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e-Newsletter March 2022

Upcoming Events:

Marketing and Communications Seminar
Friday 13 May 2022
9:00am - 4:15pm
Auckland Cordis Hotel
View Full Programme
Register Now!

Child Protection and Wellbeing Seminar
Wednesday 1 June 2022
Wellington Te Wharewaka o Poneke
Enquire/Expression of Interest

In this issue:

Deborah James - Coming up at ISNZ
New Appointments: ISNZ Member Schools
ISNZ Marketing and Communications Seminar
News: ISNZ Member Schools

ISNZ E-Newsletter Intro – March 2022

In this newsletter, it is evident that within our member schools there are no challenging circumstances that will stand in the way of their growth and innovation.

Our stories in this issue range from education through a Metaverse school with ground-breaking VR Technology, the excellent level of expertise within our schools’ newly appointed staff, learning to live and teach with masks, the international and local achievements of our students and alumni, ground-breaking facilities, to sustainable playgrounds. Our schools have embraced the opportunities to be at the forefront of education and to lead our students to be critical and creative thinkers, even in times of adversity. There is no doubt that the flexibility in the independent school learning environment prepares our students to be responsible global citizens, conscientious decision-makers, and engaged change-makers.

Whilst disruption continues to be the order of the day for so many of us, we are witnessing remarkable leadership in preparedness, nimbleness, agility, resilience, and compassion for all those who make up our school communities. We have so much admiration for those who are wholly focused on ensuring the learning, health, safety, and wellbeing of all those associated with our schools.

With schools grappling with staffing capacity, we have had to postpone a few of our professional development events until later in the year. However, we would like to acknowledge those who supported our Health and Safety Seminar in mid-February. The high attendance level was testimony, again, to the importance our schools place on health and safety of their students, staff, and learning environment. We were supported by some outstanding presenters who shared their experience and expertise on different aspects of health and safety in a school context.

Coming up we have our Marketing and Communications Seminar to be held in Auckland on Friday 13 May. The last two years have been a period of unprecedented change and the role for communications and marketing in schools has never been more pressing. Communications has been a driving force in how schools have navigated the volatile pandemic environment. The value of clear, concise, and informed communications to all stakeholders in our school communities has ensured stability and confidence in the governance, management, and operation of our schools. With border restrictions we’ve also had to rethink our marketing strategies and find more effective platforms to reach target audiences, both nationally and internationally. This year’s Marketing and Communications Seminar shall be facilitated by James Smith, Marketing Consultant with Xennial and Kit Watson, Founder of SideKit and co-Founder of SunnySunday. You can access the full programme and REGISTER HERE. Please note attendance is invited both in-person or online.

Following on from last year’s highly successful event, with record numbers attending, this year’s Child Protection and Wellbeing Seminar is scheduled for June 1^st in Wellington. With an excellent line-up of speakers, topics will include case studies from schools, legislation updates from Simpson Grierson, and an exploration of how students are affected by the stress response. Feedback from last year’s seminar indicated an interest in expanding the scope of the day to include staff wellbeing, and in response to that we are very excited to be including an afternoon with Dr Emma Woodward, Clinical Director for the New Zealand Institute of Wellbeing and Resilience. Emma will be focusing on the unique pressures educators face in today’s world and, will explore strategies to both manage our own emotions and those of whom we lead, enabling us all to stay in our ‘wise mind’ to make ‘wise decisions’. The full programme and registration details shall be sent out next month.

And now that we’re opening our borders, ISNZ is focusing on how we can support our schools in their recovery of international education. We’re excited to be offering our schools the opportunity to promote and profile their teaching and learning environment in a publication that will highlight the choice, innovation and diversity of the New Zealand private school sector and its individual schools. We shall work with Education New Zealand to ensure distribution of the publication to offshore target markets.

