Out of the 400 pupils that attend Greerton Village School, 140 of them are on the school’s learning support registry. 
Twenty-five of them have ‘high needs’ (ORS Funding) but the funding these students receive doesn’t always match the support that is required.
Chairperson of the Board of Trustees for the school, Erika Harvey says the decile two continues to struggle with funding as it caters to meet the needs of these students, as well as offering the other 376 students the learning opportunities and experiences to which they are entitled.
The funding model needs to change to meet the needs of individual schools, it should never be a one size fits all model where funding is concerned.
Schools are expected to contribute funding to each child who require support, in most schools where the numbers of ORS funded students are lower, this might work, at Greerton Village School it doesn’t  due to the very high numbers we need to contribute towards.
 It is a disadvantage to everyone, our children with and without additional needs, our staff and our school community.   This poor funding model has no winners. 
She says Greerton Village School has the highest number of special needs children at a mainstream primary school in the North Island and possibly the country. 
 “So when you have a school like ours, it means that we’re operating at about $124,000 deficit purely from just following the law.”
She says the main issue is that the education funding model promotes exclusion, not inclusion as set out in the Education Act.
​

​As well as seeing what the school is going through from a BOT point of view, Erika also experiences this from a parents point of view, as her daughter Piper is autistic. 
“Piper attended a Montessori preschool full time so I could work full time. We went through the application process hoping Piper qualified for Ongoing Resource Scheme (ORS) funding for primary school. This is extremely difficult to receive with only one per cent of students being approved. 
“If you are one of the lucky ones – which Piper was – congratulations your child is considered to be one of the ‘most severe’ in terms of needs, and received a teacher assistant at school. If you are not in the lucky one per cent it will be extremely difficult to get adequate help or assistance for your child at school.
“When we started to look at our local primary schools, we were told we’d need to pick our daughter up at about lunch time. I couldn’t understand how Piper wouldn’t have someone full time. She wasn’t even toilet trained, she couldn’t speak and would take off all her clothes when she became overwhelmed. This didn’t make any sense. The school said she would be fine and families do it all the time.
“As a parent you feel like you only have two choices at this stage: One: worry about your child’s health and safety and mental wellbeing if you don’t pick her up at lunch, so you can work. 
“Two: instead of being a burden to the school or worry, you’re forced to leave your full time job for lunchtime pick up. There is a third choice – this is where parents don’t pick up their children and those children wind up being stood down for behaviour – also resulting in being forced to leave your full time job.
“When this happened to me, I never knew we were being ‘excluded’ from our local school. I thought they were looking out for us. They said they couldn’t afford to cover her full time and I’d feel horrible making them feel like they had to. I had enough guilt feeling like her additional needs were somehow my fault, so it made sense that I should have to do this on my own. 
“We heard about Greerton Village School while I was sobbing to someone. I was worried we wouldn’t be able to make our mortgage payments after I left my full time job. We were stuck in the house we purchased, which at the time was considered a premium price and was now considered entry level pricing, so selling didn’t make sense. 
“Greerton Village School had to zone their school due to the immense financial pressure they were under. Piper was one of their last children to enrol out of zone,” says Erika. 
Last year, Erika started to become more involved at the school and says only then did she realise that she was creatively excluded from their local school and started to understand the funding model. 
“Greerton Village School didn’t have some magic funding pot of gold that other schools did. They were just giving all children the same shot at an education. As much as my daughter learns from the students, they learn from her that everyone is different but special in their own way.”
She says more than 70 per cent of the schools budget goes to supporting children with additional learning needs and the improvements and changes in these children are drastic. She says it show the power of inclusion. 
The board last year decided to go public about their funding woes to raise awareness about our situation and to educate others on the pressures schools are facing, but don’t openly talk about.  
“I am lobbying the government as well as working alongside members of IHC, NZEI and other organisations because really, we all have the same complaint. Schools don’t have the resources they need, and this makes it hard for our teachers and support staff. Everyone is just trying to do the best they can with the little bit they have. 
“Many schools don’t know how to teach children who have physical or additional learning needs because there is no training, and as a board we’re looking for ways our school can use our knowledge to work smarter.

