NZPTA Newsletters

Newsletters

NZPTA publishes 2 newsletters annually. These are sent to every school in the country at the beginning and middle of each year. In addition, each Federation produces their own newsletters that are sent to members. If you are interested in having some information included in one of our newsletters, please contact us.

Here is the latest NZPTA News from the President's Desk ...

NATIONAL NEWSLETTER NO 2. - JULY 2006

‘GIVE ME FIVE’.

GIVE ME FIVE PROGRAMME LAUNCHED.

We launched their new ‘Give Me Five’ programme on Saturday, 24^th June at our conference in Christchurch, opened by Hon Steve Maharey, the Minister of Education.

‘Give Me Five’ is designed to help schools involve parents, families and whanau that may not usually be actively involved in the education of their children. Parents and other family members are asked to give just 5 hours of their time during the year. By making the task seem manageable, schools can open the door to many families that may not have felt able to be involved before.

The NZPTA understands that successful family involvement is not just up to families. The school must also make a commitment to welcoming parents and actively seek their support and assistance. Once parents have promised to give their 5 hours, it is up to the school to make them feel welcome and provide a range of worthwhile and rewarding tasks so that all parents can contribute – both in the school and at home. ‘Give Me Five’ provides a framework and range of resources to help schools do this. These are all available from NZPTA or on the website givemefive.org.nz .

The beauty of the ‘Give Me Five’ programme is that any school can implement it. We have found that businesses are also keen to get behind ‘Give Me Five’ and support their local schools by providing incentives and prizes for families who get involved.

The launch was most successful and excitement has been generated for the schools who were there plus the many Ministry and other education sector representatives who were there.

The NZPTA, North Island and South Island executives are all armed with the presentation and will be only too willing to show it to you. If you are interested, please contact and invite 5 – 10 schools around you to see it too. As much as we would like to be able to go to every school who requests it, we do not have the personnel to do this, so it must be done in groups.

Refer to the list at the front of ‘Parent and School Today’ for your closest representative, or take a look here.

NZPTA CONFERENCE.

In opening the conference, Hon Steve Maharey acknowledged the importance of family and whanau involvement in education, which has been made a priority in the Schooling Strategy. He discussed the challenges that many schools face in getting families involved, particularly those from Asian or Pasifika ethnic backgrounds. To help schools meet this challenge, the NZPTA will be working to have ‘Give Me Five’ resources available in a range of languages in the near future.

The programme was interesting and informative and the cold weather was soon dispelled by the warmth of the camaraderie inside.

The topics covered were ones that are of concern to parents – and through them to the PTA/Parent Group of the school.

Bullying, drugs, healthy eating and keeping your school healthy were the main topics – along with an impressive cultural item from Cathedral Catholic School who entertained us with some Pasifika dances and information from the Ministry of Education.

We welcomed our guests for the launch of ‘Give Me Five’ and all were impressed with the power-point presentation by Vanessa Witt, who has been the driving force of this programme, and some video and power-point created by the pupils of North New Brighton School who have been successfully trialing the programme this year. Pam and Graeme Lee from Kaimai school also gave input as they too, have been using the programme this year.

The comments from the schools using ‘Give Me Five’ has been that not only are more parents volunteering, but some are ones whom they thought would never come up to the school.

You too can have that sort of success.

Just give us a call.

Prizewinners

The draw for the A500 Series digital camera kindly donated by Fujifilm New Zealand was won by

Friends of Drury School

Remember, those eligible to be in the draw were those schools who were affiliated before the 30^th April. We hope to have something similar next year, so make sure you look for your next National newsletter in February 2007.

A further incentive to join NZPTA now has been provided by Scholastic Book Fairs. Any NZPTA member who holds a Scholastic Book Fair from July - December this year will recieve a further 10% commission on sales on top of the usual 30% ($500 minimum sales). This will provide at least a further $50 of books for your school!!!!

It pays to belong to NZPTA!

The back-packs kindly donated by Spartan Products were won by

Graeme Lee of Kaimai School

Kellie Simpson of Waikouaiti School

We would also like to acknowledge:

Scholastic New Zealand for hundreds of dollars worth of book vouchers and their special Book Fair deal
Golden Circle for delegates bags
Westpac for folders and pens
BDL (Christchurch ) for use of copier
Warehouse Stationery for spot prizes
Lion Foundation for funds for North Island Parent Teacher Association
Pub Charity for funds
Canterbury Foundation for funds
Hydropal for drink bottles with filters
Spotless Services NZ Ltd for introducing their 'Food For Me'

Our grateful thanks to these sponsors !!!

