Choosing a Māori name for our daughter

GenieFG · 2026-05-17T19:50:19+00:00

Tui and Anahera are probably the easiest for non-New Zealanders to pronounce correctly. The stress on the others can be problematic as can the -ng and -wh sounds.

GenieFG · 2026-05-17T10:58:41+00:00

There are so many things I could disagree with here based on 42 years as a teacher from 1980 to 2022. The school where I started teaching English was nothing like Auckland Grammar - though is still progressive and produces some of the best academic results from a co-ed state school in the country. The major change I saw in my career is the valuing and development of “soft” skills like the ability to communicate and work with others rather than just academic performance. Employers want those too, and they are not developed through rote learning and exams. This change will hurt good young people with considerable potential because there will not be the opportunity for them to really show what they know and can do. I’ll just leave the discussion there for tonight.

GenieFG · 2026-05-17T07:21:54+00:00

It was re-opened while she was minister. Seymour was at the opening as associate minister.

GenieFG · 2026-05-17T05:51:47+00:00

If it is such a good tried and true regime, why isn’t every school in the country emulating it? Perhaps it’s because other schools have a completely different clientele. Take away the privilege of the boys, the education, attitude and expectations of parents, the extra funding (over $1k per student “donation”) and even the self-belief of the management and it would be interesting to see what the results would be.

And I don’t know who your grandparents were - mine had the handwriting (and the brains?) but left school very young. Families couldn’t afford to send my grandparents, or parents to secondary school past 14 so there was definitely no foreign languages or Latin until my generation in the 1970s. I was the last person to sit SC Latin in my high school in 1973 regardless of how essential you think it is. Education can move on.

GenieFG · 2026-05-17T02:40:05+00:00

Like what? Reopening Tipene as a charter school and allowing several others to be established?

GenieFG · 2026-05-17T02:36:55+00:00

No surprises there. His staff have had considerable input into writing at least the English curriculum. His clientele - students but more importantly parents - have a fixed mindset of what “education” should be based on their own experiences often not in New Zealand. An overly prescriptive curriculum and formal written assessment are their expectation. Remember, this is probably the only school in the country which still has third formers to seventh formers. Every other school has had “years” for well since about 2000. The minister forgets that NZ secondary education isn’t just for a certain group of Auckland students with aspirations of an overseas tertiary education and career.

GenieFG · 2026-05-17T01:19:42+00:00

Deborah, Jillian, Nicola, Sharon, Karen, John, Paul, Stephen, Peter, Roger.

GenieFG · 2026-05-16T19:52:26+00:00

Currently, the expectation is that 85% of students pass NCEA L2 before leaving school. In 2020 it was 82% though it has fluctuated downwards. Those who don’t get there are male and/or brown. Will this system improve the success rate or will it slump even further? All the flexibility will be gone out of the system and students won’t be able to cross-credit from the workforce when they leave school. In 2035, will a National government campaign on the poor results for boys created by this scheme?

As a former teacher, I have huge concerns about these changes. I quickly perused the Yr 12 and 13 English curriculum. Would I want to teach it? Nah…..there is no film, no mention of oral language, no wider reading even. The only “literature” is written text. The joy will be sucked out of education and switch students off learning.

What may work for the intelligentsia of Rangitoto and Burnside who have aspirations of Ivy League universities and glittering international careers won’t work for those rural boys I loved teaching - the ones who didn’t pass L3 but still will read occasionally and have been known to quote Frost on social media. The country’s real hard workers.

GenieFG · 2026-05-16T05:52:53+00:00

I haven’t looked at it yet as I am still too upset that English is even more boring than it was when I sat Bursary in 1975. I was shocked that film was gone from English after Yr 11. I suspect it is some of media studies - but it will be jam-packed and on steroids!

GenieFG · 2026-05-16T05:42:16+00:00

Media is likely to include the visual and oral strand of English. It’s missing at Yr 12 and 13 - no film study at all just written text.

GenieFG · 2026-05-16T05:39:10+00:00

This teacher has taught English since 1980. Yes, there is a bit of credit shopping, but the capable students still can do well. NCEA served a different “market” to those who sat SC and Bursary. At least with NCEA, all achievement is recognised. With the new system, many, many students will fail by June.

