NZ Engine

Source: Radio New Zealand

Children are missing weeks and even months of vital schooling because of stand-offs between their parents and their schools.

Youth advocates say the problem happens repeatedly and highlights the need for a free service that resolves disputes between schools and families.

RNZ was recently contacted by two families that took their children out of school in early February because of what they said was lack of support for their children’s special needs.

One returned to class on a part-time basis after seven weeks of being absent, while the other was still at home when the April school holidays began.

Both agreed an independent dispute resolution service would have helped.

Children’s commissioner Claire Achmad said in the first instance it was up to schools to solve disputes and ensure children were returned to class.

But she said when that didn’t happen there was a gap.

“There does seem to be a bit of a gap here in terms of being able to have a clear pathway to be able to resolve these disagreements or disputes at the lowest level as quickly as possible,” she said.

Dr Achmad said the Education and Training Act allowed for the creation of a dispute resolution organisation for schools and families, but no government had yet set it up.

“I know it’s something that my predecessor Children’s Commissioners have advocated for, and I support and build on those calls because it’s crucial that there’s timely, child-focused and practical holistic resolutions in these kinds of situations,” she said.

Achmad said calls to the Children’s Commission/Mana Mokopuna’s children’s’ rights line indicated disputes between schools and families were not uncommon.

“This is a common theme that we are hearing about, and it shows that there is a need for more focus on finding that clear mechanism, implementing it, so that there can be timely child-focused resolution in these kinds of situations.”

Youth Law senior solicitor Velda Chan said families could go to the Human Rights Commission or seek a judicial review of school decisions, but neither were easy options.

“If they’ve come to a situation where they can’t resolve things, then there isn’t a lot of places they can go to try and work things out,” she said.

Chan said an independent and free disputes panel would be helpful.

Principals Federation president Jason Miles said disagreements between schools and families were fairly regular, but it was unusual for children to be out of school for more than a couple of weeks.

He said the ministry did not usually get involved and if schools and families could not agree on an issue, there was no organisation to step in and mediate.

Miles said an independent body would help.

“I don’t think there’d ever be a process where everyone would be happy with an outcome, but that would be another step,” he said.

“The focus would need to be on a resolution process that uses restorative and culturally appropriate processes and procedures, and be done in a timely manner so that disputes could be resolved and children won’t miss out on being in education.”

Autism New Zealand chief executive Dane Dougan said two months was too long for children to be out of school.

He said the Education Ministry was usually able to mediate disputes and if that didn’t work, some families turned to the Human Rights Commission.

Dougan said autistic children were much less likely to have problems in schools where staff had specific training in working with neuro-diverse pupils.

The Education Ministry said schools were resourced to provide learning support to children who needed it and families should try to resolve disputes with their school’s board in the first instance.

But if that didn’t work the ministry could become involved.

“Where concerns are escalated to the ministry, we can review the situation and work with the school and board as needed to support a safe and inclusive learning environment. If parents remain dissatisfied with the board’s response, they can also raise their concerns with the Ombudsman.”

The ministry said all children had the same right to attend their local school.

“When concerns arise about a child’s support, supervision, or safety, and this affects their ability to attend school, the Ministry of Education’s role is to help uphold that right and support schools and families to work through what is needed.

“These situations can be challenging for everyone involved, particularly when a child has been unable to attend school for a period of time.”

A parent who contacted RNZ said her son was out of school for seven weeks while the family tried to persuade the school to provide better support for him.

She said the ministry became involved when she contacted it about two or three weeks into the disagreement, but the family still had to make a lot of effort to get the support it wanted.

“The initial response was ‘there is nothing we can do here’,” she said.

“It was only the fact that I got through to a capable, competent person through the incident line that I believe this even got moving.”

The woman said an independent body would have helped a lot.

“There has not been a single accountable person who has said ‘it is my responsibility to resolve this’,” she said.

Another parent who contacted RNZ said a dispute resolution body needed to be independent.

“An independent body would provide a much fairer path than a ministry that effectively assists schools in managing parents who speak up,” she said.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

A Coromandel weather station recorded more than 200mm of rain as Cyclone Vaianu swept over the North Island.

The cyclone, which caused power outages, flooding and road closures across the east coast of the North Island, tracked away from mainland New Zealand overnight.

Some residents reported it was not as severe as the storms earlier this year.

MetService meteorologist John Law said although Vaianu had veered east, the cyclone track was still within the forecast “cone of uncertainty”.

Wind gusts of up to 126km/h were recorded at Māhia, with even higher speeds recorded at offshore stations, he said.

Very heavy rain was also recorded in some places in the 24-hour period to Sunday night.

“The base of the Coromandel, we’ve seen as much as 220mm of rainfall through there, and, similarly, in towards parts of the Bay of Plenty and the higher ground there, as much as 140 to 150mm of rain.”

New Zealanders did an “amazing job” of preparing in the days before the cyclone arrived, Law said.

“People working together to make sure that everyone’s up to date with the latest forecasts and watches and warnings.

“It’s always unfortunate to see impacts like the flooding and those power outages, but I think people have done very well to be prepared.”

Bay of Plenty evacuees return home

Those who have been evacuated in the Bay of Plenty are now able to return home, as long as it is safe for them to do so.

Whakatāne acting mayor Julie Jukes said the evacuation order was no longer in place.

A total of 270 households in Ōhope and Thornton were forced to evacuate, while an unknown number had chosen to.

