Making a difference School board member booklet - NZSTA
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Making a difference School board member booklet
New Zealand School Trustees
Association (NZSTA) provides a range of
Contents
services to all school boards to
support and enhance boards' capability
in governance and employment. Introduction 3
We are the most influential leader of
effective school governance in Aotearoa
The makeup of the board 4
and we represent the interests of over
2,200 member boards.
Governance and management 5
Board meeting procedure 7
Working together 8
Glossary 9 – 11
NZSTA support and contacts 12
Rito (child)
Awhi rito (parents)
Tūpuna(grandparentsandancestors)
The New Zealand School Trustees
Association (NZSTA) logo is based on an
important New Zealand native plant, the
harakeke (flax).
The harakeke plant represents the
whānau (family) in Māori thought. The
rito (shoot) is the child. It is protectively
surrounded by the awhi rito (parents).
The outside leaves represent the tūpuna
(grandparents and ancestors).
E tipu e rea – in our children lies our
future This whakataukī (proverb) was
first written by Sir Apirana Ngata in
1949 in the autograph book of school
girl Rangi Bennett. NZSTA received
permission from Sir Apirana’s family to
use this proverb.
The original proverb refers to new
growth, and in our context, new growth
refers to children. This is how we
developed our vision ‘in our children lies
our future’.
Introduction
Congratulations on becoming a member
of your school board.
This booklet will give you an overview of the roles and
responsibilities of a school board. There is a lot to take
in when you become a board member and. NZSTA is
here to support you on your learning journey. We offer a
range of free resources and professional development
opportunities to ensure you have the skills to make the
best contribution to your school and community.
For advice and information about the services and
support offered by NZSTA, please check out the contact
details at the back of this booklet.
What do school boards
do?
School boards are responsible for the
governance of the school. The four key
areas of governance are:
1. Leadership
2. Accountability
3. Employer role
4. Representation
October 2020 3
The makeup of the board
As a school board member you are part of a governance Structure within the board
team. The chair of the board
All boards include up to three school-based members: Every board must appoint a member to preside over its
the principal, a representative elected by staff, and meetings. This position is commonly referred to as the
for schools with students in Year 9 and above, a chair. A chair cannot be the principal, staff or student
representative elected by the students. representative.
All state and state-integrated school boards have The chair is responsible for ensuring the work of the
members elected by the parents and caregivers of the board gets done. They are also expected to develop and
students of the school (parent representatives). The maintain a productive working relationship with the
majority of boards comprise five parent representatives. principal.
Boards can decide to decrease this number to as few
It’s important to note that the chair has no more
as three, or increase it to as many as seven. Boards of
authority than any other board member, unless the
state schools can also co-opt additional members, up
board delegates further authority.
to a maximum of one less than the number of parent
representatives. For example, the board of a state NZSTA offers training for new or inexperienced chairs to
school, which comprises five parent representatives may support them in their role.
co-opt up to four other board members. Boards decide
to co-opt for a variety of reasons, usually to ensure a Other roles within the board
good balance of skills, experience, gender or ethnicity. It’s up to each board to determine how it organises
itself to get the work done. Some boards create
Boards of state-integrated schools have limited ability committees to look after certain aspects or
to co-opt. This is because there must always be more projects, while others allocate portfolios or specific
parent representatives than co-opted or appointed responsibilities to individual board members.
board members. The proprietors, or owners of these
‘special character’ schools (e.g. Catholic, Anglican, Every member of the board is equally accountable for
Montessori, Rudolph Steiner) have up to four seats on every action and decision of the board. It’s important to
the board for their appointees. It is usual to appoint note however, that individual board members have no
people who will be able to uphold and strengthen the authority to do or say anything on behalf of the board
special character, but proprietor appointees are also unless they have been specifically delegated to act on
required to participate as full members of the board. its behalf.
No matter how a board member is appointed to the
board table, they all have equal standing, voice, vote and
equal accountability to ensure:
• every student at the school can reach their highest
possible standard in educational achievement, and the
school
• is a physically and emotionally safe place for all
students and staff
• is inclusive of, and caters for, students with differing
needs
• gives effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi
These four primary objectives are at the heart of the
board’s work.
