6:40am Friday 01 Jun, 2018 | By Kerry Mitchell [email protected]
A Bethlehem mum’s heartfelt plea to mum-to-be Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern to fix the “broken” funding model for special needs students has struck a chord with parents throughout New Zealand. Erika Harvey’s 7-year-old daughter Piper is autistic and is one of 24 special and high-needs students at Greerton Village School – more than double the number most schools have. The school is facing a $118,482 funding shortfall this year to cater for these students – a sum it is having to fund from its operational grant instead of long-overdue upgrades of its infrastructure. Last month Erika wrote an open letter to Jacinda Ardern asking her to fix the funding model which she, and thousands of other parents with children with special needs throughout New Zealand, believe is promoting exclusion of their children from school. She followed this with a petition and, in the past week, the release of a moving video showing what inclusive education at Greerton Village School looks like. The school enlisted Erika, a business consultant, to help share its plight. “Most of what I learned I didn’t know, and I have a special needs kid. I wrote the letter hoping to get our pregnant Prime Minister’s attention because we have to change this broken funding model,” says Erika. “We’ve got schools that are actually excluding children because it’s too expensive, and they’re winning because they get to spend their operational budget on whatever they like. “Then we’ve got schools like Greerton Village which are fully inclusive, but are losing out because they can’t afford to buy new computers or replace the playground.” The Ministry of Education provides funding for special and high-needs students through the Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS). Around one per cent of students receive this support at any one time and the funding covers services and support such as specialists, teacher aides and consumables that aid learning. The funding for teacher aides is for a limited number of hours, however, and Greerton Village School has increased the hours of support it offers due to the extreme needs of its students, and a desire to give its “treasures” the best education possible. It employs 21 externally-funded teacher aides and a further two are funded by the school board. The funding shortfall this year is expected to be $118,482. There has been a glimmer of hope, however, with high-level Ministry of Education officials from Wellington visiting the school last week to discuss the possibility of the school being involved in a pilot project to look at a new funding model. Erika presented the video at this meeting, which was attended by both educators and parents of special needs students. “I wanted them to see exactly how their decisions affect schools and children. These people are making decisions about us but are going home to their normal lives and leaving us to pick up the pieces.” Erika’s inbox was “flooded” with emails with stories from other parents around New Zealand after her open letter to Jacinda Ardern was published and some of their comments appear in the video. “What is happening in our school is happening across the entire country. This is a big problem and I think people need to know about it.” Erika points out that ORS funding only covers children with the most severe learning needs. Many others who suffer from mild autism, dyslexia, dyspraxia and other learning difficulties receive no support at all. “For me to receive ORS funding I have to write the worst things you can imagine about my daughter. You have to write about their darkest day. “The main criteria is ‘can they feed and toilet themselves and control their behaviour’. The minute your child can open a packet of chips and learn how to wipe herself, she’s screwed. “It’s so backward. To me, there is a huge opportunity to help all children with additional learning needs to be contributing members of society, instead of only focusing on the most severe. There are tonnes of children falling through the cracks.” Greerton Village School principal Anne Macintosh says she was “very encouraged” by last week’s meeting with the Ministry of Education “They came receptive and ready to listen. There were no promises made, but we’ve got a further meeting set down for June 7 to set out our proposal for a pilot scheme. “We’re being innovative and looking at solutions – not necessarily looking for a cash hand-out, but we will need support in the short term. “We passionately believe in inclusion and these treasures bring so much into our school. Our kids are learning about acceptance, responsiveness, tolerance, compassion and respect. The only rub is the money.” Erika believes Piper is the poster child for what successful inclusion looks like. “When she first started school at Greerton Village she was non-verbal, violent and always taking off her clothes. My daughter is now a totally different child and that is because she goes to a school that hones in on her skills and is truly inclusive. The difference in her after two years is crazy. They are amazing.” You can read Erika’s open letter to Jacinda Ardern here: https://www.piperslove.com/pipers-journey/dearjacinda Original Article can be viewed: https://m.sunlive.co.nz/news/180930-mums-heartfelt-plea-inclusive-education.html
