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Te Kura needs to confirm the ākonga academic record to date with their previous school. The principal or class kaiako (teacher) from the previous school must complete an ākonga educational profile if requested. If the ākonga has been home schooled, the family must provide details. The privacy statement below explains who will have access to this information. If you have any concerns, please contact us.

This privacy statement explains what information Te Aho o Te Kura Pounamu (Te Kura) collects about the people we deal with who do not work for Te Kura and how we process it.

Why we collect personal information

Te Kura collects personal information from ākonga (students), whānau (family) and other persons for the primary purpose of being a provider of education, including enrolling ākonga and delivering teaching and learning. Te Kura is also required to collect personal information in order to comply with the Education and Training Act 2020 and other requirements of the Ministry of Education. This information will be used for:

• the educational and general advancement of the ākonga
• carrying out the activities of the school
• making sure our services are fit-for-purpose and delivered in a way that meets educational standards and keeps ākonga and kaimahi (staff) safe.

The personal information that we collect

We collect personal information in a number of ways, including:

• When it is provided to us directly – for example during the enrolment process, when ākonga submit schoolwork and when completing other forms and surveys
• From third parties (usually with consent) – for example, when we receive information about the progress and achievement of an ākonga from their previous school prior to them enrolling at Te Kura
• When personal information is generated by using our systems and services – for example when ākonga use our Learning Management System (My Te Kura), or when anyone uses our website or wi-fi network
• Where CCTV cameras are operating at Te Kura’s sites (signage will indicate where this is happening). The use of CCTV is to ensure security for kaimahi and visitors, to act as a deterrent to any potential criminal activity, to help detect and capture evidence in the event of any crime, and to allow an assessment of and enable a quick response to incidents when emergency services are required. Any images captured may be viewed only in circumstances approved by Te Kura’s Privacy Officer in accordance with the Privacy Policy.

How we share personal information

The school may provide personal information to other third parties if the information relates to the education, health, welfare or safety of the ākonga, both during and after enrolment at Te Kura. These third parties include:

• government agencies such as the Ministry of Education, New Zealand Qualifications Authority, the Education Review Office, Oranga Tamariki and the Ministry of Social Development
• schools and kura that our ākonga are moving to or from, or are dual-registered for tuition
• online education providers that the Te Kura Academic Committee has approved as a beneficial educational resource in addition to its own courses.

Providing information to online education providers

Increasingly, Te Kura is facilitating access for its ākonga to a variety of online education providers that offer programmes and resources of value to students. These sites are designed for the New Zealand Curriculum and NCEA, and Te Kura recommends these sites to our students as they provide learning resources, which can supplement Te Kura courses. Te Kura makes every effort to confirm that these providers have robust privacy policies and are secure in terms of maintaining personal data.

Student name, identification number and email address, and the email address of the parent/caregiver/guardian of the student, may be provided to online providers to facilitate registration on their sites. By submitting an application for enrolment, students authorise the school to disclose such personal information to third parties in accordance with this privacy statement.

Any students with questions, concerns or feedback about such online education providers, the sites, or the registration process should email curriculum@tekura.school.nz.

Parents and guardians’ access to information

Under the Education and Training Act 2020 and the Education (School Boards) Amendment Regulations 2022, schools must report to each student at the school and their parents or guardians on the student’s progress and achievement.

Under the Care of Children Act 2004 the duties, powers, rights, and responsibilities of a parent or guardian include making decisions about educational matters whether or not the child lives with the guardian. These duties, powers, rights, and responsibilities must be exercised jointly with any other guardians of the child.

Te Kura will share the information it is legally required to with parents and guardians, including non-custodial guardians. As a child gets older and gains in maturity and understanding, Te Kura will give greater consideration to their views about how much information they wish to share with whom and how often.

Personal information about ākonga

Under the Privacy Act 2020, any personal information held by Te Kura about an ākonga other than information about their educational progress and achievement can only be released to the ākonga or their authorised agent, such as a Lawyer for the Child appointed by the Family Court. Personal information about an ākonga will only be released to another party, including parents and guardians, with the student’s written permission or where the Privacy Act or other legislation provides for an exception to be made.

Personal information about whānau and other persons

Under the Privacy Act 2020, any personal information about parents, guardians and other persons that is held by Te Kura can only be released to that person or their authorised agent. Personal information will only be released to another party with the person’s written permission or where the Privacy Act or other legislation provides for an exception to be made.

How we store and protect personal information

Te Kura may use third-party service providers to store personal information and provide us with services. This means that we may transfer personal information to, or access it from, countries other than New Zealand.

