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NetNZhttps://netnz.org/ |
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| # of unique students – 619 Type of provider – Programme, non-profit Primary distance modality – Synchronous |
Background
NetNZ is a secondary online distance learning programme that is based and primarily operates on the South Island. Unlike other distance learning providers, which are special institutions or private schools, NetNZ is considered a distance learning programme – in that it doesn’t have legal status as a school within the educational context.
The programme is an amalgamation of former clusters that were part of the Virtual Learning Network, primarily OtagoNet, WestNet, CantaNet (itself an earlier amalgamation of CantaTech and AorakiNet), Southland Interactive Learning Community, and DunedinNet.
Governance
The NetNZ Charitable Trust (registration number CC50964) was established on 19 August 2014. As such, the organisation is governed by a trust deed and a constitution. On 28 March 2015, the organisation created NetNZ Limited (registration number CC51498) as a limited liability company where all of the shares were owned by the NetNZ Charitable Trust. On 15 June 2023, NetNZ Group (registration number CC61338) was registered to provide an organisational structure to allow both NetNZ Charitable Trust and NetNZ Limited to be consolidated for charitable purposes (e.g., filing a consolidated annual return). All three entities list the same trustees, trust deed, and constitution. This overall structure is currently under review.
The trust deed established that NetNZ would have a board composed of at least three trustees who are selected by subscribing members (i.e., operationalised as schools who pay an annual fee to be a member), and no more than five trustees. The three trustees would be appointed in the following manner:
- providers, or those subscribing members of NetNZ who provide a virtual learning experience, shall have the right to appoint one trustee;
- recipients, or subscribing members of NetNZ who receive a virtual learning experience, shall have the right to appoint one trustee; and
- personnel, or those who are directly or indirectly employed or engaged in delivering NetNZ activities, shall have the right to appoint one trustee.
While trustees are appointed, if more than one person is nominated from any of these three groups, an election is held to determine the appointment. These three trustees also have the ability to appoint and remove up to two additional trustees. The term of office for trustees is three years, and there is no limit to the number of terms a trustee may serve.
Trustees are required to have an annual general meeting no later than 15 months following the previous annual general meeting. However, there are no specific requirements that additional meetings be held; at least in terms of a minimum number of meetings or a minimum length of time between meetings (e.g., there must be three general meetings each year or trustees must meet every two months).
The trust deed may be amended at a general meeting of the providers, recipients, and personnel – provided there has been 14 days notice of the intention to amend and that the amendment does not jeopardise the legal charitable status of NetNZ. The constitution was based on a template produced by the Auckland District Law Society that adhered to the legal requirements of the Companies Act, 1993.
By law all charitable trusts must file an annual return that is due within six months of a charity’s financial year-end (although an extension may be requested).
Resourcing
NetNZ receives resourcing through a variety of avenues. The most common is that schools become members of NetNZ by paying an annual subscription, which was set for the 2023 school year at “$1800 [excluding GST] – the cost of employing an experienced teacher (0.2 EFT) to deliver a programme of learning divided by the current average class size of NetNZ’s online classes” (NetNZ, 2023). For the purposes of membership, a programme of learning was defined as a senior (NCEA level), full year programme – where the teacher is employed for 5 hr/week for the year. In addition to the subscription, schools are asked to designate an eDean within the school who will provide onsite support for their students engaged in NetNZ courses.1
Another common avenue of resourcing for NetNZ is through schools participating in its distance learning offerings. Member schools can gain up to 12 placements in any of NetNZ courses by providing a course or by purchasing individual placement at a rate of 0.02 EFFT or $1500 excluding GST. Non-member schools or individuals may also purchase individual student placements at a cost of one 12th the current teaching cost of the course per place (which was $1800/course – excluding GST – during the 2023 school year). Individual families or teachers can become associate members with the payment of an annual subscription equivalent to 10% of the NetNZ’s school membership fee, which provide additional benefits beyond the single course placement for both types of associate membership.
Finally, over the past two years approximately 10% of NetNZ’s funding has come directly from the Ministry of Education (although this funding was specifically for the purpose of exploring the creation of a single National Learning Exchange, and not for general operations).
Programming
The programming provided by NetNZ is largely based on virtual courses that are offered for the full term (i.e., 10 weeks). Each virtual course includes one hour of asynchronous instruction and then three hours of asynchronous instruction or work each week, which means that each eTeacher is responsible for creating four hours of instruction each week.