Four Tauranga City Council candidates (AJ Tuhoro, Suzi Paige, Heidi Hughes and Erika Harvey) all of them connected to the entrepreneurial community, knew that Startup Weekend would be an ideal place to workshop solutions to address some of the big issues they each see in the community.
“We wanted to explore how we might work together. It is also a chance to spend time amongst our community, understanding the different needs and challenges” said A.J Tuhoro who is standing as a candidate for the Welcome Bay/Te Papa Peninsula Ward.
Fresh Faces of TaurangaOur four candidates, nicknamed the “Fresh Faces” of Tauranga, are each active across the community in different areas from diversity to transport; a great fit for this year’s Startup Weekend where over 50 participants are pitching ideas focused on the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Suzi Paige, running for Councillor at Large, pitched the idea to find a solution that would engage youth and other disillusioned communities in the local government decision making process.
“The voting base is not reflective of the wide demographic of communities that make up Tauranga City. This results in decisions being made in favour of the voting minority.”
Attracted by the possibility of having a real impact in our city, on to the team came a developer (Amit Kamble), a teenager (August Marwick) and a graphic designer (Graeme Niksch), and the true value of collaborative problem solving and co-creation immediately started to come into effect.
Meet CoCoThe team went out and talked with members of the community and heard the same issues of trust, transparency and accountability. The message was clear: Tauranga City Council has broken trust with the community. 
The team agreed that in order to be effective as councillors, there needed to be change in the way information is shared between the community, elected officials and the Tauranga City Council. 
CoCo, a platform designed to improve information flows between the three entities, was born.
Erika Harvey, candidate for the Otumoetai/Pyes Pa Ward, used an example from the Marine Precinct Project to illustrate the problem. 
“THE INFORMATION THAT WAS FIRST GIVEN TO COUNCIL MISSED KEY ELEMENTS, ONCE IT HAD BEEN TRANSLATED THROUGH THE CONSULTANTS, PLANNERS AND STAFF; HAD THIS PLATFORM BEEN IN PLACE A LOT OF TIME AND MONEY WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN WASTED.” 
Coco, short for Community Council, is an idea for an outward-facing platform that not only tracks progress, but also allows the community to see how and why projects may be delayed or over budget.
“Greerton Village, Durham Street, the Marine Precinct, and the Memorial Park Walkway projects are all examples that would have had very different outcomes if the community and elected members had been engaged and informed at of every stage of the project. 
By improving accountability and communication in the management of projects there would be significant cost savings to ratepayers” says Heidi Hughes, Candidate at Large.
Startup weekend runs all weekend with pitches being delivered on Sunday in the Trust Power Auditorium on Durham Street. Pop along at 5pm to meet these “Fresh Faces” of the Tauranga City elections, learn more about CoCo and the other wide array of business ideas built to have a positive impact!

Original Post 

TAURANGA, Thursday 25th July 2019: Erika Harvey, the dynamic entrepreneur whose campaigns to bring about social change have touched the hearts of hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders and politicians, is standing as a Councillor in this year’s elections in the Otumoetai/Pyes Pa Ward.
Erika has strong support from Tauranga teachers, parents, business owners and community leaders.
Erika strikes a brilliant balance of business nous and community compassion. Her #DearJacinda video letter explained to the Prime Minister the plight of children who have additional learning needs in an underfunded education system. This video went viral attracting tens of thousands of views.
A video Erika created for Autism Awareness Week showcasing the brilliance of Piper, her young autistic daughter, reciting the Lord’s Prayer in Te Reo reached over 270,000 views and showed the nation another side of this often misunderstood condition. 