October 2020 4
Governance and management
Getting your head around the relationship between Key Legislation
governance and management is at the heart of making There is a great deal of legislation and regulation that
sense of your role as a board member. The Education affects what happens across the education sector.
and Training Act 2020 states that:
The key piece of legislation relating to boards is the
A board is the governing body of its school. A board is Education and Training Act 2020.
responsible for the governance of the school, including
setting the policies by which the school is to be Fortunately, you don’t need to know or read every
controlled and managed. piece of legislation. NZSTA will provide an overview of
(section 125) all the relevant legislation and regulations as part of
your board induction. NZSTA provides advice, support,
website resources and training, through our workshops
The Act also states that: and online learning modules. All reference the key legal
and regulatory frameworks relating to your role as a
A school’s principal is the board’s chief executive in board member.
relation to the school’s control and management.
Except to the extent that any enactment, or the general
Planning Documents
law of New Zealand, provides otherwise, the principal
must: Boards are responsible for creating a number of
important planning documents, including the school
(a) comply with the board’s general policy directions charter/strategic plan.
and
The three-year charter/strategic plan is the most
(b) subject to (a), has complete discretion to manage important of these written documents. It is the
as the principal thinks fit the school’s day-to-day framework for the future direction of the school and
administration. sets out the board’s goals and targets around student
(section 130) achievement and its three other primary objectives.
These goals must be developed in consultation with
On first reading this can sound a bit complicated, but stakeholders – individuals or groups who have an
what it essentially says is that the principal manages interest in what happens in the school, including
the school within a framework of policies, plans, teaching and support staff, current and prospective
decisions and delegations made by the board. parents and caregivers, whānau, hapū and iwi, the wider
community and, of course, the students themselves.
This framework must take account of legislation and
any guidelines and guidance that have been developed This plan will also reflect how the school intends to
by the Government or its agencies, such as the Ministry achieve the objectives for the education system and the
of Education. Government’s priorities contained in any statement of
National Education and Learning Priorities. It will also
‘Governance’ is the strategic task of setting the incorporate any outcomes agreed to by any Community
school’s goals, direction, limitations and accountability of Learning | Kāhui Ako that the school belongs to.
frameworks. ‘Management’ is the allocation of
resources and overseeing the day-to-day operations of The board looks to the principal to develop the annual
the school. plan that breaks the charter/strategic plan into more
manageable chunks. The annual plan provides details
All sorts of factors can influence the governance of what is to be achieved, how it is to be achieved and,
model or approach of a board. In a small primary very importantly, the indicators or outcomes that will
school with few teaching or administrative staff and provide evidence of success.
a limited operating budget, board members may
provide practical assistance that goes beyond the The board monitors progress, as reported by the
usual expectations of governance. In this instance the principal, during the course of the year. At the end of the
board and its members need to be very clear as to three-year period the charter/strategic plan is reviewed
whether they are giving advice as a community expert and updated so that it is constantly future-focussed.
or as a board member and therefore whether the If your board has followed a good induction process for
principal must take this advice. There’s no one size fits new members, you should have been given a copy of the
all but there are models of good practice which NZSTA charter/strategic and annual plans, or information on
promotes in the professional development, support and how to view them (e.g. on the school’s website).
resources it provides to boards.
You should also have been told about the board’s
governance framework, which is another key aspect of
board documentation. This includes the board’s policies.
October 2020 5
Policies
Policies and procedures are an essential component of
any organisation.
Policies are important because they outline
expectations, delegate responsibility, provide assurance
and impose limits and rules. They help to ensure a
structured, consistent approach to decision-making.
It’s important for board members to familiarise
themselves with their board’s policies.
Most boards organise their policies into:
Governance policies which are the board’s rules for how it
intends to govern, for instance:
• Board roles and responsibilities; Chair’s role description;
Members’ code of behaviour
• Remuneration and expenses
• Meeting procedure
• Concerns and complaints
Operational policies which are the board’s expectations in
areas it wishes to have some control over the management
of the school, for instance:
• Curriculum delivery
• Personnel and appointments
• Financial planning and condition
• Health and safety.
Reading through your board’s policies will give you a sense
of the expectations placed on you as a board member and
the outcomes that have been set for your school.
