Attendance, achievement and assessment#

Working together to improve student attendance#

Achievement, attendance and learning support are priority areas, with Government targets set for attendance and achievement.

In Term 1 of 2025, 65.9% of students attended school regularly, an increase of 4.5% from 61.4% in Term 1 of 2024. This gain is a result of the sustained focus and efforts you have made to support students to attend school, and to attend regularly.

The latest attendance data shows that some schools are still facing significant barriers to reaching the 2030 target of 80% of students attending more than 90% of the term.

Through Term 3, our regional teams will prioritise working alongside those schools facing greater barriers, working with you to identify how we can effectively support your ongoing efforts to improve attendance for your students.

Using attendance codes webinar training#

In supporting schools with raising attendance we have come across some discrepancies and challenges with using attendance codes, which may be skewing results. We are running a series of webinars to help you feel comfortable with the use of attendance codes and how to apply them. Each session covers similar content. For more details, and to register, visit:

Secondary school leaders and/or attendance administrators

Monday 28 July, 12–1pm – Microsoft Teams

Monday 28 July, 3.30–4.30pm – Microsoft Teams

Thursday 31 July, 12–1pm – Microsoft Teams

Thursday 31 July, 3.30–4.30pm – Microsoft Teams

Primary school leaders and/or attendance administrators

Tuesday 29 July, 12–1pm – Microsoft Teams  

Tuesday 29 July, 3.30–4.30pm – Microsoft Teams

Monday 4 August, 12–1pmb – Microsoft Teams

Monday 4 August, 3.30–4.30pm – Microsoft Teams

Any pātai about the webinars, email us.

Email: [email protected]

For updated FAQs and information about attendance codes, visit:

Attendance codes

For support with your student management system (SMS), contact your provider.

For all other support, contact your regional office.

Regional offices

Leadership advisor applications close 25 July#

The leadership advisors play a vital role in supporting principals throughout the motu. They share their first-hand knowledge of school leadership through practical and strategic advice and guidance. If you are wanting to apply, then don’t delay, applications close 5pm on 25 July. Visit our careers page for more information.

Search all jobs – Ministry of Education

Guidance for teaching students confident in maths#

We have published guidance to support teachers | kaiako with providing extension opportunities for students confident in maths. This includes a list of extension opportunities for Ministry-funded maths resources, posters and a comprehensive document outlining classroom strategies, rich tasks and investigation ideas for digging deeper.

Digging Deeper: Guidance for teaching confident maths learners – Tāhūrangi

Ordering Ministry-funded maths resources#

Ordering Ministry-funded maths resources for Years 0 to 8 is now available on Salesforce and will remain open until 3 August, for delivery in Term 4. You will also be able to place orders from 6 October to 24 October, for delivery in Term 1 2026.

Ordering Ministry-funded maths resources – Tāhūrangi

New Ready to Read Phonics Plus resources#

Six new Ready to Read Phonics Plus books supporting structured literacy for Year 0 to 2 ākonga are available on Tāhūrangi, A newly re-sized big book version of ‘At the Marae’, ideal for ‘reading with’ sessions, is also included. Printed copies are being sent to all primary schools and kura using the New Zealand Curriculum this term. You can access the digital versions on Tāhūrangi.

New Ready to Read Phonics Plus books – Tāhūrangi

If you haven’t received copies by the end of August, email us.

Email: [email protected]

To order more, visit Down the back of the chair website.

Down the back of the chair website

Te Hāpai Ākonga Accelerant Learning Programme – Registrations reopened#

Registrations for Te Hāpai Ākonga accelerant learning programme have reopened for schools and kura using Te Marautanga o Aotearoa. This 12-week face-to-face programme supports ākonga in Years 0 to 8 who need extra help in pānui, tuhituhi, kōrero and pāngarau, and who are not yet meeting expected achievement levels.

Register below:

Te Hāpai Ākonga Puka Rēhita Kura | Te Hāpai Ākonga Kura Registration Form – Microsoft

A new online resource suite, Hāpai Ako ā-Ipurangi, will be available on Tāhūrangi in November to support ākonga, whānau and kaiako.

School leavers’ toolkit updates#

Two new topics are being added to the school leavers’ toolkit to help your senior students prepare for life after school:

• Get your driver licence – As a standalone topic containing information and resources, the benefits and key road safety tips.
• Consumer rights – Under the ‘money and tax’ topic, with examples of your rights when something goes wrong when spending your money.

Find them on the New Zealand Goverment website.

