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Education Minister Hekia Parata today announced the Government has signed contracts to open four new Partnership Schools in 2015.

“These new schools will help raise educational achievement, in particular for those groups of students who have for a long time been under-served by the mainstream system,” Ms Parata says.

Ngaio Primary School will receive a major property upgrade worth almost $3.3 million, Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye says.

“I am very pleased that an agreement has been reached with the Ngaio School Board to undertake several much-needed upgrades concurrently.

“We are also using this opportunity to provide some exciting new learning spaces for the students that will assist in the delivery of the curriculum. Bundling the work into one project will help to reduce disruption to the students and staff.”

The Government is investing more than $22 million in the redevelopment of four schools across North Canterbury, Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye says.

“The funding will be used to expand and upgrade Oxford Area School, Rangiora Borough School, Ashgrove School and Southbrook School as part of the Government’s ongoing investment to ensure that schools have buildings fit for purpose and that provide safe and inspiring modern learning environments,” Ms Kaye says.

The history of the legendary 28^th Māori Battalion will be further preserved as part of a project to record the histories of the Battalion’s A, B and D companies, says Education Minister Hekia Parata.

The Government will invest $10 million over five years to increase the provision of Asian languages in schools, Education Minister Hekia Parata announced today.

The money will be used to create a contestable fund where schools can apply for funding to establish new Mandarin, Japanese or Korean language programmes, or expand or enhance existing Asian language programmes.

The Government is investing $11 million over 4 years to help support deaf children, their families and their schools, says Education Minister Hekia Parata. 

There are currently around 400 deaf children in New Zealand aged between 0 up to 5 years-old, and another 1400 aged between 5 and 18 years old.

The funding will primarily go towards two initiatives:

Education Minister Hekia Parata says good progress continues to be made on the Government’s $359 million initiative to lift student achievement.

The Ministry of Education last week reached agreements with the PPTA, SPANZ and the New Zealand School Trustees Association, on how the new leadership and teaching roles will work as part of the Investing in Educational Success initiative.

The Ministry of Education has now started the process of calling for expressions of interest from all schools who want to work together as Communities of Schools.

Education Minister Hekia Parata has today welcomed an agreement with the union representing around 18,000 secondary school teachers to support the $359 million initiative to lift student achievement.

The Post Primary Teachers’ Association has today reached an interim agreement with the Ministry of Education and the NZ School Trustees Association on how the teaching roles will work as part of the Investing in Educational Success initiative.

Education Minister Hekia Parata says important progress has been made on the $359 million initiative to improve student achievement with several secondary schooling sector groups reaching agreements with the Ministry of Education.

The Ministry has reached agreements with the organisations that represent the principals of the 339 secondary schools in New Zealand, and the NZ School Trustees Association which represents those Boards of Trustees and parents, on how the new principal roles will work as part of Investing in Educational Success.

Work to address weathertightness issues is now complete with today’s opening of  a $4 million technology block at Northcross Intermediate School in Auckland, Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye says.

The two-storey building features a food and nutrition technology kitchen, a sound and light-proof media suite with green screen capability, hard and soft technology workshops, and a graphics studio.

“This impressive new space boasts modern learning spaces for students and staff, providing a fresh approach to learning and teaching,” says Ms Kaye.

A programme focused on improving behaviour in schools is having a positive impact in classrooms across New Zealand, Education Minister Hekia Parata says.

The findings, released today, are from an ongoing evaluation into the Positive Behaviour for Learning School-Wide (PB4L) programme. The evaluation is being carried out by the New Zealand Council for Educational Research (NZCER).

“More than 500 schools around the country are involved in the PB4L programme, which helps schools to improve student wellbeing and increase educational achievement,” Ms Parata says.

Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye today announced that the National-led Government will invest at least $350 million over the next four years to build new schools and classrooms in the rapidly growing Auckland region.

Ms Kaye made the announcement during a visit to Ponsonby Primary School with Prime Minister John Key.

