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Speaker 1: So in a sign of the times, I guess Westlake

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Speaker 1: High which is in Auckland, is having an online learning

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Speaker 1: day this Friday. Why because tomorrow's the day off, of course,

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Speaker 1: and staff and students will be working remotely. The school

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Speaker 1: says it's important to prepare for any future emergencies. So

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Speaker 1: the Principal's Association President voughn Coyo's with us on this

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Speaker 1: born morning to you.

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Speaker 2: Good morning and have a new year. We haven't had

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Speaker 2: a chat with this year.

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Speaker 1: We have a new year to you too, Do you

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Speaker 1: reckon it's really about emergencies or it's really about having

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Speaker 1: Thursday off and you can't be bothered with a Friday.

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Speaker 2: It's probably not can't be bothered, but it is relatively

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Speaker 2: complicated whenever there is a public holiday that falls on

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Speaker 2: a Tuesday and the Thursday complicated in that families that

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Speaker 2: are able want to take advantage of a longer weekend

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Speaker 2: and parents might take an annual leave day to make

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Speaker 2: it four days, and that has a little bit of

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Speaker 2: conflict with or it creates a little bit of tension

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Speaker 2: with us wanting to engage in classes and keep our

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Speaker 2: tendencybles up, which is also something that's getting a lot

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Speaker 2: of focus Nationallyly.

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Speaker 1: I was going to say, has did David Seymour when

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Speaker 1: he said we've got to get back and you teach

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Speaker 1: her days and all that stuff he said last year?

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Speaker 1: Was he wasting his time? Essentially?

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Speaker 2: Well, it wasn't wasting his time, because we all want

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Speaker 2: kids back in school, but there are some pragmatics that

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Speaker 2: you've got to deal with. So firstly, when he said

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Speaker 2: that last year, he probably hadn't checked with Minister Stanford,

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Speaker 2: who had just given schools to two teacher only days

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Speaker 2: for twenty twenty five to deal with curriculum change. And

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Speaker 2: then when guidelines came out at the end of last year,

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Speaker 2: there's also discretion for schools to do another two across

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Speaker 2: the year if they make the numbers up in terms

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Speaker 2: of days open. So schools are able to do up

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Speaker 2: to four teacher only days through the year as approved

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Speaker 2: by the Minister of Education.

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Speaker 1: Right do do schools in general send out some sort

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Speaker 1: of note saying please be reminded that although Thursday's a holiday,

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Speaker 1: Friday isn't. So how about we all turn up.

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Speaker 2: Not necessarily with each other on mass like that, but

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Speaker 2: certainly within their community. So it's not uncommon for schools

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Speaker 2: that are all within a particular area to go, hey,

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Speaker 2: what are you doing? I don't want my kids out

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Speaker 2: on Friday if your kids in, because my kids will

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Speaker 2: annoy yours and all that sort of things. So it

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Speaker 2: certainly is some local conversation within a district.

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Speaker 1: Because we sort of go to the school that we

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Speaker 1: really should be going to the parents. Apart from anything,

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Speaker 1: every parent who's taken that kid out of school on

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Speaker 1: Friday knows full well that what they're doing they shouldn't

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Speaker 1: be doing. I mean, that's the truth of it, isn't it.

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Speaker 2: That is the rub. And on days, on days like

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Speaker 2: Friday or on Monday, when the public holidays on a Tuesday,

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Speaker 2: historically we've seen abosomal attendance. We've seen it drop down

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Speaker 2: to I think one principle was saying less than fifty

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Speaker 2: percent the last few times that's happened. And so that's

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Speaker 2: not kids exercising discretion. That's parents are saying, let's have

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Speaker 2: a longer weekend.

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Speaker 1: Exactly. All right, Born, must to catch up with you.

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Speaker 1: We'll talk again in twenty five. Born Coyo, who's the

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Speaker 1: Secondary School Principals Association. For more from the Mic asking Breakfast,

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Speaker 1: listen live to news talks that'd be from six am weekdays,

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Speaker 1: or follow the podcast on iHeartRadio