School leaders today are navigating an increasingly complex landscape of legal, governance and student wellbeing challenges. Join leading education and legal experts and be equipped with the knowledge and confidence to address the key issues facing schools including privacy obligations, upcoming reform to health and safety requirements and EOTC risks, navigating the family law matters of your student families and managing adolescent mental health concerns. You'll gain valuable practical insights into building effective Principal–Board relationships, correctly managing investigations within your school environment and be informed of the essential updates from the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand. Packed with practical guidance and real-world examples, this conference will provide tools and strategies you can immediately apply in your school community.
Thursday, 10 September 2026
Session 2: Governance, Investigations and Professional Standards: What School Leaders Need to Know
Chair: Tim Fox, Deputy Principal, Hutt Valley High School
Description
Attend and earn 7 CLD/PLD/CPD hours
Legalwise Seminars Education Law Programmes are included in the Te Mahere Whanake Tumuaki Principal Development Plan list of Courses and Programmes on the Education Workforce website.
Session 1: Managing Student, Parent and School Risk: Family Law, Privacy, Wellbeing and Health & Safety
Chair: Simon Kenny, Principal, Fergusson Intermediate School
10.00am to 11.00am Strategies When Dealing with Modern Adolescents
- Increases in mental health issues
- Triggers
- Trauma-informed practices
- Building resilience : what is expected of teachers
Presented by Catherine Schuler, Head of Counselling at Te Aroha College
12.15pm to 1.15pm Health and Safety Update: EOTC Safety Management Plans, Risk Assessments and Integrating EOTC into the School’s Overall Health and Safety System
- Health and Safety at Work Amendment Bill: What's new and what might this mean for PCBUs
- Education outside of the classroom
- Health and Safety obligations
- Exploring case studies
- Practical steps including risk assessments and safety management plans
- Where to next: horizon gazing
Presented by Hanna Tevita, Senior Associate, Buddle Findlay: Specialising in Employment Law
11.00am to 11.15am Morning Tea Break
4.00pm to 4.15pm Afternoon Tea Break
11.15am to 12.15pm Privacy Issues in Schools
- Privacy principles: what you need to know about the Privacy Principles
- Strengthening privacy practices in schools
- Managing requests for information
- Managing privacy complaints
Presented by Madeleine Hawkesby, Employed Barrister, Amy Keir Barrister
4.15pm to 5.15pm Update from Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand
Hear from the Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand, ensuring you don’t miss the current updates that will impact your school.
2.00pm to 3.00pm Tips and Best Practice for Creating a Good Principal/Board Relationship
A strong, trust-based relationship between the Board and Principal is central to school success in Aotearoa New Zealand.
- Explore how a clear, respectful partnership between governance and management drives better outcomes for learners, staff and communities
- Unpack common pitfalls such as blurred roles, poor communication and unmanaged tension
- Showcase what best practice can look like in the New Zealand context, drawing on current NZ guidance and case experience
- Gain practical tools, questions and examples you can take away to strengthen trust, avoid common traps and build a productive, future-focused partnership
Presented by Bruce Hart MNZM, NZSTA Advisory Support Centre Lead, New Zealand School Boards Association - GovHub
Learning Objectives:
- Learn how to confidently navigate family law issues affecting students, including court orders, parental information rights and interactions with separated families
- Explore the challenges affecting today's adolescents and discover practical, trauma-informed strategies to support student wellbeing, resilience and positive educational outcomes
- Develop a practical understanding of privacy obligations in schools, including how to manage information requests, complaints and day-to-day privacy risks with confidence
- Gain the knowledge and tools to meet your health and safety obligations, manage EOTC risks effectively and prepare for upcoming legislative changes
9.00am to 10.00am Family Law Toolkit for Principals and School Leaders
Separation, family violence, and other family law issues can come to school with tamariki and rangatahi. Parents, lawyers, and agencies can seek to involve teachers and principals. Equip yourself to best deal with these complex situations and gain an understanding of:
- An overview of the family law system and its different parts
- Court orders: what to look for
- What information schools need to provide, even when a parent does not have care of their child
- Practical tips for principals when dealing with separated or separating parents
Presented by Louisa Jackson, Specialist Family Law Lawyer
3.00pm to 4.00pm What it's Like on the Receiving End of an Investigation
- Terms of Reference
- What are your rights
Presented by Fi McMillan, Special Counsel, Anderson Lloyd and Rebecca Laney, Associate, Anderson Lloyd
Learning objectives:
- Learn practical strategies to build and maintain a strong, trust-based partnership between the Board and Principal that supports effective governance and positive outcomes for the school community
- Gain a clearer understanding of the investigation process, including terms of reference, procedural fairness, and the rights and responsibilities of those involved
- Stay informed about current developments, regulatory changes and emerging issues from the Teaching Council that may impact school leaders and teachers
Presenters
Rebecca Laney, Associate, Anderson Lloyd
Rebecca is an Associate in Anderson Lloyd’s employment team, specialising in employment, health and safety, and education law. She has particular expertise in conducting employment and health and safety investigations. She regularly advises and represents both respondents and complainants, including in matters involving school boards and principals.