The pandemic has decimated New Zealand’s international education industry, resulting in a loss of international revenue, staff capability and global connections. But despite the challenges, many independent schools have survived and even thrived, with some reporting record domestic roll growth. Given this, schools may be legitimately asking themselves ‘is international education really worth it?’ Curated in the style of Pecha Kucha, we are offering a fast-paced and insightful webinar, Re-imagining the future of International Education, which will provide key insights and perspectives on the future of international education, through a uniquely independent school lens. Tentatively scheduled for mid-May, it will appeal to strategic leaders and senior decision makers who are considering the role of international education within their school communities.

Leading and governing an independent school requires a far-sighted view on a wide range of issues and trends. High quality data can prompt future-focused discussions that help schools to think deeply about what the future might look like, and then to adapt accordingly. To support our schools, we are extremely excited that this year will see the development of a new Data and Insights Report. We anticipate that this will become an annual report, and one that will be an invaluable part of a school’s strategic toolkit. At a sector-wide level, it will help us to make the case for the promotion of choice in education, the contribution our schools make to education outcomes, the economy, to equity in education, their social impact and public benefit, their philanthropic activity, to name a few focus areas. We are currently in the initial scoping stage of the project and look forward to sharing more information soon.

To support the governors/board members of our schools, ISNZ is launching a new Governance e-Newsletter providing our member schools with valuable knowledge and guidance on leadership, legislation, strategy, and more relevant governance topics within the Independent School Sector. We are partnering with the reputable Institute of Directors and Steven Bowman from Conscious Governance to share their expertise and knowledge on governance and how to apply this to the Independent School Sector. In the interest of collaboration we would like to develop this e-newsletter to also include comment/editorial/advice from member school boards.

And finally, ISNZ is working on an exciting new vlog called “Talking Heads”. Talking Heads is a networking, learning, and sharing opportunity for Heads/Principals of Independent Schools of New Zealand. This will create a platform where Heads/Principals can learn from the experiences of fellow Heads/Principals’ professional journeys. In return, this vlog will also create an opportunity for ISNZ to emphasise and promote the calibre of expertise and knowledge that drives the future of independent schools of New Zealand and the students within our member schools. Watch this space for further details.

Deborah James
Executive Director

Congratulations to Paula Wells Principal of Samuel Marsden Collegiate School

ISNZ asked Paula what attracted her to Samuel Marsden Collegiate School?

"Marsden and I found one another. Marsden was seeking its next leader, and I was warming up to the idea of a new leadership opportunity, but only if the right one presented itself. It was important to both Marsden and me personally that any successful match would only be made where strong alignment in aspirations, values and ethos existed. Fortunately, we spoke the same language and the relationship was formed in a seemingly organic way."

Congratulations to Deanne Gath, St Margaret’s College's new Director of Boarding.

Having worked with teenagers for 20 years, Deanne has a unique understanding of the complexities young people face when living away from home whether domestic boarders or international students.

She has previously been International Director/Manager across three Christchurch schools – Kaiapoi High School, Christ’s College and, most recently, SMC. Before the Canterbury earthquakes, she was Homestay Manager for a large local language school and earlier taught English in Japan for seven years, in the high school and university sectors.

Deanne receives great support in her new role from her boarding managers – Mary Quinn in senior school, Jean Thomson in middle school and Ange Davidson who is the day supervisor.

SMC has capacity for more than 170 boarders spread across its three houses; Julius for Years 7-10, Kilburn for Years 11-12, and the Cranmer Flats for the Year 13s. Domestic boarders are largely from the South Island while current international students are from Vietnam, Japan, China, Korea and Papua New Guinea.

View Full Programme & Register Today!

Dio physics teacher selected for research team looking into sustainability in space

Carolle Varughese, a senior physics teacher at Diocesan School and an astronomy aficionado, is on a mission to get her students inspired about saving our planets, drawing on ground-breaking research she’s currently doing into sustainability in the space sector.

Inspired Education becomes first to launch Metaverse school with ground-breaking VR-technology!

