Te Kura Board of Trustees Meeting
Minutes of meeting held Wednesday 5 August 2020
L2, Rata/Pohutukawa meeting rooms
Present
Barbara Ala’alatoa (Chair), Maxine Moana-Tuwhangai, John Chemis (by phone), Mele Wendt,
Stuart Middleton (by phone), Ruma Karaitiana,
In Attendance Mike Hollings (Chief Executive), Ella Tavernor (representing Chief Advisor, Strategy), Viv Rogers
(Deputy Chief Executive, Systems and Support), John Nisbet (ex-officio), Te Rina Leonard
(Deputy Chief Executive, Learning Delivery), Anne Coster (Deputy Chief Executive, Curriculum)
Susan Huria (Observer).
Scribe
Sandra Rekatsinas (Board-Executive Administrator).
Apologies
Regan Dooley, Chief Advisor Strategy
PROCEDURAL
Section
Subject
APOLOGIES
Regan Dooley
The Board Chair, Barbara Ala’alatoa declared the meeting open at 11.30am, starting with a
Karakia:
Whakataka te hau ki te uru
Whakataka te hau ki te tonga
Kia mākinakina ki uta
Kia mātaratara ki tai
E hī ake ana te atakura
He tio, he huka, he hau hū
Tīhei mauri ora!
Noted there were brief introductions and a welcome to Susan Huria as an observer. Susan Huria was
recently commissioned to undertake an external review of the Board.
1
MEETING ADMINISTRATION
1.1
Conflict of Interest Register
Noted the updated Conflict of Interest Register.
1.2
Agenda Review
Noted the Agenda was reviewed.
1.3
Minutes of the Board meeting
The Board
received the Minutes of the Meeting held on 8 July 2020 and
approved them as a true and
accurate record.
Moved
Mele Wendt
Seconded: Maxine Moana-Tuwhangai
1.4
Action items
Noted progress on the action points.
1.5
Board Meeting Schedule 2020
Noted the Board Meeting Schedule 2020.
Draft Board Meeting Schedule 2021
Noted the
draft Board Meeting Schedule 2021 with meetings to be held on the 2nd Wednesday of every
month.
The Board-Executive Administrator to be advised if any of the given dates are not suitable.
COMMITTEE REPORTING
1.8
Employer Committee Work Plan 2020
Noted the Employer Committee Work Plan 2020.
Employer Committee Meeting held on Wednesday 5 August 2020
Noted matters considered by this morning’s Employer Committee. In particular, the 2020 CE mid-year
Performance Review discussion. The Committee was complimentary about the extent to which the
report reflected - positive improvements in the right direction, quality of work and a clear picture of
direction – more specifically it showed a highly efficient operation that brings great value to a number of
learners.
Section
Subject
The Employer Committee resolved that the 2020 CE Performance Objectives (mid-year) be circulated to
the ful Board at its September meeting for inclusion in the In Committee part of the meeting.
1.9
Draft Minutes of Risk Assurance Committee held on 23 July 2020
Received the draft Risk Assurance Committee Minutes held on 23 July 2020.
Moved: Maxine Moana-Tuwhangai
Prior to moving to the Chief Executive’s reports, the Board Chair, Barbara Ala’alatoa noted her
attendance at the Auckland Team Talks on Monday this week. She acknowledged the opportunity to
hear the voice of kaimahi directly on perspectives, shared views on priorities and to give feedback about
Covid-19 experiences. The comments received from kaimahi were positive and good ideas for moving
forward were conveyed.
Kaimahi expressed gratitude to the Board for providing equipment which overall has made a huge
difference to their ability to work remotely.
3.
CHIEF EXECUTIVE REPORTS
3.1
STRATEGIC
Noted this item.
3.2
Health and Safety Dashboard
a)
Noted the below Health and Safety monthly statistics for June 2020:
i.
There have been thirteen reported work incidents in 2020, an increase of one reported
incident since last month’s report.
b)
Noted Graph 1. Sick Leave Days taken in June 2020:
i.
Te Kura kaimahi have taken a total of 117 days of sick leave in June this year. This continues
the trend shown in the last reports of sick leave taken in 2020 being significantly lower than
2019 in both the year to date and direct monthly comparison.
ii.
Year to date there is a 44% decrease in overall sick leave taken when compared to the same
period in 2019.
iii.
When comparing sick leave taken by kaimahi specifically in June 2020 to sick leave taken in
June 2019 there has been an 67% decrease.
c)
Noted Graph 2. Year to Date Sick Leave Comparison:
a. While there is still a significant decrease in sick leave being taken by kaimahi in a direct
month to month comparison between 2019 and 2020 you can see that the difference is less
than the last few months. Future reports wil confirm whether this is an anomaly or the
reduction in sick leave being taken due to Covid-19 and remote working is slowly reducing.
d)
Noted Graph
3. There have been no new incidents of stress reported through Taangata.
e)
Noted Graph 4. There has been one new bul ying incident recorded in June 2020.
