What's new for Term 1#

There are a number of new initiatives and requirements for Term 1. You can see a summary of these here:

What’s new for Term 1 2026 

Attendance, achievement and assessment#

Attendance webinars#

We are running a series of optional attendance-related webinars to support schools with the new attendance initiatives landing in Term 1. This includes an overview of the key attendance-related initiatives, as well as a dedicated session on the new attendance service.

You can find more details and register for these sessions here:

Upcoming attendance webinars

A recording and transcript of these webinars will be made available after the sessions have been held. You can also view previous attendance-related webinars here:

Previous attendance webinars 

Attendance management plans#

From the start of Term 1, schools are required to have an attendance management plan (AMP) in place. These plans aim to improve student attendance by providing clear pathways to identify and address absences at different thresholds. Comprehensive guidance is available on our website:

Attendance Management Plans 

Recording response activities at AMP thresholds

Student management system (SMS) platforms now include fields to capture activity response types and editable descriptions to support your AMP response activity. From Term 1, you must use these fields to record the actions you take when a student reaches 5, 10 or 15 days of absence in a term.

Recording school-closed days in SMS

You must record the reason for any full day closure during term time, using one of six approved categories. This requirement applies only to full-day school closure. Functionality is currently being deployed in school SMSs. For help with SMS functionality, contact your SMS provider.

For more information, visit:

School opening and closing for instruction

Preparing for the attendance service case management system go live on 16 February#

New attendance service contracts commenced in January to enable more students to benefit from enhanced attendance service support.

Implementation of the new attendance service is supported by a new case management system.

You will be able to refer students to an attendance service provider in the new case management system from 16 February.

In preparation for the attendance service case management system going live for schools, delegated authorisers will need to assign users with roles within the new case management system.

Guidance on what the roles are, what they can do within the system (for example, attendance lead) and how to assign access can be found here:

Attendance services

An online module hosted on the learning management system site is available to help you learn about key tasks that can be performed in the system. Access to the module requires an education sector logon:

Education sector logon – Learning Management System

As per the above item, an optional webinar is available to schools to learn more about the reformed attendance service on 17 and 18 February. More details are available here:

Attendance webinars

ENROL – Start of year reminders#

End of year withdrawals

Please make sure that all 2025 leavers are withdrawn in ENROL so their new schools can enrol them more easily. Key things to consider:

• Only select leavers from last year (note that current year levels have been rolled over for the year already in ENROL).
• Enter the correct last day of attendance and leaving year level.
• Select the ‘teaching and learning notes’ option if wanting to communicate notes to their next school.

Batch withdrawal instructions can be found:

Withdrawing students – Applications and online systems

Start-of-year enrolments

Please enrol students as soon as they begin attending. Timely enrolments ensure that students are not unnecessarily referred to attendance services due to non-enrolment.

Groups of students starting on the same day from the same school can be batch enrolled if their previous school has withdrawn them.

Batch enrolment instructions can be found here:

Enrolling students – Applications and online systems

ENROL access

Please ensure that the appropriate staff members at your school have the correct ENROL access and remove access for staff who have left.

Support for online Delegated Authorisers – Applications and online systems

ENROL support

Please refer to the ENROL user guides for further information:

ENROL guidelines – Applications and online systems

Any questions, you can contact us via:

ENROL support – Applications and online systems

English, Te Reo Rangatira, Mathematics and Pāngarau gazetted#

The updated content for Years 0 to 10 English, Te Reo Rangatira, Mathematics and Statistics and Pāngarau was released on 19 October 2025. These have now been gazetted and must be taught in schools and kura from the start of Term 1, 2026.

The gazette notice took effect on 1 January and you can read it at:

Foundation Curriculum Policy Statements and National Curriculum Statements – New Zealand Gazette  

Reviewed NCEA achievement standards and assessment materials published for 2026 #

Updates to a number of achievement standards and supporting assessment materials for 2026 are now available. These updates are part of the annual NCEA Review and Maintenance Programme (RAMP) and affect several New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) and Te Marautanga o Aotearoa (TMoA) subjects across levels 1 to 3.

Teachers and other NCEA providers should use the updated standards and materials for assessment in 2026.