Erika says she is not afraid to speak up on issues that matter and is passionate about the business world and building a connected community.
“Tauranga is a vibrant, thriving city with an exciting future for our children’s children. With creativity, intellectual rigor, business acuity and heart – together we can solve our city’s problems and turn them into opportunities,” she says.
Just last week Erika’s courageous leadership was showcased in the Tauranga Council Chambers, where she was acknowledged for her three years of persistence on a community issue affecting hardworking small business owners.
Through diligence and hard graft, Erika unraveled and explained with clarity complex issues arising around the Marine Precinct project. She advocated for the affected community with such clear and sound logic, that the Council agreed an advisory board needed to be established with key stakeholders before any further developments are made. 
“I’m not interested in being right, I’m interested in the right thing being done - it’s all about values.”
Erika says she will inject flair and personality into her campaign and is looking forward to getting out and about to meet people in the Otumoetai/Pyes Pa Ward.
“My campaign will be a grassroots one, that will show voters first-hand how I interact with people from all walks of life. I am curious to hear from voters, to showcase their thinking about their city and hear what’s on their mind.
“I believe that people come first and there are a lot of people struggling in this city, I really want to make a positive difference for this amazing community using my experience as a community and business leader,” she says.
Erika, her husband Dan and his dad Russell own RED Line Fishing, a business globally recognized for quality, sustainability, and innovation. It provides fish to Michelin restaurants around the world.
Erika’s Business and Community Roles
• Erika is Managing Director of InVenture, a successful business advisory company specialising in helping SMB's and start-up companies to improve culture and drive growth. 
• Erika is the chairperson of the school board at Greerton Village School.
• Erika is an advisory board member for TYDT (Tauranga Youth Development Team) which supports youth in the Bay of Plenty. 
Follow Erika on: www.facebook.com/ErikaHarveyTCC
Authorised by Lisa Zawitkoski, 116 Ridge Street, Otumoetai

About 1000 teachers have turned out for the strikes at Tauranga Race Course today for unprecedented strike action.
The strike has been coined as the "biggest strike this country has ever seen" as this is the first time in history both PPTA and NZEI union members will strike as one.
Despite the grey skies threatening to rain, morale was strong.
Fairhaven School principal Paul Hunt took to the mic, leading the crowd in chants.

Hunt chanted, with the crowd following, "what do we want? Teachers. When do we want it? Now."
Aretha Franklin's classic anthem Respect rang over the speakers as the crowd waited to embark on the march.
Papamoa College teacher Natalie Jump was among those gathered in the crowd.

The 28-year-old was in her second year of teaching and she said it wasn't good enough for teachers to not recieve necessary support or pay.
"The strikes are important for the future generation of teachers."
Speeches are now taking place, with the crowd cheering and ringing cow bells after each speaker finishes a statement.

Parent Erika Harvey spoke of her gratitude to teachers for caring for her young daughter who had special learning needs.
Liam Rutherford was a prime negotiator with the Ministry of Education. He said it was fantastic to be here today, and to see the people who have come out today.
He said it was great to see the community supporting teachers when they really needed it.
He said striking was not an easy decision and when workers went without their wages on strike it was a sign that the Government had really "stuffed up".
"Let's be clear - the situation we are in is serious and we need to be prepared to be in it for the long haul," said Rutherford. He didn't rule out further strike action.
People in car parks in Greerton have cheered on the marching strikers while people are tooting their horns from passing cars.
The strikers are marching down Cameron Rd and have passed the RSA chanting that Jacinda should "do them right" and "Chris Hipkins has got to go".
Protesters made their way down Cameron Rd, towards Tauranga Girls' College, where end of the march will be marked be a karakia.
Traffic in the southbound lane of Cameron Rd was virtually gridlocked for about 4km.
In the Bay of Plenty, 148 schools have shut their doors - the second highest number in the country.
The industrial action is expected to be the largest strike by teachers and first ever combined teachers' strike, with 50,000 nationwide expected on the picket lines.
NZEI Tauranga representative Andrea Andresen said the Government had left the teachers no other choice than to strike.
She said it would be the "biggest strike this country has ever seen".

Pre-march activities at the Tauranga racecourse took place from 11.30am, with balloon blowing and messages written to drop off at MPs' offices.
The rally opened with three speakers including NZEI Te Riu Roa vice president Liam Rutherford and PPTA national executive Tania Rae from 12pm.

