Manage the challenges of establishing effective protocols for handling sensitive information to navigating the complexities of the Education & Training Act regarding student discipline – plus your responsibilities as a School Principal or leader which are extensive and riddled with potential legal pitfalls. Gain a clear framework of child protection laws and your duties to report allegations and investigate incidents, and feel confident in walking the tight rope when maintaining professional boundaries with students and parents in the digital age.
Description
Attend and earn 7 PLD hours
10.40am to 10.55am Morning Tea
11.45am to 12.30pm Child Abuse and Neglect Awareness and Response: Understanding, Reporting and Protecting Children
- What is child abuse and neglect
- What to do when you observe signs of abuse or neglect, or a child discloses abuse or neglect
- Why is the child’s lawyer visiting me at school?
- Being asked to participate in Court proceedings: what to expect
- Handling sensitive situations where abuse or neglect is at issue
Presented by Aroha Fletcher, Senior Associate – Family Law, Stace Hammond Lawyers and Lena Wong, Director and Lawyer for Child, Complete Legal Limited
Learning Objectives:
- Establish effective protocols for managing students' health information and communication
- Address staff mental health challenges to enhance workplace well-being
- Navigate legal frameworks for fair student discipline and suspension processes
- Recognise obligations for reporting child abuse and protecting students
- Conduct fair investigations of child safety allegations against staff
Session 2: Navigating the Grey Areas in Legal and Professional Boundaries
Chair: Peter Kaiser, Principal, Tirimoana School
2.00pm to 3.00pm HEAR FROM THE TEACHING COUNCIL OF AOTEAROA NEW ZEALAND: Navigating the Grey Area on Professional Boundaries
Matatū Aotearoa | Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand recognises that teachers hold an exclusive position of trust, care authority, and influence with learners and their whānau. As a result, there is a line that teachers need to draw between professional and personal relationships to keep both themselves and ākonga | students safe. This line is referred to as a professional boundary.
In this session participants can expect an informative session that develops their understanding of Professional Boundaries for the Teaching Profession and how to navigate the grey areas.
Presented by Rose-Anne London, Tohutohu Mātua, Senior Advisor, Relationship Management and Pathways, Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand
4.00pm to 4.15pm Afternoon Tea
4.15pm to 5.15pm Technology Misuse in Schools
- The use of AI by students: with and without consent, and the issues with detection
- Intellectual property: as students get more digital, what happens if they create a viable product
- Social media and online harm: their lives are online, and so is the harm
- Deepfakes: the issues with, and often the lack of protection against, deepfakes
- Privacy v security: two competing rights, and where might schools want to fall
Presented by Arran Hunt, Partner, McVeagh Fleming Lawyers
Session 1: Healthy, Safety and Child Protection Issues in Your School
Chair: Kate Slattery, Deputy Principal, Epsom Girls Grammar School
9.00am to 9.50am Health and Safety Duty: Managing Medical Conditions in Your School
Learn practical tips on how to:
- Put in place protocols for receiving information regarding students’ health conditions & managing health conditions
- Apply policies and protocols in varying circumstances
- Establish lines of communication between teachers, students, and families
- Cooperate with the regulator
Presented by Sanja Marin, Senior Associate, Duncan Cotterill
9.50am to 10.40am Understanding Employee Mental Health and Performance Issues
- What are the key legal obligations to be aware of?
- Do mental health issues trump performance concerns?
- Can a medical certificate halt your performance process?
- What does recent case law tell us about these issues?
Presented by Rachael Judge, Partner, Simpson Grierson
10.55am to 11.45am Getting Student Discipline Right Under the Education & Training Act
- The principal’s stand down and suspension decisions under section 80
- What is gross misconduct?
- What is continual disobedience?
- Setting up the Board and the student for a suspension meeting
- The Board’s decision at the suspension meeting
- Setting conditions for the student’s return to school
- Breach of conditions and holding a reconsideration meeting
- Parent requests for a review of the principal and Board decisions
- Role of the Ombudsman in reviewing the school’s process
Presented by Gretchen Stone, Partner, Harrison Stone
12.30pm to 1.15pm Responding to and Investigating Child Safety Allegations Against Staff
- When is suspension appropriate and what is the process for it?
- How do you make initial inquiries to determine if there may be anything in the allegations?
- Should you involve the police? And at what stage?
- Who should undertake the investigation?
- The investigation process: step by step
Presented by Fiona McMillan, Partner – Employment Law, Lane Neave
3.00pm to 4.00pm When Adults are Behaving Badly: Managing Unreasonable Complaints
- Developing and maintaining a strong framework
- Starting constructively: engaging and understanding the actual concerns and issues
- Taking informed advice and following a fair process
- Health and safety of staff (including the principal)
- Managing requests for information
- More formal steps, including Trespass
Presented by Fi McMillan, Special Counsel, Anderson Lloyd
Learning Objectives:
- Understand and navigate professional boundaries in teaching
- Respond to malicious complaints from adults to protect school integrity
- Manage technology misuse in schools to maintain professional boundaries
Presenters
Sanja Marin, Senior Associate, Duncan Cotterill
Sanja is a specialist health and safety lawyer with significant experience across New Zealand and Australian jurisdictions. She has previously worked as a prosecutor for WorkSafe New Zealand and the New South Wales health and safety regulator in Australia. She has also worked and as a senior legal advisor for WorkSafe providing legal advice on commercial, operational, regulatory, legislative, public law, and criminal law matters.
