Wednesday, 8 October 2025
Chair
Maria Mckenzie, Cluster Manager Remutaka Resource Teacher Learning and Behaviour, Masterton Primary School
Obligation to Act Fairly in the Collection and Use of Information About Students and Whānau
Decision making by schools about students inevitably turns on the perception of “relevant” information which is relied on to form “evidence based” findings. When students and their whānau believe that school decisions about them are unfair, they will often dispute the nature and content of the “relevant” information relied on by the decision makers and how they have used it. This session will examine, through discussion of hypothetical “use cases”, some of the potential “icebergs” in collection and use of student and whānau information that can potentially embroil schools in complaint processes that may otherwise involve the Privacy Commissioner, Ombudsman, Ministry of Education, Human Rights Commission, or Teaching Council.
- Student discipline cases and the public law requirement to take into account only relevant considerations and to set aside irrelevant considerations – how do you determine relevance?
- The obligation of schools under Information Privacy Principle 8 (IPP 8) to take reasonable steps to ensure that personal information they use in making decisions about students and their whānau is accurate, up to date, complete, relevant, and not misleading – what is mean in practice?
- Student enrolment cases - as schools move to limit out of zone enrolment more strictly, what information is relevant when applying the current Ministry guidelines when students move out of zone, or where the Ministry of Education or Oranga Tamariki direct a board under the ETA to enrol a student?
- Use of surveys to collect information from students to inform decision making – what information are you collecting and how are you using it?
- Pastoral notes – how does the obligation to correct information under Information Privacy Principle 7 apply where a student or their whānau disagree with the way incidents and resulting school actions are recorded in pastoral notes?
Presented by Leo Donnelly ONZM, Barrister, Education Law NZ
Learning Objectives:
- Identify privacy law obligations when collecting and using student and whānau information
- Recognise common risks that may trigger complaints to oversight bodies
Description
Attend and earn 1 PLD hour
Attend and earn 1 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
Leo Donnelly ONZM, Barrister, Education Law NZLeo Donnelly ONZM is a former Ombudsman of New Zealand and is one of New Zealand’s leading experts in official information and privacy law. As an Ombudsman, Deputy Ombudsman and a senior investigator at the Office of the Ombudsman, Leo spent 3 decades investigating and reviewing complaints about the administrative actions and procedures of state sector organisations and recommending resolutions to promote fair, just and transparent delivery of services to the public. This involved assessing individual actions and omissions in the context of an organisations systems and culture and statutory responsibilities. Leo brings governance and strategy expertise and wide experience in complaint handling and dispute resolution.
Maria Mckenzie, Cluster Manager Remutaka Resource Teacher Learning and Behaviour, Masterton Primary School
Maria leads a team of itinerant specialist teachers who work across 53 schools in the Wairarapa and Upper Hutt region alongside education and service providers, to identify local needs and resources, and plan support based on the evidence of what works, to best support children and young people to learn, thrive and belong. She has leadership experience and has held governance leadership roles across educational, health, community and not for profit sectors. With an academic background in Psychology, Neuroscience and Education, Counselling and Small Business management Maria has worked across a wide range of sectors supporting people and organisations to embrace and manage transitions and change.