Practical skills for life – New Zealand Government

Webinar – Navigating challenging situations and conversations#

Te Poipoi Kaiako Mentor Support Programme is offering a webinar on 13 August at 3.30pm and 14 August at 7pm. It will cover effective strategies for establishing and re-establishing relational trust, anticipating and working through issues, prioritising safety, and restoring the mentoring relationship after challenging situations occur.

To register, visit the Humanitix website.

Te Poipoi Kaiako | Mentor support programme webinar #7 – Humanitix

Cohort 6 PLD for structured approaches to literacy and te reo matatini open for applications#

Applications for Cohort 6 of Ministry-funded PLD for structured literacy approaches and Rangaranga Reo-ā-Tā (structured te reo matatini) are open and close on 8 August.

Cohort 6 is open to teachers of Years 0 to 8 and will prioritise those who have not had any prior training in structured teaching approaches. Cohort 6 PLD will be delivered over Term 4 2025, and Terms 1 and 2 2026. For more information, visit the PLD website.

PLD for structured literacy and te reo matatini approaches – Professional learning and development

Structured literacy staffing for 2026#

Schools teaching the New Zealand Curriculum can apply this term for 2026 structured literacy approaches (SLA) FTTE staffing. This funding supports structured literacy interventions for Year 0 to 6 students (an expansion from Year 0 to 2 in 2025). For 2026 staffing, schools will need to share how many students need support.

To be eligible, you need to use phonics checks in Terms 3 and 4 and upload results to the SDP. For those receiving SLA staffing in 2025, we will contact you in July to confirm 2026 requirements. If not, you can apply from 1 September, with decisions shared by 30 September.

More information is available on Tāhūrangi.

Ministry-funded SLA staffing resource for 2026 – Years 0–6 – Tāhūrangi

Upcoming changes to Tāhūrangi curriculum pages#

Starting this week, we are making improvements to streamline the New Zealand Curriculum and Te Marautanga o Aotearoa landing pages on Tāhūrangi. We are also updating the way learning area and wāhanga ako content pages are displayed for the Years 0 to 6 English and Te Reo Rangatira, and Years 0 to 8 maths and Pāngarau. While there is a new layout, note that only the design has changed.

Visit Tāhūrangi for more information about these changes.

Updates to Tāhūrangi landing pages and curriculum content pages – Tāhūrangi

Important step forward for assessment and aromatawai tool#

We have selected Janison Solution Pty Ltd to deliver our new assessment and aromatawai tool for students in Years 3 to 10.

Exciting step forward for new assessment and aromatawai tool – Tāhurangi

The new tool is named SMART (student, monitoring, assessment and report tool) and it will support learner progress and be responsive to the needs of all Year-3-to-10 students and mokopuna across New Zealand. It will also help teachers | kaiako carry out low stakes check-ins with learners, providing them with the information they need to support a learner through their next steps of learning, and giving parents and whānau confidence about their child’s progress.

Term 2 check-in update#

In Term 2 our regional teams checked in with you about how implementation of curriculum, attendance and other changes was going. We will report this back to you in the 5 August Bulletin.

As Term 3 has a focus on embedding and building on change, based on your feedback, we will not be undertaking a national check-in this term.

Health, safety and wellbeing#

Protect against measles#

Confirmed measles cases linked to overseas travel have recently been identified in Aotearoa.

Low immunity, and the close contact nature of education settings, means 1 infected person could expose and spread measles to many others.

To be immune, you must have had measles before or have had two doses of a measles vaccine after the age of 12 months.

Te Whatu Ora | Health New Zealand is encouraging school kaimahi to look for the signs and symptoms of measles and to check their immunisation status:

Measles: Locations of interest in Aotearoa New Zealand – Health New Zealand

My Health Record – Health New Zealand

Measles immunity – Health New Zealand

Workforce and resourcing#

ESOL funding applications#

All applications for English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) funding for Terms 3 and 4 are due on 1 August. Submit your application, in Excel format, via the SDP.

Secure data portal (SDP) – Applications and online systems

Schools that received ESOL funding in period 1 2025

Update the 2025 period 1 Terms 1 and 2 status list (available from the SDP) and add information for new students.

Schools that did not receive ESOL funding in period 1 2025

Use this ESOL funding application form to apply:

ESOL funding application form [XLSX, 75 KB]

Additional information about the ESOL funding application process can be found here:

English for Speakers of Other Languages funding

Banking staffing funding codes#

Check if the funding codes for your teachers are correct because this impacts your banking staffing. If you have teachers on study or sabbatical leave, the teachers covering them should be coded correctly.

To change funding codes, contact EdPay. For retrospective funding code changes for the past 2 pay periods, contact the resourcing team.