Learning through technology is a key part of Inspired’s vision, with a clear focus on using both VR and the Metaverse to strengthen and diversify education through relational and immersive experiences. The technology will engage students in a new and unique form, providing an opportunity to access live, virtual classrooms with other students from across the world. For instance, students brought together in the Metaverse could walk into the same Maths class, collaborating virtually to solve difficult equations.

Students will be able to experience first-hand the sheer size and scale of a dinosaur, pull together chemical atoms, explore the human body, or visit inspiring global destinations, in current or historic times, for field work and research, together with classmates who may be thousands of miles apart.

Learning a Language in a Pandemic

Teaching a language in Covid times has its particular challenges as oral communication is impaired by masks. It is difficult for students to hear how words are supposed to be pronounced, making it impossible for them to see how the mouth is formed. Students’ contributions in class are muffled by masks and teachers struggle to get the shyer students to speak up, and enunciate their contributions loudly and clearly.

The current situation called for flexibility and adaptability. The Languages Faculty at St Margaret’s College was up to the challenge and came up with new teaching ideas that allowed teachers and students to take their masks off for a while and Outdoor Education in Languages was born.

In Term 1 smaller senior classes were taught outside when possible for speaking activities and used mini whiteboards and paper as learning tools rather than projectors.

The Middle School girls were introduced to, invented, and tested activities that allowed them to use the school’s grounds whenever the weather played along. These included charade games, running activities, group work on the lawn, taking a whiteboard on wheels outside, using puppets for conversations, and other activities. Not only did this help the teachers to know the girl's faces better, and the girls to know theirs it increased the girls’ motivation helped them with their pronunciation. A welcome break which provided fun learning activities.

Congratulations to the six ICAS Gold Medal Winners at St Andrew’s College

Each year thousands of students sit examinations in various subjects in the International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS) examinations. In 2021, six St Andrew’s College students received an ICAS Gold Medal for achieving the top mark in New Zealand for their year group, which is outstanding. The following students had their medals presented to them during our Founders’ Day celebrations, which was shared with our community as a short film.

•       Year 4 Spelling Bee – Aneel Bartlett;
•       Year 7 English – Fraser Walls;
•       Year 10 English – Aaron Moore;
•       Year 10 Science – James Hart;
•       Year 11 English – Portia Bennie;
•       Year 12 Science – Corin Simcock.

International Student: Meet Chelsea Mendes!

Chelsea travelled from Goa, India to New Zealand to complete her Diploma in Culinary Arts with NZMA Waikato.

Dedicated to succeeding regardless of obstacles along the way, she was awarded the Student of the Year award at the 2020 NZMA graduation.

In 2021, Chelsea competed in the Waikato Regional Culinary Fare, walking away with a gold medal and top of the class in the Main Meal category. She would then go on to be named Emerging Chef of the Year as part of the Waikato Hospitality Awards.

It is evident Chelsea has a natural passion and talent for the industry – recruited soon after her graduation to be a Sous Chef at Thyme Square, a restaurant based in Hamilton renowned for its hand-crafted and locally sourced cuisine.

Dual Pathway offering at Chilton Saint James School from 2023

Chilton Saint James School is excited to announce that from the beginning of 2023 they will be offering their students a dual academic offering of both NCEA and Cambridge International curricular, allowing students and families to pick the pathway which best suits their learning style and future aspirations.

Dio’s revamped play area a place of learning for all

Diocesan School’s revamped play area is a model in sustainability, and is providing junior and senior students across the school with a place to both play and learn.

Essay on issues facing women in leadership positions wins Dio student Oxford summer school scholarship

The issues facing women in leadership positions was the topic of a scholarship-winning essay for Year 13 Diocesan School student Grace Field, who will travel to Oxford University in July for a two-week Academic Insights Summer School course to study International Relations.

Rangi Ruru Teacher and Students Hit Music Charts

Rangi Ruru Girls’ School Commercial Music teacher Henare Kaa is supporting his students to get a taste of the music industry, with a recent project hitting the New Zealand Music Top 10 Te Reo Māori Singles Chart, and the Hot NZ Singles Chart.