Full details and links to the updated materials can be found at: 

Reviewed NZC and TMoA Achievement Standards and assessment materials published for 2026 – NCEA

Curriculum data snapshots for 2025 Terms 1 to 3 released#

We’ve released the first set of curriculum data snapshots, covering Terms 1 to 3 of 2025. These snapshots provide a visual, point-in-time view of national curriculum and assessment data and feedback. The snapshots are designed to provide confidence in using national data to support local planning and professional conversations. Each snapshot includes actions we are taking in response to your feedback.

From Term 2, snapshots will be released termly.

Check out the snapshots at:

Curriculum data snapshots for Terms 1 to 3 2025 released – Tāhūrangi  

SMART tool arriving this term #

SMART, the new Student Monitoring, Assessment and Reporting Tool, replaces e-asTTle and provides kaiako with consistent, curriculum-aligned progress information in reading, writing, maths, pānui, tuhituhi and pāngarau for students in Years 3 to 10. The tool is free to use, with no licensing fees and no cost per test.

The tool has been trialled with thousands of ākonga and kaiako, and with overall positive feedback.

SMART will be available second half of March 2026, ahead of the first assessment window in Term 2. Supporting resources will be released throughout this term.

You can read more about SMART on Tāhūrangi: 

SMART overview and access – Tāhūrangi

Ministry-funded digital maths resources for Years 9 and 10#

You can now register interest for Year 9 and 10 Ministry-funded digital maths resources. The resources will be supplied by Education Perfect and will include lesson plans, formative and summative assessments, and opportunities to enable and extend ākonga. There will also be downloadable teaching and learning content available to print.

More information is available on Tāhūrangi:  

Ordering Ministry-funded maths resources – Tāhūrangi

Draft Te Marautanga o Aotearoa framework and content released#

The draft Te Marautanga o Aotearoa framework and Years 0 to 10 wāhanga ako have been released for consultation.

We encourage you to provide feedback on the consultation between now and 24 April.

The final version of Te Marautanga o Aotearoa is expected to be released alongside the New Zealand Curriculum mid-2026.

For more information, visit:

Draft Te Marautanga o Aotearoa released for consultation – Tāhūrangi 

In-class trialling of draft learning areas and wāhanga ako#

You’re invited to take part in the in-class trialling of draft curriculum content for Tau | Years 0 to 10 as part of the consultation process for the New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) and Te Marautanga o Aotearoa (TMoA).

Trial participants will have access to experienced facilitators to answer questions and provide support as they work with the draft content.
  
Your insights will help us shape these learning areas and wāhanga ako before the full and final National Curriculum is released in mid-2026.

Registrations close on 9 February. For more information, visit:   

In-class trialling of draft learning areas and wāhanga ako – Tāhūrangi

Te Marautanga o Aotearoa in-class trialling – Tāhūrangi

NCEA co-requisite supports for Years 11 to 13#

Over the coming weeks, local Ministry offices will provide you with additional information and support for Years 11 to 13 students at risk of not achieving their NCEA co-requisite. You will find the names of these students in a file on your secure data portal, under the ‘download’ page. 

Secure Data Portal – Applications and Online Systems

The supports are a continuation of the 2025 ‘Numbers, Names, Needs’ model, designed to help educators track student progress towards their NCEA goals, and prepare for the co-requisite assessments. Available alongside other NCEA resources at:

Literacy and Numeracy resources for kaiako – NCEA   

Rauemi for Te Reo Matatini me te Pāngarau – NCEA  

Guidelines for stand downs, suspensions, exclusions and expulsions#

The 2009 guidelines, flowcharts and template letters for stand downs, suspensions, exclusions, and expulsions (SSEE) have now been updated to reference the Education and Training Act 2020.

Guidelines for principals and school boards on stand downs, suspensions, exclusions and expulsions

Enrolments for cohort 4 targeted structured literacy approaches PLD#

Enrolments for cohort 4 Ministry-funded targeted professional learning development (PLD) to support structured literacy approaches (SLA) staffing entitlement teachers close on 20 February.

This PLD supports our initiative to have a literacy specialist in every school, and is available to schools receiving the staffing entitlement for literacy support. Any staff member holding the SLA staffing resource role can enrol. We encourage you to enrol any eligible teachers in this PLD.

For information on upcoming cohorts, how to enrol, and a list of approved providers of this PLD, visit:

SLA PLD for targeted teaching to support staffing entitlement teachers – Professional learning and development

Any pātai, contact us.

Email: [email protected]

Health, safety and wellbeing#

One-off grant for state and state-integrated schools affected by asbestos in sand#

You have until 5pm on 27 February to apply for a one-off grant to contribute towards necessary asbestos removal, decontamination and building-related remediation costs that have not been covered by your insurer or sand supplier.

Read more about this grant in last month’s Special Bulletin:

Special Bulletin 13 January

Requirement to keep immunisation records revoked#

Health New Zealand advises that on 8 January, the regulation requiring primary schools to maintain immunisation records was revoked. This means primary schools will no longer need to keep immunisation records.

Why the change is being made

The Aotearoa Immunisation Register (AIR), introduced in 2023, is the national register of administered vaccines. AIR enables authorised healthcare providers to access immunisation records. Now that we have AIR, ECE and primary school immunisation registers are no longer required. You can read more about AIR at:

Aotearoa Immunisation Register (AIR) – Health New Zealand

What this means for your primary school

• You will no longer need to collect and record immunisation information.
• Your school will remain an essential channel for promoting immunisation to parents.
• Retain existing immunisation records for seven years, in line with class 3.10 of the Schools Retention and Disposal Schedule:

Managing school records

Free resources are available at HealthEd:

New resources – HealthEd

Workforce and resourcing#

Cultural Leadership Allowance for primary and area school teachers – Extension of allowance end date#

If any teacher at your school currently receives the Cultural Leadership Allowance (CULA), check their allowance end date in EdPay.

CULA is intended to be permanent and should usually have an end date of 31 December 2049. Some schools have incorrectly set the end date to January 2026, meaning the allowance may have stopped.

Please review and, if needed, update the end date in the Allowances Entitlement section of EdPay. Step by step guidance is available on the EdPay website at:

Cultural leadership allowance – Education payroll

In some cases, CULA may be fixed term, but only for agreed reasons such as covering parental leave. Any questions, contact us.

Email: [email protected]

Beginning teacher time allowances#

Beginning teacher time allowance applications for 2026 are being processed. Applications for teachers in their first teaching position since becoming provisionally registered cannot be processed until the teacher has received their first pay at your school. We will start processing these from 4 February when the pay data becomes available.

You will receive an email notification from Pourato once an application has been processed. All applications will be backdated as per the teacher's employment details.

You can find more information about the eligibility criteria here:

Beginning, overseas and retrained teacher allowances

End of the banking staffing year #

The 2025 banking staffing year has closed. Funding code changes can no longer be accepted.

The balancing period runs from pay period 23 to pay period 27 (21 January to 31 March) and helps you manage under or overuse of your banking staffing to achieve a ‘nil’ balance.

For advice on managing your banking staffing, contact your school financial advisor.

Further information is available at:

Managing staffing usage (banking staffing)

Collective agreements for secondary teachers and principals, and area school principals#

Two circulars are available about the recent collective agreement settlements for secondary teachers, secondary principals and area school principals. The circulars provide information about pay increases and other changes to terms and conditions.

Individual employment agreements for employees who are not covered by the collective agreements are available at:

Circular 2026/01: Settlement of the Secondary Teachers’ Collective Agreement

Circular 2026/02: Settlement of the Secondary Principals’ Collective Agreement and the Area School Principals’ Collective Agreement

Any pātai, contact Te Whakarōpūtanga Kaitiaki Kura o Aotearoa | NZ School Boards Association Advisory Support Centre on 0800 782 435 or email [email protected].

Induction for learning support coordinators available#

A learning support coordinator (LSC) induction is available to support those who have an in-school LSC starting in 2026.

The induction supports essential knowledge and skills for LSCs to perform effectively in the role and maintain nationally consistent practice.

Schools with an LSC starting in 2026 are encouraged to support their LSC to complete the induction which includes 3 courses. Each course includes three modules, and each module will take approximately 30–45 minutes to complete.

The induction is accessed through our Education Learning Management System (LMS). Anyone with an education sector login (ESL) can access the new induction course including all in-school LSCs (2026–2028), cluster-based LSCs, and special education needs coordinators (SENCO). Course 1 is available now, course 2 is available in March and course 3 is available in April.

Education sector logon – Learning Management System

Find information to share with your new LSC here:

Learning support coordinators in schools 

Upcoming webinar series: ESOL funding, initial assessment, new to teaching ESOL#

The ESOL, refugee and migrant team is hosting a series of webinars to provide information and guidance on how to effectively support English language learners in your school.

