Email: office@hi.school.nz
Website: hi.school.nz
Location: 245 South Road, Hawera, New Zealand
Phone: 06 278 5030
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HaweraIntermediate/

The year is flying by, it's hard to believe we are already in the month of June!

Future schooling provision is foremost in many parent minds with consultation meetings happening across the town.

Last week alongside Hawera High School we hosted guests from around the country who are operating under different schooling models than what we have in our community in South Taranaki. We deliberately wanted to show our community other models so that we all have a better understanding of how different school models could operate. A huge thank you to those that came along to these meetings and we hope you enjoyed listening to some amazing educators from around the country. As they all stressed in their presentations this is what they do in their context and it works in their context but every school context in the country is unique. As a community we are now in a very privileged position that we get to have these conversations to determine what model of schooling is going to best meet the needs of our young people.

If you were unable to attend meetings a short summary follows:

The consultation process:

• Community consultation was held in 2020 (meetings, surveys, submissions to MOE, etc).

• MOE processed this information and presented it back to the Hawera community late in 2020.

• All community members then had to mid February to send any further submissions to MOE.

• Minister Hipkins then received the information and came out with the three options for formal consultation.

• We are now in the formal consultation phase, this ends on July 9th. The Boards of Trustees of affected schools have until this date to submit anything further to the MOE for Minister Hipkins.

The Hawera Intermediate School Board of Trustees will be sending in a submission to the MOE and would like to know what members of our school community are thinking about the three options. Surveys have been forwarded to personal email addresses.

We are hopeful for a decision from Minister Hipkins in early September.

Minister Hipkins will pick from one of the following three options:

• Proposal A

Recapitation of 6 contributing primary schools in the area to become full primary schools (Year 1-8), and the closure of Hawera Intermediate School. The schools that would become Year 1-8 are: Hawera Primary School, Turuturu School, Mokoia School, Normanby School, Ramanui School and Tawhiti School.

• Proposal B1

Primary schools remain as they are (Year 1-6).

Merge Hawera Intermediate School and Hawera High School to form a Year 7–13 school from the start of 2023 on the Hawera High School site.

• Proposal B2

Primary schools remain as they are (Year 1-6).

Close Hawera Intermediate and Hawera High School and open a new Year 7-13 school on the Hawera High School site from the start of 2023.

Ngā mihi nui

Neryda Sullivan

Principal

1. WHAT WILL HAPPEN TO THE HAWERA INTERMEDIATE SITE AND BUILDINGS IF THE SCHOOL CLOSES?

The site and buildings will be available for use while more permanent property solutions are developed and achieved. This means if Proposal 1 was approved then some buildings could be relocated on other primary school sites. If Proposal 2 (A or B) were approved then the site and buildings could be used until other property decisions are made by the Board of the new or merged Year 7-13 school. Longer term the Ministry will determine what happens with the Hawera Intermediate site.

2. I AM A PARENT OF A YEAR 6 STUDENT. WHERE WILL MY CHILD BE NEXT YEAR?

If Proposal 1 was approved then ideally your child would stay at their current primary school for Year 7 in 2022. This also requires that the Ministry and Boards can complete the required changes for 2022. If schools indicate in their submissions that the implementation date needs to be pushed out to 2023, your child may be in the last year group to attend Hawera Intermediate School.

If Proposal 2 were approved then your child would be eligible to enrol at the new Y7-13 school. Depending on the decisions of the Year 7-13 Board, they may be at the Hawera High School site or they may be temporarily at the current Hawera Intermediate site until more permanent property decisions are made by the establishment board of the new or merged school.

3. WILL I HAVE TO BUY A NEW UNIFORM? IF SO WHICH ONE?

If Proposal 1 was approved then your child would stay at their current primary school and would stay in their current uniform (if the school has one).

Or if your child was at Hawera Intermediate next year as part of the transition process (because your current school will not have space for year 7 straight away) then Hawera Intermediate has confirmed that there will not be the requirement to buy their school uniform for 2022.

If Proposal 2 (A or B) were approved then depending on the decisions of the Year 7-13 Board, parents would be informed of the uniform requirements. Most boards in this situation have a phasing in of new uniforms.

4. WHAT TRANSPORT TO SCHOOL WILL BE AVAILABLE?

The closure of the Intermediate School may result in a change to the transport eligibility zones (TEZ) for neighbouring schools and/or the new or merged school. If there are changes we will work with the schools and communities concerned and parents will be notified in a timely way. There may also be some transitional arrangements.

