Earlier this month we received a letter from the commissioner and acting principal of our son’s school – KTR Deaf Education NZ – asking us to “cease the negative posts and comments on the [Deaf Education NZ Facebook page]…”
So we are posting this reminder for the members of the FB group-
the FB group was created in 2010 by us -the Ferguson family. At the time we were battling with the deaf schools to get any information from the leadership about the upcoming combining of the two boards of trustees.
The FB group was named ‘Deaf Education NZ’ in 2010; that is 10 yrs before the Deaf school rebranded as Ko Taku Reo Deaf Education NZ.
the group is not connected to KTR.
We created the FB group to be a space to discuss Deaf education. To share information between families, Deaf community and Deaf and hearing allies. It was intended to be space where people could ask questions and use the collective knowledge and experience amongst the group to try and get some answers. It was also intended to be a space where posts could be shared about goings on in Deaf education around the world. Where research and findings could be shared in the hope that parents would be more informed and empowered to ask questions of the system our children are in here in NZ.
Over the 13 yrs of the FB group existing the struggles shared by parents and Deaf community members have been mainly about the lack of information being shared from the school and the difficulty families have navigating the system- for us it’s been struggling to get access to education in NZSL for our children.
Over the years the group membership is fluctuated – we have made very clear posts from time to time outlining that this group is not connected to the Deaf school (in all its various guises)
Please understand it was/is never our intention to upset families, Deaf school staff, the Deaf community or our allies. Our intention is always to flight for our children’s human rights and to challenge the decision makers in the Deaf school.
While also making more people aware of the experiences of NZ families with Deaf children in the education system. We also use this group to challenge the current thinking within Deaf education and to bring awareness to what is happening overseas and what is possible in deaf education.
Often as parents of deaf children we are all isolated from each other and we don’t know what other families are accessing or experiencing. We are made to feel like we are nuisance or naughty for asking questions of the leadership. We have had decades of struggling to access to education in NZSL for our Deaf children, we have written hundreds of emails and meeting after meeting, but still the system is not forthcoming with information for families.
The Facebook page has been a space where we could ask for info/support and a space where we could share what was going on. On many occasions this group has been the vehicle by which families and professionals have learned what is available/possible.
This post was to clarify for some members who may be confused.
If you are not comfortable with the content being posted please feel free to leave the group.
The group will continue to be a place for members to see what is going on in the NZ Deaf education system, to learn what is happening in other countries and to share and support others to feel empowered enough to challenge the NZ system.
Our kids deserve better!
So just a reminder
◦ this group is not connected to KTR
◦ we never intend to upset families or educators
◦ We will not stop posting about our experience
◦ We will not stop sharing information to empower others
◦ We will not stop asking questions of the leadership and decision makers of Deaf education
◦ Deaf children in NZ deserve better access education in NZSL
◦ Finally, if our posts in the FB group are upsetting to you please feel free to leave the group.
#NZSL #DeafEducationNZ #DeafKidsDeserveBetter #Deaf #humanrights #InformedParents #InformedDeafCommunity #weWontStop #bimodal #bilingualEducation
The following is our response to the above letter that we received from the Commissioner and the acting Principal of Ko Taku Reo:
4th February 2024
Mike Rondell and Denise Powell
Ko Taku Reo Deaf Education NZ
Cc:Ministry of Education
Subject: response to letter dated 1st February 2024
Dear Mike and Denise
We are writing in response to your letter dated 1st February 2024.
You mention in your letter that you have had parents and staff come to you regarding the “on-going pattern of negative commentary…about KTR, its staff and service”. It would be helpful if you were to include specific examples of the posts that have raised concerns for staff and parents.
We can only assume you are referring to this recent post:
“…But the birthday celebrations were a little bit sad too as it was also an opportunity to say goodbye and wish two of the friends well as they will be leaving Wellington to attend high school in another city:( We know they will have amazing experiences and meet lots of new people but it is so infuriating that STILL Wellington families are having to send their Deaf children away to access an education in NZSL – IT IS NOT FAIR! It is another empty promise from the Deaf school and the Ministry- we were told in 2020 that there was to be a ‘Wellington Pathway’ and that there would be access to education in NZSL, in Wellington particularly for the bilingual/bimodal children who have come up through the Linden provision….yet here we are – nothing has come of it! Still parents are asking questions and getting vague answers like “we are in negotiations “ – families still don’t know with who and what don’t know about what! Families continue to be powerless and left at the whim of the decision makers at the Deaf school and the Ministry of Education- Deaf kids deserve better – Families deserve better!”
If this is not the post you are referring to please indicate which posts are deemed to be negative about the organisation, staff and service. Nothing included in the post above is untrue. This was written following a conversation with numerous parents of deaf children.
We will not apologise for making social media posts sharing our experience with deaf education, nor will we apologise for making posts that get people thinking about what is happening in the education sector. We also understand that for some staff and families it is upsetting and stressful when they see what is happening for families like ours. It is not our intention to upset families and staff, however, families, staff, and the Deaf community need to know what is happening.
We feel we have a right and a responsibility to challenge what the school is doing because it is THE only deaf school in NZ. We are contacted regularly by past and current staff members of Ko Taku Reo and past and current parents of Deaf learners connected to Ko Taku Reo. They share with us their frustrations, anger and disappointment with the state of Deaf education in NZ and the audism they have experienced i.e., the lack of respect for New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL), Deaf culture and Deaf people within the school. Unfortunately, the people who approach us are frightened, tired or just don’t know what to do, they are offloading to us, in the hope that we will be able to take their experiences and push for change.