October 2020 6Board meeting procedure
It’s likely you’ll come across a range of new processes at the meeting. Minutes of the previous meeting are
and terminology if you’re a new board member. This usually reviewed and confirmed as a true and accurate
page will explain some of the names and processes you record at each meeting. Minutes taken during public
will encounter during your board meetings. excluded business are stored separately and securely.
They can, however, be requested by anyone. How
Always remember that you’re new - so you’re not
much of the information the board releases depends
expected to know everything! The best way to learn is
on the rules in the Privacy Act 2020 and the Official
to ask questions if there’s anything happening that you
Information Act, 1982.
don’t understand or are unfamiliar with.
Motions: are formal proposals for consideration.
Boards meet regularly and must hold a meeting not
A motion is moved by the person proposing it and
later than three months after their previous meeting.
seconded by another person. It is then open for
Typically, boards meet monthly or twice a term.
discussion, after which a decision is made by way of a
Agenda: outlines the order of business for the meeting. vote. When a motion is accepted it is described as being
The agenda is often sent out with the notice of meeting. carried.
Many boards use the agenda as the notice of meeting.
Moving from the chair: the chair can put a motion
Agendas should be available publicly at a meeting, along
before the meeting. When moved from the chair, a
with copies of all reports, so that visitors can follow
motion does not require seconding (usually used to
what is happening.
move through administrative matters).
Amendments: motions can be amended during
Notice of meetings: should state the date, time, and
discussion. The amendment must be moved and
location of the meetings, and should be sent to all board
seconded before it is discussed and voted on.
members and be available publicly.
Apologies: are received from board members who
Points of order: are questions directed to the chair
cannot attend the meeting. They should be recorded
that require an answer or a ruling. They are not open to
in the minutes of the meeting. A board member who
debate and usually relate to the rules for the running of
misses three consecutive meetings without prior leave
a meeting.
of the board ceases to be a member of the board. Prior
leave is different from ‘Apologies’. Quorum: is the minimum number of board members
that must be present before a meeting can conduct
Conflict of Interest: Any board member who has an
business. A meeting quorum consists of more than half
actual or potential conflict of interest in what is being
of all board members currently holding office.
discussed should leave the meeting. This applies to any
agenda item, not just those where the public has been Tabling documents: when written information is used in
excluded. support of a discussion, it is tabled so those present can
examine it, and forms part of the official record of the
Exclusion of the public: the board may exclude the
meeting.
public (move into committee) from all or part of a
meeting. Rules for doing this are laid out in the Local
Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987.
Members of the public, including media, are excluded
from the meeting when it moves into committee,
unless specifically invited to stay. This process is most
commonly used to discuss personnel or financially
sensitive issues.
Lying on the table: when a matter cannot be resolved, or
when further information is necessary before a decision
can be made, the matter can be left unresolved for
future discussion.
Matters arising from previous minutes: are matters that
were nominated for action at the previous meeting and
recorded in the minutes. Dealing with arising matters
means that a check is kept on whether all tasks have
been carried out from the previous meeting. Many
boards now record these tasks in an action plan.
Minutes: are the written record of business conducted
October 2020 7Glossary of education terminology,
abbreviations & acronyms
The amount of jargon used in education can be Designated character schools: state schools approved
overwhelming at times. No glossary could hope to cover by the Minister as having a specified character that is
every term, topic or acronym board members may ‘different’ from the character of an ‘ordinary’ state school.
encounter but this one is a starting point to help you to Education (Pastoral care of international students) Code
build an understanding of things that may come up in of Practice 2016: sets out minimum standards of advice
your reading and discussions. and care expected of institutions providing education for
AoV: The Analysis of Variance is part of the annual international students.
report. It outlines the strategic goals that have not been EEO: Equal Employment Opportunities (for employees.
achieved or partly achieved in the annual plan for that
financial year. ERA: Employment Relations Act 2000
AP: Associate or Assistant Principal. ERO: Education Review Office carries out external
evaluations of schools and reports to the Minister of
ARBs: Assessment Resource Banks – a collection Education.
of English, Mathematics, and Science classroom
assessment resources for students working at levels 1 to ESOL: English for Speakers of Other Languages.
