Education Law Summit Auckland
Don't miss out on this invaluable opportunity to get across the latest updates on the critical legal issues impacting schools. Gain clarity on new Code of Conduct, physical restraint rules plus other regulatory requirements in the education space, employment & staff duties & liabilities including managing physical health & safety, & effectively handling social media & reputational risk challenges. Join leading legal & industry experts & unlock the secrets to successfully conquer legal challenges. 239NZA03
Description
Attend and earn 6 PLD hours
Session 1
Tackling Regulatory Updates and Employment Law Issues in Schools
Chair: Christina England, Deputy Principal, Northcross Intermediate School
9.00am to 9.05am Opening Comments by the Chair
9.05am to 9.50am Key Education Law Updates
- The introduction of Codes of Conduct for school boards members
- The introduction of principal eligibility criteria
- The new physical restraint rules and guidelines
- Legal obligations relating to school attendance
Presented by Jessica Higgins, Associate, Anderson Lloyd and Rebecca Laney, Associate, Anderson Lloyd
9.50am to 10.35am Health and Safety: Your Obligation to Provide a Safe Working Environment for Your Staff
- What are a school’s legal obligations in this area?
- Does the law look at mental health and physical health differently?
- Mental health and managing a staff members performance or conduct
- Worksafe New Zealand’s involvement with the education sector
Presented by Fiona McMillan, Partner, Lane Neave
10.35am to 10.50am Morning Tea
10.50am to 11.35am Effectively Managing Substandard Performance
- Raising issues with employees at the earliest opportunity
- Key elements of a successful Advice and Guidance Programme
- Relevant clauses under the Collectives
- Underlying employee health issues that can impact on performance
Presented by Gretchen Stone, Partner, Harrison Stone
11.35am to 12.20pm Support Staff: Managing Employment Issues
- Differentiating between misconduct vs. poor performance
- Managing attendance issues: when and how to escalate the issue of ongoing absenteeism
- What insights can be gained from relevant case law?
Presented by Rachael Judge, Senior Associate, Simpson Grierson
Learning Objectives:
- Consider the biggest changes in education legislation, guidelines and codes
- Understand your obligations to providing a safe working environment to your staff
- Gain practical insights into handling employment issues with support staff
- Consider best practice when handing substandard performance
Session 2
Managing Social Media, Reputational Risk and Governance in Schools
Chair: Christina England, Deputy Principal, Northcross Intermediate School
1.10pm to 2.10pm Managing Your School’s Reputational Risk During a Crisis
In today's fast-paced and complex social media environment, it is virtually inevitable for schools to face some kind of crisis. When a crisis occurs, there is an immediate challenge in balancing the need to inform the community, safeguarding the school's reputation, and mitigating potential legal risks. Join for a practical discussion on:
- Crisis preparedness: planning, testing, reviewing
- Legal obligations and crisis communication
- Roles and responsibilities
- Today’s communication environment: challenges and opportunities in a crisis
Presented by Marg Joiner, Partner, SenateSHJ and Georgia Moselen-Sloog, Client Director, SenateSHJ
2.10pm to 3.10pm Social Media and School Employees and Students: Dealing with Privacy, Disciplinary, Regulatory, and Social Considerations
- Use of social media by school employees
- Guidance on a school’s duties and authority to take action on information posted on social media, including employment principles regarding disciplining employees and school policies for disciplining students for out of hours conduct generally
- Student misconduct and dealing with cyberbullying
- How to protect your school
- Student and parents using cameras and taking photos
- Obligations of the school and of parents
- Privacy law considerations
- Creating a privacy policy and enforcement
- How far can the school go? What to do if you see a parent taking a picture
Presented by Helen Pryde, Senior Associate, Duncan Cotterill
3.10pm to 3.30pm Afternoon Tea
3.30pm to 4.30pm Governance and Management Within Schools: The Challenges in the Board of Trustees Environment
- The key relationship
- Tips on making that relationship work
- The challenging Board member
- Weaknesses in the BOT system
- Addressing those weaknesses
- What happens when the Board is replaced
- Making the most of the statutory intervention
- Summary and conclusions
Presented by James Crichton, Employment Law Specialist, Three60; Former Chief of the Employment Relations Authority; Former School Commissioner
Learning Objectives:
- Receive practical guidance on dealing with privacy, disciplinary and regulatory issues in relation to social media
- Learn useful tips in managing your schools reputational risk during a crisis
- Understand governance challenges for the Board of Trustees
Presenters
Jessica Higgins
Jessica is an Associate in the Employment team at Anderson Lloyd in Dunedin. Jessica acts for employers and employees and is developing a special interest in education law within an employment law context.
Rebecca Laney
Rebecca is an Associate in the Employment team at Anderson Lloyd, specialising in employment and health and safety law. Rebecca is directly involved alongside her colleagues in advising principals under the New Zealand Principals' Federation legal Advice and Support Scheme in matters than impact their employment and also works closely with a number of School Boards. She works with a range of clients across a number of sectors including education, agriculture, tourism, and manufacturing advising on all things employment and health and safety related.
Rachael Judge
Rachael Judge is a senior associate 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.
Gretchen 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.
Fiona McMillan
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. Fiona regularly represents employers in Mediations, Employment Relations Authority Investigation meetings and the Employment Court. She acted as counsel in the leading case on penalties – Borsboom v PVT Limited and the leading case on union discrimination – Lamont and Others v Ritchies Transport Holdings Limited. Fiona was nominated for Young Lawyer of the Year at the 2016 Law Awards. In 2022, she was recognised as an Elite Woman in NZ Lawyer’s annual rankings. Also in 2022, Fiona was named in the Doyle’s Guide as a recommended Employment Lawyer. Fiona has also been recognised in Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners as a leading employment and health and safety practitioner in New Zealand.
Helen Pryde
Helen is a very experienced lawyer who has been practising for 20 years and specialises in health and safety law and employment law. Helen advises employer and employee clients across a broad range of industries. She has significant dispute resolution experience and regularly represents clients at mediation, in the Employment Relations Authority, and in court. Helen also undertakes independent investigations and is an accredited mediator.
James Crichton
James Crichton logged his first appearance in an employment institution in 1978. His first 10 years of working life were spent in management, culminating in a period as general manager of a local authority. When he commenced legal practice, he developed an interest in working in schools, acting for teachers against schools, and for schools again teachers. He was appointed as a Commissioner or Limited Statutory Manager of a public school on four occasions. In 2004, James was appointed a temporary Member of the Employment Relations Authority and he was reappointed regularly thereafter as a permanent Member of the Authority. After 15 years of service to that institution, culminating with the last four years as Chief, he left the Authority to return to the Bar, specialising in employment law and practice, and alternative dispute resolution.
Christina England
Christina England is Deputy Principal at Northcross Intermediate School. She has been with Northcross since 2009. Christina has a Masters in Educational Practices, having worked in education for over 15 years. She has a passion for working with people and in a previous job, her role included working in Human Resourcing and commercial law. As Deputy Principal, Christina works collaboratively with students, staff and families with a focus on facilitating learning through often challenging circumstances. Her diverse role ranges from navigating conflict, challenging behaviours and competency to dealing with social media concerns and employment policy.
Venue
Mövenpick Hotel Auckland
8 Customs Street East
Auckland CBD
Auckland 1010
New Zealand
Parking information:
Parking is not included in your registration. Here are some options below:
Hotel valet parking @$50 a day
Downtown Car Park click here for rates
Directions:
Nearby Public Transport:
Train Stations - Britomart 150m
Bus stops - Customs Street
Downtown Ferry terminal 280m