Dear John,

Last week I raised an issue brought to us by parents of the 2024 Year 12 students of Rosehill College, that from next year, Year 12 students will be required to take a compulsory subject of Manaakitia Mai plus five other subjects. I repeated these queries from parents as to whether this had the potential to restrict year 12 students’ opportunities to study for degrees like medicine? I am pleased to advise that the issue has been addressed by the College and assurances have been given to concerned parents and students that subjects required for medical school will be able to be taken. I offer apologies for any confusion and best wishes to the College and the students preparing their courses of study in 2024.

Compulsory School Subjects

A quick survey of the websites of Secondary Schools near Papakura shows that Papakura High has no compulsory subjects for year 12 and 13 students.

Manurewa High is so full that out of zone pupils hoping to start in 2024 must apply in person at the school office and go into a ballot. The school does not specifically list any compulsory subjects but displays an impressive curriculum encouraging equally science studies for future health professionals and alternatively courses appropriate for students going into trades.

Hauraki Plains College lists flexible and individualised learning programmes and nothing said about compulsory subjects.

Tuakau College have no compulsory subjects for years 12 and 13.

At Strathallan College, English is compulsory in year 12 for all students. There are no compulsory subjects in year 13 at this school.

The discussion of the curriculum is very important for the school and its students. I am impressed by the information on the websites and facebook pages giving opportunities to students and parents to discuss careers and subject pathways at this time of year. My hope is that students and parents will be able to take full advantage of the opportunities to discuss the options in the Year 12 and 13 curriculum available for every student individually, in 2024.

It is clear from a quick look, that schools all have very individual personalities and I applaud that, but I am very sceptical of the Ministry of Education that has fallen way behind on its ERO reviews of schools.

A number of the schools listed above have published ERO reviews from 2018 which are now five years old and should have been updated in 2021. The data is on the Education Review Office website which can be found here. It is clearly out of date for some of these schools and this will be the case for many other schools across New Zealand as well.

How does a parent make an initial decision about a school when one of the key assessment tools – the ERO Report online - is not current?

My National party colleagues and I realise that Education is the key to success for our society and for New Zealanders for the future. A solid curriculum that provides the best results in reading, writing, mathematics and the sciences for as many children as possible is essential. It will lead them to well-paid work and careers that increase opportunities for exports and innovation. A population of well-educated young people will set up new businesses and industries in areas like IT and innovative food production as well as improving existing technologies, which will achieve an increase in the wealth and prosperity of our whole country.

See our Education Policy here. 

Best wishes to all of you,
Judith