Your Rights

School

An education is an essential part of any young person’s life, helping them develop the social and intellectual skills needed to become adults. It can also be a stressful and intimidating environment. Schools might demand that you pay fees which you are unsure about having to pay. You might, for any number of reasons, be unable to attend school on a certain day. Principals and teachers might enforce rules and punishments which you think are too harsh. You might even be suspended or expelled, and unsure of your options about what to do next.

Through all of this, it is important to remember that you have rights as a student. While schools and principals have a lot of authority, they must act in accordance with the law. This section will look at your rights and responsibilities in several areas of school life, including enrolment, attendance, school rules, behaviour, and discipline policies. The Education and Training Act 2020 is the main piece of law that oversees schools and education, and will be the main law mentioned in this section (see http://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/2020/0038/latest/LMS170676.html).

What types of schools are there in New Zealand?

1. Public, or state schools;
2. Integrated, or state integrated schools;
3. Charter schools; and
4. Private, or independent schools.

Children and young people can also be home schooled or attend a correspondence school in special circumstances.

What is a public school?

Public, or state, schools are funded by the government and usually must teach the New Zealand curriculum. They are run by boards of trustees made up of parents, staff, the principal, other elected school community members and sometimes student representatives (for schools above Year 9). Public schools include local schools, kura kaupapa, wharekura, special character schools, special schools, regional health schools and correspondence schools.

What is an integrated school?

Integrated schools are schools that used to be private but have become part of the state system. They are mainly funded by the government and usually teach the New Zealand curriculum but often have a religious or philosophical foundation. Therefore, they are allowed to include religious or philosophical elements in their teaching. Integrated schools can charge attendance dues (a fee) every year, but these are usually less than private schools fees. Integrated schools can restrict who can enrol at their school, depending on their religious or philosophical background.

What is a charter school? And what is a private school?

Charter schools are public schools, but instead of being run by boards of trustees, they are run by a sponsor. A sponsor is an organisation that has signed a contract with the Crown to operate the school. Charter schools can decide how to use their funding and can set their own curriculum, meaning they have a lot of flexibility around their teaching, curriculum, governance, hours and days of operation. In exchange for this flexibility, charter schools are responsible for achieving the results they have agreed to.

Private, or independent, schools receive some government funding but are mostly funded by compulsory fees paid by their students. They are run by their own independent boards and can choose who enrols in their school. They are usually run like a business. They don’t have to teach the New Zealand curriculum, but they usually do.