HAMILTON DIOCESAN CATHOLIC PRINCIPALS'
ASSOCIATION
Minutes
Hamilton Diocesan Catholic Principals’ Association Meeting held in
Waihi, 26th- 27th March 2015
Apologies: Paul Shannon, Graeme Norman,Bidget Rika, Raewyn Clark,
Thursday 26th March
Opening Prayer led by students of St Joseph’s School, Waihi.
Welcome from Kath Joblin.
Kath passed on our thanks to Sean for organising everything for these two days.
Kath welcomed Anton, new principal at St Mary’s, Gisborne.
Kath welcomed Natalie Steens to our HCPA group. Natalie has committed to a further year at Taumaranui
Special welcome to our secondary school principals, Catherine Gunn and Patrick Walsh.
Forum
IES
there is a faith-based community of schools forming around Tauranga and Rotorua
Patrick Walsh spoke about IES and the formation of this community
IES communities come up with their own action plan and are then able to access resourcing
there are several roles that each community of schools will have - Exec. Principal / Project Leader, Expert T, Lead T - there are clear guidelines for the appointment of these roles
release from classroom for these roles will be flexible depending on your community and action plan
the faith-based community forming in Tauranga and Rotorua has nine schools. Each school has had opportunities to share their own achievement story which was very valuable. Focus is going to be around pedagogy, possibly inquiry learning pedagogy. Other areas that may be a focus are science, student-centred learning, technology. mathematics and special needs students.
This community would generate around $400,000 in resourcing
initial sign-up is for three years
NZEI don’t agree with IES but are not putting up barriers around it. In time, NZEI will have an alternative, The Joint Initiative which will be equally funded and equally promoted
there is one day left for teachers to have their say on the Joint Initiative - see the NZEI website. NZPF have already participated in this survey
as Catholic schools we are at an advantage in collaborating because of the spirit we operate under
Mike has heard from the Ministry that collaboration is here to stay and will be the catalyst for some fairly major changes in the NZ Education system - to break down the highly competitive market model
Health and Safety
Kath gave out Leading Health and Safety booklet from the workshop she attended
it is good practice to have an elected Health and Safety Rep at your school
sticking point is around who gets prosecuted in event of an incident - this seems unclear
new act has been pushed out to September
lots of things to be aware of - Hazard Registers, contractors on site, Health and Safety Reps, students who are identified hazards because of their behaviour, teacher stress
RE Cafe
these haven’t happened but we do have a website set up for resources
DRS Day was held on Friday and seemed to be a very rich day
the DRSs spent time with Bishop Steve
integrated planning will continue to be trialled in schools - up to schools if they decide to be part of this
remember the point of integrated planning is to make RE the centre of everything we do
Bishop Steve will give a similar talk to principals tomorrow
seems to be short notice of dates - this is possibly because of short notice from the Bishop. There is a calendar for the year
Self Review Document
purpose of aligning this so we are all doing the same thing on the same year is to make use of this information so that it can guide us, Greg, Dianne and Paul
info should point out strengths, needs, challenges and trends
this year we will all complete the Pastoral Care section
Kath would like to put together a working party to look at all of the information this generates in November - this could point out trends etc.
another option could be to all complete by March and then meet together with our completed reviews and discuss and share
info could also be shared in clusters and then reported back to the group
also an issue about Catholic Reviews - we don’t share these with each other and there is probably really good information in them that we could use
there are also proprietor’s reports that have good info in them
Dianne, Paul and Greg also need to be part of this process
MOTION: That in November a Pastoral Care Self Review document and Proprietor’s Representatives Report and Catholic Character Review (if completed in 2015) from each school be sent to a Working Party (still to be named) in Hamilton.
Moved: Kath Joblin Seconded: Dave MacMillan.
PASSED 22 for, 0 against
Volunteers for Working Party: Kath, Suzanne, Shelly and Anthony (STM) - email Kath if there are any more volunteers
Please have your Pastoral Care Self Review Docs ready for November
Topics and Speakers for next meetings
Phil Cowie, ERO on Self Review
Mark Osbourne, MLEs (Taupo)
Bishop will be in Taupo during our November meeting so he may be able to talk to us
Marcus Freak, principal of the new Endeavour School
Chris Duthie-Jung, the emerging vision for TCI
if there are any other ideas or nominations please pass them to the Exec.
the idea for upcoming meetings is to have them well planned in advance
Waihi Academy
new facilities, tour undertaken at 11.30am
reasonable costs and can cater (vegetarian)
contact is Tony Kang:
could be a good venue for Catholic Schools Day
can also be used for retreats, school camps, conferences etc.
Christine has used this facility for a Leadership Camp and highly recommends
Pilgrimage
thoughts of having a Pilgrimage up north to appreciate the beginnings of the Catholic Church
Mike is planning this and it will be further discussed tomorrow
Professional Development with Chris Branson: The Role of Values in Leadership
our values inform our decisions and actions/behaviour, particularly in times of stress or pressure
values also inform people’s perspectives and the way events are interpreted
values come from our life experiences and particularly from childhood experiences
it is not always easy to consider what is driving us when we are in extreme or unusual circumstances but it is good to look at your decisions afterwards and reflect on what drove them with the aim of becoming more aware
principals worked through a range of activities to discover their own personal values and to measure their defensive routines
values don’t make you either a good or bad person - you just are who you are - it’s about being aware
Friday 27th March 2015
Bishops presentation –Bishop’s presentation can be accessed on our webpage under Documents – Handouts from Speakers
Catholic Schools Office reports - copies on our webpage
MOTION: To form a working party to investigate having a Catholic Schools day at Waihi Academy 2016. Moved: Kath Joblin Seconded: Shaun O’Leary
PASSED: all agreed
Outstanding service to education awardpresented to Nick Quinn
Nick was presented the Outstanding Service to Education Award- from the NZCPPA. Nominated by our association for his service as president of HCPA, representation on the Diocesan Schools Council, innovative principal and teacher at St.Peter Chanel.
Kath then invited any principals to say a few words:
Several of Nick’s colleagues shared their appreciation of Nick and his membership of our group.
Meeting finshed wih a prayer and concluded: 12.30pm
Dates for 2015
Term Two:10-12 June Catholic Convention in Wellington
Term Three: 10-11 September Cambridge
Term Four: 12-13 November Taupo
Exec Meetings: 24 April, 24 July,16 October