Guidance for boards

This information supports boards in making appointments to the leadership and teaching roles and in the stewardship of their Community of Learning | Kāhui Ako.

Level of compliance Main audience Other

Inform

  • Boards
  • Principals and tumuaki
  • Communities of Learning | Kāhui Ako
  • Teachers and kaiako

Boards are at the heart of Communities of Learning | Kāhui Ako and can gain a better understanding of their responsibilities by using the resources on this page.

Board responsibilities include employing a range of leadership and teacher roles that work across the Community of Learning or within schools, and representing the views of parents, whānau and iwi.

Appointing to the Community of Learning roles 

Similarly to the appointment of any staff member in a school, a board remains responsible for employing each leader, across school or within school teacher.

The employing board:

  • agrees to and endorses its staff member applying for a Community of Learning-specific role, therefore accepting and providing support for the staff member to effectively carry out the functions and duties of the role
  • ensures that staff applying for a Community of Learning role meet the prerequisites for the role set out in the relevant principal or teacher collective agreements
  • appoints the successful applicants to the roles as advised and affirmed by the selection panel and endorsed by the independent adviser from the New Appointments National Panel (NANP)
  • has sole responsibility for selecting and appointing the within school teacher.

Independent advisors

All Communities of Learning | Kāhui Ako must use an independent adviser from the NANP to support the Community of Learning leader and across school teacher appointments.

The independent adviser assesses applicants against the national criteria during the interview and affirms that the candidate has or has not met the relevant national criteria for the role.

What the roles are

Community of learning leader

The Community of Learning leader provides leadership in building productive collaboration in the Kāhui Ako.

Community of Learning leader

Across schools teacher

The across schools teacher role allows teachers to share their skills and knowledge in new ways across their Kāhui Ako.

Across schools teacher

Within school teacher

The within school teacher promotes best teaching practice and strengthen the use of an inquiry approach to teaching and learning.

Within school teacher

Stewardship groups

Community of Learning members often choose to set up a stewardship group to oversee the operation of their Community of Learning, building and fostering collaborative structures that best suit the needs of the members as well as its parents and the wider community.

The stewardship group has no binding decision-making power. That power remains with individual boards, but the stewardship group should maintain a high level oversight of the vision and direction of the Community of Learning | Kāhui Ako.

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