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An embattled Auckland school has announced the closure of its hostels amid reports of violence and “ongoing concerns about student safety and hostel culture”.
Wesley College was placed under statutory management in 2023 after allegations emerged of bullying and violence at the school, including reports of “coverings”, in which students were made to cover their faces before being punched, kicked and slapped by older students.
In April that year, the … View moreWesley College was placed under statutory management in 2023 after allegations emerged of bullying and violence at the school, including reports of “coverings”, in which students were made to cover their faces before being punched, kicked and slapped by older students.
In April that year, the Herald reported that Oranga Tamariki was working with police to investigate a “report of concern”.
The Education Review Office (ERO) launched a special review due to “significant concerns” about the school and its hostels, and warned the college had a duty of care to ensure students are “physically and emotionally safe”.
Today, the school issued a statement announcing the closure of its boarding hostels from the end of this term “for a period sufficient to ensure meaningful and lasting improvements are achieved”.
Wesley College Trust Board chair Jan Tasker said the decision followed “ongoing concerns about student safety and hostel culture”.
“While significant progress has been made in recent years – including improved supervision, safeguarding measures, and upgraded facilities – the Trust Board accepts that further deep, structural change is required.
“Student safety and wellbeing are our highest priority.
“We acknowledge that our hostel provision has not yet met the consistent standard we expect. Closing the hostels is a decisive step that will allow us to reset the culture, systems, and facilities once and for all.”
Tasker said the closure would take effect at the end of term 4, after students had completed NCEA and other end-of-year assessments, in order to minimise disruption to their academic success.
During the closure period, the trust board would undertake a comprehensive review of hostel operations, including culture, staffing, safeguarding and infrastructure.
“The goal is to ensure that when the hostels reopen, they provide a safe, inclusive, and values-based environment.
“Wesley College will work closely with families, staff, and the Methodist Church during this transition, and is committed to supporting boarders with accommodation and pastoral care options.”
School rocked by allegations of violence
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The Methodist school, which champions the importance of learning institutions that are “real communities” with a “family feel”, was rocked two years ago by allegations of violence against pupils and the appointment of a limited statutory manager (LSM).
At the time, principal Brian Evans said the school’s trust board welcomed the support “to assist us in our progress towards being an exemplary model of change”.
The Ministry of Education appointed Dr Shane Edwards as statutory manager after concerns emerged about violence and management of the school’s hostels.
The school’s hostel licence was revoked in November 2022 for potential breaches of regulations – understood to relate to the “active supervision of boarders” – but was later reinstated for five of its six hostels.
1News reported allegations of students receiving violence “coverings”, with claims by students that it was normal to be assaulted by older students for making mistakes, with “coverings” occurring almost weekly.
In response to “significant concerns”, ERO said it commissioned a special review of the college and its hostel operations.
“The school board and hostel management of Wesley College have a duty of care to ensure all learners at the school and all boarders in the hostel are physically and emotionally safe.”
In a statement on the school’s website, Evans says, “You always know your son or daughter is capable of great things. At Wesley College, we can take them beyond that to be among the best in the world. In the words of John Wesley, ‘Every child matters’.”
A trust board document relating to “abuse, harassment or neglect of boarders” says any report or suspicion that a boarder is experiencing abuse must be taken seriously.
The document says that, if the principal believes such abuse or neglect has occurred, written notice must be made within 24 hours to the child’s parents, Oranga Tamariki or police.
When the statutory manager was appointed, the Herald asked Evans how many written referrals had been made to police or Oranga Tamariki, whether any students had been suspended or expelled for violence, and what guarantees the school could give parents that students in its care were safe.
He provided a short statement that did not address the questions. It said ERO launched its special review after the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care and media coverage.
“ERO and the Ministry of Education [MOE] continue to work closely with the school.
“We welcome this support as we feel it will assist us in our progress towards being an exemplary model of change.”
Ministry of Education North leader Isabel Evans said the statutory manager could advise the board on the health and safety of staff and students, and help the school return to self-management once recommendations had been met.
She confirmed the ministry had received one complaint about bullying, which was forwarded to Wesley College for investigation.
In October 2022, the Methodist Church told the royal commission it wanted to apologise unreservedly to historic abuse victims.
It acknowledged people who had suffered abuse in former children’s homes and other schools overseen by the Methodists.
The church admitted some children were horribly abused and neglected, and said 20 redress claims were being resolved.
