Kevin Jephson

Regular readers will be aware of a nasty little Wairarapa principal called Kevin Jephson.

His style is to slag off the Government, National Standards and Anne Tolley to his local papers – which dutifully print every word, without wondering why he would be so critical.

Well, now we know.

Yet again, brave, plucky little Kevin is getting in the first blow against the big bad Government by going public with his school’s National Standards results – apparently instead of him and his teachers being responsible for poor standards at his school it is the government’s fault because they measured him and found him wanting.

But this usual smokescreen won’t hide the tragic facts for kids and parents at his school.

These results are shocking. That’s why the MoE wants to give them help.

Jephson has been caught out – which is exactly why we need National Standards.

And no amount of whining or complaining is going to cut it with parents, while a principal just down the road is singing the praises of Natonal Standards and making a real difference for kids.

Parents will vote with their feet. And soon Kevin will be left ranting in an empty classroom, waiting for the removal van to arrive. I suspect even then the sad little loser will still be blaming the government for his now empty school.

But by then Anne Tolley’s revenge will be complete.

Here’s the latest odious little creep – from the ever-decreasing band of shabby principals – to hoodwink his local paper by opposing National Standards because they are “elitist”.

Kevin Jephson is a well-known anti-government protestor. His bile-filled letters are regularly in the Dom Post.

This poses a few questions. The idiot who wrote this story hasn’t bothered to question anything this little shit says. Why not?

What reasons could Jephson have for not wanting the government and parents to get any information on how kids are doing in his shabby little school?

I can tell you why. His latest ERO report shows the school is a basket-case.

Forget all the touchy-feely stuff in there. This is the important part:

The board is now ready to embark upon self-review processes. Extended reporting to trustees of schoolwide student achievement information, particularly in reading, writing and mathematics should better support their planning and resourcing decisions, annual target setting, and subsequent evaluation of how effective the school’s curriculum is in promoting student learning. There has been limited development in the areas identified for improvement since the previous ERO review in 2007.

And

ERO recommends that, to assist the next stages of school development:

3.1 the board engages external advice to assist its implementation of high level school self review as part of its governance role; and

3.2 the principal supports the board by providing it with extended reporting on student achievement to inform its self review and decision making.

In other words, the board needs help and the principal hasn’t even been giving his employers, the board, any info on how the kids are actually doing in reading, writing and maths.

ERO says it will review the school in 2 years. This is bad. Good schools get 4 and 5 year reviews. A 2 year review means the school has serious problems that need to be addressed.

So no wonder the principal doesn’t want anyone getting National Standards information.

But here’s the most important question. If you are a parent, how would you feel about this guy being near your kids every day?