Tauranga City Council advised motorists to avoid the area during this time or use Takitimu Drive or Fraser St as preferred alternative routes.
Motorists who chose to travel along Cameron Rd would have to remain behind the head vehicle following the march or detour via a side road or turn around.

It was expected that the northbound lanes of Cameron Rd, between Chadwick Rd to 22nd Ave would be closed for about half an hour due to the protesters walking towards the city.
Southbound lanes, from Munro St to 22nd Ave will be closed for approximately 15 minutes to allow the protest march to cross in order to get to Tauranga Girls' College.
The NZEI strike is about pay and workload with primary teachers wanting to double non-contact time to two hours a week, reduce class sizes and increase resource teachers and a special needs co-ordinator (Senco) in every school.

The PPTA wants an extra hour of non-classroom time, increasing that to six hours per week, as well as additional extra non-contact time for middle managers.
The Ministry of Education has offered both unions pay rises of 3 per cent a year for three years, plus an extra step at the top of salary scales that would take the total pay rise for a majority of teachers to 12.6 per cent over three years.
The Government's offer is a $1.2 billion deal over four years.

Up to 1000 Tauranga teachers will march off the job tomorrow for the "biggest strike this country has ever seen".
Primary and secondary school teachers across New Zealand voted earlier this month to strike on May 29 for better pay and work conditions. In the Bay of Plenty, 148 schools will shut their doors - the second highest number in the country.
However, the Government's offer of $1.2 billion over four years is not expected to budge.
Education Minister Chris Hipkins said the offer would bring teachers into the top 20 per cent of income earners.
The industrial action is expected to be the largest strike by teachers and first ever combined teachers' strike, with 50,000 nationwide expected on the picket lines.
About 800,000 students are expected to be affected.
In Tauranga, a 2km section of Cameron Rd will close with traffic control and detours in place from around midday.

New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI) Tauranga representative Andrea Andresen said this would be the "biggest strike this country has ever seen".
Andresen said she hoped the marches would communicate loud and clear to the Government they were serious and had a lot of support.
She said interest had even been expressed by loads of parents, who were keen on getting behind the teachers.

​ Parent Erika Harvey said she was going to support the   teachers as she believed they had one of the most difficult   jobs.
 Harvey said it was not just about their wages, it was about   equipping the schools and teachers with adequate time,   training and funding to handle a variety of learning needs.
 




Ministry of Education deputy secretary for early learning and student achievement Ellen MacGregor-Reid said striking over $1.2b in pay offers did not offer a solution but instead would cause disruption to the learning of thousands of young people.

Western Bay of Plenty PPTA chairwoman Rebecca Holmes said the feeling was mixed among secondary teachers as it had been nearly a decade since their last industrial action.
​
Holmes said they felt a sense of unity with their fellow teachers but also disappointed that they had to use their "last resort" of industrial action.
She hoped they could come to a place to negotiate a "fair and equitable" deal with the Government.

​The Ministry offered both unions pay rises of three per cent a year for three years, taking the total pay rise for a majority of teachers to 12.6 per cent over three years.
However, many teachers were putting more weight on the lack of release time and the heavy workload.
The PPTA wants an extra hour of non-classroom time for all secondary teachers, lifting non-contact time from five hours to six hours a week.
The NZEI wants two hours a week in non-contact time, plus reduced class sizes, more resource teachers and a special needs co-ordinator in every school.
To address workload, the Government provided for 600 learning support coordinators, removed national standards, advanced a review of NCEA and offered additional release time in the offer.
Timeline of the strike11.30am - Teachers will gather near the Tauranga racecourse for pre-march activities, including balloon blowing and message writing.
12pm - Speakers will address the crowds.
12.30pm - The march will begin on Chadwick Rd before turning on to Cameron Rd in the northbound lane. Teachers will be dropping messages off at MPs' offices on the way.
1.30/2pm - The march will wrap up as teachers reach Tauranga Girls' College.