5. CLOSURE/MERGER PROCESS

Following the current formal consultation on the proposals, the feedback will be collated, and a report will be developed for the Minister. It is likely that the Minister will then be in a position to make a final decision.

Once a final decision is confirmed the changes will be gazetted and the Ministry and boards will work towards implementation.

If the final decision includes the closure of a school (or both the intermediate and high schools), then a change manager (or managers) will be appointed by the Minister of Education to support the board(s) through this process. Staff will continue to be supported through EAP. In a closure, all positions (including the board) finish on the date of closure.

If the final decision includes the merger of the intermediate and the high school, then the Ministry will work to appoint the board of the continuing school. This could be one of the current boards with representatives from both schools, or it may be an appointed board. The board of the continuing school is the board that determines the policies, practices, staffing etc for the merged school. This is a complex process and we would estimate it would take most of 2022 to complete ready for opening in 2023.

If the final decision includes the establishment of a new school then an Establishment Board will be appointed. The Establishment Board is the board that determines how the school will operate by year levels and curriculum, policies, practices, staffing etc for the new school. This is a complex process and we would estimate it would take most of 2022 to complete ready for opening in 2023. To support the Establishment Board we would provide a Governance Facilitator to guide the Board in its decision-making.

While the process above is occurring, the high school and intermediate will continue to remain open and provide education to your children.

6. WHAT FUNDING WOULD BE AVAILABLE TO SUPPORT THE SCHOOLS?

When a school closes or merges it generates Education Development Initiative (EDI) funding. In the case of the Hawera proposals there would be $1,000,000 in EDI funding generated (which is approximately 2,500 per Year 7 and 8 student). This is based on the 1 March roll of the Intermediate School as per the EDI policy.

EDI funding is to be used by a school board to support students to transition to their next school and for projects to raise student achievement.

Joint Schooling Initiative Funding (JSIF) is also generated where there are two or more schools remaining in the network following the change. In the case of the Hawera proposals there would be $290,000. JSIF funding is to be used for collaborative projects between two or more schools to support students.

7. ANY INFORMATION ABOUT 7-13 MODELS

Some Year 7-13 schools operate as traditional secondary schools. In more recent years there has been an interest in middle schooling (Year 7-10) and senior schooling (Year 11-13) and some Year 7-13 schools operate as junior high and senior high schools, with separate programmes, property. They are still one school with one board and one principal.

If proposal 2 (A or B) was approved, and the board chose to operate as a junior and senior high, there may be some classes that cut across the junior high – senior high model, such as a immersion te reo unit in the school. These units usually operate as a whānau group within the school.

8. KEEPING TEACHERS CURRENTLY AT THE INTERMEDIATE AND HIGH SCHOOLS.

Should the Minister’s final decision include the closure of the intermediate and/or the high school, we will work with the teacher unions to consider how best to support staff, and teaching and learning for students during the transition.

Parents can email enquiries.whanganui@education.govt with any questions or click on the following link for more information.

In Term 1 Hawera Intermediate applied for and were successful in obtaining 12 brand new ukulele from the NZ Ukulele trust. These are now a valuable addition to our Performing Arts programme. We would like to sincerely thank the NZ Ukulele Trust for their donation and support of The Arts at Hawera Intermediate.

Organisation for school camps is coming together with more information and timelines out at the end of the term.

We are still looking for parent help for camps at Whakamaru and Taupo. If you are available from 26-29 October please contact Kylie - surgenork@hi.school.nz for police vetting forms as these take time to process.

Teachers will be at school involved in Professional Development in the morning and then at a Union Meeting in the afternoon.

Classes will not operate on this day.

On the 10th of June all students will be attending a session during the day at the Assembly Of God Church which will be focused on keeping ourselves safe online.

Teachers will also be attending a session after school supporting them to PROMOTE DIGITAL WELLBEING within their classrooms.

A Parent Session follows and we encourage you to go along at 7pm to be informed as to how to keep your child safe in the digital world:

• 8 June - PTA AGM - 6:30pm HIS Staffroom
• 14 June - Future Education Schooling Provision Survey Closes
• 14 June - Board of Trustees Meeting - 5.30pm - Staffroom
• 24 June - School Closed - Professional Development in the morning, Union Meeting afternoon
• 29 June- Winter Sports Exchange - Devon Intermediate
  
• 6-7 July - Home School Partnership Meetings