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Kia ora koutou,
We've had a busy start to 2025 here at the Council, and there are two exciting items in particular I'd like to share with you.
The first is the Governing Council election results. The elections closed on Friday at midday, and it was great to see a flurry of last-minute voters. We had a record number of candidates standing this year, which was great to see! Please use the link below to meet your 7 new reps. The other 6 will be appointed by the Minister of Education and the new Governing Council will take effect on 1 July 2025. People can find out more about that process or apply in the link below.
My other news - which I'm very excited to share - is about our submission on your behalf to the Select Committee on the Treaty Principles Bill last week, where I said, “I respectfully ask you (the Government) to do your job, just as teachers are working exceptionally hard to do their job. That is, to form honourable relationships with your Tiriti partners”. We knew we had to represent you, our 116,000 professionals in the ECE, primary and secondary sectors, because of the decades of hard work you've done to ensure you can meet the needs of all learners. We were lucky enough to be given an oral submission spot, where myself and Tamahau Te Rau, Deputy Chief Executive | Pou Kaiāwhā presented on your behalf.
Our submission was important because it's a different view; the view of teachers and of the Teaching Council who is a willing learner in how to be a good Tiriti partner. We know the Bill’s about the Treaty principles, but we've never used or referred to them as a profession, we've always gone back to the source to understand and use te reo and the concepts (tikanga), used in Te Tiriti, which have been embedded in our professional Standards and Code of Conduct for decades.
It was an honour to share our story on how as a profession, we give effect to Te Tiriti and I invite you to watch our ten-minute submission video below.
Noho ora mai,
Lesley Hoskin,
Tumu Whakarae | Chief Executive
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