It's business as usual for primary schools kicking off the new term this week, but the controversy over the Government's national standards still remains firmly in the minds of some of Marlborough's principals.
Primary school principals spoken to by the Marlborough Express have expressed similar concerns about the implementation of the standards.
Renwick School principal Simon Heath is not opposed to the standards, but "the way the process has happened".
"The standards are proving to have some real issues because children don't learn in nice neat little boxes," he said.
He said Education Minister Anne Tolley's speech at the Principals Federation conference in Queenstown this month contained "nothing new" and gave no consideration to the views of principals.
"That's probably the saddest part for principals – there was no recognition of our professional knowledge and experience."
Riverlands School principal Dave Parsons believed the standards were not as simple as the minister made them out to be.
New Zealand Principals Federation president Ernie Buutveld said good discussion was happening between the ministry and principals behind the scenes which was "necessary to make progress".
"[National standards are] going to supersede other stuff and I don't think it has the legs to do that right now. We need to make haste slowly because I'd rather look to do something and do it right," he said.
Canvastown School principal Karen Kellaway said more time was needed to implement the standards. She would have preferred to have a year with the new curriculum first.
The biggest worry for Havelock School principal Chris Duckworth is the "rush to implement" the standards in schools.
He said some problems with the standards may have been avoided if they had been trialled first.
"No-one is saying no [to the standards]. It just needs a lot more work," he said.
Kaikoura Primary School principal and president of Marlborough Principals' Association president Bruce Pagan, however, said the standards were a work in progress and "non threatening" to schools.
"Any school worth their mettle would already be reporting [to parents] and the national standards just solidifies that.
"There are more important things in education to worry about rather than the threat of national standards," he saidBy SIMON WONG - The Marlborough Express
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