The Election of Officers saw the President, Secretary and Treasurer – Diane O’Sullivan, Tracy Hurst-Porter and Jennifer de Jonge – continuing in their role with the

South Island representatives being Linda Boyce, Karen Finlay, Janice Henderson, Margaret Mooney and Jenny Muschamp and

the North Island representatives being Catherine Clark, Graeme Lee, Pam Lee, Amanda Meldon and Vanessa Witt.

All of these people are ready, willing and able to help you with ideas, problems, Give Me Five information and a sympathetic listening ear.

For their phone numbers and email addresses, please see the front of the ‘Parent and School Today’ magazine or check the web-site – www.nzpta.org.nz

There are also others who are part of the North and South Island Federations who could help as well and may be nearer to you.

‘The Essential Improving Student Learning Guide for Parents and Teachers’.

You will find in this newsletter, our newest brochure which is designed for use by parents – who can then show it to teachers.

Parents are important – arguably the most important determinant of a child’s success – maybe it ties in with expert teaching – but children need help and support from parents and whanau.

The brochure lists the advantages of being involved – truly involved – in student learning and then goes on to give ideas for parents and teachers as to what this help is and how and when it can be given. The teachers who have seen it have been very excited as teachers want the best for the children in their class and are aware that they need to be PARTNERS IN EDUCATION with the family/whanau to achieve this.

We are hoping that we will be able to provide all the copies you want but to do this we will need to find some sponsors for printing. If anyone has a business that would like their name on the back page – remember it goes to every school in the country and maybe to every home – please contact me president@nzpta.org.nz to arrange details.

In the meantime, the brochure is available to members in a less-colourful form on the web-site (www.nzpta.org.nz), suitable for printing out and photocopying.

If we have to sell them, there will be a cheaper price for members than non-members.

‘UPSTART’.

New 100% Kiwi children’s magazine - a great fund-raiser

Teachers and parents are looking forward to a new magazine that offers not just quality New Zealand-based articles, but also invites young readers to contribute their work.

Upstart , for 7 to 12 year-olds, is a more values-based alternative to the plethora of overseas-based kids’ mags. It is being promoted through primary and intermediate schools, for both classroom use and as a community fund-raiser. It comes from the publishers of Tearaway, and is being launched with the assistance of Save the Children New Zealand.

Full details are on www.upstartmag.co.nz or

phone Jody on 06 349 0049, ext 2.

Email orders@upstartmag.co.nz

The Cookie Munchers Charitable Trust.

We are looking forward to working in partnership with Cookie Munchers Charitable Trust.

The trust is very active in the area of education with a special focus on dyslexia and helping dyslexic children discover their gift. The fact that dyslexic children have a ‘different’ way of thinking often means that they look at the world in a different way and hence are often those who are divergent thinkers and ‘think outside the square’ – therefore their way of thinking is a ‘gift’.

The support of dyslexic children involves providing support of the

Davis Dyslexia Association
sponsoring professional development opportunities for teachers
facilitating information evenings for parents and
running a Dyslexia Correction Scholarship Programme to enable children to access the Davis system.

Our two organisations aim to work together collaboratively – we can let you, the parents, know of the existence of such help and suggest that maybe dyslexia – it’s cause/meaning/what can be done about it, can be the subject of a PTA meeting, or – better still – the subject of a cluster group meeting.

For more information look on the web-site www.cmct.org.nz or email trustsupport@cmct.org.nz

Hydropal Personal Water Filtration.

These water bottles may be available as a fund-raiser soon.

A water bottle with it’s own filter – filters out all the mineral things plus even some nasties such as giardia. These ones are available at outdoor stores – called the Survival Bottle.

The one for schools – complete with filter – will be available soon.

For further information – www.hydropal.com

Watch this space.

Well, folks, I guess this is all for now - we look forward to hearing from you – having your affiliation – it’s never too late and there are such exciting things going on at the present time.

Keep up to date.

Keep being involved in your children’s education.

Get more information on ‘Give Me Five’ and get it started in YOUR school – more volunteers, more community, more successful children.

See you soon,

Kindest regards,

Diane.

National Newsletter No.1 - February 2006

For All Parents in New Zealand Schools.

Greetings – salutations – kia ora – malola lei – talofa – happy new year!

Welcome to another fun-filled, fulfilling, exciting and successful year of PTA, Home and School, School Support Group, Friends of the School etc etc etc.

Call yourselves what you will – you are all welcome to join our merry band.

WE Need YOU.

We are often asked by the media and other education sector groups for the ‘parent view’ of activities, policies, attitudes etc. We need YOU as part of our membership to give us this feedback so that we can be sure that the opinion we give is that of PARENTS.

