IT’S smiles all round at a high school following a decision by the Ministry of Education to withdraw from a 12-month statutory intervention.
An adviser from the Education Review Office (ERO) was put in place at Howick College in June last year to assist its board of trustees with its duties, and address issues of governance.
Earlier this week, the college received a letter from Karen Sewell, the secretary of education, informing them of the ministry’s decision to remove its representative.
Principal Iva Ropati and staff at the school are thrilled with the outcome, and he says it will be the first of many improvements at the college.
“We are committed to being the school of first choice for our community and have set realistic goals and targets that we will measure ourselves by,” says Mr Ropati, who took the helm in January.
“Having a strong board behind senior managers and staff will greatly improve our success.”
In a letter to board of trustees’ chairman Wayne Johnson, Ms Sewell said she was “satisfied that the intervention is no longer required”.
“Evidence shows that the governance of the college has been considerably strengthened in the past year and that the development of the board can be maintained without external support.”
The ERO visited the school last year to conduct a review and recommended that the secretary of education consider an intervention under the Education Act 1989.
A report published in April 2009 said an intervention could “bring about improvements to school governance, with particular reference to board meeting procedures, trustees’ understanding of their governance role, board policies and their implementation, and the management of personnel matters”.
Howick College is awaiting a full report from the ERO, which visited the school in June to monitor its progress since the intervention.
Mr Johnson told the Times the Government’s decision to revoke the appointment of its specialist adviser is “great news”.
“They’ve finished the review and have given us some verbal feedback.”
He says the board of trustees has changed its meeting procedures and policies, and made adjustments where necessary.
“We are determined to be more than just an effective board and have spent many long hours improving our responsibilities as trustees,” says Mr Johnson.
“It’s a great testament to the work that Iva and [associate principal] Ian Morrison have done with the senior management team to make sure that the issues were addressed quickly.
“Our focus is on governance and on raising academic standards at Howick College.
“We’re really clear on what the roles are now between the principal and the board of trustees.”