Jukes said the weather had died down as of 9pm on Sunday.

Hawke’s Bay warnings lift

MetService lifted the heavy rain warning for Hawke’s Bay, but a strong wind warning remained in place overnight until 5am on Monday.

Hawke’s Bay Civil Defence group controller Shane Briggs said on Sunday the eye of the storm had moved offshore.

“We’re not out of everything yet, but actually it’s been surprisingly less than expected and at this stage, it looks like we’ve come off pretty lightly.”

Briggs said people should still avoid unnecessary travel if they could as there may be fallen trees and damaged powerlines.

In its 8pm Sunday update, Hastings District Council said evacuation zones remained in place for parts of Haumoana, Te Awanga, Waimārama and Ocean Beach, and security was in place overnight, along with road cordons.

There remained a risk of high winds, which could cause falling trees, power outages, road closures and coastal swells in exposed areas. Rainfall in the ranges is causing rivers to rise, but not to dangerous levels.

People were advised to stay away from rivers for the following 24 hours due to the potential for flooding as this water makes its way down to low-lying areas.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Far North Mayor Moko Tepania says he’s breathing a huge sigh of relief after his district escaped serious damage from Cyclone Vaianu.

The district was the first to feel the effects of the cyclone on Saturday night, but the storm took a path further to the east than initially predicted, limiting its impact on Northland.

However, some areas, such as Whangārei’s central city, were lashed by more than 130mm of rain in a 24-hour period, and winds of 110km/h were recorded at Cape Reinga.

A buoy off the Bay of Islands recorded a maximum wave height of 10.8m on Saturday afternoon.

Tepania said the outcome was a huge relief.

“All of the reports that are coming in – and not just through our Emergency Operations Centre intelligence lines, but also the good old kūmara vine and our Kaitiaki Response Network on the ground – are showing us that the effects of Cyclone Vaianu have been very limited,” he said.

“Power outages, a few roofs that have blown off, but all in all, our roading networks made it through and rivers never breached warning levels. So I’m very grateful.”

However, it was too soon to relax entirely.

Emergency responders had learned from Cyclone Gabrielle that the tail end of a cyclone, when the wind abruptly switched direction, could still cause damage such as downed trees and power lines, especially the soil was sodden.

“But all indications are that we have dodged a bullet this time around,” Tepania said.

Tepania urged anyone who had been affected by the cyclone but had not yet contacted the council or Civil Defence should call 0800 920 029 so staff could respond.

An estimated 50 families opted to evacuate their homes before the storm hit, with most spending the night at marae or community centres.

In some cases, entire settlements, such as Taemaro Bay, near Mangonui, self-evacuated and sought shelter at Kenana Marae.

Only six homes were evacuated on council orders, all on Wendywood Lane in Kerikeri.

Tepania said the homes were near a stand of large redwood trees, one of which had fallen in a previous storm.

Those residents were able to go home on Sunday afternoon.

Tepania said he was hugely grateful to the district’s Kaitiaki Response Network, community response groups, Te Rūnanga-ā-Iwi o Ngāpuhi and others for setting up evacuation centres in town halls and marae across Northland.

The mayor said having to endure three major storms since the start of the year had been tough on Northlanders, despite their often-touted resilience.

Just two weeks ago many people had been badly affected by floods in Kaitāia, Awanui and the Hokianga settlements of Panguru, Pawarenga, Whirinaki, Wekaweka Valley and Waimamaku.

Since then, Tepania said he and some councillors had met many affected people.

“We’ve been out and about in relief hubs talking to whānau and they’re crying in front of you because they’ve lost everything. There’s a heck of a lot of anxiety from them, and from community leaders as well – and then you get a tropical cyclone heading towards us,” he said.

“So the anxiety levels were incredibly high even as we went into this and that’s why it’s been so important to make sure whānau are informed, they know how ready all of the agencies are, and that they listen to the official advice.”

“There’s a huge sense of relief across there today, but also a lot of weariness because it has been really hard. We always say we’re resilient as Northlanders and we know our taiao [environment], we know our awa [rivers], we know our communities, but it does get you down because it takes a heck of a lot of adrenaline, waking hours and anxiety.

“I’m praying to the weather gods that they give us a little bit of respite, so we can have a breather and a rest and recharge.”

Tepania said he believed Northlanders were getting better at preparing for storms and heeding advice about staying safe.

In the March floods, firefighters had been frustrated about the number of rescues they had to carry out after people tried to drive through floodwaters.

This time, however, emergency services told him far fewer people had risked their lives trying to take on flooded roads.

“People are taking things seriously and that’s what we want,” he said.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

Residents and businesses in the Far North town of Rāwene are urged to immediately reduce water use, due to a major break in a main.

The Far North District Council said Sunday morning’s break had caused water storage levels to plummet to just 15 percent.

Everyone connected to the Ōmanaia-Rāwene water supply must reduce consumption immediately, or risk the town’s reservoir and taps running dry.

Hokianga Hospital was not affected by the break.

The council said some residents would be without water entirely for at least four hours, while contractors carried out repairs.

A water tanker stationed on Russell Esplanade would provide free, treated water until 6pm or when water supplies were restored.

The water main break was caused by a section of Parnell Street slumping at the intersection with Mariner Street.

Even after the pipe was repaired, residents would need to conserve water for at least 24 hours, while the reservoir refilled.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand

Source: Radio New Zealand

– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand