Hon Erica Stanford
Minister of Education

The Government is continuing to raise achievement and close the equity gap in schools across the country, so all Kiwi kids have the knowledge, skills and competencies they need to reach their full potential, Education Minister Erica Stanford says.

The Governments’ ambitious changes reflect the responsibility we have to these children and young people, to ensure their experiences with our education system deliver consistent high-quality, services that set students up for future success.

As students start back at school this week for Term 2, they will benefit from:

1. Cell phone use banned in schools so students can concentrate on their learning,
2. An hour a day of reading, writing, and maths in primary and intermediate classrooms,
3. A world-leading year-by-year, knowledge-rich, internationally comparable, evidence-based curriculum detailing what is taught and when in english and maths all the way from year 1 to year 13 with other subject areas underway.
4. Over 836,000 maths resources for students and teachers in primary and intermediates to support the new maths curriculum,
5. The mandated teaching of phonics and structured literacy so that every child gets the very best start when they learn to read,
6. A phonics checks after 20 and 40 weeks at school to ensure that children’s reading is on track and progressing,
7. $3.2 million over 2025/2026 for tier 2 teachers to support readers who need extra help using structured literacy approaches.962 schools are benefitting from this investment,
8. $3 million to support 3,000 Year 7-8 students to accelerate their learning with 12 weeks of math tutoring,
9. 20,000 teachers having received high quality professional development in structured literacy and 15,000 have received training in structured maths,
10. NCEA co-requisite literacy and numeracy supports reaching 9,100 kids.

“I’ve asked the Education Review Office (ERO) to track closely how well our new approaches are working, and the emerging findings are encouraging.” Ms Stanford says.

ERO has found:

• Almost two-thirds of teachers say structured literacy approaches have already changed their teaching practices a lot.
• Half of teachers report that structured literacy approaches have improved student engagement a lot.
• Three-quarters of teachers say structured literacy approaches have improved literacy for most students.
• For maths, nearly 90 percent of monitored schools have appointed a lead for implementation.

"After the first term of implementing structured literacy approaches through the new national curriculum, this is a testament to the incredible work of our teachers. We know how important it is for our schools to be supported, which is why I’ve asked ERO to keep me updated to ensure that schools receive the support they need."

“Everything we are doing in English medium schools we are providing in te reo Māori. No matter where you are in the country, parents can have confidence that this Government is putting the foundations in place for their child to reach their full potential at school,”

“We want Kiwi kids to learn in safe, warm and dry classrooms. It is crucial school property is delivered effectively and efficiently across the country so more students, teachers and communities benefit from suitable learning environments,”

“There has been a 35 percent increase in the number of standardised and repeatable designs, allowing us to reduce the price per classroom by 28 percent and built 137 more classrooms in 2024 than in 2023.” Ms Stanford says.

Through the Government’s decisive action to improve efficiency and performance in school property delivery, $100 million has been freed up to deliver new schools and more classrooms across the country in areas that have growing populations.

“Thank you to our amazing principals, teachers and support staff for your incredibly hard work in implementing this transformational system reform. Our plan is setting every child in New Zealand up for success and restoring ambition and achievement at the heart of the education system,” Ms Stanford says.

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