1/12/2023
1982
Principal
Blind and Low Vision Education Network New Zealand
Act
9(2)(a)
Kia ora9(2)(a)
Resourcing Notice for Blind and Low Vision Education Network New Zealand (BLENNZ)
This Resourcing Notice records additional grants to BLENNZ in recognition of their specialised
service. It outlines the basis for the resourcing, sets the purpose and explains the payment cycle
and process.
Information
These payments will be made through Pourato and visible in your funding summary. The
payments for 2024 are shown using GST exclusive figures. GST will be included and visible in
Pourato.
This resourcing is separate from and additional to:
Official
the 2024 Operational Grant and Staffing Entitlement notified to BLENNZ through Pourato.
ORS verified students enrolled with BLENNZ that have the same resourcing entitlements as
other ORS students.
the
specialist ORS services detailed in BLENNZ’s separate Specialist Service Provider: Schools
in respect of ORS and School High Health Needs Funding agreement (the ORS Fundholder
Agreement) with the Ministry of Education’s national office.
The Schedule of this notice explains additional resourcing provided to BLENNZ for:
under
School Board expenses
Early childhood contracts
Residential funding
Resource Centre Funding
Resource Teacher of Vision Impaired (RVI) Admin
Released
Resource Teacher of Vision Impaired (RVI) Travel
Developmental Orientation and Mobility
Orientation and Mobility services
National Specialist Assessment services
National Professional Learning and Development
1982
General
Act
Te Tāhuhu/The Ministry’s contact people for this notice.
Rowena Stauber, Resourcing Operational Policy Senior Advisor for Funding questions,
[email address] or (04) 463 8441
Ann-Marie Browne, Team Leader Provider Services for Reporting and Outcomes questions,
[email address] or (04) 463 7041
Nāku noa, nā
Information
Blythe Wood
Manager, Provider Services
Official
Te Pae Aronui
the
under
Released
SCHEDULE
GST exclusive
1982
This schedule details the additional operational funding. The purpose, calculation method and
2024 funding amount for the payments are included.
Developmental Orientation and Mobility Services:
Act
Purpose: Recognition of BLENNZ specifically addressing the needs of learners who are blind,
deafblind or low vision in areas of the expanded core curriculum, primary orientation and mobility.
Outcomes: Improved short and longer-term educational outcomes for students on the ORS
verified high and very high with vision as their primary need. Refer to the outcomes for Regional
Teaching
Calculation: 9(2)(b)(ii)
Information
Payment 2024: 9(2)(b)(ii)
Early Childhood Contracts
Official
Purpose: Recognises BLENNZ’s integrated early involvement service providing co-ordinated and
specialist early childhood teaching for blind, deafblind and low vision children under 6 years of age.
the
Outcomes Sought: Improved short and longer-term educational outcomes for the children
enrolled withing their regular Early Childhood portfolios.
Calculation: 9(2)(b)(ii)
under
Payment for 2024: 9(2)(b)(ii)
BLENNZ’s 2023 staffing for the early involvement service is 2 FTTE’s and 2 units1.
Released
1 Provided through the Education (2024 School Staffing) Order 2023 for the employment of RTV’s at BLENNZ.
2.00 FTTE is designated for the Early Intervention Service.
National Assessment Services
Purpose: Recognises services provided for national professional assessment for blind, deafblind
and low vision learners between 0 and 21 years. And travel costs for the learner and one parent or
caregiver.
Outcomes: Learners will learn effectively through active participation in the New Zealand
1982
Curriculum and the Expanded Core Curriculum.
Calculation: 9(2)(b)(ii)
Act
Payment 2024: 9(2)(b)(ii)
National Professional Learning and Development
Purpose: Recognises services for national professional learning and development for teachers
and para-professionals working with learners who are blind, deafblind or low vision.
Outcomes: Delivery of programmes meets professional development requirements.
