The Principals (Aotearoa | New Zealand)

In this episode, we talk to the winners of the New Zealand Education Excellence Award for Raising Student Achievement, Manurewa Intermediate. Callum Baird and Ben Nathan discuss how a shift away from inquiry based learning towards structured pedagogy, along with a deeper understanding of scale scores, changed the way staff track and target student progress. We talk about their three cycle reporting model and a cross-subject teacher check-in they call speed dating, their investment in learning support beyond their funded entitlement, and their results, including reading gains of 10.6 scale points, the biggest in ten years.

Hosted by Eleisha McNeill.

Our guests are:

Callum Baird, deputy principal of teaching and learning at Manurewa Intermediate in South Auckland

Ben Nathan, deputy principal of guidance and support at Manurewa Intermediate.

In this episode, we look at the more complex side of attendance management, exploring how principals can develop realistic plans for students with health, learning or social challenges without setting whānau up to fail. We discuss how to engage tamariki directly in the process, how to work with families who have had negative experiences of school, what external support is available, and how to communicate about attendance in ways that feel supportive rather than punitive.

Hosted by Eleisha McNeill.

Our guests are:

Angus Woodhams, business lead for attendance management plans and the attendance programme at the Ministry of Education

Brook Bowman, principal at Netherton School in Paeroa

Ben Hancock, tumuaki of Tauhara College in Taupō

Over the next two episodes, we explore the changes to attendance requirements for New Zealand schools, including the new attendance management plans and the stepped attendance response (STAR) framework. We hear from a Ministry of Education business lead and two principals about how the reforms are landing in practice, from recording daily attendance and using the new national codes to building the kinds of relationships that get tamariki through the door.

Hosted by Eleisha McNeill.

Our guests are:

Angus Woodhams, business lead for attendance management plans and the attendance programme at the Ministry of Education

Brook Bowman, principal at Netherton School in Paeroa

Ben Hancock, tumuaki of Tauhara College in Taupō

In the first episode of Season 3, we speak with two winners of the New Zealand Education Excellence Award for Excellence in Educational Leadership. The award recognises schools that have led significant change for student success, and both of our guests today have done exactly that. David Graham leads Goodwood School, one of the largest rural primary schools in New Zealand, where practical, low-cost changes to teaching practice, classroom design and attendance have lifted student outcomes significantly. Jane Stanley leads Westlake Girls High School in Auckland, where post-COVID shifts in student engagement prompted a whole-school response focused on belonging, teacher capability and student growth.

Hosted by Eleisha McNeill.

Our guests are:

David Graham, tumuaki at Goodwood School in the Waikato

Jane Stanley, tumuaki at Westlake Girls High School in Auckland

Additional information

New Zealand Education Excellence Awards - https://www.education.govt.nz/education-professionals/schools-year-0-13/scholarships-and-study-awards/new-zealand-education-excellence-awards

This is the fifth and final episode in a special five-part Leading Curriculum podcast series, sitting alongside a range of curriculum leadership resources available on Tāhūrangi. This series features principals across a range of contexts talking about how they are making curriculum implementation work in their setting.

For more resources, visit Curriculum Leadership PLD resources for English Medium.

In this episode, we explore how schools track and analyse the impact of curriculum implementation and change. We discuss how leaders are creating clarity around learning intentions and success criteria, and how formative assessment (notice, recognise, and respond), keeps assessment embedded in everyday teaching, and how professional growth cycles, inquiry, and observation are used to evaluate the quality and consistency of teaching. Our guests share how they strategically use tools, processes, data, and information to measure the impact of change and improvement for both learning and teaching.

Hosted by Lisa Morresey, Leadership Consultant at Evaluation Associates | Te Huinga Kākākura Mātauranga.

Our guests are:

Denise Horley, Principal of Sandspit Road School | Te Kura o Rangiaawhea

Abby Honey, Deputy Principal Curriculum at Northern Health School