Teaching the Basics Brilliantly

Big Education policy announcement from National yesterday

Dear John,

I'm writing this on Thursday evening after getting home from the launch of National's latest policy, called "Teaching the Basics Brilliantly". It was great to have Christopher Luxon come out to the Hutt Valley to launch it alongside our Education Spokesperson Erica Stanford, and our Remutaka candidate Emma Chatterton (a former teacher). A big thank you to the Hutt Chamber of Commerce for hosting!

Sadly, our education system is failing too many children. This isn't a recent thing - it's been happening for 30 years. Back in the year 2000, New Zealand was in the top 10 countries for maths, reading and science, according to the OECD’s PISA rankings. Now we’re outside the top 10 in all three. In maths we have dropped from 4th to 27th. Just 20 per cent of Year 8 students are meeting curriculum expectations for science, 35 per cent for writing, and 45 per cent for maths, and a recent pilot of NCEA literacy and numeracy standards revealed two-thirds of high school students failed to reach the minimum level the OECD says is necessary. So something has to change.

Sadly, New Zealand has been running a failed experiment in which the importance of knowledge and skills have been diminished and replaced by concepts like “competencies”. Under National, that will change.

Our Teaching the Basics Brilliantly plan will ensure all kids have the knowledge and skills they need in reading, writing, maths and science to set them up for success. Under National, parents will know if their kids are doing well or, more importantly, if they’re falling behind. It’s not acceptable to allow children to fall behind without anyone noticing or taking action to help them catch up.

There are four parts to the plan:

1. National will require all primary and intermediate schools to spend an average of an hour a day on reading, an hour a day on writing, and an hour a day on maths.
2. National will rewrite the curriculum to include clear requirements about the specific knowledge and skills primary and intermediate schools will need to cover for each school year in reading, writing, maths and science.
3. National will standardise assessment across schools in reading, writing, and maths. School will be required to measure each child’s progress against the curriculum at least twice a year using the same robust assessment tool. National will also require regular reporting, in a consistent format, so parents receive a clear and detailed understanding of how their child’s education is progressing, where they might need more help, and where they can be extended.
4. National will introduce an exit exam for teaching graduates to demonstrate expertise in reading, writing, maths and science instruction, and require existing teachers to undertake professional development in teaching the basics.

I'm really proud of the policy and I'd love to know what you think. You can check it out in detail here. and there's also a detailed policy doc if you're interested. Erica and her team have put a huge amount of work into this and have talked to education experts, principals, and teachers. We're proud of it - what do you think?

Rents: Rents have been back in the news this week after it was revealed that average rents have risen $175 in the last five years. In Lower Hutt they're up $225 on average in the last five years - truly shocking and a big contributor to our cost of living crisis. Sadly, the government's War on Landlords has contributed to this (as the data shows) and tenants are the collateral damage. We will reverse Labour's removal of interest deductibility for rental properties and take the brightline test back to two years, and there's more policy to come.

Local win: You probably don't remember, but a few years ago a group of us started a campaign for a proper pedestrian crossing on Major Drive by Kelson School. The current ‘kea’ crossing confuses people and reduces safety. The Council argued, ludicrously, that proper pedestrian crossings are actually less safe! I’m pleased to be able to report that the Council has seen sense. A proper crossing is on the way for Kelson!

Around the Hutt: It's been a busy week - apart from Christopher Luxon visiting Silverstream this afternoon, I've been meeting constituents, hosting our local JPs for morning tea, manning the barbie at the Kelson Gala, and much more. I did manage to get a few hours at the Basin Reserve on the weekend... Jeremy loved it!

Have a great weekend.

Chris

Visit to Silverstream School

Thanks to Silverstream School for hosting us yesterday - a great example of a school that does the basics well - an hour a day on reading, writing and maths!

Crossing on the way for Kelson!

Good things come to those who wait. A few years ago a group of us started a campaign for a proper pedestrian crossing on Major Drive by Kelson School. The current ‘kea’ crossing confuses people and reduces safety. The Council argued, ludicrously, that proper pedestrian crossings are actually less safe! I’m pleased to be able to report that the Council has seen sense. A proper crossing is on the way for Kelson!

Lower Hutt Rents

Labour has failed on housing in the Hutt. Officials warned the Government that removing interest deductibility for landlords and extending the bright-line test – which means anyone selling a property other than the family home within 10 years is considered a speculator – would raise rents, and that’s exactly what’s happened.

National will reverse Labour’s interest deductibility and bright-line changes and stop Labour’s war on landlords.

We will unlock more land for housing, drive infrastructure investment to create more housing, share the benefits of housing growth with local communities, increase long-term rental options with Build-to-Rent housing, boost social and affordable housing by backing community housing providers and ensure everyday Kiwis can get mortgages by fixing the Consumer Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act which has cut access to bank lending.

A wee Parkrun story...

I didn’t know this but Megan has been chasing me at parkrun for months… last Saturday she beat me for the first time! Well done and lovely to talk afterwards. Good luck for the marathon coming up.

I’m now told there are apparently quite a few people who use me as their ‘pacer’ and try and beat me each week… happy to help. All part of the service. #workinghardfortheHutt

On the tools in Kelson

Thanks to the hard working team who arranged the Kelson School Twilight Gala last Friday night. A fantastic night and I enjoyed my time on the barbie. Thank you for all you do for the school community.

Local businesses doing well

Shoutout to Spice Tree - 29 different types of herbs and spices, all imported and ground in Wainuiomata! Great to see Pak ‘n Save Petone stocking great local suppliers. My favourite is the Butter Chicken Masala - absolutely superb.

Visit to Napier

Checking out the damage with Katie Nimon, our Napier candidate, last Friday. Behind us is where the rail line to Palmy used to be. Big rebuild job ahead.

Homegrown