The individual students are enrolled by participating schools who determine their own criteria for enrolment. NetNZ applies no conditions to which students may participate. Each individual school is responsible for supporting their own students enrolled in NetNZ while they are engaged in their virtual learning, which is often done through the role of an eDean. The role of the eDean has been described as “a teacher who provides administrative and pastoral support to students who are in online classes organised by a recognised online community, and who is employed under this agreement” (Post-Primary Teachers Association, 2021, p. 1).2 Beyond any efforts an individual school might undertake, NetNZ does not provide any additional support specifically for Māori students.
NetNZ also has a reciprocal arrangement with the Kōtui Ako | Virtual Learning Network Aotearoa (Kōtui Ako) that enables both organisations to enrol students in each other’s courses (mainly at the secondary level). There is also some co-operation between NetNZ and Kōtui Ako (Secondary) on which courses will be offered by each organisation to avoid too much duplication and/or excess capacity.
Activity
Overall, NetNZ provided virtual learning for 659 course enrolments (65 were from students of Māori descent), which represented 619 unique students who attended 97 different schools.
| Name of the course or learning opportunity | Number of students | Number of Māori students |
|---|---|---|
| L2 Accounting | 14 | 1 |
| L3 Accounting | 12 | 0 |
| L2 Business Studies | 14 | 0 |
| Senior Classical Studies (combined L2/L3) | 17 | 4 |
| L1 Economics | 16 | 3 |
| Criminal Minds (combined L2/L3) | 27 | 4 |
| L2 Economics | 12 | 1 |
| L3 Economics | 9 | 0 |
| L1 Geography | 6 | 1 |
| L2 Geography | 10 | 3 |
| L3 Geography | 11 | 0 |
| L1 History | 5 | 0 |
| L1 History | 1 | 0 |
| Senior History (combined L2/L3) | 7 | 0 |
| L2 Media Studies | 12 | 0 |
| Senior Philosophy (combined L2/L3) | 22 | 0 |
| L2 Psychology (3 classes) | 53 | 8 |
| L3 Psychology (3 classes) | 49 | 0 |
| L1-3 Social Studies | 9 | 1 |
| L2 Art History | 16 | 2 |
| L3 Art History | 11 | 0 |
| L1 – 3 Drama | 4 | 0 |
| Senior Music (combined L1-L3) | 8 | 0 |
| L2 Biology | 8 | 2 |
| L2 Biology | 2 | 2 |
| L3 Biology | 9 | 1 |
| L3 Biology | 1 | 1 |
| L2 Chemistry | 10 | 1 |
| L3 Chemistry | 8 | 1 |
| L3 Chemistry | 2 | 0 |
| L3 Statistics | 18 | 3 |
| L2 Physics | 4 | 1 |
| L3 Physics | 16 | 1 |
| L2 Agriculture & Horticultural Science | 6 | 0 |
| L3 Agriculture & Horticultural Science | 14 | 1 |
| L3 Computer Science & Programming | 16 | 0 |
| L1 Digital Technology | 21 | 0 |
| L2 Digital Technology | 6 | 0 |
| L1 DVC | 12 | 2 |
| L2 DVC | 5 | 0 |
| L3 DVC | 7 | 0 |
| L3 Health | 9 | 2 |
| L3 Health | 2 | 0 |
| L2 Physical Education | 1 | 0 |
| French – Beginners | 4 | 0 |
| L2 French | 4 | 0 |
| L3 French | 8 | 0 |
| Japanese – Beginners | 12 | 2 |
| Japanese – Beginners | 2 | 1 |
| Japanese – Intermediate | 10 | 1 |
| L1 Japanese | 12 | 1 |
| L2 Japanese | 2 | 0 |
| L3 Japanese | 5 | 0 |
| Korean Studies I – Beginners | 14 | 2 |
| Korean Studies II (2nd year Korean) | 4 | 0 |
| L1 Korean | 8 | 0 |
| L2 Korean | 6 | 0 |
| L3 Korean | 5 | 0 |
| L2/L3 Korean (for Native speakers) | 8 | 0 |
| Spanish – Beginners | 2 | 0 |
| Te Reo Māori – Beginners (sub-L1) | 1 | 1 |
| L1 Te Reo Maori | 17 | 7 |
| L2 Te Reo Maori | 13 | 4 |
Historical Data
1 See https://netnz.org/enrolment-options/
2 The full job description can be found at https://docs.google.com/document/d/1OymE1NYPngPwcxnjtWInmML80obhTc8y97OUfTG7Vkk/edit