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Canterbury School Board of Trustee Chairpersons Forum
Notes on Discussion
Christchurch Girls High School
Thursday 15th May 2008
The topic of discussion put before the Group was put forward by David Rice of Diamond Harbour school
Property maintenance has been a problem for our school, not particularly because of the funding, but mainly trying to secure an effective project management organisation. How do other schools manage their property maintenance?
The following points were made.
- There are a huge variety of contractors vying for the opportunity to manage school property maintenance. There is now a much bigger choice but some caution is necessary.
- All someone needs to be one of these contractors is Profession indemnity insurance.
- The best opportunity to have these contractors tender for work is by posting on the Governments GETS (Government Electronic Tenders Service) www.gets.govt.nz
- Engaging a Contractor is for term of 10 years.
- The Ministry of Education Template does not include an out or escape clause. There is no way of disengaging from the contract if things do not work out between your school and the contractor. It is therefore important to engage a lawyer and have an out clause incorporated into your contract.
- Don’t be afraid to alter the template to suit your schools needs.
- Find a Contractor that is suited to your school as what works for one school may not necessarily work for another.
- The Documentation must be correct. If there are any mistakes then it will not meet Ministry Approval and cause delays.
- The size of the contractor can matter. The bigger the company the more resources they can put on a job. However it still can come down what is the best fit for your school.
Also discussed was the ICT Funding and Year 7 and 8 Additional Language requirements. If anyone wishes to share any insights gained on these topics please forward them to paul@cessl.org.nz so they can be shared with the group.
Moving Forward
There was a general consensus amongst attendees that a forum such as this provided great opportunity for discussion and sharing of ideas related to school governance and strategic issues. It was agreed that membership would encompass primary and secondary chairpersons and board members.
Topics for the next meeting
CES would like to continue to facilitate and support the Canterbury School Board of Trustee Chairpersons Forum. With this in mind we would like to hear from you about any topics you would like to discuss at the next meeting. If you have any ideas please forwards them to paul@cessl.org.nz for inclusion in the next agenda.
Next meeting
Our initial idea for the next meeting was to invite the Shadow Minister of Education to address the group in September. Another idea was to have Bruce Sheerin, (Senior Policy Analyst, Ministry of Education) address the group on the MoE’s new performing classrooms project. Bruce would give an insight into how this will impact on student learning and also into the latest trends in school design and remodelling.
Feedback
We would be very interested to hear any feedback on last nights meeting and ideas for the future structure and governance of The Canterbury School Board of Trustee Chairpersons Forum. Contact Wayne Jamieson at
CES, Ph (03) 338 4444, Fax (03) 338 4447,
PO Box 414 Christchurch