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Proud to be New Zealand's Best!
Big news! Ryman has won Best Provider Nationwide at the 2025 Seniors New Zealand Awards - for the 6th time!
Leading the way in retirement living and aged care, again and again.
Picture, beach scene
Beach scene picture
This can stand alone on a shelf, or, there is a hole on the back to hang.
Eden Ripley
Made in NZ
14 x 6 cm… View moreBeach scene picture
This can stand alone on a shelf, or, there is a hole on the back to hang.
Eden Ripley
Made in NZ
14 x 6 cm
2 cm depth
Collection is from Herd Rd, Hillsborough
Wax eye bird, picture
Picture of NZ wax eye bird
By Kirk O'Donoghue
Made in NZ
This picture can stand alone on a shelf, or, there is a hole on the back which you can use.
10 x 10
2 cm depth
Collection is from Herd Rd, Hillsborough
Cross stitch, Minnie mouse
Counted cross stitch kit
Christmas Minnie mouse
Everything needed is included.
Collection is from Herd Rd, Hillsborough
Cross stitch, giraffes
Counted cross stitch kit
Giraffes
Everything needed is included.
13 x 18 cm
Collection is from Herd Rd, Hillsborough
The latest product recalls
We are bringing you the latest list of recalled products from across the country. Make sure you aren't using these at home!
Click on the blue text to learn more about that particular product and why it was recalled.
Food and household item recalls:
… View moreWe are bringing you the latest list of recalled products from across the country. Make sure you aren't using these at home!
Click on the blue text to learn more about that particular product and why it was recalled.
Food and household item recalls:
Tom & Luke brand Snackaballs and Vogel's brand Cereal Products
Pams brand Mini Hash Browns
Gilmours Peanuts Chopped
FreshLife brand Chopped Peanuts
Piper’s brand Milkshake Biscuits Original and Caramel
Tasti brand various products
Dometic Drinkware Tumbler
Product Recalls: Infant care and clothing
Steelcraft One2 V2 and Britax One2 Strollers
Car Seat G405- sold at Panda Mart
Car Seat G401- sold at Panda Mart
Car Seat G410- sold at Panda Mart
Car Seat LB-828- sold at Panda Mart
Car Seat Q5- sold at Panda Mart
Car Seat 10911524- sold at Panda Mart
Car Seat 11630- sold at Panda Mart
Annabel Trends Toothy Teether and Annabel Trends Cactus Teether
Product Recalls: Cosmetics
Ultra Violette Lean Screen SPF 50+
Aspect Sun Sunscreens- Physical Sun Protection SPF50+ and Tinted Physical SPF50+
Product Recalls: Electronics
Tesla Powerwall 2 Battery Energy Storage Units
Midea Air Fryer- sold at Trade Depot
ANKO Portable Blender (4 colourways)- sold at Kmart
Product Recalls: Other
“Wobbly head Dino” Greeting Card
Trojan Developments Prox Rex
Zenith Taps- ChillTap Extra 60 (Residential), ChillTap Extra 140 (Commercial)
Hot Water Bottles- sold at MIDIO Lambton Quay Limited
Check the New Zealand Transport Agency's handy vehicle recall list here.
See past months' recalls. Stay safe, neighbours!
Cross stitch, clown
Counted cross stitch kit.
Clowns.
Everything needed is included in the kit.
34 x 24 cm
Collection is from Herd Rd, Hillsborough
Cross stitch, 'footprints'
Counted cross stitch kit.
Footprints
Everything included
Thread
Fabric etc
25 x 30 cm
Collection is from Herd Rd, Hillsborough
Poll: How are you spreading light this year?
Wishing you all bright days! Happy Diwali from the Neighbourly Team 💚🕯️
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17.8% Charity or donation
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26.7% Spending time with my family
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18.8% Volunteering
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36.6% Sharing smiles - A positive attitude is infectious
Auckland tenants ordered to pay $27k for dog‑damaged rental home
A property manager was forced to cut her final inspection of an Auckland rental property short after being greeted by hundreds of flies, a strong stench of dog poo and urine-soaked carpet.
The Barfoot and Thompson property manager said she could barely enter the property due to the smell of dog … View moreA property manager was forced to cut her final inspection of an Auckland rental property short after being greeted by hundreds of flies, a strong stench of dog poo and urine-soaked carpet.
The Barfoot and Thompson property manager said she could barely enter the property due to the smell of dog urine and faeces.
