28 February 2023
A P Clarke
[FYI request #21619 email]
Tēnā koe
OIA: 1303331 – Bullying at Orewa College
Thank you for your email of 24 January 2023 to the Ministry of Education (the Ministry) requesting
the following information:
Please provide all interactions and records of any type (internal & external) with regards to the
subject of bullying and personal safety (staff and pupils) at Orewa college from January 2021 to
the day of the request being fulfilled.
Please also include all communications and records between the ministry, the board of trustees
and/or Orewa College (including the senior leadership team or their representatives) on any
subject from January 2021 to the day of the request being fulfilled.
Your request has been considered under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act).
On 1 February 2023, you amended the scope of your request to
communications on bullying,
assaults and violence of any kind (pupils and staff) for the calendar year of 2022 in relation to
Orewa College. You also clarified that you were only interested in staffing or employment matters
insofar as they relate to bullying or assaults by pupils on staff, where the Ministry has had to
become involved.
We have conducted a record search and we have identified some items of correspondence
between Ministry staff and between Ministry staff and Orewa College staff in relation to students
being bullied at Orewa College. The correspondence relates to specific incidents of students being
bullied. Releasing this information could lead to individuals being publicly identified, so I am
withholding this correspondence in full under section 9(2)(a) of the Act, to protect the privacy of
natural persons.
As required under section 9(1) of the Act, I have considered the public interest considerations
favouring the release of this information. I have identified no public interest considerations that
outweigh the need to withhold the information at this time.
As previously advised, the Ministry does not get involved with staffing or employment matters
within schools, as they are self-governing through their boards. As a result, there are no incidents
of staff being bullied at Orewa College where the Ministry has had to become involved, and I am
Auckland Office, Level 3, 12-18 Normanby Road, Mt Eden, Auckland 1024
Private Bag 92644, Symonds Street, Auckland 1149 Phone: +64 9 632 9400
therefore refusing this part of your request under section 18(e) of the Act, as the information
requested does not exist.
Thank you again for your email. You have the right to ask an Ombudsman to review my decision
on your request, in accordance with section 28 of the Act. You can do this by writing to
[email address] or to Office of the Ombudsman, PO Box 10152, Wellington 6143.
Nāku noa, nā
Tanya Harvey
Director of Education for Auckland
Te Mahau | Te Tai Raro (North)