Information
Calculation: 9(2)(b)(ii)
Payment 2024: 9(2)(b)(ii)
Orientation and Mobility Services
Official
Purpose: Recognition of services to specifically address the needs of moderate ORS verified
students with vision as primary need.
the
Calculation: 9(2)(b)(ii)
Funding
9(2)(b)(ii)
Residential Funding
under
Purpose: Recognises the service costs necessary to maintain a well-run residential facility
including:
furniture and equipment
transport and vehicles where required and as specified
recreational equipment and resourcing from residential programmes
repairs, replacement and maintenance of the above
full accommodation and residential service-related costs, and
Released
short and long term courses.
1982
Act
Information
Official
the
under
Released
School Board Expenses
Purpose: Recognises the additional costs resulting from BLENNZ servicing a national student
catchment.
Calculation: 9(2)(b)(ii)
1982
Funding: 9(2)(b)(ii)
Youth Library Service
Act
The Youth Library Service is located at the Homai Campus in Manurewa, Auckland. The service is
to support all children and students who are blind, deafblind or low vision with appropriate learning
resources in accessible format materials (AFM).
Resources will be delivered via a request management and prioritisation matrix management
system. Overall oversight and responsibility for the end-to-end request management system and
operational function.
Performance indicators
Information
Key personnel assigned to provide the Youth Library Service must have the following attributes,
skills and knowledge;
Knowledge and experience providing library services to children and students,
Knowledge and experience in matching client needs with appropriate AFM resources,
Official
Experience running a request management system linked to production services
the
Calculation: 9(2)(b)(ii)
Funding (GST exclusive) 9(2)(b)(ii)
under
Production of Accessible Format Materials
The purpose is to ensure pre-school and school-aged students who are blind, deafblind or have
low vision have timely access to high quality AFM learning resources that are appropriate to their
learning needs.
The following services are required:
Released
a) Maths, science, music and other complex works not available in another suitable format
(Braille hardcopy, tactile diagrams, twin vision, kitset, collage, e-text, large print, audio
and ePUb3)
b) Material for internal examinations including key texts required for an examination
subject
c) Complex material not available in other formats, with multiple students benefitted
d) Mix of a request: large print with tactile diagrams; e-text with tactile diagrams; e-braille,
music requests with just the words and hard copy braille music notation.
1982
e) Material that is required quickly, less complex and is highly personalised, ie. one off
teaching resource
f) Less complex material not available in other formats, with single student benefitted
g) Less complex material that is likely to be repeated where multiple students will benefit
Act
h) Less complex material that is likely to be repeated and used by small groups of
students
Performance indicators
Services are to be:
Delivered on time and to the required performance standards or quality set out in this
description or reasonably notified by the Ministry to the BLENNZ from time to time.
Information
Within the amount agreed.
With due care, skill and diligence, and to the appropriate professional standard or in
accordance with good industry practice as would be expected from a leading Supplier in the
relevant industry.
In a collaborative manner ensuring all requests for complex materials is completed and
Official
produced on time with any third-party provider as mutually agreed.
Key personnel involved with the production of AFM must have the following attributes, skills and
knowledge;
the
Knowledge, understanding, experience and technical skills to produce AFM resources,
Ability to draw on specialist expertise from other sources and experts, where they lack the
required expertise,
Knowledge of legislation and requirement around the provision of AFM services including
under
accessing materials for reproduction.
Calculation: 9(2)(b)(ii)
Funding (GST exclusive) 9(2)(b)(ii)
Released
1982
Act
Information
Official
the
under
Released
1982
Act
Information
Official
the
under
Released
Māori learners and whānau have identified racism as a major barrier in our education system.
Services address racism, including equitable access to services in ways that promote
fairness, and are respectful and culturally appropriate so that Māori learners and their
whānau have a strong sense of belonging.
Te Kanorautanga:
The Māori population is diverse and needs to be understood in the context of their diverse
aspirations and lived experiences.