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#DearJacinda these children have a message for you about their school in Tauranga. Please share their message in hopes we can start to make a positive impact on our Education System. So, what is it all about? My daughter’s school has the highest number of ORS funded students at a mainstream primary school in the country which has put them in financial hardship. Why? Schools aren’t adequately funded for students who have additional learning needs in NZ. Leaving many mainstream schools across the country excluding students because they’re too expensive and forced to fundraise to accomodate the funding required for those with diverse needs. Schools like Greerton Village who are truly following inclusion and equity in education are becoming overwhelmed with ORS funded students because they have nowhere else to go. This inadequate funding model is crippling inclusive schools and is the cause of Greerton Village Schools current deficit this year of $118,000. Imagine if people were only offered 50% of the cost of a knee replacement and the hospital staff had to hold sausage sizzles and fundraise to make up the gap. 🤔🤯🙄 (See how silly this sounds?) The principal of my daughters school has been brave enough to speak up and risk negative publicity to show how NZ Special Education funding is lagging behind other countries. We hope you’ll join us and help spread awareness of the inadequate funding model in education. —-- Video follows my open letter to PM Jacinda Ardern which can be read here: https://www.piperslove.com/pipers-journey/dearjacinda The Budget boost to education has been dubbed as "vast improvement" for a Tauranga primary school currently struggling with financial woes. Thursday's Budget included an extra $1.6 billion over the next four years in operating funding and $334m in capital funding to address rising demand, fund 1500 more teachers and raise teacher-aide funding. Greerton Village School principal Anne Mackintosh hoped the Budget boost would relieve the school's struggles under increasing financial pressure. Mackintosh told the Bay of Plenty Times the funding model meant to help with its large number of high-needs students was "broken". "It is a start. I mean it will never be enough but it certainly is a vast improvement. It is very encouraging, it is a step in the right direction," she said. "It depends when it [the budget] is initiated whether it will be in time to help us in our current situation," she said. Mackintosh said the $370m to fund 1500 new teacher places by 2021 was also encouraging to help ease the "desperate need" for teachers. A total of $272m was also announced for learning support such as teacher aides, Ongoing Resource Scheme (ORS) and early intervention. Business consultant and parent Erika Harvey's seven-year-old autistic daughter attends Greerton Village School and was pleased the Budget included an extra 10 per cent in ORS funding. However, Harvey was concerned how the $272m was allocated and hoped there were major structural changes being made to support children's learning to broaden the criteria. Harvey had written an open letter to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern about funding woes at the school and will meet education representatives at the school next week. Te Puke mother-of-three Monique Lints was pleased to see funding put into crucial services that were important in providing children a better future. "Especially being a mother of a special needs child it is good to know I can send him off to school and know he is going to be taken care of," she said. The Ministry funding rate for teacher aides will increase from an hourly rate of $16-$18 in 2019/2020 to $20 an hour by 2022. Associate Minister for education Tracey Martin said the additional amount will bring the government contribution up to at least the minimum wage and reduces the pressure on schools. Inspired Kindergartens principal Peter Monteith would have liked to see a bigger increase in "backline funding" for early education centres. Monteith said the government had signalled an additional 1500 teachers for schools, but nothing to address the critical shortage of qualified teachers in the early childhood sector.
Monteith's said if three new centres were to be built in Tauranga "we could fill them". Additional reporting NZME BUDGET 2018: EDUCATION • $1.6 billion more in operating funding and $334 million in capital funding. • Education budget will be $12.26b, up from $11.85b last year. • $395m to build new schools and classrooms. Includes $62m for Christchurch schools rebuild and $332m nationwide. • $204m for a 1.6 per cent increase to schools' operational funding and to cover school roll growth. • $370m to fund 1500 new teacher places by 2021 ($70m more than National funded). • Early childhood education: $590m to fund more places and a 1.6 per cent funding increase for ECE centres from January 2019. • $272.8m for learning support such as teacher aides, ORS and early intervention. Original Article: https://www.nzherald.co.nz/budget-2018/news/article.cfm?c_id=1504502&objectid=12053584 |
Erika & Dan HarveyA blog about our journey through the spectrum with our daughter Piper. Enjoy and feel free to share with others. Archives
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