An independent consultant is reviewing Tauranga City Council's handling of the $11.4 million Marine Precinct following years of concern from independent fishing captains. 
Fishing fleet owner Dan Harvey says working ships are being pushed out of Tauranga by the Marine Precinct which favours  luxury yachts and added no berthage space. 
Larger independent fishing vessels share just five metres of truck-to-boat space which causes delays if two ships want to use the space at the same time. 

"When you consider a backwater like Whangarei has 490 metres of space, Napier has 400, Gisborne has 286, and Whakatane has 80 it is ridiculous Tauranga only has 5 metres of truck-to-boat space," Harvey said.
Tauranga City Council confirmed consultant Max Pedersen, who has previously identified poor management issues within Council, has been commissioned to review the Marine Precinct.

​"The scope of the review is to look at any issues or opportunities for improvement," communications manager Aimee Driscoll said. 
Pedersen previously reviewed four council projects which were plagued with communication and consultation issues. 
The report concluded a poor culture was present in council with an emphasis on staff to complete tasks, rather than facilitating the best outcome for the community.

Pedersen's report followed on from a  scathing MBIE report into the council's building inspection team over the handling of the Bella Vista Homes saga. 
Erika Harvey has campaigned against the Marine Precinct for three years saying what was delivered was not what was promised. 
"All we want is what was promised to us originally," she said. 
"Instead things have not been built and the water's edge is being sold. That should stay in public ownership." 
Council documents show companies have purchased lots in the precinct that run up to the water's edge with a service lane for trucks located further inland. 
Other fishing captains asked for comment said the most important thing lacking from the Marine Precinct was berthage for vessels to allow catch to be offloaded but also repairs to be conducted without lifting a vessel out of the water completely. 
A publish date for the review is not yet known. 

Original Article: 
​https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/112858937/another-tauranga-city-council-project-under-review

Tauranga has grown hugely over the past 20 years – but it has come at a considerable cost.
Frustrated motorists are often left battling queues of vehicles on key roads in the mornings and late afternoons across the city – putting pressure on them, their families and their lives.
In the first of a comprehensive five-part series, the Bay of Plenty Times reveals new figures which show exactly how traffic has grown, where the city's chokepoints are, how it's affecting people and businesses, where we're at with public transport, and what the potential solutions are.
This is Gridlock – Tauranga's No. 1 issue.
Tauranga's weekly vehicle count through 10 of its busiest intersections has soared by nearly 800,000 in six years – a rise of almost 40 per cent.
And the mayor warns the city faces an ''absolute crisis'' if nothing is done to fix the problem.
Dramatic new council figures, released exclusively to the Bay of Plenty Times , show 767,000 more vehicle movements through those key areas compared with 2013.
It confirms what many frustrated motorists already suspect – thousands of additional cars on our roads are causing gridlock most weekday mornings and afternoons, placing an enormous strain on lives, businesses and the wider city.
The busiest intersections of the 10 this year are Hewletts Rd and Totara St, 15th Ave and Cameron Rd, Hewletts Rd and Jean Batten Drive, and Moffat Rd and State Highway 2.
Most of the increase in weekly vehicle movements across all 10 intersections has been in the past three years.

​The council data also shows:
•In 2019, there are more than 2.8 million vehicle movements through 10 of our busiest intersections weekly.
•Over the past six years, that weekly traffic total has risen 37.54 per cent.
•Between 2013 and 2016, the weekly total grew by 10.2 per cent and between 2016 and 2019, it grew by 24.81 per cent.
The figures point to a transport network under increasing stress and a city reaching a crossroads in dealing with its worsening traffic problems.

The traffic situation in Tauranga has reached boiling point, with the city council and the national roading authority clashing in a tense stalemate.
The council suspended millions of dollars of major transport and safety projects in protest at a "paralysis" of action from the New Zealand Transport Agency.
The agency said the city's plan did not align with the Government Policy Statement and focused too much on cars instead of alternative transport.

