Alwyn Poole
Innovative Education Consultants
At this time of year (any year but with significant inflation presently accentuating things) the families we most need back into schools, organised and learning will have HUGE cost barriers.
While the uniform cost at Middle School West Auckland is zero, most schools require children’s families to pay.
Cook says some school blazers can set parents back over $200.
The state-integrated Baradene College of the Sacred Heart in Auckland, for example, charges $240 for a senior pinstripe blazer. The senior girls’ black cardigan is $115. Blouses are $60. Senior girls’ black skirts are $120. Ties are $25 to $27.
Palmerston North Boys’ High School tells parents: “As a guideline, the approximate cost of a uniform is $350 to $500 for a Day Student and $950 to $1200 for a College House Student.”
I am proud to have been associated with starting Middle School West Auckland and South Auckland Middle School which take those barriers away completely.
“Every government that’s in power says education is free. I can say that we come close to that,” says Middle School West Auckland principal Warren Cook.
The school does not ask parents for donations. It supplies children with school uniforms. It does not ask families to pay for stationery packs.
And while most schools now have a “bring your own device” (BYOD) policy, with parents having to buy the devices, Middle School West Auckland has a “build your own device” policy.
Last year, it teamed up with the Zeal youth education charity to deliver the school’s pupils with a programme in which they “built” their own devices, and got to take them home at the end of the year.
The Zeal programme, which is seeking donations of used devices for pupils to refurbish, is designed to help close the digital divide, says Zeal’s digital director Chris Wilder, while delivering skills and mana to students at several west Auckland schools.
“They get to take the devices home at the end of the course, no string attached,” he says
.Stuff
The ongoing education benefits are amazing. The students know they’re not going to look poorer than others – and the embarrassment/anxiety – that goes with it. They aren’t going to be harangued through the day for having an incorrect uniform or for lacking stationery. Their brain is able to focus on learning.
Just one key to a thriving school.