Board members noted the highlights from the Health and Safety Dashboard report. Also noted that
there is still some under-reporting of stress and a need to explore a different reporting mechanism that
will give kaimahi confidence to report stress.
3.3
Chief Executive Monthly Progress Report.
The Chief Executive covered the fol owing matters in his report:
•
Non-Returners process: The running of this process has resumed as at July 2020. It is likely to result
in quite a few ākonga being removed from the rol . There has been a strong focus with Kaiako on
engagement and further clarification will be provided to help Kaiako understand the funding
mechanism for Segments 1, 2 and 3.
•
ClassroomNZ2020: There has been huge interest from Education Agencies for Te Kura to support
other schools in the wider sector.
•
Summer School: It is expected that there wil be a lift in enrolments for Summer School this year as
school principals are responding to Covid-19 and the recent changes to NCEA arrangements for next
year. Preparation is underway to increase staffing for Summer School.
•
Student Journey: A tool is being developed to get ākonga onboard and engaged as soon as
possible, including Young Adults and Adults. This tool is being tested with a view to potentially
implementing in Term 2 next year (so it does not compromise the conclusion of Summer School in
Term 1).
•
YA/NEETS: – There been some good activity to-date, especially with Enviroskills. Low engagement
and the need to increase the conversion rates for funding remain an issue.
Section
Subject
•
Salesforce tool: There has been very little progress due to Covid-19. The initial implementation is
with IT helpdesk and there are frameworks in place for multiple areas in the school to use this front-
end helpdesk tool. Implementation to those areas will be towards the end of the year.
•
Telling our Story: Sadly, we received a resignation from the Communication Specialist, Antonia
Wallace. It was expressed that this is a pivotal role and the importance of appointing a person as
soon as possible.
•
D2L Excel ence Award: Te Kura was proud to receive an award for the delivery of innovative,
collaborative and successful learning experiences. (The link to this will be available on the Intranet
on Monday, including the Twitter comment). Te Kura is targeting Career Expos and other events to
increase its presence nationally.
•
Learning Support Project: Work is underway to simplify internal processes, collecting data and
consolidating teacher aide work. The aim is to look at immediate improvements over the next six
months and to draft a three-year plan.
•
Pacific Ākonga Success: The Samoan Language courses for levels 1 and 2 are complete. Discussions
moved to matters relating to the financial viability for developing language courses and having a
planned approach to offer multiple specific languages. An idea of promoting offerings to schools
and communities through the Pacific Strategy was suggested.
Noted the need for further kōrero on identifying new course and subject offerings in the longer-
term and considering the investment needed.
Noted the Ministry for Pacific Peoples has recently established an entire team to work on providing
specific languages across Aotearoa.
Management action:
The Board to receive information on the Academic Committee Terms of Reference for information.
Received the Monthly CE Progress report for August 2020.
Received a video clip on the Equel a Learning Objective Repository and a demonstration of My Korowai
– My Plan. The aim is to promote the My Korowai tool to other schools
.
Noted a key priority for the CE for the month is the Learning Object Repository (LOR).
The Board adjourned for lunch at 12.45pm for 30 minutes.
4.
FINANCE
4.1
Financial Report
Noted this report.
The Deputy Chief Executive Systems and Support provided Board members with the key highlights of
the report. The main emphasis being the increased revenue position and that expenditure is down and
projecting it could remain low due to the Covid-19 impact.
The Board noted the discussion about ongoing funding challenges, the deficit budget, budget
assumptions for next year and the identification of possible further savings from the current budget.
Noted that funding rates for teacher aides, pay equity adjustments and the high teacher-student ratio
were all noted as significant matters.
Moved: Maxine Moana-Tuwhangai
Seconded: Mele Wendt
5.
APPROVALS
5.1
Governance policies
Noted this item.
6
NOTING AND INFORMATION
6.1
Inwards Correspondence/Outwards Correspondence
Noted this item.
6.2
Enrolment Statistics
Noted this report and the fact that cumulative enrolment continues to track above the prior year (4%).
The July non-returners process wil be evident in next month’s report.
Noted the request to do a projected analysis of which categories could be impacted in the July non-
returners process to identify the possible revenue effect.
6.3
July Progress Indicators Report Against 2020 Charter and Annual Plan
Section
Subject
Noted the July Progress Indicators Report against the 2020 Charter and Annual Plan and summary of
engagement progress and achievement rates on how Te Kura is tracking against its goals across al
cohorts.
Noted Goal 1 (Engagement in My Korowai) and Goal 3 (Wel being) are expected to be achieved.
Noted the decrease in dropbox submissions rates for FT, YA and Māori cohorts, and the rise in FT
referral enrolments, as the primary contributor to the decrease in engagement.