For too long families have been isolated and experienced difficulties navigating the deaf education system. For the majority of families, as their deaf children grow up they move through the system and are relieved when they do not have to deal with it any further. We are one of the few families who are still in the system 20 something years later. We have seen school leaders come and go and we have suffered through the audist practices that continue to treat NZSL and Deaf culture as second rate. We feel a duty of care for families and for the Deaf community to ensure that someone stands up and challenges the school.
The questions we have asked of the school are valid questions and come from a place of great
concern not only for our own children’s education but also the future of the Deaf community and NZSL. As we have mentioned before we will not sit back and ‘trust the process’ or ‘trust the leadership’. Some of the questions we have asked are fundamental questions that should be the basis on which all decisions are made, yet you seem to struggle to answer them.
It is odd that in your letter you claim to have responded to our “questions, concerns and emails promptly” when in fact we have had to chase you for answers.
Here are some examples:
Nov 23rd 2022 you replied to an email from us, saying that there was a “robust processes in place for effective communication …” you instructed us to take our questions to [two other members of leadership team], which we did. The response we received from [Director of Teaching and Learning] was “We welcome dialogue with whanau keen to advocate around the current needs, progress and achievement of their child. While many of the questions asked in your specific message to [head of enrolled school] and myself are outside this brief, we would be very happy to either respond by email to specific enquiries around Carters learning needs and successes, or to meet with you in person to discuss your aspirations for Carter and his learning as he begins his next academic year.”
So clearly neither yourselves nor [the other leaders] were interested in responding to our questions.
Hardly a robust process and hardly an open and honest way of interacting with parents of a child enrolled in your school.
31st Jan 2023 We met with you both and Jen Smith– we did not have time to ask our
questions at this meeting
8th February 2023 we emailed the questions through to Cindy.
15th May 2023 We emailed again, as we had heard nothing since the January meeting and
received no response to the page of questions we had sent through in February.
17th May 2023 We emailed again saying: “Thanks for your email and for following up with the advisory group. The follow up since our Wellington meeting was more about that Mike had asked for the list of questions that we had put together prior to the meeting but did not get to. We may have wrongly assumed that we would receive some answers to the questions. One of the questions was that since Ko Taku reo came to be, there has been no clear information about the structure of the school/ the leadership make up etc. I have an old A3 of a structure from when James was Exec Principal, but have seen nothing since then.”
10th June 2023: we received an email from Denise “I have been playing catch up with emails and have been reminded by Cindy that there were some follow up questions that you were wanting a response to. I do most sincerely apologise for the tardy reply!..” The response was pertaining to just one of the questions, the structure of the school – however it still was not a straight answer and left us none the wiser.
9th November 2023 we again wrote to you and asked the same questions that we had raised
at the start of the year. We also sent the questions and a plea for help to the Secretary of Education, as we were/are sick of the brick wall we have when asking anything of KTR.
22nd November 2023 we received a letter from Mike responding to most of the questions.
That is ten months between sending the questions and receiving the answers. It is important to note that not all of the questions have been answered – we still have not been told what the philosophy of the school is and the aims for Deaf education are.
In fact, it is disingenuous, if not dishonest, that you would consider your responses to our questions to be “open and honest” and that you have responded to our “questions, concerns and emails promptly”!
You mention in the letter that we have “an established relationship” as if this would mean we would not speak against what is going on. We feel for too long that our ‘relationship’ has been taken advantage of.
We have tried to work with the system and influence change from within and from the outside. But since the school became ‘Ko Taku Reo Deaf Education NZ’ it has moved further and further away from being a culturally Deaf school. We have tried to raise our issues directly with the school leadership but many times we have received responses from that seem to deflect and point the finger at the Ministry of Education. We would like to remind you that in our face-to-face meeting in January 2023, we did offer to join with you to ‘fight’ the Ministry and make change happen. That offer went nowhere.
We have on numerous occasions offered to be involved in the advisory group or to be called on to support the changes happening in the system – these offers have clearly gone nowhere – instead we are left hunting for any updates or information of substance and we continue to see time and time again hearing individuals with no connection to NZSL or Deaf culture, coming into positions of power.
We feel we were left with no option other than to make the parent and Deaf community more
aware of a) what we are experiencing and b) what Deaf education looks like in other countries and what Deaf education experts are discussing overseas. Our hope is that more people will start to question what is happening in Deaf education here in NZ.
It is unclear from your letter what the consequences will be if we do not cease to post on social media.
As multi-generational members of the Deaf community, as parents of Deaf children and as an ex-student and ex-teacher with intimate knowledge of the system and what a strong Deaf school should look like, we will not stop posting on social media about our experiences with deaf education and we will not stop asking questions of Ko Taku Reo leadership.
We will not stop until there is a school and system established which fully upholds NZSL and Deaf culture, and is an unapologetically Deaf school with strong Deaf leadership, NZSL at its core and that enables Deaf learners to achieve as Deaf.
Yours sincerely
Bridget and Oliver Ferguson
Parents of Deaf children
The Ferguson Family 