Partnership Schools second round announced

Education Minister Hekia Parata today announced a second Partnership Schools | Kura Hourua application round to continue the impetus for raising achievement for all children and young people.

“In education, one size doesn’t fit all. Partnership Schools provide further options for young people and their families, giving them the choice of the type of education that best suits their own specific learning needs,” Ms Parata says.

“While investing significantly in growing the quality of teaching and education leadership in our schools, we must also support other options so that all young people are getting a better education.

“The long-term level of underachievement will not be shifted by doing what we have always done. We must change what is not working – and change can be uncomfortable, yet necessary.

“Given the number of applications in the first round, and on-going enthusiasm from potential sponsors, parents, families and whānau, we are pleased to announce a second application round.”

The Government has set tighter priorities for the second round. While all high quality proposals will be considered, priority will be given to new Partnership Schools that:

• cater for primary-age students
• make effective use of the flexibilities offered by the model
• are based in areas of roll growth
• are large enough to be comfortably viable
• demonstrate a strong case for their location in relation to areas where students are not being well served by the education system
• offer innovative options for 0-8 year olds.

“The application process for the first round of Partnership Schools was extremely rigorous, and will be equally so for the second round. We have also incorporated learnings from the first round, which will further ensure the process is robust, transparent and accessible to all who wish to apply,” Ms Parata says.

“Partnership Schools are expected to offer a new, innovative and dynamic approach to engaging students in education and to raise achievement for those children and young people who are being left behind by the current system.

“This Government is determined that 5 out of 5 young New Zealanders leave school with the qualifications they need,“ Ms Parata concluded.

Applications for the second round will be released on the Government Electronic Tenders Service over the coming weeks. Funding for the second round of Partnership Schools | Kura Hourua will be considered as part of Budget 2014.

As for the first round, the Partnership Schools | Kura Hourua Authorisation Board will make recommendations to the Minister on applications for approval.

Any Partnerships Schools approved from the second round of applications would commence operations in Term One of 2015.

The Government announced in September that five organisations had been selected to open Partnership schools. There are a total of 2,538 schools in New Zealand.