NZSSRA: 2025 SGM Agenda

The order of business will be as follows:

1. Roll Call (based on list of ballots cast)
2. Apologies
3. Remit

At the SGM on 8 November NZSSRA Members adopted a new policy for NZSSRA as follows.

"Any student who is a Year 14 will not be permitted to participate at the Maadi [Regatta] from 2025. Exceptions can be made on a case-by-case basis following approval of an Independent panel. This panel will be made up of Principal representatives, who will assess the legitimacy of the student by taking into account factors such as academic need."

Under the current Rules of Racing, Year 14 students are eligible to compete at Maadi, and the new policy does not change those Rules. However, the Board agreed to expedite an opportunity for Members to make the policy enforceable in time for Maadi 2025. For this to happen, alterations to the Constitution, Regulations, and Rules are required. That is the business of this SGM is to download votes and count whether majority* of Members' vote for, or against, adopting* this policy.

The remit before the SGM is: that alterations to Constitution, Regulations, and Rules of Racing are made as follows

• Article 1.1 of the Constitution of NZSSRA is altered to add a new Article 1.1.U with a definition for "Year 14" so that Articles 1.1.T. and 1.1.U. become:
  20. SGM shall mean Special General Meeting of NZSSRA;
  21. Year 14 in relation to a student means the student's Year Level has reached Year 14 when Year Level is established as follows
      1. The first year of secondary school is Year 9. Year 14 is the sixth year of secondary school.
      2. A student's Year Level is established through the processes in this definition. It is
         1. independent of their academic level.
         2. independent of their programme of study.
      3. A student who is attending school before the first year of secondary school (e.g. attending intermediate school) has a Year Level of "pre-secondary"
      4. A student's Year Level is set to Year 9 when they first attend the first year of secondary school. A student's Year Level does not get re-set to Year 9 if they repeat the first year of secondary school.
      5. A student's Year Level increases by 1 in January of every year after they are Year 9. A student's Year Level always increases by 1 each year. A student's Year Level:
         1. does not reset if a student repeats a year
         2. does not stay unchanged if a student leaves school for a year or more
         3. does not increase by 2 or more if a student is accelerated forward a year or more
      6. A student who transfers school has their Year Level determined by when they first attended the first year of secondary school, not when they first attended their new school.
      7. A student whose first year of secondary school is not the first year of secondary school but who attended intermediate school or the last year of primary school has their initial Year Level calculated by
         1. first setting their Year Level to the level corresponding to their last year of school as follows:
            1. last year of primary school: Year 6
            2. first year of intermediate school: Year 7
            3. last year of intermediate school: Year 8
         2. then increasing their Year Level by 1 for each January that passed until they first start secondary school
      8. Any other student whose first year of secondary school is not the first year of secondary school (e.g. an overseas student, a home schooled student joining mainstream education) has their initial Year Level calculated by
         1. using Year 1 as the year they turned 6
         2. then increasing it by 1 for each January that passed until they first start secondary school
         note: for these students Year Level = [current year] - [birth year] - 5
• Regulation 7.3.B.iii. of the Regulations for Regattas is altered to included the words ", Year Level (e.g. Year 9)" between the words "status," and ", whether ". Regulation 7.3.b.iii. becomes:
  3. For each student on the list, their identification number, first and family names, date of birth, classifications, NZSSSC School Team Eligibility status, Year Level (e.g. Year 9), whether the student appears on the MEDICAL ALERT FORM, and a list of the event numbers the student is entered into
• Regulation 7.4 is altered to include the words ", Year Level" between the words "... age" and ", registration...". Regulation 7.4 becomes:
  4. Any false declaration concerning name, age, Year Level, registration number, classification of a student or school of attendance shall result in the exclusion of the student's crew(s) from the regatta entered. Any trophies, medallions or badges won shall be forfeited.
     If after hearing from the school to which any student rower belongs, the Organising Committee or Schools Committee considers it warranted to do so, especially if the false declaration arises from recklessness, wilfulness or gross negligence, that school may be disqualified from the regatta. Any trophies, medallions or badges won in any race shall be forfeited.
• Rule 2 of the Rules of Racing is altered by adding a new sub-clause 2.5 with the following wording
  5. No Year 14 student shall be eligible to compete at the New Zealand Secondary Schools Rowing Championships unless their Principal applied for an exception from the special committee set up for considering such exceptions and an exception was approved.

Explanation:

Article 1.1.U - the new definition determines whether or not a student is Year 14. This can be different from a student's academic level.

Regulation 7.3.B.iii. - The change to the entry forms is so a student's Year Level is captured in the declaration forms and subject to the same consequences if there are false declarations.

Rule 2.5 - The change in eligibility for Year 14 students at Maadi is brought into the existing eligibility Rule. The special committee for considering exception applications will be set up through Article 11.7.A. The Terms of Reference for that committee are used to implement the remainder of the policy. They are under development and have received approval from the SGM working group. Although yet to be finalised the Terms of Reference encompass:

• Membership of the committee: 3 independent Principals (they will not be Principals of current NZSSRA Member Schools); appointment processes, terms, etc
• An application process that is open 1 Sep - 31 Jan, through official NZSSRA channels that set out the supporting information a Principal needs to supply
• How the committee functions: meeting and making decisions in February, reporting decisions in full by month's end.
• To guide the committee there will be factors: it must consider (initially only "academic need", as per the policy); it must not consider (none yet); and those identified as potentially relevant (raised during the SGM or by the working group):
  • what the student's course of study is and what their existing qualifications are
  • how many terms the student is enrolled for in the Maadi year
  • whether the Principal has sought and received any undertakings from the student about completing their course of study
  • whether the student is a non-domestic student
  • how many years the student has attended the Member school
  • whether a decision to not approve an exception will affect a student's scholarships

The ToR will be refined over years to come; based on committee feedback and Members' responses to reported decisions.

The Board  

© Copyright NZSSRA 2003-2024