Noted the decrease in achievement rates for al four priority groups despite identical numbers of
standards achieved between 2019 and 2020 YTD with rise in enrolments as the primary contributor to
the decrease in achievement.
Noted that literacy and numeracy proportions have dropped for FT and Pacific ākonga, however
achieved LIT and NUM standard numbers are up significantly over 2019 (+120 literacy standards and
+200 numeracy standards for FT/YA cohorts). The drop is attributed to the rise in enrolments,
particularly for Northern, over last month.
6.4
Legislative Compliance Framework report
Noted this report and summary of key changes in the Legislative Compliance Framework report.
Received information that the Education and Training Bill has been passed and given royal assent. The
framework wil be updated for the next iteration to the Board.
Noted some impacts
for Te Kura include:
-
having an elected Staff Representative on the Board. Te Kura will run an election process for this.
-
the offshore provision of NCEA.
Further information on the Act and key changes are available at the Ministry of Education website at
https://www.education.govt.nz/our-work/legislation/education-and-training-act-2020/
6.5
Curriculum annual reporting update
Noted the update and that the report gives assurance that Te Kura is meeting its obligations under the
National Administration Guidelines (NAGs).
6.6
Te Ara Pounamu – local Big Picture Curriculum
Noted this paper that guides learning design at Te Kura and sets out the elements of our local curriculum
and framework. Te Ara Pounamu comprises three interdependent elements:
•
Ngā Mātāpono - the guiding philosophy and principles on which we base al learning
conversations and decision making
•
Ngā Āheinga - skills, attitudes, dispositions and values for living, lifelong learning and
wellbeing
•
Ara Ako - diverse, personalised contexts for active learning.
The next step is to socialise this further at the upcoming Huinga Kaiwhakahaere on 27/28 August 2020,
and to embed a shared language for learning used and understood by kaimahi, ākonga and whānau.
The Board was extremely complimentary of the paper and noted the language was articulated in a such
beautiful way. The Deputy Chief Executive, Curriculum and kaimahi involved in Te Ara Pounamu together
were also acknowledged.
The Chief Executive noted that the embedding of Big Picture has been heartening and the change in
attitude on what Curriculum looks like is remarkable.
6.7
2021 Planning and Reporting update
Noted this report and progress to date.
Noted a Managers’ hui was held on 28 July to set the scene for planning and budgeting for 2021 and
beyond, including high-level budget assumptions and the timeline for 2021 budget and Charter and
Annual Plan preparation.
Management action:
It was recommended that the draft Strategic Objectives for 2021-2023 as part of the 2021 Charter and
Annual Plan be presented to the September Board meeting. Provision to be made on the agenda for
discussion.
6.8
July Roll Return – data summary
Noted this report and overview of the purpose of the two Rol Returns that are due for submission in
March and July of each year.
Section
Subject
Received an explanation that the March Roll Return relates to FTE calculation for face-to-face schools and
checks the number of ākonga enrol ed. The July report is a roll information update.
GENERAL BUSINESS
The Board External Review
Susan Huria left the meeting prior to the Board moving into the In Committee part of the meeting.
She advised that the draft Evaluation report will be available on 18 August 2020. The results will be
presented to the 9 September Board meeting.
7
NEXT MEETING
September 2020
I move that the public be excluded from the
In Committee section of the Board’s agenda. This motion is made in
reliance of Section 48 (1) of the Local Government Information and Meetings Act 1987.
The general subject matter to be considered while the public is excluded, the reason for passing this resolution
in relation to each matter, and the specific grounds under section 48(1) of the Local Government Official
Information and Meetings Act 1987 for the passing of the resolution is:
General subject of each
Reason for passing this resolution in relation to each
Ground(s) under section 48(1)
matter to be considered
matter
for the reason for this resolution
CEO Matters and
Where the exclusion of public is necessary to protect the
s.48 (1) (a) (i )
Personnel/Staffing Matters privacy of natural persons [OIA 1982 s.9 (2) (a) refers, and
also where necessary to avoid prejudice to the School’s
commercial activities [OIA1982 s.9 (2) (i) refers].
Sub-committee Reports
Avoid prejudice to commercial activities (OIA s.9(2)(i) refers) s.48(1)(a)(i )
and
protect the privacy of a natural person (OIA s.9(2)(a) refers)
Stakeholder Matters and
Protect the privacy of a natural person (OIA s.9 (2)(a) refers) s.48(1)(a)(i )
Media Issues
I also move that, Mike Hollings, Viv Rogers, Te Rina Leonard, Ella Tavernor, John Nisbet, Anne Coster and Sandra
Rekatsinas as be permitted to remain at this meeting after the public has been excluded because of their
knowledge of these matters.
Moved: Barbara Ala’alatoa
Barbara Ala’alatoa
Date: 5 August 2020
Board Chair
Document Outline