​Like thousands of others, Tauranga mum and businesswoman Erika Harvey battles traffic Monday to Friday.
Her family lives in Bethlehem, her daughter goes to school in Greerton and her office is in Mount Maunganui, which means she is often held up at more than one of those 10 busy intersections.
"I have found myself working from home instead of going to the office due to the traffic congestion. It is no longer productive as I waste too much time in my car."
Harvey has changed routes and the times she leaves different locations because of the increasing commute times and sometimes rides her bike to meetings to avoid the congestion and save time.

Tauranga Mayor Greg Brownless said traffic was now the city's No. 1 issue and predicted an "absolute crisis" if authorities did not act now.
"It's bad enough now and if nothing's done, if all these things that are being planned to be done don't happen, then it will get to that," he said.
Brownless said the increasing traffic reflected the population rise.
"More people coming to live here, more cars on the road."
He has experienced first-hand the congestion at some of those 10 busy intersections, as well as others around the city.
"There's just so many … all of those intersections with the state highways – they're all equally bad, in my view."

The new data shows nine of the 10 intersections have seen percentage increases in double figures since 2013.
The three most significant surges have been at the intersection of Takitimu Drive and Elizabeth St in the central city (91.84 per cent up), at the Maungatapu roundabout (91.64 per cent up), and the Welcome Bay roundabout (81.7 per cent up).
Bay of Plenty regional councillor Stuart Crosby, who is the chairman of the regional transport committee and was Tauranga Mayor for four terms (2004-2016), said several factors were contributing to Tauranga's unique traffic problems.
The city's busiest intersections were often used for through traffic – trucks and other vehicles travelling through the district.
"The other big reason is of course that the state highway network is also used by our locals to get from A to B, which is not always the case in many areas of New Zealand."
Add to that, Crosby said, the population growth of Tauranga and the Western Bay, and also the high business activity and ongoing GDP growth in the area.
"Which is great, but it does ... highlight weaknesses in our infrastructure, particularly transport."

​Crosby said people in Tauranga and the Western Bay had been reticent to get out of their vehicles and use other types of transport, which had only been made easier by a strong economy and relatively cheap fuel prices and cars.
Work had started in designing a refreshed transport system that would give people more transport choices for moving around the city, he said.
James Wickham, manager of the Tauranga Transport Operations Centre, said the 2019 city council traffic figures were mostly collated during the second week of March, using inductive loop counters embedded in the ground at each intersection.
Where this technology and method were not possible or unavailable, the latest and nearest relevant rubber tube counters were used to deduce the volumes on each approach of the intersection.
Wickham said there could be some seasonal factors that influenced the data. For instance, March was generally considered to be the busiest month of the year.
He said increased traffic coming over the Tauranga Harbour Bridge would be impacting the Takitimu Drive/Elizabeth St intersection, and the increases at the Girven Rd/Maunganui Rd intersection outside Bayfair mall in Mount Maunganui would be contributing to the increases on Hewletts Rd.
"However, a significant increase has occurred at Totara St, possibly people moving permanently into what were once holiday homes at the Mount."

Wickham also noted the "significant area of growth" through Bethlehem.
There were five major roads leading into the Tauranga CBD and all needed to be counted together when assessing traffic going in and out, he said.
"You have to remember that it is a transport network and looking at sites in isolation can provide a distorted perspective."

Original Video: 
​https://www.nzherald.co.nz/bay-of-plenty-times/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503343&objectid=12224494 

A wheelchair-accessible playground swing has made an almost 1000km journey to its new home at Greerton Village School, much to the delight of the community.
Dubbed a "liberty swing", the playground equipment meant children and adults in wheelchairs were able to enjoy the thrill of soaring on a swing.
The swing was gifted to the school by Variety, a charity for disadvantaged Kiwi children, after Tauranga City Council and Greerton Village School explored options to make the school more accessible to students and the community.
Representatives of Variety and the council attended a mihi whakau at Greerton Village School yesterday morning, where the swing was unveiled to the students and staff at the decile two school.
Previously kept in Christchurch, it was left unused after the devastating earthquakes that rattled the region in 2011.
Greerton Village School principal Anne Mackintosh said the school was "very happy, very excited and very grateful" to be gifted the swing.
She said the school was always fighting for equity and equality at the school.
"It's the biggest shot in the arm we've had when it comes to resources for our treasures - that's what we call our high needs students.
"This generous donation will make a big change [for] them."
School board member Erika Harvey said she teared up when she heard the school would be donated the swing.

