14/11/24
The new government has placed a special emphasis on increasing levels of attendance of students at school and linked to this has been some discussion of the amount of time lost when schools close for instruction. Every school is required to be open for instruction for a minimum number of half days a year.
To clarify this topic I thought I would explain how, why and when the school might close.
- The Ministry of Education may grant Teacher only Days which are to be used by teachers for a specific reason. For example planning for the introduction of a new curriculum or initiative.
In these cases the school year remains the same.
- The school might decide to close for its own Professional Development or important administrative tasks.
In these cases the school extends the school year so that instruction time is not lost.
- The Employment Relations Act allows members of the union (for Secondary Teachers this is the PPTA or Post Primary Teachers’ Association) to hold two PUM (Paid Union Meetings) a year. There are certain regulations that apply, which include trying to keep the school open for instruction during the meeting time which can be very difficult and may have Health and Safety concerns hence in the past the school might have closed for half a day.
The PPTA and Ministry of Education are holding discussions in order to confirm what is the most effective operational way of navigating these situations in the future. This is why the closing of the school this week for a PUM meeting was cancelled.
As a school we will continue to comply with the regulations which relate to the closing of schools and ensure both the Board is fully informed, that child care arrangements for whānau are minimised and that the impact on our students’ learning is not compromised.