5. e-asTTl, formerly asTTle: Assessment tool for teaching
Area school: catering for students from Year 1 to Year 13, and learning – an online tool for assessing students’
usually in rural districts. achievement and progress in reading, mathematics,
writing, and in pānui, pāngarau, and tuhituhi. Developed
Assessment: a purposeful judgement based on evidence primarily for the assessment of students in years 5–10,
(Cathy Wylie, NZCER). Involves collecting information but because it tests curriculum levels 2–6 it can be used
about the progress of learners towards learning goals or for students in lower and higher year levels.
targets.
ESS: Emergency Staffing Scheme.
Banking staffing: is the tool schools use to manage their
annual staffing entitlement. Together with reporting FCT: Fully Certificated Teacher – must meet qualifications
on “Staffing usage and expenditure” (SUE), enables the and Standards for Teaching Profession 2018.
board to monitor the school’s use of staffing entitlement FTTE: Full Time Teacher Equivalent.
to ensure financial repercussions are managed.
Full primary schools: for students from new entrants/
Burt Word Reading Test: individually administered test Year 1 to Year 8.
for determining aspects of reading skills in students aged
6–13 years. GSC/GMS: Guaranteed Staffing Component/Guaranteed
Minimum Staffing – teaching positions that are
Collective Employment Agreements: agreements technically surplus to the school’s entitlement but which
covering most employees in the state and state- have a protected status for a period of time.
integrated education sector including those for Primary,
Secondary and Area School teachers. IEP: Individual Education Plan – usually developed for
students with special learning needs.
CoL: Community of Learning | Kāhui Ako – part of the
government’s IES strategy whereby groups of schools IES: Investing in Educational Success – government
work together on identifying common achievement strategy to facilitate raising student achievement
challenges and share expertise for addressing them. including through the formation of Kāhui Ako
Communities of Learning.
Contributing Primary School: for students up to and
including Year 6. Inclusive education: fully inclusive schools ensure all
students are welcome and are able to take part in all
Curriculum progress tools: The Curriculum Progress aspects of school life. Diversity is respected and upheld,
Tools include the Learning Progression Frameworks (LPF) students’ identities, languages, abilities, and talents are
and the Progress and Consistency Tool (PaCT). Together, recognised and affirmed and their learning needs are
the two tools support progress in reading, writing, and addressed.
mathematics.
Independent schools: schools outside the state system
Curriculum Achievement Objectives: expected levels of which can be registered and may receive some funding
achievement across all learning areas in the NZC with from the state.
Level 1 being entry level and level 8 the outcomes.
Intermediate School: for Year 7 and 8 students. About
DP: Deputy Principal 60% of NZ children in Year 7 and 8 are in intermediate
schools. Most of the rest are in full primaries with others
in composite or area schools.
October 2020 8Ka Hikitia: an organising framework for actions by NZPF: New Zealand Principals’ Federation is a national
education services and providers (including schools) association of primary principals.
across the education sector. The aim is to achieve system
NZQA: New Zealand Qualifications Authority controls and
shifts in education, and to support Māori learners, and
coordinates standards, assessment and qualifications
their whānau, hapū and iwi, to achieve excellent and
within a national framework.
equitable outcomes.
ORS: Ongoing Resourcing Scheme provides support
Kura Kaupapa Māori: designated character schools that
for students with the highest level of need for special
are also designated Kura Kaupapa Māori. Te reo Māori
education to join in and learn alongside other students at
is the principal language of instruction and the school
school.
operates in accordance with the principles of Te Aho
Matua. OTJ: Overall Teacher Judgments involves drawing on and
employing evidence gathered up to a particular point in
LAT: Limited Authority to Teach – temporary authority
time in order to make an overall judgment of a student’s
granted by the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand
progress and achievement.
that permits unqualified teachers to be employed in a
fixed term teaching position. PEP: Pasifika Education Plan 2013–2017 is aimed at
raising Pasifika learners’ participation, engagement and
MAPA: Management of Actual or Potential Aggression is a
achievement from early learning through to tertiary
student behaviour management programme delivered to
education.
staff who have completed UBRS training. With a focus on
prevention, the MAPA programme teaches management PATs: Progressive Achievement Tests are a series of
and intervention techniques to help staff cope with standardised tests used to assess New Zealand students
escalating student behaviour in a professional and safe in Years 3–10 in mathematics, listening comprehension,
manner. punctuation and grammar, reading comprehension, and
reading vocabulary.