Education services recognise and provide for Māori diversity. Education workforce has the 1982
right skills and capacity to support all Māori learners, including those with disabilities and
learning support needs, to achieve excellent outcomes.
Te Tuakiritanga:
Act
Education will support the growth and development of the Māori language.
The identity, language and culture of Māori learners and their whānau is supported to
strengthen belonging, engagement and achievement as Māori. So that Māori can actively
participate in te ao Māori, Aotearoa and the wider world.
The BLENNZ Board will report, using an agreed template, approximately one month prior to each of
the Ministry and Board twice yearly strategic planning meetings - in its Annual Report and in an
interim milestone report. Some measures will necessarily be indirect.
Where BLENNZ is the delegated fund manager for ORS specialist services and teacher aide
support, its reporting against the ORS Funding Agreement (for Specialist Service Provider in respect
Information
of Ongoing Resourcing Scheme, ORS Extension and School High Health Needs Funding) continues
through its local Ministry of Education office [see Schedule B: Reporting Requirements. Page 10].
Where BLENNZ is the fund manager for aggregated ORS, it will report on the purchase of ORS
specialist services from the local Ministry of Education, districts and working with districts on the
ORS teacher aide allocation process for students verified with vision as their primary need.
Official
Reports will be sent through at the agreed time to Ministry contact person: Ann-Marie Browne, Team
Leader Provider Services [email address]
the
under
Released
Appendix Three – Ongoing considerations
Staffing
1. Continued Ministry work to ensure an adequate and sustainable funding base for Resource
1982
Teachers Vision. Staffing levels under the Staffing Order have not been reviewed for BLENNZ
since 1997. The BLENNZ Board has alerted the Ministry to this issue for several years,
requesting that a formula be agreed to take account of the following factors driving increased
demand for support:
Act
National population growth since 1997, particularly Auckland’s rapid growth in recent
years.
Increased awareness of the levels of achievement for students with visual impairment.
Greater FTTE to cover travel for RTV services for students in rural and remote settings.
2. Variables for consideration in the funding formula may include:
population growth
level of learning support needed
whether a direct or indirect service is needed
degree of dispersal of students
Information
opportunities for technology to support timely and efficient service delivery
travel and administration costs.
Services
Official
3. Continued strengthening of the national network of services, including Regional Teaching
Services and early childhood outreach, to:
Align student need, workforce capability and capacity, and service design and delivery.
Confirm the purpose of and the outcomes sought from the Ministry investment in early
the
involvement services to address the learning needs of the national network. BLENNZ has
reconfigured the traditional Early Years provision to a network-wide approach. This is
working to lift competence and capacity, particularly for those in isolated settings.
Identify a mechanism for resource provision which provides a formula based approach
explicit to specialist service delivery that leads to improved outcomes for learners who are
verified High or Very High for other needs and also have a vision concern. These learners
under
are most frequently attending special schools which may purchase services, such as
Developmental, Orientation and Mobility services, from BLENNZ. Such services would be
focussed on assessment, PLD, advice and guidance. Confusion about how these services
are funded has remained unresolved since the initial resource aggregation process in
2012. Clarity is needed about Ministry expectation and funding mechanisms.
Develop options for future resourcing of Cortical Vision Impairment (CVI) and DeafBlind
initiatives.
Released
Property
4. Continued strengthening of the national network of infrastructure services to:
Develop national consistency in infrastructure to support the national vision for sensory
needs.
Undertake planning to inform national property infrastructure decisions, and establish a
process for regular review of capital network needs.
Support sector relationships, including with regular schools, and between Developmental 1982
Orientation and Mobility services and Ministry staff engaged in first time enrolment
property work in line with the March 2016 BLENNZ, Blind Foundation, EIS Property and
Learning Support FAQ.
Act
Reporting
5. To further discussion on staffing and funding matters, further reporting will be provided on any
underspends, including staffing. This will provide clarity on what any underspends are being
directed towards (including future projects) and the complexities of fully utilising staffing.
