Hipkins Chris: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Hipkins Chris: Questions for Oral Answer — Questions to Ministers Questions to Members 
[Sitting date: 28 August 2012. Volume:683;Page:4776. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
12. 
CHRIS HIPKINS (Labour—Rimutaka) 
 to the  
Minister of Education 
: Why is she proposing to close Salisbury Residential School in Nelson and McKenzie Residential School in Christchurch? 
Hon HEKIA PARATA (Minister of Education) 
: 
 My focus is on developing the new intensive wraparound service contributing to Success for All—Every School Every Child which is this Government’s vision for a fully inclusive education system. As a result of consultation and in light of all the considerations the best option is to retain a mix of both residential places and extended use of the wraparound service. I have written to McKenzie Residential School in Christchurch and Salisbury School in Nelson advising them of my preliminary decision to close them and giving them 28 days to make submissions. If I do decide after this further consultation to close the schools the statutory process to close them will then begin. The two residential schools proposed to be retained will be located in Christchurch and Auckland and they will be national schools. 
Chris Hipkins 
: What evidence base is she relying on when she says that the wraparound service she is proposing will work better for these vulnerable students than the current model of care and support that they receive? 
Hon HEKIA PARATA 
: It is not as the member has framed it an either/or; it is a both/and. We are proposing to provide both residential placements and an intensive wraparound system. The Ministry of Education developed this in 2010. The service was extended during the temporary closure of Halswell Residential College following the Christchurch earthquakes. It provides support for learners with the same needs as those enrolled in residential special schools. Professor David Mitchell provided the report  
Joined-Up: A Comprehensive Ecological Model for Working with Children with Complex Needs and their Families/Whanau 
 which showed that an intensive package of support for students with complex needs in their local schools and home communities resulted in better outcomes for students. 
Tracey Martin 
: Can the Minister confirm that the suggested reduction in the State’s financial investment in these specific students’ educational needs from $84200 per year to approximately $29000 per year for the wraparound service or to the level of approximately $7700 per year for average mainstream students has not been based on advice from Treasury? 
Hon HEKIA PARATA 
: No. I can confirm it is not based on that and yes I can confirm that it does not include Treasury’s advice. 
Chris Hipkins 
: Will the wraparound service for students with special needs in local schools provide any form of assistance and support to students in their homes outside of school hours; if so what will the nature of that support be? 
Hon HEKIA PARATA 
: The intensive wraparound service is personalised to each learner. Whatever is required to assist them will be defined in association with a psychologist the learner and the family or any other specialist who might need to be involved in order to have a personalised plan for each learner. 
Chris Hipkins 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. My question was actually relatively specific. It was about the level of support that they will be provided in their home environment and the Minister has not addressed that part of the question—well she has not addressed the substance of the question. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: Indeed the member did ask exactly that question. I am assuming from the Minister’s answer that the support was individualised and would meet students’ individual needs—that if they needed support beyond school that would be provided. But if I am wrong there the Minister had better correct that impression. 
Chris Hipkins 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. That is a very helpful interpretation from you but that is not actually the answer that the Minister gave to a very specific question. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: She has indicated what she meant. 
Chris Hipkins 
: I raise a point of order Mr Speaker. You have indicated that where the Opposition asks very specific questions you will require Ministers to give specific answers or answers that address that question. It is not unreasonable for us to expect the Minister will deliver that. 
Mr SPEAKER 
: To save time I am sure the Minister is happy to clarify the matter. 
Hon HEKIA PARATA 
: I will repeat my answer. The answer is that the intensive wraparound service is personalised to the particular learner in their home environment—yes. 
Chris Hipkins 
: Which parts of the feedback from parents teachers and students on residential special schools convinced her that it would be a good idea to close two of them: was it the 93 percent of respondents who asked that their schools remain open or the universally positive feedback from former students about their experience at the schools? 
Hon HEKIA PARATA 
: I did read through over 300 submissions that were received from parents from families and from the schools themselves 224 of which were submitted through SurveyMonkey. I read through those and I was persuaded that residential placements should be retained as part of the continuum of provisions for special education needs and that all of the money committed to special education would allow us to add a further 110 learners to get a service that they do not currently get. 
Hon Maryan Street 
: Has she considered the risks attaching to moving students from the all-girls facility at Salisbury School in Nelson to a coed facility in Christchurch; if so what assurances has she been given that these most vulnerable girls will be safe? 
Hon HEKIA PARATA 
: Yes consideration has been given to that in terms of this preliminary decision. Halswell Residential College already does have separate villas and electronic monitoring and those provisions that are well-regarded in all the submissions that members have been talking about about the quality of provision will be maintained in both residential schools.