Email: [email protected]

Apply for a funding code adjustment or a banking staffing credit

Budget 2025 initiatives and teacher aide pay equity and collective agreement funding#

Budget 2025 includes an increase to the number of teacher aide hours available to support learners with additional needs.

Learning support teacher aide hours are provided to the school the learner attends through regional teams. These hours will continue at a funding rate of $23 per hour (GST inclusive).

Since the Teacher Aide Pay Equity Claim (TAPEC) was settled in 2020, we have provided additional funding (top-up) to cover the increased cost of settled pay equity and collective agreements. This supplements the contribution to make sure that pay equity and collective bargaining outcomes are covered. In the 2024 calendar year, the average top-up funding provided for teacher aides was $7.40 (GST exclusive) or $8.51 (GST inclusive) per hour.

Top-up funding will continue to be provided, including where additional hours have been allocated as part of Budget initiatives. The additional hours funded through Budget 2025 will begin in 2026.

For more information, visit:

Budget 2025

Pay equity and collective agreement settlement funding

Funding correction#

A funding error was identified in the Quarter 3 instalment paid on 1 July for pay equity and collective agreement funding. Correction to this funding has now been made.

A letter is available for all schools and kura on the SDP outlining details of the correction. The impact of this error will be outlined in the letter.

Schools and kura receiving correction funding were notified of payment via Pourato under the payment type ‘non-teach support PE and CA funding’.

We encourage downloading and retaining a copy of your funding letter from the SDP, as this letter will only be available for a 6-month period.

More information about pay equity settlements and collective agreements can be found bellow.

Pay equity and collective agreement settlement funding

Any pātai, email the operational support team.

Email: [email protected]

Webinar – 2026 school onsite training programme applications#

The application process for the 2026 school onsite training programme (SOTP) funded places is live.

This year we require initial teacher education (ITE) providers to act as lead applicants so that they lead the submission of application forms on behalf of their host schools. The first step of the application process involves inviting ITE providers to make their course submission to us.

To learn more about the new process and requirements, we’d like to encourage those interested to attend the webinar:

Wednesday 30 July, 4–5pm – Microsoft Teams

Governance, planning and infrastructure#

New Zealand School Property Agency announced#

On 18 July 2025, the Government announced that it will establish a new Crown agent to manage school property.

The New Zealand School Property Agency (NZSPA) is expected to be established in 2026. It will be responsible for planning, building, and maintaining school property, with a focus on delivering cost-effective and timely solutions.

Once the Crown agent is established, decisions on education policy, network and roll growth, including which schools will receive additional teaching spaces, will remain with us.

This announcement does not affect existing school property plans or projects. Our focus remains on delivering warm, safe and dry classrooms.

For now, there are no immediate changes, and we will update you as more information is available.

Read more about the agency and the announcement.

New Crown agency to manage school property

New school property agency to be established – Beehive

Contract for school board support awarded#

Te Whakarōputanga Kaitiaki Kura o Aotearoa | New Zealand School Boards Association (NZSBA) has been reappointed as our provider of school board governance and employment support services. Their new contract commenced 1 July 2025 and is in place until December 2028.

Schools and their boards should note:

• NZSBA will continue to provide governance and employment support services to school boards. You do not need to do anything differently.
• There will be no change to how boards contact NZSBA or access services and resources. All contact details remain unchanged.
• Any new offerings will be communicated to school boards and principals as they become available.

Contract for school board support awarded

Major vocational education reform#

On 14 July, the Government announced the establishment of 10 regional polytechnics as independent institutions from 1 January 2026, subject to legislation passing. This change occurs alongside an earlier announcement about the 8 new industry skills boards also to be established on 1 January 2026 and announced on 2 July 2026.

Regional governance will return to ten polytechnics – Beehive

New Industry Skills Boards will drive better training – Beehive

You are encouraged to connect with local polytechnics during this transition to support students’ study pathways.

You can read more about these changes.

Redesign of Vocational Education and Training System

Equitable digital access device decommission#

The equitable digital access (EDA) programme, officially ended on 30 June and we are decommissioning the management of all EDA devices and Ministry-created Microsoft accounts on 1 September 2025. From this date, devices will automatically reset and device accounts will be deleted.

If you are using EDA devices, you will need to action the following before 1 September:

• create personal accounts (or use a school account) and back up any files
• optional – you can reset devices to factory settings to uninstall device management (although this will happen automatically on 1 September).

Users will be advised that if their EDA devices are no longer required, they should return them to a school.

Read more information on how to reset your device, FAQs and more.

Equitable Digital Access (EDA) Device Decommission – Learning from home