Supporting students with learning, social, emotional and wellbeing needs are the top issues for primary principals in Aotearoa.
The findings come from Uiuinga ā-Motu o ngā Kura, the National Survey of Schools, from which NZCER has just released its report on primary principals. One of the key questions we ask each survey is what principals feel the major issues are facing their school.
While there has been a decrease in the number of principals identifying funding, recruitment and staffing (among others) as a major issue, there remains a very high proportion of principals who see student wellbeing as a major concern.
“Support for students with complex learning, and social and emotional needs” was the most prevalent response among principals, with 82% indicating it was a serious issue facing their school. This was followed by “Support for students with mental health or additional wellbeing needs” at 65%, similar to the 2019 figure of 63%.
This was followed by “cost of purchasing, maintaining and replacing digital devices and infrastructure” and “too much being asked of schools”, although both were selected by markedly fewer primary principals than when we last surveyed them in 2019.
The full results from this question are in Table 2 of the report and shown below.
Attendance and recruitment issues linked to EQI
We found a statistically significant relationship between schools’ EQI groups and their challenges with “recruiting quality teachers” and “improving student attendance”.
Among schools with more socioeconomic barriers, 77% of principals identified “recruiting quality teachers” as a major issue, compared with 37% of principals in schools with moderate socioeconomic barriers, and 33% of principals in schools with fewer barriers.
Similarly, 60% of principals in schools with more socioeconomic barriers said “improving student attendance” was a major issue facing their schools, compared with 31% of principals in schools with moderate socioeconomic barriers, and 20% of principals in schools with fewer socioeconomic barriers.
What is the “too much” being asked of schools?
Given that “too much being asked of schools” was identified by most principals in 2019, we invited principals who selected this option in the 2024 survey to provide further elaborations.
The most common theme in their responses was the concern over “too many changes expected of us in short time frames”, particularly regarding curriculum change and implementation, which was frequently mentioned. Several principals expressed concerns about the increasing workload related to these rapid changes. For example:
“Too much is expected of my leadership and my teachers. It’s hard to reduce this workload with consistent, rapid change.”
For the full findings from the National Survey of Schools, including principal perspectives on curriculum, attendance, resourcing and inclusion, click here.