For dates and topics, and to register, visit:

Wednesday 11 February, 3.30pm – ESOL funding basics (option 1) – Microsoft Teams

Thursday 19 February, 3.45pm – ESOL funding basics (option 2) – Microsoft Teams

Thursday 12 February, 3.45pm – Initial assessment of secondary ELLs – Microsoft Teams

Wednesday 18 March, 3.45pm – New to teaching primary ESOL – Microsoft Teams

Thursday 26 March, 3.45pm – New to teaching secondary ESOL – Microsoft Teams

Note that 19 February and 11 February sessions are the same so you have the option of attending either one.

Governance, planning and infrastructure#

Supporting children through better coordination between agencies and child protection training#

The Government has announced a new inter-agency hub and testing of a child protection training module for core children’s workers in response to the Dame Karen Poutasi review recommendations. You can read more here:

Inter-agency hub, mandatory training to keep kids safe – Beehive

Nothing changes in your day-to-day responsibilities. Existing child safety policies, reporting thresholds and requirement for professional judgement remain the same. Schools and kura will continue to play their important role in noticing and responding to concerns, supported by existing guidance and Ministry of Education contacts.

Integrated Government Response to the Poutasi Review – Ministry of Social Development

School planning and reporting 2026#

For 2026, you do not need to develop a new strategic plan. However, your board can amend your current strategic plan if it wishes.  

You will need to develop:

• an annual implementation plan for 2026, to be published on your school website by 31 March. This does not need to be submitted to us
• an annual report on the 2025 school year, to be submitted to us using the School Planning and Reporting Application by 31 May and published on your school website.

Submit your documents to us

We recommend your implementation planning for 2026 includes a focus on increasing student achievement and attendance alongside (or as part of) targets for meeting your current strategic goals.

You no longer need to include:

• information describing how your annual targets will support your board to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi in your annual implementation plan
• a report on how your board has given effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi in your annual report.

More information is available here:  

The school planning and reporting framework

For support, contact your regional office:

Regional offices

2025 notional lease figures available#

This notional lease information is required to prepare your year-end financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2025.

The 2025 notional lease information is available through the property portal or here:

2025 Notional Lease [PDF, 522 KB]

The notional lease charge should be treated as an expense in your Statement of Comprehensive Revenue and Expense, offset by a corresponding revenue entry in the same statement. So, the net impact on the bottom-line result is zero.

Schools do not pay this lease amount. The expense and revenue entries are solely to show what costs and funding schools would pay/need, if a lease was in place.

How the notional lease charge is calculated

The ‘notional lease’ amount is calculated by applying 5% to the value of Ministry-owned school property. This figure is then adjusted by any lease costs directly paid by us. The rate of 5% is the current Government cost of capital rate (unchanged from last year).

This year, we have adopted a more standardised construction model and as a result, the overall value of some school buildings may have decreased. This, in turn, has reduced the notional lease charge for some schools.

For more information, email us.

Email: [email protected]

Upcoming survey: Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in State Care#

We are contributing to the Crown’s Response to the Royal Commission of Inquiry into Abuse in Care.

As part of this, we are issuing a short survey that will seek your input to help us understand how schools manage requirements under the Children’s Act 2014, record keeping responsibilities, contemporary complaints, and any historic claims of abuse within school settings.

Our next bulletin on 17 February will contain the survey link through SurveyMonkey and more information.

Consultation on the possible closure of Westbridge Residential School#

We are consulting on a proposal to close Westbridge Residential School. Consultation is open and submissions close 5pm, 15 March.

Even though Westbridge is in Auckland, as a residential specialist school it enrols students from across New Zealand with needs relating to socialisation, behaviour and/or learning.

How to have your say

For more information or take part in the consultation:

Consultation on the possible closure of Westbridge Residential School

You can also email us.

Email: [email protected]

Your views are important. Share your views before the deadline.

School board election results and board changes#

A reminder email will be sent to schools that have not yet submitted their 2025 Triennial election results. Submission of board election results are a legislative requirement. If you haven’t submitted your 2025 Triennial Election data, please do so as soon as possible at:

School board updates

This form replaced the Appendix 1 and Appendix 2 forms that were previously hosted by the Ministry and Te Whakarōputanga Kaitiaki Kura o Aotearoa | New Zealand School Boards Association. It should also be used whenever a member leaves a School Board or when a new board member takes office outside of an election.

Any pātai, contact us.

Email: [email protected]

For board advice and support please contact NZSBA:

Get in contact – NZSBA