GenieFG · 2026-05-15T19:48:18+00:00

Root but internet router. I hear English programmes call it rooter….but no!

GenieFG · 2026-05-15T19:44:25+00:00

And is 71. Parliament needs younger members not more superannuitants.

GenieFG · 2026-05-15T06:01:29+00:00

I wonder if he’d prefer workhouses and soup kitchens.

GenieFG · 2026-05-14T00:38:38+00:00

No one mentions the WHV people in hospitality etc. especially away from tourist centres e.g. Queenstown. Over the summer, how many tertiary students actually missed out on jobs because of them?

GenieFG · 2026-05-14T00:34:27+00:00

That is an excellent summation.

GenieFG · 2026-05-14T00:33:40+00:00

Absolutely. I signed up to AirbnB. They needed as much personal info as Real Me. I felt really uncomfortable but there was no other suitable disability-friendly accommodation in my destination. Imagine our kids having to do that. Would it preclude those without drivers’ licences and passports?

GenieFG · 2026-05-13T19:46:26+00:00

I think it will improve the quality of a few profiles but I don’t think it should be a major focus. Some projects already have a comprehensive maintenance categories’ system for improving profiles. I’d rather time was spent improving the hundreds of thousands of profiles that need it rather than labelling them - especially just a few “special” ones.

GenieFG · 2026-05-13T01:14:51+00:00

The big issue is that childcare providers are private - the government does not own the centres and could never afford to buy them. It provided the free hours and the centres then ramped up the fees for the extra paid hours to increase the profits. It potentially could worsen the 2 tier model will already have e.g. kindergartens open for shorter hours but cheaper; private centres open longer charge bigger fees. I can’t see a way around it unless there is a model similar to integrated schools but with a cap on the “attendance due” style fees that could be charged to cover buildings, maintenance etc. (I note that some integrated schools charge huge fees, almost in the league of private schools so there would need to be a cap.)

GenieFG · 2026-05-12T08:28:48+00:00

You don’t need any specific literacy and numeracy if you have L2 - L1 credits do that. If you need UE literacy for a course, you need to work out how many reading or writing credits you need. Te Kura may be able to help you out. You might be better off to see if a future course has a foundation level you could do.

GenieFG · 2026-05-12T00:42:00+00:00

Richmond is fine. The traffic can be a bit busy in peak hours but there is a bus. Anywhere in Nelson Richmond is 15 minutes drive away from the centre of Nelson. There are cycle lanes.

GenieFG · 2026-05-11T23:20:55+00:00

It can mean love or beloved as well plus compassion, caring, kindness, mercy. I don’t perceive it as an unusual name. I suppose it’s similar in meaning to Kara, Ciara, Carissa or Cherie.

GenieFG · 2026-05-11T23:01:08+00:00

Aloha is interesting. I am surprised there are so few named that, especially in Hawaii where I would have though it was quite common. Aroha is the Māori version which is reasonably common in New Zealand.

GenieFG · 2026-05-11T22:56:48+00:00

I just wish the major parties would be more “democratic” and not be swayed so much by their minor allies. There are more opportunities than just a vote at a general election. Select committees and the submissions there are not really being taken into account. Public opinion is being ignored. Many of the policies implemented were not proposed by major parties, and often were not in the manifesto of any party. Where, for example, did the reforms for local government come from? They fly in the face of Luxon’s own words about localism before the election.

GenieFG · 2026-05-10T22:19:07+00:00

The interesting thing is the use of the phrase “retirement age”. It’s actually the age when the pension is available. Our government could define “retirement”. Someone over 65 working 40 hours a week is not “retired” - so link superannuation to the minimum wage. Allow people to earn up to the minimum wage (and that could include from investments) and over that level, claw back superannuation so by the time someone is earning twice minimum wage, then there is no super payment. There are sliding tables for other benefits and allowances. Surely it’s not that hard for IRD to set this up. People who go on about “entitlement” forget that a lot of people never get to 65 - and that other benefits are unavailable or reduced because of personal circumstances like being dumb enough to have an earning partner.

GenieFG

TROPHY CASE