​"I was crying ... words cannot express how truly grateful we are at Greerton Village School to be the recipients of such an amazing and charitable gift."
The school had funding for 27 children through the Ongoing Resourcing Scheme - a Ministry of Education initiative that provides extra support for high-needs children - out of the 410 children on the roll, she said.
Not all of the high-needs children at the school were in wheelchairs, but it upset Harvey to see any students limited in their play.
She said it must be hard for less-abled children to watch other students play around them while they were restricted to their chairs.
"Most of the time the students are just pushed in circles," she said.
David Drake, a volunteer with Variety for over 20 years, was one of the unsung heroes involved in the mission and drove the swing nearly 1000km from Christchurch to Tauranga.
Drake embarked on the voyage at 6.45am on Monday morning, caught the afternoon ferry to Wellington then zoomed up to Palmerston North. After an overnight stay there, he arrived in Tauranga on Tuesday evening.
He was "delighted to bring [the swing] up" for the "special day".
Tauranga City Council community development team leader Dani Jurgeleit said the swing was part of the council's vision to make Tauranga "the most inclusive city" in the country.
The council helped out by covering the $1000 cost of transporting the swing, which included the ferry, petrol and accommodation.
The installation of the swing at Greerton Village School was part of a larger conversation about how the council could make the city more accessible.

Original Article: 
​https://www.nzherald.co.nz/good-news/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503279&objectid=12205564

Independent fishermen say they are being pushed out of Tauranga as council ignores pleas for more wharf space.
Members of the Black Fleet, a designation given to all working vessels, have to share 5 metres of truck-to-boat space between them at the public Cross Road wharf. 
While private wharves are in the process of being built which will ease usage, fisherman are still angry.  
"When you consider a backwater like Whangarei has 490 metres of space, Napier has 400, Gisborne has 286, and Whakatane has 80 it is ridiculous Tauranga only has 5 metres of truck to boat space," fishing captain Dan Harvey said.

​Harvey said the newly opened $11.4 million Marine Precinct, operated by Tauranga City Council, did not cater for the needs of working fisherman. 
"We had hoped the final design would have a seawall with additional truck to boat space," he said. "Instead they've sold the water edge privately."
Harvey has been fishing the Tauranga Moana (the seas of Tauranga) for 15 years. Over that time he has seen a decline in fishing vessels calling Tauranga home due to the lack of facilities. They take with them jobs and revenue.  
Data compiled by different vessels showed on average each fishing ship employs eight people and turns over $1.4 million.About $1 million of that turnover is spent covering costs locally, including ice, fuel and maintenance.

"Ships are leaving," he said. "If I didn't have my family and daughter settled here I would leave as well.
"The problem is we can't get more than one truck to a boat at any time."
Captains coordinate arrival times before booking space. Despite this double ups occur as each ship uses the wharf 2.3 hours per visit on average.
"The precinct has chased the super-yacht market and forgotten about the needs of the working fleet," Harvey said. 

Another fisherman, who asked not to be named, said they were forced to downsize so they could use smaller wharves in the district.  
"It cost us a hell of a lot of money to do so," he said.
"It's hard being a fisherman in New Zealand you get pushed out of the wharves unless you're in a small town like Westport or Greymouth that is geared for fishing. Numbers are reducing across the country."
Council says the Marine Precinct caters for all water users and upgrade work is under way to assist fisherman.
Two private fishing companies have resorted to build their own wharf which council predicts will free up public wharf space by 40 per cent.

In the mean time, smaller vessels can use the smaller, Fisherman's Wharf in Dive Crescent to unload catch or can book space at the Port of Tauranga. 
Since opening in August the Marine Precinct has serviced 28 vessels including a super-yacht, high-performance catermaran and a 298 tonne fishing vessel. 
Twelve were 'white boats' and 16 were 'black boats' showing working ships are using the facilities.
Harvey says he hopes the precinct expansions will provide more facilities to fisherman as new travel lifts in Whangarei will create more competition. 