She was so concerned about the state of the house, she shortened the report to one overall category, noting there were a number of areas that were intentionally damaged by the tenants, Barry Phillips and Tessa Boyd, and their two dogs and six puppies.
“The dogs have defecated and urinated all over the floors, and the stench was very strong,’' Keely Stubbs, the head of property management for the agency’s Mt Eden branch, said in her final inspection report of the Massey house.
“There were hundreds of flies. The floor at the entrance to the first bedroom has been damaged. It appears to be wet from urine.”
Wet items were left on the downstairs floor, the front door wasn’t secure, and the keys hadn’t been returned.
Now the Tenancy Tribunal has awarded the landlords – Barfoot and Thompson as agents for Rysy Investments – $27,000, saying the pair must have known the damage that was being done during their four-year tenancy.
“The tenants allowed a situation where they had six puppies inside, toileting all over the flooring and carpet for a series of months,” tribunal adjudicator Melissa Allan said in a recently released decision.
“The tenants must have known the damage was a certainty.”
Scratch marks, holes in couches, piles of rubbish
=======================================
According to the decision, the house wasn’t always in such a poor state. Photos presented at the hearing, taken in May 2023, show the house in a fairly tidy condition, except for two damaged doors, a large pile of rubbish in the laundry, and unkempt lawns.
During that inspection, it was also discovered that the tenants had two dogs (only one of which was permitted) and puppies, which were all housed inside.
The tenants, who were supposed to move out in September 2023, successfully sought a three-month extension, giving them time to re-home the puppies, repair the two doors and maintain the lawns.
But after the tenants left, photos showed the carpet in the bedrooms and hallway was covered in urine and faeces, as was the laminate flooring in the lounge and the terracotta tiles downstairs.
There were scratch marks all over the walls, and some of the carpet had been scratched and torn. A couch in one room had been upended, with the stuffing torn out and covering most of the floor. A window was broken, and there were holes in the walls.
The tenants also left behind a fridge full of food, multiple couches, a double bed and mattress, various drawers, a table, and chairs, a TV cabinet, and huge piles of what appeared to be soiled bedding.
Rubbish was left under the house and strewn throughout the garden.
Barfoot and Thompson asked the Tenancy Tribunal for rent arrears and compensation.
While the decision noted the landlord had claimed insurance for some of the damage, it didn’t cover all of it, including the cost of repairing the flooring, because the insurers believed it was gradual damage.
Soft and swollen particle board
=========================
The landlord said the flooring was so badly damaged that all the carpet, timber underlay, and the vinyl in the kitchen had to be removed.
The floors in the hallway and bedroom also had to be cut out and replaced as the urine had softened and swollen the particle board. Photos showed it was heavily stained and damaged.
Taking into account depreciation and betterment, the tribunal awarded the landlord $23,118 for repairs to the flooring.
A further $5000 was awarded for removing rubbish both inside and under the house, bringing the total award to $27,391.
=======================================================
Kids Twisty Trunk Mammoth Sprinkler
Selling this fun kids sprinkler as no longer required.
In great condition with plenty of life left in it as hardly used.
Pick up is from Sandringham (near St Luke’s mall)
A bulk of some of society’s most important workers - from doctors, nurses, teachers, prison staff and other healthcare personnel - will walk off the job next Thursday in a mega industrial strike tipped to be the largest in New Zealand in recent history.
An estimated 100,000 workers from the public sector - also including dentists, social workers, physiotherapists and mental health staffers - are set to be involved, as they take a stand for better pay and conditions, as well as raising concerns around safe staffing levels.
Public Service Minister … View moreAn estimated 100,000 workers from the public sector - also including dentists, social workers, physiotherapists and mental health staffers - are set to be involved, as they take a stand for better pay and conditions, as well as raising concerns around safe staffing levels.
Public Service Minister Judith Collins, meanwhile, has released an open letter to anyone who will be impacted by the strikes and said they appeared to be “politically motivated by the unions”.
Who is striking?
=============
About 17,000 health members with the Public Service Association are taking part in the strike on October 23.
They are made up of allied health staff, mental and public health nurses, home support workers and policy, knowledge, advisory and specialist workers who want fair pay, safe staffing and improved conditions to give what they say is quality care patients deserve.
Why are they striking?
==================
PSA national secretary Fleur Fitzsimons said its members were standing up for safe staffing and for the public health service.