We are a voluntary organization who works for parents and their children in schools. We need finance to do this. We need your very modest affiliation fee - $70 per year – per PTA/Parent Group – not per child!!!!

We need lots of school involved so that we can be a ‘mutual support group’ –

with ideas on running your PTA/Parent group
with the exchange of information between schools
for the development of ‘cluster groups’ who can address together local issues rather than each school trying to box on by themselves
with ideas for fundraising

YOU Need US.

For help and information – many groups ring us for help and even though they may not be members, we do help them – and encourage them to join. Most do, but sometimes the problem would not have arisen if they had had our Handbook and other publications in the first place.

For having on hand our Handbook which is so useful and is a mine of information.

To keep you up-to-date with what’s going on in the Ministry and other education sector groups. PTA/Parent groups are MORE than JUST fundraising. Schooling is becoming so very complex now, that parents need to be more aware of the what, how and when their children are being taught. We do this as a clearing house service. Our monthly newsletter to member schools does this.

d) Having trouble getting parents involved? We are presenting a great new programme to help you get more volunteers at our national conference in June. There is also a big push from the Ministry of Education for parent involvement. You may have seen TV ads featuring Tana Umaga encouraging parents to be involved in their schools. It’s called the ‘Team Up’ Campaign and our programme will work alongside this as well.

e) To help you

develop your parents
improve your skills in running committees
get more satisfaction out of involvement with school
develop better relationships between principal, board, staff, parents and community
formulate Cluster Groups which really work

We Need Each other.

All this comes down to the fact that if all PTA/Parent Groups were affiliated into one body, our voice would be based on consultation and awareness – and would need to be listened to.

Just think of a few examples of the ‘powers that be’ not listening to parents

The idea of having a week of the September holidays put somewhere else so that a few talented pupils could have their time at a tournament – with no thought as to how families with children at different levels would cope
The idea of starting school the day after Waitangi Day and ending only a couple of days before Christmas – who was consulted there?
Some schools not telling parents when the meningitis jabs were to be given so they could not discuss the event with their children

If we were all one organization, we would be in touch by newsletter and email and phone and so the news and information would be transmitted to everyone.

Think long and hard about joining your fellow workers in PTA, fill in the accompanying invoice and send it back to us as soon as possible.

The more you are involved the better your children do at school – research here and overseas has shown this time and time again.

What do you get for Affiliating?

First of all, you get the Very Useful Handbook. If you have affiliated in the last couple of years, you won’t get a new one, but you will get the updates on the

Treasurer’s Manual and

NZPTA Personnel List.

Secondly, along with these two items will come a PASSWORD which will allow you into the ‘Members Only’ sections of the web-site (www.nzpta.org.nz ). This section will have on it for example – the Handbook for printing out extra bits for officers, the pamphlets for downloading extra copies and various other pieces of information which are well worth knowing.

We would like to make all information available to all parent groups, but as we depend almost solely on membership fees, we need to have something which is special for those who support us.

Thirdly, you get copies of our pamphlets – ‘Advantages of Parent Involvement’, ‘Getting Parents Involved and Keeping them Involved’ and ‘Questions to Ask at a Parent/Teacher Interview’.

New ones are in the pipeline – ‘Partners in Education – Communicating’ and ‘Partners in Education – Improving Student Learning’. As well, you get copies of what we have sent out with past newsletters – internet safety, maths information, safety on school buses and walking to school, fire safety, ‘Team-Up’, a series of tips on developing good behaviour in children and many others. The idea of sending these out is so that parents know what is available and how to get the brochures. These can then be given out to all parents – thus parent education becomes part of the school culture.

Conferences – North Island – South Island – National NZPTA.

North Island - this is to be held at the Christian Camp, Mission Bay, Taupo on the weekend of 19^th – 21^st May.

South Island – to be held on 7th May

National NZPTA – Friday 23^rd June – Sunday 25^th June in Christchurch.

We will be trying very hard to get funding for these so that it will cost you next-to-nothing to attend.

Christchurch may seem like an expensive place to get to – especially for northern North Island people, but 2 schools in Christchurch sent 7 people to the national conference last year – IN AUCKLAND.

They realized the benefits of attending such a conference and

fund-raised specifically for it
a great time was had by all
South Island’s executive has been strengthened and buoyed by the interest shown
the attendees have taken home great ideas gleaned from all over the country
they are instituting them in their own schools/areas.

Good programmes are planned and fun and fellowship guaranteed.

The first registration forms as an ‘expression of interest’ will be in the February issue of ‘Parent and School Today’, so look for it and be prepared to think carefully about coming.

