Chair
Denise Johnson, Principal, Hutt Valley High School
‘Then Came the Schools. Then Came the Lawyers, Then Came the Rules’- The Lore of Law and Education
This session will provide context to the legal decisions and legislation that are being applied by, and to, your schools. The session will cover:
- The origins and mechanics of the sources of law in Aotearoa New Zealand (Tikanga Māori, Common Law and Statutory Law)
- The legal thinking and history that influences the application of employment and public law in Aotearoa New Zealand today
- Why the courts have a role in reviewing schools' decisions and why Parliament can rapidly change laws applying to schools
- Why there are conflicts between laws and how schools can approach a situation when they are stuck in the middle
Presented by Maynard Scott, National Employment Relations Advisor, Te Whakarōputanga Kaitiaki Kura o Aotearoa, New Zealand School Boards Association
Learning Objectives:
- Understand the legal foundations affecting schools in Aotearoa, including Tikanga Māori, common law, and statutes.
- Identify how legal conflicts arise and how schools can navigate them effectively.
- Recognise the role of courts and Parliament in shaping education law.
- Apply key legal principles to real-world school governance scenarios.
Description
Attend and earn 0.5 PLD hour
Attend and earn 0.5 CPD hour
* This interactive online recording includes questions and quizzes requiring critical thinking about the topics, so you have no annual limits to the number of points/hours you can claim with this format of learning. Please verify with your CPD rules
Presenters
Denise Johnson, Principal, Hutt Valley High School
Denise Johnson is the principal of Hutt Valley High School, a large co-educational secondary school with a roll of 1730 students. Denise started her teaching career in Southland at Menzies College. She then taught for 3 years at various schools in London before returning to New Zealand in 1990. Denise was a Deputy Principal at Wellington Girls’ College and Wellington High School before joining the leadership team at HVHS as an Associate Principal in 2012. She co-led the school with the late Ross Sinclair for 8 years. Denise is a trustee and founding member of the Wellington Loop. She is interested in the transformative power of collaboration between educators and schools in order to build teacher capability and to develop innovative thinking and practice.
Maynard Scott, National Employment Relations Advisor, Te Whakarōputanga Kaitiaki Kura o Aotearoa, New Zealand School Boards Association
Maynard Scott is an in-house lawyer as part of his role as National Employment Relations Advisor at Te Whakarōputanga Kaitiaki Kura o Aotearoa – New Zealand School Boards Association (formerly known as NZSTA). In this role, he provides counsel for the organisation’s network of advisors, is a representative for state and state-integrated school board employers during the bargaining for education sector collective bargaining and pay equity claims and, working with the Ministry of Education and unions, guides the implementation of bargaining and claim settlements within schools in New Zealand. Alongside this work, he is a member of the Committee of the New Zealand Chapter of Australia New Zealand Education Law Association and has contributed to the International Journal of Law and Education. Before employment law, Maynard served two terms on his school’s board, tutored Criminal law and night-managed a university hall of residence home to 300 students.