“We have been heartened by the overwhelming support from the public for the strikes, and we know that the protests on the day will be an expression of solidarity between workers in health, education ... and the public they serve.
“These workers have not taken strike action lightly, but consider they have a responsibility to stand up for the health service they know New Zealanders need.”
Health NZ’s pay offers have been criticised by senior doctors, with the PSA describing a 2 per cent rise, followed by a 1.5 per cent increase over a 30-month period as being well below inflation.
“The pay offers are effectively pay cuts during a cost-of-living crisis. We risk losing more health workers to Australia,” the PSA said.
There are not enough health workers to provide the level of care Kiwis need and, to make up numbers, staff were often having to pull double shifts.
“They can’t give their best to patients when they’re so thinly stretched and burnt out.”
The NZ Educational Institute has confirmed more than 40,000 of its members will strike for extra classroom support for children with diverse learning needs.
More than 20,000 unionised secondary and area school teachers are also involved in the mega strike due to a lack of progress with collective agreement negotiations, the Post-Primary Teachers’ Association confirmed earlier this month.
A 1% pay rise offer from the Government, in August, had also served as a trigger; dubbed by the PPTA as “appalling” and the lowest increase in a generation.
Underpaid and understaffed, workers ‘infuriated’
=======================================
NZ Council of Trade Unions president Richard Wagstaff said the strike action was in response to a centralised government strategy to hold down wages below inflation and to cut resources to the public service.
He said the wide range of professional workers had been negotiating for more than a year, in some cases. The only response they had received, he said, was from employers wanting them to be locked into a long-term agreement with pay adjustments under inflation.
“And they’ve given them no proper response to the resource issues - the short staffing, the breaking down of equipment and so on.
“They know that by cutting wages and by basically having people overworked and underpaid, it really risks the workforce dissipating and leaving for better places, particularly Australia.”
Wagstaff said it was unfair and “quite infuriating” for workers, given that the Government has said it would address the cost-of-living crisis.
“And here they are telling their own workers - their essential workers who keep everything running - that they should expect a pay cut.”
Wagstaff called on ordinary members of the public to get out on Thursday and strike with workers to show their support.
He said they were fighting not just for themselves, but for all Kiwis.
“It’s these public services that enable all of us to live decent lives - health services we can rely on, education services so we can reach our potential, public services to keep us protected and support our interests as a community.
“They are standing up for quality public services.
“They are really exasperated by employers who seem intent on reducing the public sector, reducing the wages of the public sector, reducing the services of the public sector and reducing the resources.”
Public Service Minister’s open letter to affected Kiwis
===========================================
Collins has written an open letter to patients, students and families affected by this week’s planned strike.
“The Government regrets the impact on you, your children and your families that is expected on Thursday because of a strike planned by a number of unions.
“We regret even more that the strike appears to be politically motivated by the unions. What else could possibly explain that in early October, when we were trying to negotiate with the secondary teachers’ union, the number one item on their agenda for a meeting with Education Minister Erica Stanford was Palestine,” Collins wrote.
“Palestine. Not terms and conditions. Not student achievement. Not the new curriculum. Palestine. That’s now what students or parents should expect.”
Collins urged parents of senior students to ask their children’s teachers to question their union’s priorities.
“And to all the parents of younger children, who have had to rearrange their usual commitments, I urge you to ask your children’s teachers why their union arranged a strike in a week when many schools already have teacher-only days, followed by Labour Day on Monday.”
Collins went on to say that the Government has acted in good faith and met with unions’ demands for pay increases in line with inflation.
She also spoke directly to those Kiwis who have had medical appointments and procedures postponed due to the strike.
“I know some of you are living in pain and in fear of a possible diagnosis that will now be delayed. This industrial action is unfair and unwarranted.”
Collins said they value nurses, doctors and other health workers whose everyday care supports patients. They also valued teachers, principals and teacher aides, she said.
“We value all public sector employees.”
The Government had a responsibility to manage the country’s finances carefully - and especially when “money is tight”, she said.
“From cancer drugs to social housing, from support for vulnerable people to conversation initiatives, there are thousands of appeals for increased spending as well as for wage increases.
“The country is simply not earning enough to meet all these calls.”
She pointed to a “huge increase” in public spending over Covid and in the following years, which resulted to public debt exploding.
“It is only unions who want strikes. We ask, once again, for them to come to the table. That is the place to talk and to bargain.”
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