“New Zealand is growing strongly and the school network will come under pressure in different parts of the country as the population grows,” Ms Kaye says.

Construction work is beginning on the first new merged school in the Christchurch Schools Rebuild Programme, following a sod turning event at the site yesterday, Education Minister Hekia Parata says. 

Lyttelton Primary School, which is the result of the merger of Lyttelton Main and Lyttelton West schools, is being built on the site of the previous Lyttelton Main school and is expected to be completed in Term 4, 2015.

The first phase of weathertightness repairs to Gisborne Intermediate School is now complete, Associate Minister of Education Nikki Kaye says.

The $2.3 million project is being carried out in three phases as part of the Ministry of Education’s Building Improvement Programme, which was set up in 2009 to manage the testing and remediation of school buildings affected by water damage.

“The administration building has been re-clad and re-roofed, and work on the  technology block will begin this month,” Ms Kaye says.

The rollout of fast internet to schools is almost five months ahead of schedule with 700 schools now connected to the Government’s Managed Network, Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye says.

“The 700th connection was the target for the end of the first year so it is great news that this milestone has been reached so early. It is a tribute to the team at Network for Learning (N4L) to have connected so many schools so quickly,” Ms Kaye says.

A report looking at how improved legislation and regulation could free-up schools to focus more on raising student achievement has been welcomed by Education Minister Hekia Parata.

The Taskforce on Regulations Affecting School Performance, which was established late last year, considered the current regulatory system schools operate under to see if the Government can ease their operating environment and provide more fit for purpose regulation for 21^st century requirements.

A report recommending ways to encourage more parents to get involved in their children’s education has been welcomed by Education Minister Hekia Parata.

The report of the Inquiry into Engaging Parents in the Education of their Children puts forward a range of recommendations that could help boost student achievement through better engagement with parents, families, whānau and communities. 

Ms Parata says the report from Parliament’s Education and Science Select Committee underlines the importance of parental involvement in student success.

New Zealand's school payroll service will come under Government management in October of this year.

After lengthy negotiations, the Ministry of Education and the existing school payroll provider, Talent2, have settled both on the amounts payable by Talent2 towards the costs of remediating the Novopay service and a new operating model for the school payroll system.

The new model involves a new government-owned company taking over the operation of the payroll service, and Talent2 licensing the core Alesco software to that company.

Science and Innovation Minister Steven Joyce and Education Minister Hekia Parata today launched the Government’s action plan to encourage engagement with science and technology across all sectors of New Zealand.

A Nation of Curious Minds: He Whenua Hirihi I te Mahara – is the blueprint for the Science in Society Project and has been jointly developed by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and the Ministry of Education with close involvement from the office of the Prime Minister’s Chief Science Advisor. 

Student stand-downs, suspensions and exclusions have reached 14-year lows, says Education Minister Hekia Parata.

Ms Parata says Ministry of Education figures from 2000-2013 show a peak in the mid-2000s, but these numbers have dropped significantly.

“We’re seeing far fewer kids being removed from school. That is great news because it means they’re staying in the classroom and continuing to learn.

Today is significant for the Kawerau community with a ceremony to mark the start of construction of new facilities at Tarawera High School,  Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye says.

“The $15.6 million redevelopment of the school reflects the importance the Government  places on raising student achievement in Kawerau and on providing a fresh start for the school and local community.

Latest figures show the school payroll system maintained a steady performance for each of the last four pay periods.

Minister Responsible for Novopay Steven Joyce today released the reports on complaints and notifications received in regards to Pay Periods 5, 6, 7, and 8 of the schools’ payroll.

Education Minister Hekia Parata says the latest achievement information shows children throughout the country are doing better across the education system.

Teacher-training institutions can now access a digital resource that enables schools to share learning resources and best practices, Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye says.

Pond, the online learning hub built by Crown-owned company Network for Learning, aims to become a central environment in digital discovery and participation for schools.