Further support for secondary teachers

Education Minister Anne Tolley has announced four further support days for secondary school teachers, as they implement the new curriculum-aligned achievement standards for NCEA Levels one, two and three over the next two years.

Two teacher-only professional development days will be provided to schools in 2012, with two further teacher-only days available in 2013. These are in addition to the two professional support days which have already been announced for 2011.

“This follows recommendations from a working group which I set up, involving PPTA, the Secondary Principals’ Association (SPANZ), NZQA and the Ministry, to address any issues around teacher workload as the standards continue to be phased-in,” says Mrs Tolley.

“The curriculum changes and subsequent changes to assessment standards are critically important, and these additional support days will allow teachers to access professional development to help build their capability.

“Schools will now be able to give parents and students plenty of notice about the teacher-only days, and plan their professional development for 2012 and 2013 well in advance.

“The support days are part of a package to help schools and teachers, and more details of this will be announced soon.”

The teacher-only days are optional and dates will be decided by individual schools.