Madeleine Hawkesby, Employed Barrister, Amy Keir Barrister
Madeleine Hawkesby is a Barrister who specialises in Employment Law and Education Law. Before that she worked as Special Counsel at Duncan Cotterill, a national law firm. She has acted and currently acts for a number of schools and has been appointed as a Limited Statutory Manager and / or Commissioner by the Ministry of Education in 8 different schools across the South Island (covering primary, secondary and area schools). Consequently, Madeleine has significant depth and breadth of experience in the education sector. She draws on that legal knowledge and practical experience to present engaging and insightful presentations which empower school leaders.
Simon Kenny, Principal, Fergusson Intermediate School
Simon has been in education for over 25 years now after leaving his career in graphic design and photolithography at the age of 26. He has taught in many schools in Wellington and has been the Principal of a small contributing School (Birchville School) before winning the Principal position at Fergusson Intermediate where he has been for the past 7 years. Leading the school community through the COVID years has been a challenge, but also a huge privilege and opportunity to learn and grow. Simon’s wife is also a Principal and they have a 16 year old son who went to both of their schools as a young student before escaping to college. Simon is passionate about education and empowering all of our amazing young people. He works in a high energy environment and absolutely loves his school, his team and his community.
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. Fi 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.
Louisa Jackson, Barrister, Louisa Jackson Family Law Barrister
Louisa Jackson is a specialist family law barrister. She advises and represents clients in all areas of family law, with a special interest in relationship property, estate claims, incapacity issues, relocation, and matters relating to children. Louisa regularly appears in the Family Court and High Court and receives appointments as Counsel to Assist and Lawyer to Assist the Court. Prior to becoming a barrister, Louisa was an associate at a specialist family law firm in Wellington, and Crown Counsel at the Crown Law Office. She has a first-class Honours degree in Law, a bachelor’s degree in social policy, and has published articles relating to relationship property, child protection, and mental health.
Hanna Tevita, Senior Associate, Buddle Findlay
Hanna is a member of the Wellington employment, health and litigation teams. She specialises in employment law and regularly advises on matters relating to personal grievances, disciplinary processes, health and safety, organisational change and restructure processes, parental law, privacy and education law. Hanna has a particular interest in medical incapacity and mental health in the workplace. Hanna has extensive experience in both the private and public sectors and has acted for some of New Zealand's largest private sector organisations. Hanna has experience in dispute resolution and mediation and has appeared before the Employment Relations Authority and the Employment Court.
Bruce Hart MNZM, NZSTA Advisory Support Centre Lead, New Zealand School Boards Association – GovHub
Bruce have had a career in education as a teacher, senior leader and latterly as a long-serving high school principal. During this time, he served on many school boards, as a staff representative, elected parent rep and for six years as a presiding member. He also represented secondary principals on a diverse range of advisory and reference groups including NZQA, The NZ Police and Education Partnership and various Ministry of Education reference and consultation groups including special education. His current role is to lead the NZSTA Advisory Support Centre providing governance and employment advice to schools through out the country. He is a passionate believer in self-managing schools and community-based board members.
Tim Fox, Deputy Principal, Hutt Valley High School
Tim Fox is the Deputy Principal of Operations & Community Relationships at Hutt Valley High School in Lower Hutt, New Zealand. He also serves on the Hutt Valley High School Board and frequently leads community-focused initiatives, including outreach programs for migrant and refugee families.
Catherine Schuler, Head of Counselling at Te Aroha College