Lots of advantages

Cheap – Good bed and board for very little
Worthwhile – very good value for money when you consider how little you could ‘buy’ for each individual child as compared to the great advantages for all for spending the same amount
Extends networks – many folk from previous conferences have worked together on projects
Brings home lots of ideas – administration, fundraising, activities – the list is endless
Builds skill bases of parents involved – many opportunities for personal growth
Makes friends – you never know who you’ll meet and be with for a long time
Develops cluster groups – you meet people from schools around you and you realize that you have things in common and you don’t have to re-invent the wheel.

This first newsletter gives you plenty of notice of what is coming up. Write the dates in your diary now.

NZPTA Executive Meeting.

The exec are getting together in Wellington on February 24^th – 26^th and continuing the development of the programme for the year.

a) Is there anything in education/health/welfare of children in school\ that you feel that NZPTA should be addressing?

An example of an issue where NZPTA took the lead was in the matter of cycle helmets. While others did good work also, NZPTA was able to mobilize the interest in schools and so the ground-swell grew. The rest, as they say, is history.

Is there an issue like that that is burning in your area?

Let Tracy, our Secretary, or Diane our President know, provide them with some background information and we can consider the matter at the meeting.

We also hope to be able to meet with the Minister of Education and put the case for the consideration of parents and children in all aspects of educational policy.

PTAs are legitimately able to be concerned with these things. After all, it is our children who are attending the schools.

We will be planning

our new programme to encourage parent volunteers in your school
new pamphlets
ways of raising our profile among education officers, principals, boards, teachers and others
PTA Week – third week in August – to tie in with the selling of School Cookies
Plus many other things.

Do you have any ideas? What would you like us to tackle? How do you think we could communicate better?

What could we offer that would make you affiliate if you haven’t already?

c) We really want to hear what you’ve got to offer. This is a mutual support organization – those who run it are ordinary PTA people like yourselves and we want to be of use to everyone.

We’d love to have ALL schools affiliated – just think what support we could give each other and how we would be listened to.

Any thoughts/bouquets/brickbats/etc welcomed. Just drop a line to diane@nzpta.org.nz or secretary@nzpta.org.nz

School Cookies.

Thank you soooooooo much to all of you PTA/Parent Groups who sold School Cookies last year. We hope that you made a goodly profit for not much work.

NZPTA also gets a very small royalty off these and that helps us to keep affiliation fees low and to keep on being able to service you.

We would love to see every school (well, every 2^nd school) taking some cookies to sell.

The easiest way is to get parents to buy a box or two, pay you for them and then they sell them at work and just pocket the money. Sure beats trying to keep track of it and sending it back to the school.

Orders for first selling – Term 2 – need to be in about April (end of Term 1) with delivery for May and payment by 30^th June.

Second selling – Term 3 – orders need to be in about July (end of 2^nd term) with delivery in August and payment in September. This selling ties in with PTA Week when we celebrate ourselves and get the rest of the community to celebrate and congratulate us.

Good luck with your fundraising ventures and please put the cookies pretty much on the top of the list.

Our Teachers – and their Welfare.

Despite looking at our name a number of times and thinking that it was time to perhaps change it and bring it up to a more modern look, we always found that nothing else described as well what we were all about.

Yes, we’re about parents – helping them to be better informed parents and therefore able to help, encourage and support their children but …

Yes, we’re about helping, encouraging and supporting our teachers.

Teaching is not an easy job – despite the holidays, one doesn’t see queues of people wanting to take it on. Some children are very very difficult – sometimes teachers are more welfare (in its broadest sense) workers before they can be teachers and there is assessment, assessment, assessment. (Seemingly parents want to every aspect of their child’s progress and feel that this is the only way – to have a pile of marks, comments, achievements etc. Getting involved in school does away with the need for a lot of this). But, I digress ….

We know that not every teacher is a world beater but every one can, and has, touched some pupil and made a difference in their life.

Let us support our teachers – if we have a problem let’s make sure that we look at the pages in our Handbook which give us some guidelines in dealing with conflict situations and try to get through without damaging ourselves, the teacher, our child or their attitude to school.

We don’t always agree with every teacher – any more than we agree with any other of our friends and acquaintances – but we support them in their attempts to do the best for the children in their class.

Therefore – we keep the name PARENT TEACHER ASSOCIATION to show that we parents and the teacher working together make for a successful child/pupil.

parent-teacher partnership

Here it is in graphic form.

Well folks, I guess this is all for now – the beginning of a new year and the coming of new experiences, new friends and the exciting task of helping and watching our children grow.

May everything good come from your endeavours – from working in the classroom to helping with reading groups to healthy lunchrooms to fundraising.

All the best and kindest regards,

Diane O’Sullivan

President.

NZPTA - Partners in Education