts out a monthly journal, and with teachers, the group have been in charge of drafting the school’s charter.

“We see Mike as running a business for us. We’re just there to oversee and to set policies. It’s up to Mike to set these in motion,” says Davies. Oaklands is not planning to rush into computers, sticking instead to a manual book-keeping system, at least for the first year. They’re also not queuing for help at an education service centre, which they say other schools may be doing at a cost of $lO,OOO to $15,000 a year. “We might approach them for specific items rather than a total package. We have some skills ourselves,” says Andrews. “If /they did our financed adminis-

tration, it would cost a school our size around $5OOO a year. We’ll do that ourselves and save the money for other things.” The board employs a minutes secretary for $25 to $3O a meeting who also follows up any correspondence. In the school office, there is a pile of plastic folders containing school policies, which parents can take home on loan. Policies are divided into four areas at present: management, resources provision, programme, and support of learning. Each policy comes with an introduction, general guidelines, and a conclusion. Eight policies had been approved by November 1. They related to the school library, reports, an informtion booklet, equal opportunity employment, the school maintenance workshop, community use* of school buildings and grounds, assessment,., analysis, evaluation of learning progress, and homework.

The policies are flexible and open to parental input The school’s most important asset is its staff, the board thinks. Staff have been invited to draw up a wish list for the board and parents to consider. “If there’s one irking thing, it’s the amount of paperwork that

comes through the mail to be read,” says Davies. You start to get picky about which invitations to meetings you accept. A lot of commercial interests are after a piece of the pie.”

Included in the mail have been at least six lawn-mowing offers and letters from groups wanting input into charters: Civil Defence, the Rugby Union, the Hillary Commission, the National Library, the Ministry of Transport, the Ministry of Women’s Affairs and religious groups.

As for cultural issues, the school awaits guidance from the ministry. “Staff have expressed a wish for a cultural development programme within the school,” says Andrews. “We have eight Maori pupils and about as many Indian. We have a $5OO Maori pupil grant with no clarification of how to spend this. We’ve put it aside.”

Both men say it is early days to criticise the School Trustees Association, as some schools have: “New Zealand state schools are' going to continue to deliver because the support is there. People are getting their first opportunity to have a relevant say in their children’s education”.