Board of Trustees

Rathkeale College Board of Trustees 2023

Mark Owen photo.

Mark Owen

Parent Trustee (Chair)

Martin O’Grady JP photo.

Martin O’Grady JP

Principal

Matt Boggs photo.

Matt Boggs

Proprietor Appointee

Nigel Broom

Parent Trustee

Matt Cox photo.

Matt Cox

Student Trustee

Richard Donworth

Parent Trustee

Jannie Gouws

Parent Trustee

Susan Jonas photo.

Susan Jonas

Staff Rep

Victoria Read photo.

Victoria Read

Proprietor Appointee

Nathan Riwai-Couch

Proprietor Appointee

Keri Titherington

Proprietor Appointee

Matthew Wailling

Parent Trustee

Board of Trustees Meetings

Board meetings are held on the third Wednesday of each month at 6.30pm.

Members of our school community are welcome to attend any Board meeting. Minutes of each meeting are published when confirmed and can be viewed by following the links below.

The Board comprises parent elected members, Trinity Schools Trust Board (Proprietor) representatives, a staff representative, a student representative and the Principal. In certain circumstances, members are co-opted on to the Board to provide specialist knowledge and experience.

Bot meetings

Board elections are held every three years. The next school wide board elections are scheduled for May 2025.

The board meet regularly. The meetings are not public meetings, but they are “open to the public”. This means that even if you’re not a member you are welcome to attend as an observer although you may not have speaking rights.

As a board we will update our school community once a term as to board matters and news. If you would like to make contact with the Board at any time please do so to the following e mail address boardsecretary@rathkeale.school.nz we welcome any comments, observations and suggestions you may have. 

We wish you all a very happy and successful year.

Kia haumaru e te hapori whānui o Rathkeale – stay safe dear Rathkeale Community

Ngā mihi maiaho

The Rathkeale College Board of Trustees

 

 

School Governance

Like many well-established schools in New Zealand, Rathkeale College was founded as a private school.

The Trinity Schools Trust Board signed an agreement with the Crown and Rathkeale ceased to be private. It is now one of New Zealand’s 334 state-integrated schools that collectively educate 86,000 students nationwide.

The Trinity Schools Trust Board are the owners of the school and remain responsible for the buildings and grounds and more importantly, are responsible for ensuring the school’s Special Character is maintained and preserved. Special Character is the bedrock of our agreement with the Crown and is an essential element without which the school would not exist.

All state-integrated schools teach the New Zealand Curriculum, but keep their own Special Character (usually a philosophical or religious belief) as part of their school programme. As a result of integration Rathkeale is governed by two Boards.

Like all state schools, Rathkeale has a Board of Trustees which is a Crown Entity. Its main aims are to ensure the students are receiving a high quality standard of education, that national educational priorities are being addressed and that resources are being used prudently to deliver the highest possible quality programmes.
As an integrated school, certain aspects of Rathkeale are governed by the Board of Proprietors, which is the Trinity Schools Trust Board. Although a complicated system, it actually works very well with each Board having lead responsibility for varying governance aspects of the school.

Hadlow Preparatory School and St Matthew’s Collegiate School are also state-integrated schools owned by the Trinity Schools Trust Board.Boys at Rathkeale are involved in a wide range of musical activities outside the classroom. Ensembles which rehearse and perform regularly include the funk/jazz band ‘Sforzando’, a Concert Band, various rock groups, the Boys’ Choir for any boys, and the auditioned choir ‘Viva Camerata’. Performances take place in school as well as the local community.

Board of Trustees Governance

Rathkeale College Board of Trustees Governance is guided by the National Education Guidelines as defined by Sections 60A of the Education Act 1989.

  • National Education Goals are:
    • statements of desirable achievements by the school system, or by an element of the school system; and
    • statements of government policy objectives for the school system

Foundation Curriculum Policy Statements are statements of policy concerning teaching, learning, and assessment that are made for the purposes of underpinning and giving direction to:

    • The way in which curriculum and assessment responsibilities are to be managed in schools:
    • National curriculum statements and locally developed curriculum.

National Curriculum Statements, (that is to say statements of the areas of knowledge and understanding to be covered by students), viz:

    • The skills to be developed by students; and
    • Desirable levels of knowledge, understanding, and skill, to be achieved by students, during the years of schooling).

National Standardswhich are standards, in regard to matters such as literacy and numeracy, that are applicable to all students of a particular age or in a particular year of schooling.

National Administration Guidelines, which are guidelines relating to school administration and which may (without limitation), set out statements of desirable codes or principles of conduct or administration for specified kinds or descriptions of person or body, including guidelines for the purposes of section 61:

    • set out requirements relating to planning and reporting including –
    • communicate the Government’s policy objectives:
    • set out transitional provisions for the purposes of national administration guidelines.
    • each of these areas can be obtained by searching on www.minedu.govt.nz

Trinity Schools Trust Board

Providing excellent educational environments

Trinity Schools Trust Board is the proprietor for the Anglican state-integrated schools of HadlowRathkeale and St Matthew’s and is committed to:

  • A vision of the future which embraces change.
  • Preserving and enhancing our special character and facilities.
  • Possessing an open mind.
  • Thinking beyond tomorrow.

