Decades ago there was an expression called the 'play way' used to cynically describe an apparent lack of structure for new entrants in their first year at school.
This current bunch of teachers got used to Ardern's 'progressive' government under inept Hipkins' 'playway' system which refused to pin down children with much testing and preferred child centred decision making. Loosely structured programmes designed by adults who should have known this approach was doomed to failure.
Dangerous group think by socialists gone horribly wrong. A kind of child abuse which has ruined thousands of lives and to a degree the lunatics have still metaphorically got control of the asylum, as those in charge have been pushing back with support from the media who want Labour back in charge.
They don't like the more structured approach to numeracy and literacy (music to my ears) as it means more work. To hell with the kids. The truth is many teachers have got very lazy.
Ardern's failing was not to make a major priority of school attendance after she closed schools for too long during covid. Now years later it is much harder as truancy has become a habit for thousands of pupils. What a pity she didn't put her charismatic personality to practical use to get most students back to thc classroom; she didn't have the mentality to realise her grave mistake. Too hooked up on repression of free speech and other unhinged socialist dogma.
Her only claim to fame was to visit as many primary schools as possible and (wrongly) indoctrinate our children that Aotearoa, not New Zealand, was our country's new name. So sad.
39% attendance in 2023 was shocking; although May 2025 saw 58%, a 20% improvement, but still appalling. Like many teachers the kids had got lazy used to skipping school with low expectations from adults who should have known better.
Stanford excelled herself this week in the House answering Willow Jean Prime's simpering repetitive questions. Her piece de resistance was naming (and shaming) the NZEI for their (inferred) negative approach and refusal to accept 12 weeks holidays and generous teacher only days provide time to upskill on new resources. This is the same with the PPTA.
Many people working in the private sector during this financial down time do not get guaranteed pay rises in tune with inflation; many have not had one for a very long time. This is belt tightening time, which the Opposition, teachers, media and unions who think money grows on trees, refuse to accept. The private sector also don't get life time guaranteed employment like teachers, not to forget the holidays.
I left teaching 30 years ago. I can only remember one teacher only day on the first day of the year. Maybe we had one in term two and three, can't remember. Google weren't much help, We had three terms and 2 fewer weeks holidays.
And the pay wasn't great. MPs pay, if similar, must have been much lower in those days. I could only afford to travel over seas when my bond was finished as I played background music at a wedding venue on Saturdays and sang with a band on Friday and Saturday nights which had the benefit of increasing my bank balance.
I did not go on on one protest during my 20 years teaching, just the occasional scheduled meetings at the Avondale Race Course which usually took place later in the day, closing schools at 1pm or 2pm, to the best of my memory. Not selfishly putting parents out with teacher only days pulled out of a hat at the last minute and strikes up the wazoo.
Teachers are like Maori, (publicly) thankless for all the money spent on their resources and just keep on like Oliver Twist asking for more. $700 million put aside in the 2025 budget for Maori; at this rate we will never get to surplus. What happened to the need not race approach to funding?
The very first funding announced by the government at the end of 2023 was $70 million for immunisation for Maori under twos for Northland and the East Coast. Did I hear one word of thanks from one Maori leader? Deafening silence. Immunisation is steadily rising thanks to Shane Reti's and now Simeon Brown's tireless efforts. Axing vaccination targets may have been Ardern's biggest mistake. And she made many... But I digress.
How can many primary school teachers who are being spoonfed by Stanford's new innovative structured programmes for teachers and pupils ask for more money when they don't know the curriculum they are supposed to be trained to teach?
That has always been the question on the tip of my tongue.
But I can't finish without mentioning the thousands of teachers who love their jobs, are equipped with the necessary knowledge and a positive attitude, and against the odds improve outcomes for their pupils every day. I am sure many of these would have been at Stanford's Road Show this week eager to get across the new curriculum to impart to their classes.
Not loitering at road sides on Thursday, accompanied by their victim mentality, with their negative signage boring the public silly with their pathetic platitudes on this 'historic' day.
Hope the heavens open.