Our Day at Rosebank School

Today we had a fantastic visit to Rosebank School! Rosebank is a public, decile one (lowest SES) school. Heather Bell, principal of the school, warmly welcomed us to the school and introduced us to the history of her time at Rosebank and gave us a little more information about how New Zealand's Ministry of Education runs. We learned that each school has what is called a Board. This Board sounded a lot like our Local School Councils. The Board has five elected parents, one elected staff member, and the principal. There are six administrative guidelines for every Board in New Zealand. These include curriculum, self review/strategic planning, personnel, finance/property, health/safety, and compliance. The principal writes monthly reports to the Ministry of Education against these headings. New Zealand schools are self governing and run themselves according to a locally developed Charter. The Charter describes the school's plans and how they will shape new directions.

In terms of the history of the Ministry of Education, we learned that there was a shift in viewpoints that happened around 1989. Before that shift, schools in New Zealand were not self-governing. The impetus for this change was a shift in thinking that allowing schools to govern themselves would improve education. Schools in New Zealand are evaluated by an audit office called the Educational Review Office (REO). Heather Bell, principal of Rosebank, served as an inspector of schools prior to the creation of this office and then moved on to the Ministry when it was formed in 1989. This office worked to develop a methodology to review schools and Heather reported that it was an exciting time in New Zealand public education. There are no "turnaround schools" in New Zealand. When a school is struggling the Ministry of Education will work with the board and provide interventions and support. If those interventions and support are not working the board will be "sacked" and a commissioner will come in to work with the school. Heather Bell's term as principal began under the advice of one such commissioner at Rosebank School. In terms of professional development, Heather states that "we are in the business of growing - because that's what learning is all about."

While at Rosebank, we visited Maori and Samoan bilingual classrooms and observed a Reading Recovery lesson in action. Our visit was enjoyable and the students and staff were warm and welcoming. They had lots of questions about Chicago and asked us about the Chicago Bulls, Michael Jordan, and Oprah! We learned about the Six Thinking Hats strategy and saw reading aloud, guided reading, and centers. We also saw a classroom using a smart board! In the Samoan bilingual classroom, we received a traditional Samoan gift of a beaded necklace and a wooden arm band as thanks for our visit! Please enjoy the pictures of our lovely visit to this fantastic school!