Contact TSTB

info@trinityschools.nz

06 370 6180

Strategic Plans and Annual Reports

Strategic Plans

These documents describes the strategic focus for Rathkeale College. They have been developed in accordance with the Charter goals and form the basis for deriving the objectives in Annual Plan.

Policies and Procedures

Rathkeale College’s policies and procedures are produced in conjunction with SchoolDocs.

SchoolDocs support over 1600 schools in New Zealand to help them construct up-to-date and relevant policies and procedures in line with Ministry of Education guidelines, New Zealand law as it relates to schools, and accepted best practice.

This has produced a comprehensive, core set of policies that has been well-researched and follows the Ministry of Education National Administration Guidelines. Policies are monitored by SchoolDocs and the college, and updated, modified or created in response to changes in legislation, significant events, Ministry guidelines, reviews/requests from schools and regular reviewing from the SchoolDocs team.

Each term there are policies and procedures that are reviewed, and we encourage your input into these reviews.

Please click below to view the policies of the Rathkeale College Board of Trustees on the SchoolDocs website:

Rathkeale College Policies Website and click on the Current Review tab to assist us in reviewing policies and procedures as list in the 2023 schedule following.

Username: rathkeale

Password: rathkeale0245

Please note, except where stated, the content of the SchoolDocs website is the copyright of SchoolDocs Ltd. It may not be reproduced without written permission from SchoolDocs Ltd.

2023 Review Schedule

Complaints

The purpose of our complaints policy is to provide clear guidelines for the school community in raising and resolving concerns and complaints.

We have procedures in place that we follow to ensure that complaints are handled appropriately. Our procedures enable us to:

  • maintain the best learning environment for our students
  • resolve matters of concern early, if possible
  • respond to feedback and concerns constructively
  • deal with complaints fairly, effectively, and promptly
  • take into account individual circumstances
  • maintain confidentiality
  • preserve school/community relationships and communication
  • monitor and record complaints and concerns about student safety.

Most complaints can be resolved informally by discussions with the people concerned. See Guidelines for Informal Complaints. The school also has a procedure for making a Formal Complaint if informal discussion doesn’t resolve the issue.

Guidelines for Informal Complaints

Our primary goal is to create the best learning environment for the students of our school. We encourage open communication and prefer that parents come to us to talk through a problem rather than discuss it in the community.

These are recommended guidelines for parents making informal complaints:

  • If the matter is a general issue, discuss it with the person concerned or a member of the Management Team or the Principal.
  • If you have a complaint about a staff member, contact the person involved and discuss the matter. We ask that parents make this direct approach as soon as possible. Be prepared to make a time to discuss your complaint if the staff member is unable to talk with you straight away. Be open to listening to the other side of the story to avoid communication breakdowns.
  • ​If you do not wish to approach the person concerned, contact a member of the Management Team or the Principal to resolve the matter. The Principal or Management Team member may communicate with the staff member concerned.
  • ​If you have a complaint about one of our students, contact the student’s class teacher or the Principal to discuss the matter.
  • If the matter concerns the Principal and you have not first resolved it by discussion, or you feel uncomfortable directly approaching the Principal, contact the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees.
  • If the matter concerns a board member, contact the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees, or board member if it concerns the Board Chair.
  • If you complain to a board member, you will be encouraged to resolve the issue with the guidelines above, and the board member will inform the Principal and Board Chair.
  • In most cases, constructive discussion will resolve the issue.
  • If you are unhappy with the outcome of your initial meeting, contact the Principal, a member of the Management Team, or the Board Chair to discuss further resolution. They will consider and respond to the complaint as appropriate.

Formal Complaints

If an informal meeting does not resolve your concern or complaint, you can make a formal complaint.

​If a staff member is the complainant (including complaints about colleagues), the same procedure must be followed, commencing with an initial discussion with the people concerned to try to resolve matters.

In the interests of fairness, any formal complaint or serious allegation must be made in writing and resolved in a timely fashion. All parties should respect confidentiality.

Follow this process:

  • Put your concerns in writing, either as a signed letter or an email. Give as many details as possible, including details of efforts that have been made to resolve the issue. Include names and contact phone numbers.
  • Send the letter marked Confidential to the Principal or, if the complaint is about the Principal, to the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees. The contact details are available from the school office.

(if complaint is about a staff member)

  • Acknowledge receipt of the complaint in writing or by email to the complainant. Give a copy of the complaint to the staff member concerned.
  • Inform the Chairperson of the Board of Trustees.

(if complaint is about the Principal)

  • Acknowledge receipt of the complaint in writing or by email to the complainant. Give a copy of the complaint to the Principal.
  • When a formal complaint is received, the school may choose to investigate it if it is deemed serious enough to warrant it after considering the initial response from the person the complaint is about. Not all complaints require an investigation but all written complaints should be disclosed to the staff concerned at the earliest opportunity, and followed up with the complainant.

Relevant collective employment agreement provisions for dealing with complaints and discipline must be observed including allowing representation of staff at any meeting to discuss a written complaint.

The following is a useful guide to follow if you have a concern or complaint.

Complaints

ERO reports

ERO reviews are undertaken on average every three years. The review evaluates the performance of a school in promoting students’ progress and achievement according to the National Administration Guidelines (NAGs) school boards are expected to comply with. The associated report describes how effectively a school promotes student learning and development. It is a public document that is able to be obtained by any interested person or party. Rathkeale College was reviewed in 2018.