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Shark warning after surfers chased
– Friday, 16 January 2009
South Island police have released a warning after a "very large shark" chased two surfers out of the water near Dunedin.
The surfers were in the water at Karitane Beach, 30 kilometres north of Dunedin, when they spotted the shark.
They left the water and reported the incident at the local store.
"So for him to bail out of the water it means that he's frightened enough obviously to get out so it's fairly serious.
Constable John Paul Tremain said it was a very large shark and one of the surfers chased out of the water was a veteran surfer in the area.
"I don't know if it's a white shark or a mako or a tiger – its lurking in the surf and in the inlet."
At this stage it was unknown what type of shark it was."
Mr Tremain said he did not think the shark could be seen from the beach..
"It's not like . Jaws where it's cruising with its dorsal out.."
Local man Allan Anderson, who owns a kayaking business in the area, said shark sightings were common and he often saw up to two a day but they were generally small and harmless. It's in the surf there and the guys have seen it in the surf and it's chased them on their boards.
It was probably just a small blue shark, grey shark or a seven-gill shark, he said.
It was probably just a small blue shark, grey shark or a seven-gill shark, he said.
"We do get a lot of them in shallows, especially when the water is dirty like this.
Mr Anderson said a seven-gill shark had attacked a young boy there a few years back, leaving him with eight stitches. .
Mr Anderson said he did not want the shark scaring people away from the beach and said there was nothing to worry about.
Mr Tremain said that it was probably not wise for people to be swimming in the area.
He would be taking his clients to another area, he said.
Hastings man Greg Sims, 49, was swimming near the Tukituki River mouth earlier this month when he was bitten on the back of his leg by what was believed to be a broadnose seven-gill shark.
The warning follows a spate of shark attacks in Australia, with three last weekend alone.
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While in December, fisherman Ken Lindberg spent five days in hospital after being bitten by a shark, believed to be a bronze whaler, while fishing with a friend off Maraetai near Auckland
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Private school goes bust as crunch bites
By ESTHER HARWARD – Sunday, 28 December 2008
An Auckland private school has gone bust and others look set to follow as an increasing number of families find school fees unaffordable in tough economic times.
Hilltop Primary School in Blockhouse Bay – which charges fees of $10,000 a year – made its nine teachers redundant last week after enrolments fell from 50 to 16 for the start next year. The school still owes $2 million on its mortgage.
Out of 50 schools the union worked with, half a dozen were struggling and two others, outside Auckland, were at risk of closing next year, she said.
Mairi Ferguson, employment officer at private schools' union the Independent Schools Education Association, said there was an decline in fee-paying students nationwide. .
"I wouldn't say that any private school is comfortably off, even the big ones . ."
Roy Kelley, headmaster of Auckland private school King's College, said 30 students had left this year – double the usual number. It's really only the Auckland schools that have been comfortable and I'm not even sure that is the case now. "We're fortunate at the moment that we have a reasonable waiting list and we're able to replace them. He said most parents had given "financial circumstances" as the reason for pulling their children out.
Donations paid by parents of children in state-funded schools vary but are usually around several hundred dollars a year."
The King's College roll is around 950, and it charges about $4700 in tuition fees each term.
Teachers at Hilltop Primary – which opened in 1915 – were told three days before Christmas that they had received their last pay and to clear out their belongings by New Year.
Teachers at Hilltop Primary – which opened in 1915 – were told three days before Christmas that they had received their last pay and to clear out their belongings by New Year.
Ferguson said it was possible for schools to maintain their "special character" while taking state funding, as Catholic schools had done under integration.
Ferguson urged all struggling schools to ask the Ministry of Education to integrate them into the state system, which meant the government paid teachers' salaries and maintained buildings.
Private schools have been under increasing financial pressure since they were forced to pay teachers more to meet state school salaries which were raised in 1998. .
Hilltop Primary's board of trustees chairwoman Rhonda Evans said the school could open again if someone bought the $4.
Further pressure was placed on independent schools with the previous government's contribution cap of $40m, Ferguson said. She had asked the ministry but had not heard back, she said.2m school buildings or if the government agreed to integrate it.
Evans said the board had tried everything to keep the school going, including switching to the International Baccalaureate primary curriculum and amalgamating classrooms. Another option was for the school to move to smaller premises. "I'm really upset. "I'm really upset. To actually have got to that point is really quite devastating . . . We're calling for any old pupils at the school, for any assistance that we can get, any donations, to enable us to keep on going."
Supporters could contact her at board@hilltop.school.nz
GOING PRIVATE
* There are 110 private schools, also known as independent schools, in New Zealand. Other schools are state- funded or integrated (they receive state funding and charge fees).
* Private schools have about 29,000 pupils. There are about 640,000 students in state schools and 84,490 in integrated schools.
* Private school rolls vary from 10 to more than 2000 pupils and annual fees range from about $4000 to more than $18,000 for New Zealand residents.
* Most private schools are owned by a charitable trust or private company and controlled by a board of governors.