Te Kura recognises that we are accountable for the personal information we hold wherever it is in the world. Where we can, we will send personal information only to countries that have adequate privacy laws in place (such as New Zealand, Australia or the EU). However, where we cannot do this, we take reasonable steps to ensure that any third-party service providers we use can meet our privacy and security expectations.

Te Kura retains personal information only for as long we need it to perform our contractual obligations or meet our legitimate interests, or comply with our legal obligations, including the requirement to retain information in accordance with the Public Records Act 2005.

Wherever personal information is stored, we take reasonable steps to ensure that it is protected against loss or unauthorised access, modification, use or disclosure.

Requesting access to/correcting personal information

Individuals have the right to access and request corrections to the personal information held by Te Kura.

Requests to access and correct information about a student’s educational progress and achievement should be directed to their kaimanaaki (learning advisor), kaiako (teacher) or kaiawhina (support person).

Requests to access and correct information about a student’s enrolment or contact details, or the contact details of parents, guardians and other persons should be directed to the Student and Whānau Support team hub@tekura.school.nz.

Any other requests for access to or correction of personal information should be put in writing to the school’s Privacy Officer privacy@tekura.school.nz.

If you have any concerns about the way we’ve collected or processed your personal information, let us know, so we can try to put the matter right. If we can’t resolve your concerns, you can also make a complaint to the Office of the New Zealand Privacy Commissioner by:

• Calling 0800 803 909
• Completing an online complaint form at www.privacy.org.nz
• Writing to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, PO Box 10-094, The Terrace, Wellington 6143, New Zealand.

If the supervisor nominated in an application, or later nominated, is not the ākonga parent, caregiver, or guardian, the parent, caregiver or guardian must:

• know the individual nominated as the ākonga supervisor
• believe that the individual can adequately supervise the ākonga, is a fit and proper person to be an ākonga supervisor and does not pose a risk to the safety of the ākonga
• not be aware of anything that would make the individual unsuitable to be an ākonga supervisor (including but not limited to any previous criminal convictions). Agreement to the Declaration Statement in the ākonga enrolment application is confirmation of this.

Te Kura has to ensure that work presented for assessment is the ākonga own work. The ākonga or supervisor of an ākonga enrolling in courses that lead to New Zealand national qualifications must ensure that they/the ākonga understands that the work sent in for assessment must be their own. Plagiarism detection software may be applied to any work presented for assessment. 

This means:

• the ākonga undertakes to present their own work for assessment. If working online in Te Kura’s online learning environment (My Te Kura), the ākonga accepts an authentication statement at the start of each course. The ākonga is also reminded of the authentication requirements for all assessment activities at the time of submission
• in courses that lead to New Zealand national qualifications, assessment activities may require supervision. These will be accessed by or provided to the supervisor, must be done with the supervisor, be completed under test conditions, and the completed assessments returned to Te Kura by the ākonga in the designated dropbox in My Te Kura. The ākonga must complete the online authentication statement and supply their supervisor’s name, and their relationship to the supervisor, when uploading the assessment activity to the designated dropbox in My Te Kura.

The same procedure applies for practice exams to be used in support of a derived grade application, the exam conditions must meet NZQA requirements by having an exam supervisor who is independent of the ākonga and their whānau. The supervisor’s identity and relationship to the ākonga must be verified by a person who is recognised as having standing in the community. The exam supervisor will be required to have online access to download and supervise the submission of exams. Agreement to the Declaration Statement in the ākonga enrolment application is confirmation of this.

The following Te Kura Information Communications Technology (ICT) Student Use Agreement is for the protection and safety of ākonga enrolled at Te Kura. When using ICT it may not always be possible for Te Kura to filter or screen all appropriate material. For a guide to the range of material that Te Kura would regard as inappropriate, go to the Netsafe website. It is therefore your responsibility to:

• not deliberately access such material
• not distribute such material by copying, printing, emailing, posting on the internet or any other method, and
• not have any involvement with such material.

You should only use Te Kura ICT for purposes relating to schoolwork and Te Kura ICT must not be used for any purpose or in any way that harms or might harm other people. If you become aware of or accidentally access any inappropriate material on Te Kura ICT, you must immediately report this to your kaiako. Te Kura reserves the right to monitor your communication, work or data relating to communication technologies. Agreement to the Declaration Statement in the ākonga enrolment application is confirmation of this.

Te Kura may be required to withdraw or restrict enrolment to courses at any time. If you enrol in a course that is subsequently withdrawn or restricted in terms of enrolment, we will contact you to discuss other study options. Refer to Subjects and courses for the latest information on available courses, along with materials, equipment and books required for each course.

Ākonga and their support people can discuss their learning needs and concerns with Te Kura staff. If the concern cannot be resolved Te Kura has formal complaints procedures. Te Kura recognises that anyone making a complaint should feel safe and supported and that by making a complaint ākonga will not be disadvantaged.