Information
Developmental, Orientation and Mobility (DOM) funding
6. It has been signalled that the current funding model for DOM is not sustainable. The training
required to become a DOM does not include becoming a registered teacher. This has meant
that they are placed on the Support Staff Collective agreement. Becoming a qualified DOM
requires extensive training and study. To attract ideal candidates, DOM salaries have been
aligned to both the Primary Teachers and the Collective Agreement that includes Therapists
Official
(Kaiārahi i te Reo, Therapists’, ATSSD and Special Education Assistants’ Collective
Agreement). Although they are not registered teachers, they receive any increase that is a
result of negotiations to these collectives.
the
7. The Ministry has now been alerted to these increases, including general inflation, and how they
are slowly decreasing the value of this budget. The current numbers for this service are
growing, however the budget is stagnant and increases in salaries mean they are losing
positions, and this impacts the services received by ākonga and their whānau.”
under
[See Annex 3 for further information on 2023 Property arrangements.]
Released
Annex 3: Property
Overview and future planning
1. All schools receive an Operations Grant based on the number of students on their roll. They
also receive funding for maintenance and minor capital works based on the legitimate space
(square metres) occupied.
1982
2. BLENNZ currently has a base at Homai Campus, a national network of fourteen sensory /
visual resource centres and one satellite class located in Auckland. The Ministry plans to
Act
initiate a 5 year plan with BLENNZ in 2018 to forecast future needs and to ensure that regional
teams include BLENNZ in their annual planning and project management processes. This 5
year plan will be reviewed annually by BLENNZ and the Ministry, and the Deaf Education
Centres where premises are shared.
Base school property, 5YA and 10YPP
3. BLENNZ’s Homai Campus was rebuilt in 2011. After 10 years the campus now qualifies for a
Five Year Funding Agreement (5YA) The process for receiving this has been initiated by the
Ministry. The Ministry notifies the BLENNZ Board of Trustees of their responsibilities for
Information
managing school property in a Property Occupancy Document, to be reviewed on a regular
schedule. http://www.education.govt.nz/school/property/state-schools/property-occupancy-
document/
Sensory resource centre property
Official
4. The property guideline for learning support facilities is provided on the Ministry’s web pages:
http://www.education.govt.nz/school/property/state-schools/school-facilities/special-education-
facilities/. Work on the regional network of Sensory Resource Centres continues to ensure
suitable condition of facilities and to accommodate increases in Resource Teachers of Deaf
the
(RTDs), NZSL tutors, Resource Teachers of Vision (RTVs) and Developmental Orientation
and Mobility instructors across the country.
Satellite class property
under
5. Information about establishing and maintaining a special school satellite on a host school site
is provided online http://www.education.govt.nz/school/property/state-schools/school-
facilities/special-education-facilities/special-schools/satellite-units-on-host-school-sites/. The
primary focus of a relationship between host and base schools is an effective partnership to
support inclusion, and effective teaching and learning. Agreements regarding recoverable
expenses are recorded in Annexure 2 of the POD agreement. If issues arise regarding
satellite costs Ministry staff are available to give advice and facilitate discussion between the
host and base school.
Released
Property modifications
6. Reports and recommendations for property modification is a Ministry service which includes
both specialists, such as occupational therapists and physiotherapists from Learning Support,
and Ministry staff. More information on property modification is available on the Ministry’s
website:
https://www.education.govt.nz/school/funding-and-financials/funding/learning-support-
1982
property-modifications-at-schools/
Problem solving
Act
7. If you have any property questions, contact your School Property Advisor or Stephen Cross,
Infrastructure Manager, [email address], Phone 9(2)(a)
8. To progress property issues relating to sensory resource centres, the base school or
satellite please contact your School Property Advisor or Manager Learning Support by calling
your local Ministry office http://www.education.govt.nz/ministry-of-education/regional-ministry-
contacts/
Information
Official
the
under
Released
1982
Act
Information
Official
the
under
Released