Rachael Judge, Partner, Simpson Grierson
Rachael Judge is a Partner at Simpson Grierson, specialising in employment and education law. Rachael acts for several independent and state schools on matters such as terms of enrolment, student disciplinary issues, student human rights claims, school policies and the Children’s Act 2014. She also advises schools in relation to their employment agreements and staff disciplinary issues. Rachael regularly attends mediations and represents clients in Employment Relations Authority, Employment Court and Human Rights Review Tribunal matters.
Lena Wong, Director and Lawyer for Child, Complete Legal Limited
Lena is a Director of Complete Legal and has been practising In South Auckland for the past 9 years. Lena graduated from the University of Auckland with a Masters of Laws and Bachelor of Arts and was admitted to the bar in 2012. Lena specializes in Family Law and has a vast range of experience in COCA, Family Violence, Oranga Tamariki matters as well as PPPR, trusts, wills and estates. She is a court-appointed lawyer for child and is a member of the Family Law Section and the Pacific Lawyers Association.
Rose-Anne London, Tohutohu Mātua, Senior Advisor, Relationship Management and Pathways, Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand
Kate Slattery, Deputy Principal, Epsom Girls Grammar School
Kate Slattery is Deputy Principal at Epsom Girls Grammar School. She has been at Epsom Girls since 2016, having worked in large Auckland secondary schools and overseas prior to 7 years in tertiary education focusing on course development and lecturer education. She has a passion for working with people and her current role includes Human Resources and Personnel. As Deputy Principal, Kate works with students, staff and whānau with a focus on facilitating learning through often challenging circumstances. Her diverse role ranges from navigating conflict, challenging behaviours and competency to learning engagement and still enjoying being a teacher in Aotearoa New Zealand. Kate sings with Auckland’s Jubilation Choir and relishes the performance opportunities this has brought her, there’s always something new to look forward to.
Gretchen Stone, Partner, Harrison Stone
Gretchen Stone specialises in employment and education law. She advises secondary principals through the Secondary Principals Association of New Zealand and with primary principals as the Honorary Solicitor for Auckland Primary Principals Association. Gretchen has extensive experience advising Principals and Board of Trustees in relation to employment and disciplinary issues, governance and management, student discipline issues, social media, and all areas of legal liability within the education sector.
Aroha Fletcher, Senior Associate – Family Law, Stace Hammond Lawyers
Aroha Fletcher is a Senior Associate at Stace Hammond. Aroha specializes in Family Law, helping clients navigate and resolve disputes, particularly in high-conflict cases involving children. She is a member of Te Hunga Rōia Māori o Aotearoa and the Family Law Section and has been involved in community initiatives to assist people’s access to family lawyers. Aroha currently assists various ethics committees in resolving disciplinary actions for different professional bodies. Aroha previously practiced on the North Shore and has been involved in the Royal Commission’s Inquiry into abuse of children, young people, and vulnerable adults in State and faith-based care in Aotearoa New Zealand between the years 1950-99.
Fiona McMillan, Partner – Employment Law, Lane Neave
Fiona is the Auckland Partner of the Employment Law team and commenced her career with Lane Neave in 2007. Fiona and her team act for both employees and employers in matters involving employment relations, health and safety, human rights, privacy and ACC. Fiona advises on all aspects of termination including performance management, misconduct, serious misconduct, medical incapacity, restructurings and redundancies and negotiated exits. She also specialises in collective bargaining, human rights commission matter and independent external investigations. In 2019, Fiona undertook the certification from the Association of Workplace Investigators in Vail, Colorado, USA.
Peter Kaiser, Principal, Tirimoana School
Mr Kaiser began his teaching career in 1975 training at Auckland Secondary Teachers College and the University of Auckland. He graduated with a BA in History, and post graduate studies in Education, Psychology and Anthropology. He has taught in a number of schools in New Zealand and the United Kingdom, at Secondary, Intermediate and Primary levels. As well, Mr Kaiser taught in Special Education for 5 years and completed a Diploma in Special Education. Mr Kaiser completed his Master of Education in Professional Studies with 1st class Honours at Auckland University. He has been Principal at Tirimoana School for over 25 years. He established and led the Te Atatu Community of Learning with 8 other West Auckland Schools.
Fi McMillan, Special Counsel, Anderson Lloyd
Fi specialises in employment and education law. She is the legal advisor to the NZPF "Principals' Advice and Support Scheme." Prior to becoming a lawyer Fi worked as a primary school teacher in New Zealand and in the UK, and completed a Post Graduate Diploma in Child Advocacy. She has also worked on several Boards. This experience puts her in a strong position to advise on legal issues affecting schools. Fiona is committed to working with her clients to find the best possible outcome, whether that can be achieved by constructive discussions and resolution of issues or through more formal processes.
Arran Hunt, Partner, McVeagh Fleming Lawyers
After spending a decade designing solutions as a technical business analyst, Arran began work as a lawyer with a focus on technology and the internet. While much of his work is commercial, working with companies who focus on the delivery of technological solutions, he also has strong involvement on how technology impacts society. He has appeared numerous times for clients under the Harmful Digital Communication Act 2015, including the first civil matter under the legislation. and has spoken and written widely on the benefits and detriments of social media. With his background in technology, and a degree in science, he is often called to comments on new technology and any related legal impacts that will develop, having a greater understanding those most others in the legal profession.
