More than 1000 staff employed in Communities of Learning

  • Hekia Parata
Education

New figures show more than 1100 teachers and principals have been appointed to new roles in Communities of Learning│Kāhui Ako across the country.

“I’m delighted to see staff being employed in these expert roles, sharing best practice across schools, early learning services and tertiary providers to raise student achievement,” says Education Minister Hekia Parata.

“When the Investing in Educational Success initiative was announced this is what it was all about. Raising the quality of teaching through collaboration and providing the best teachers and principals with new career options.

“The fact we now have more than a thousand staff employed in Kāhui Ako roles demonstrates how embedded this collaborative model is becoming. 

“I’m also really pleased to announce another 17 Communities of Learning, bringing the total to 197, covering more than 551,000 young people. These new communities are in Tai Tokerau, Auckland, Waikato, Manawatu, Wellington and Canterbury.”

The number of early learning services joining Kāhui Ako has almost doubled to 184 in just four months and 1630 schools are now in Communities, alongside four tertiary providers.

“Twenty percent of communities now have early learning representation, but we want more!” says Ms Parata.

“This means that the education pathway for those young children from 0-18 will be within that one community. Their transitions between early learning, primary and secondary schooling will be better supported as teachers work together to share information about their students as they move through their education pathway.

“What’s also notable about the newest Communities that have formed are the high numbers of Māori and Pasifika children and young people. These are two groups in our education system at greatest risk of underachievement so I’m really pleased that more students will now benefit from the best teaching and leadership in those communities.”

The latest figures also show that more than 60 Kāhui Ako have set their achievement challenges, focussing on improving student achievement in areas like maths, writing, reading and NCEA Level 2.

“Kāhui Ako are no longer just the way of the future for New Zealand education, but the reality of how our schools and providers are now operating.

“Internationally, countries are watching what we are doing here with great interest as we change our traditional operating model to a system built on collaboration for the benefit of children, teachers and their communities.”