"I'm worried all these super yachts they think will come to Tauranga will probably just not when that opens," he said.
"We're the ones that live here and will use these facilities year in and year out."
Original Article: 
https://www.stuff.co.nz/bay-of-plenty/109974821/tauranga-fisherman-feel-pushed-out-by-114-million-marine-precinct-to-make-way-for-superyachts 

Greerton Village School students make a plea for more funding.

Providing education to children with special learning needs has left one school $125,000 in the red.
The decile 2, Greerton Village School has highest number of special needs children at any mainstream primary school but catering for so many students has left the school in debt.
Parents have even resorted to opening a Give-a-Little page to fundraise money to pay teacher aides and help meet the two-year deadline to repay the debt. ​

​Principal Anne Mackintosh says the school attracted high numbers of  children  requiring learning support because parents were discouraged to enrol their child at other schools.  
Now, seven per cent of their roll requires funding from the Ongoing Resource Scheme and many others require learning support. 

"We became a bit of a victim of our own success," Mackintosh said. 
"Because we support inclusion and our treasures never feel they miss out. They do everything from swimming to kapa haka."
To curb the rising number of students the school had to put in place an enrolment zone to slow down their student intake. This stopped students being encouraged to enrol in their school outside of their zones. 
On September 22 the Coalition Government announced sweeping changes to the way learning support was organised in the draft disability health action plan designed to create better pathways for students. 
Submissions to the select committee also identified parents being discouraged from enrolling their children at certain schools.
"Some parents report their child  has not been welcome and/or allowed to attend for full school hours; or that their child has been excluded from education opportunities outside of the classroom," one submission read. 
Mackintosh says the reason for this is purely financial. Inclusion comes at a cost, with teacher aides being funded by the Ongoing Resource Scheme - a fund that allows teacher aides to be hired. 
"Sometimes children are only allocated 10 hours of teacher aide but in reality need more or even full-time," she said. 
"We go through all the hoops and try to fight for additional funding."
Mackintosh said the additional hours ate away the school's budget but it was done for the betterment of the children. The school passed 15 years of audits and has had no financial mismanagement issues.
"The problem is just the funding for the number of children we have," Mackintosh said. 
After going to the Ministry of Education the school was told to cut costs by $100,000 which will mean the loss of at least five teacher aides. The school has already cut the budget to the bone and even gone without rebuilding their junior playground which had to be dismantled years ago.  
Ministry of Education's deputy secretary sector enablement and support, Katrina Casey, said the two-year repayment plan was arranged to allow the school to stay cash-flow positive.
"Regarding your question about claims parents are being discouraged from enrolling their children in certain schools, every child and young person has the right to education," she said. 
"We know though that some parents and whānau experience challenges in having their children's needs recognised and supported."
Associate education minister Tracey Martin said too many children have been missing out on the support they need. 
"Once finalised, the Disability and Learning Support Action Plan will provide a clear structure and path for delivering this help.
"The goal is that we have an inclusive education system where children and young people with additional learning needs, including disabilities, are welcome, and where their achievement, progress, wellbeing and participation is valued and supported."
The announcement came on top of a March announcement of an additional $272.8 million over four years to learning support. 
Erika Harvey's child Piper attends Greerton Village School and says their existing model of inclusion and learning support has transformed her child 
Piper has severe autism but since changing to Greerton Village School she is no longer being excluded. 
"You always want to have hope for your children but before coming to this school, I wasn't sure there was much," she said. 
"She doesn't feel like she is missing out or different.
"They let her do everything from kapa haka to even being on the school radio."
Mackintosh is hopeful the changes will make a difference for schools like hers the promote inclusiveness but said resources are the key issue. "From the new changes, which took effect in July, we've only received about $5000 more and we are grateful for it," she said.
Stuff : https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/education/107264172/greerton-school-principal-school-in-financial-issue-due-to-learning-support