Definition

Main Entry: me·di·a·tion

Pronunciation: \ˌmē-dē-ˈā-shən\

Function: noun

Date: 14th century

: the act or process of mediating; especially 
 intervention between conflicting parties to
promote reconciliation, settlement, or compromise

We have been advised by the Privacy Commission that the school can’t really remember anything about what happened last year that prompted them to exclude our three children, one of whom was being badly bullied, among several other children. 

Apparently, having teaching staff, management and a Board who can’t remember significant events like that after one year does not strike them as inefficient.  Even when such a kicking out is apparently unprecedented in the 27 year history of the school.

The Privacy Commission also advised us, if we wanted to, that we could take the case off to the Human Rights Review Board, which, on enquiry turns out to be one of a couple of options with the HRC, one of which is apparently that they would try and mediate between us and the school.

A Potted History of Mediation Attempts Between us and the School

We asked for mediation, they said no.  They asked us to a ‘secret meeting’, after that they offered to have mediation as long as we agreed in advance what the outcome of that mediation would be, namely that we would stop protesting and disappear and in return they would take off the Trespass Notices.

That’s it.

We did not feel that their proposal could possibly be a true attempt to “promote reconciliation, settlement, or compromise” as per the above definition from Merriam-Webster online.   After that Sean Gribben, Chairman of the Board, wrote saying that there was “no basis under which the school would be prepared to reinstate you back into the school community”. 

None of this implies that we would send our kids back there, or that we want to.  But this matter has not been dealt with satisfactorily, and Paddy Delaney himself wrote to me only today that “it was sad what happened last year and I don't believe anyone has come out of this as winners”.  

Maybe so Paddy, but our children were the definite losers, and it wasn’t some children’s game!

The school, and you personally, had a legal duty to look after our children’s welfare.  To say that it was ‘sad’ is way too passive, and makes it sound like you were the victims of something and I guess perhaps you were - of the inefficiency of the school.  There is no way on this earth that our kids should have paid the price for that.  We all know that perfectly well.  In fact, if the school is inefficient, under the present law, it should have it’s registration withdrawn.  I think it was your job to make sure of that.

Anyway, it wasn’t supposed to be a competition - it was supposed to be a school!

But although we don’t really see how the Titirangi Steiner School could possibly make it up to our kids, or de-traumatise them, or anything really, we still understand that a big part of any process to try and rebalance difficult situations is a simple willingness to try, and so we are going to give it a go with this option and see what might come out of it.

Update soon.