Me and My School: an online or paper based student
engagement survey designed by NZCER for New Zealand PCBU: Person Conducting a Business Undertaking under
students in Years 7 to 10, with a junior version available the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015. A school board
for students in Years 4 to 6. of trustees is a PCBU and has responsibilities for ensuring
all health and safety matters at the school.
MOE/MoE: Ministry of Education.
Percentile: term used to explain how students are
Moderation: the process of teachers sharing their
achieving in relation to the norm for their age and school
expectations and understanding with each other in order
year. A percentile ranking of 90 places a student in the
to improve the quality of their judgments about student
top 10% and indicates 90% of all students of the same
learning.
age or year had lower scores.
NCEA: National Certificate of Educational Achievement
PIRLS: Progress in International Reading Literacy Study
– three level national qualification for senior secondary
is a five yearly international comparative assessment of
school students, based on students gaining credits from
Year 5 students reading ability.
both traditional school curriculum areas and alternative
programmes. PISA: Programme for International Student Assessment
is a triennial international survey which aims to evaluate
NELP: The Minister of Education will issue a statement of
education systems worldwide by testing the reading,
National Education and Learning Priorities setting out the
mathematics and science skills and knowledge of
Government of the day’s priorities for the next five years.
15-year-old students.
NPM: National Performance Measures are targets against
Principal grading roll: determines the salary scale for
which the performance of boards can be measured.
school principals in bands according to the size of the
NZAIMS: New Zealand Association of Intermediate and school and the number of ongoing resourcing scheme
Middle Schools. students.
NZC: New Zealand Curriculum is the basis for the Principal Performance Agreement: an annual
curriculum taught in state and state integrated schools performance agreement which also forms the basis
that have English as the language of instruction. Schools for the board of trustees’ annual review of principal
build on the framework to provide teaching and learning performance incorporating Professional Standards,
that equips young New Zealanders with the knowledge, Practicing Teacher Criteria, board of trustee expectations
competencies and values they will need to be successful and the principal’s personal development objective(s).
twenty- first century citizens.
Principal Performance Review: the process of gathering
NZCER: New Zealand Council for Educational Research and reporting evidence of principal performance in
is an independent, statutory education research and relation to an annual performance agreement.
development organisation.
PPTA: The New Zealand Post Primary Teachers’
NZEI Te Riu Roa: New Zealand Educational Institute is the Association Te Wehengarua is the union and professional
union and professional organisation open to primary and organisation open to teachers of secondary school
early childhood centre teachers and school support staff. students.
October 2020 9PRT: Provisionally registered or beginning teacher. STP: standards for the teaching profession.
PUM(s): Paid Union Meeting(s) STAR Reading Test: tool to supplement assessments
teachers make about Year 3–9 students’ progress and
Risk of Not Achieving Index: Ministry of Education
achievement in reading.
funding system to target funding to need and mitigate
the impact of disadvantage. State-Integrated School: a former private school which
was integrated into the state education system, while
RSM: Risk Management Scheme is a Ministry of
still retaining its special character. Must have four
Education contents and liability insurance with
proprietor appointees on its board of trustees, to ensure
premiums deducted from a school’s operational grant for
the school’s “special character.” The proprietor is also
state and state integrated schools.
responsible for all property matters and usually owns the
RTLB: Resource Teachers of Learning and Behaviour land on which the school is built.
provide support to a cluster of schools and kura with
SUE (Staff Usage and Expenditure): together with the
funding provided to the board of the fund-holder school
information reported to the board on “banking staffing”
in each cluster.
usage, enables the board to monitor the school’s use of
Science engagement survey: an online tool administered staffing entitlement to ensure financial repercussions are
by NZCER to help teachers find out how students managed.
perceive their science learning in class. There are two
Staffing entitlement: roll based formula for calculating
versions of the survey, for Years 0 to 4 and Years 5 to 10.
the number of teachers a school is funded for each year.