Refer to Complaints for information about our complaints process.

Some courses may require you to provide your own materials, and/or audio/video equipment and/or textbooks. If your course is online, you will need access to a computer with internet connectivity. Refer to What you'll need section for more information.  In order to utilise audio/video resources, you will need access to the equipment required to play or receive them. Other courses may require you to provide particular materials and/or equipment.

Refer to Subjects and courses for the latest information on available courses, along with materials and equipment required for each course.

Most Te Kura courses are available online or use online resources. You will need to have access to a computer with internet connectivity in order to enrol in these courses. Please ensure you have such access or are eligible for our Laptop and Connectivity programme, before enrolling in an online course.

Refer to Laptop and Connectivity for information about our device and internet assistance programme.

Full-time ākonga and Young Adults

No enrolment fees are charged for ākonga who meet the Ministry of Education’s funded enrolment criteria.

Adults

All adult enrolments are charged a Tuition Administration Fee per course. This must be paid in full at the time of enrolment and cannot be paid in instalments. The Tuition Administration Fee is non-refundable after the enrolment process is completed.

Refer to Fees for current Tuition Administration Fee and Tuition Fee amounts.

Fee-Payers

All fee-paying enrolments are charged a tuition fee per course or per programme. This must be paid in full at the time of enrolment and cannot be paid in instalments. A half-year fee is charged to ākonga enrolling after 30 June.

Eighty percent of the course fee(s) paid by a fee paying ākonga will be refunded provided the withdrawal application is received before the expiry of one month after the enrolment application has been approved. Refunds for any withdrawal applications received outside of this one-month period will be at the discretion of the Manager, Student and Whānau Support and may only be considered where exceptional circumstances are demonstrated.

Refer to Fees for current Tuition Administration Fee and Tuition Fee amounts.

Full-Time Ākonga

Full-Time ākonga may remain enrolled up to and including the end of the school year in which the ākonga turns 19 years of age. The ongoing enrolment is dependent on the ākonga continuing to meet the eligibility criteria determined by the Ministry of Education. If you do not return work on a regular basis you will be removed from the roll.

Young Adults

Young adult ākonga may remain enrolled up to and including the end of the school year in which the ākonga turns 19 years of age. The ongoing enrolment is dependent on the ākonga continuing to meet the eligibility criteria determined by the Ministry of Education. If you do not return work on a regular basis you will be removed from the roll.

Adults

The duration of enrolment is until all relevant course assessments are complete, or the end of the calendar year, whichever is sooner. If you do not return work on a regular basis you will be removed from the roll. A further tuition administration fee is required if you wish to re-enrol to complete a course or enrol in a new course.

Overseas

Full-Time and Young Adult ākonga may remain enrolled up to and including the end of the school year in which the ākonga turns 19 years of age. The ongoing enrolment is dependent on the ākonga continuing to meet the eligibility criteria determined by the Ministry of Education. If you do not return work on a regular basis you will be removed from the roll.

Early Childhood Ākonga

Early Childhood ākonga may remain enrolled up until the ākonga turns six years of age. The ongoing enrolment is dependent on the ākonga continuing to meet the eligibility criteria determined by the Ministry of Education.

Dual Ākonga

The duration of enrolment is until all relevant course assessments are complete, or the end of the calendar year, whichever is sooner. A further course fee may be required if you wish to re-enrol to complete a course or enrol in a new course.

Examinations for externally assessed achievement standards can be sat overseas only if you met the following requirements. (This does not apply to ākonga in the Cook Islands or Niue.) You must be:

• living outside New Zealand at the time of NZQA exams in New Zealand (usually early November to early December each year)
• enrolled through our full-time overseas gateway OR fee-paying overseas gateway in at least three NCEA subjects
• able to meet NZQA requirements by having an exam supervisor who is independent of the ākonga and their family. The supervisor’s identity and relationship to the ākonga must be verified by a person who is recognised as having standing in the community. Note: overseas exams are held in October and are arranged through Te Kura
• Some examples of persons of standing in the community are: currently practicing lawyers; medical doctors/dental surgeons; elders/pastors from a church, temple, mosque or synagogue; serving members of the armed forces; police officers and senior government officials.

Please note, ākonga cannot sit New Zealand scholarship exams overseas.

Fee-Paying Ākonga with a Home-Schooling Exemption

The ākonga parent/legal guardian must retain control of the overall education direction, including pastoral care, as required by holders of an exemption from enrolment at a registered school.

Fee-Paying Ākonga with a School

The ākonga enrolling provider must retain control of the overall educational direction, including pastoral care, as required by the Ministry of Education.