Secondary Tertiary Alignment Resource (STAR): delivers
Strategic Plan: legally required document for board
additional operational grant funding to all state and
planning and reporting. A 3-year plan is developed by
state integrated schools with Year 11–13+ students
boards in consultation with the principal and staff,
to assist schools to provide students with relevant,
school community and, where appropriate, the school’s
coherent learning experiences aligned to the Vocational
students.
Pathways.
Syndicate: group of 2, 3 or 4 groupings of students whose
Self-assessment and self-evaluation: overseen and
teachers work together for some or all planning.
supported by the teacher, students learn to monitor their
own progress and make their own judgements about Teacher Only Day(s): on which teachers meet together
their next learning steps. for inservice professional development. They must not
be included in the calculations of half-days when schools
Smart Writer: web-based NZCER resource accessible by
are required to be open for instruction.
students, teachers, administrators, and families. It helps
students improve their critical and analytical writing Teacher Preparation Day(s): usually held prior to the start
skills by walking them through the writing process and of the school year when teachers consider organisational
providing them with instant assignment scoring and issues.
detailed feedback.
Teacher Workplace Survey: The NZCER administered
SMS: Student Management System for managing and online survey developed to allow school leaders to
collating individual student data (records) within schools understand what teachers think about their work and
and for reporting to the Ministry of Education. their working environment.
SPANZ: the Secondary Principal’s Association New Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand | Matatū
Zealand is a professional organisation for secondary Aotearoa: professional organisation for teachers from
principals and senior administrators. early childhood education through to primary and
secondary schooling in English and Māori medium
Spell-Write: the NZCER administered online resource
schools.
designed for teachers to use as part of their classroom
programme. Students also get their own login so they Team teaching: whereby two or more teachers are
can work independently. collectively responsible for a larger group of students.
Most often occurs in primary schools, particularly those
SSpA: supplementary spelling assessments designed to
where teaching spaces have been built, or altered, to
augment the assessments of spelling that teachers make
enable greater flexibility of teaching approaches.
on the basis of how, and how well, children spell in their
writing. Specifically, for Years 4–8 but may also be used
Te Aho Matua: world view, values and beliefs under which
for Year 9 and Year 10 students who are making slower
the curriculum of Te Kura Kupapa Māori operates. Is
progress with their spelling.
protected under the Education and Training Act 2020,
ST: Senior teacher section 202.
Stanines: indicate a student’s rank in comparison with
other students who took the same test. Stanines are Te Marautanga o Aotearoa: the Māori language
expressed as a scale of nine units with a low of one and curriculum that is the basis for teaching and learning
a high of nine. Stanines 1, 2, and 3 are below average; programmes in Te reo Māori, including for Kura
stanines 4, 5, 6 are average; and stanines 7, 8, 9 are above Kaupapa Māori, and Māori immersion classes in
average. mainstream schools.
October 2020 10Te Rūnanga Nui o Ngā Kura Kaupapa Māori o Aotearoa
(Te Rūnanga Nui): The national body representing Te Kura
Kaupapa Māori (Māori immersion schools that operate
under the principles and values of Te Aho Matua).
TESOL: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages.
TIMMS: trends in International Mathematics and Science
Study is an international 4-year assessment of the
mathematics and science achievement of students in
Year 5 and Year 9.
TKI - Te Kete Ipurangi: bilingual education portal
operated by the Ministry of Education. Connects more
than 70 learning communities across a wide range of
topics. These provide information, resources and
curriculum materials to enhance teaching and learning,
raise student achievement and advance professional
development for teaching staff and school managers.
Total Immersion: term used to describe teaching across
the curriculum in Māori language and culture.
UBRS: Understanding Behaviour, Responding Safely is a
workshop for student behaviour management
delivered for whole-school staff groups by trained
Ministry of Education staff who are experienced in
behaviour management.
October 2020 11Support and contact
New Zealand School Trustees Association
www.nzsta.org.nz
0800 782 435
Governance
govadvice@nzsta.org.nz
Professional Development
pdadvice@nzsta.org.nz
Employment
eradvice@nzsta.org.nz
Social Media:
linkedin.com/business/NZSTA
facebook.com/NZSTA1
twitter.com/NZSchoolTrustee
October 2020 12You can also read
