Education and Training Act 2020: Improving schools' planning and reporting
Legislation for improving schools' planning and reporting became law on 1 January 2023. We are developing regulations and supports for schools to be available by mid-2023 with a proposed first strategic plans being required by 1 January 2024.
Key changes
- School charters will be replaced by three-year strategic plans and an annual implementation plan.
- Boards must consult their communities when they create their strategic plans.
- National Education Goals (NEGs) and National Administrative Guidelines (NAGs) will cease to have effect. The requirements within them will mostly be shifted to other legislation.
- Boards must publish all planning and reporting documents on an internet site, so parents, whānau and communities have easy access to the information.
Boards will still be required to produce an annual report, including a statement of variance.
Requirements for 2023
2023 is a transition year for planning and reporting - moving from the annually updated charter to a new 3-year strategic plan.
As part of this transition, your charter that was in place for 2022 can remain in place in 2023. Your board will need to:
- Update the annually updated sections of your most recent charter for 2023 by 31 March 2023.
- Publish the updated charter on your school's website and submit it to the Ministry of Education.
- Develop an annual report (including a statement of variance against the goals set in your 2022 charter) and submit this to the Ministry by 31 May 2023.
Further information about the planning and reporting requirements for 2023 is available from here: Schools' planning and reporting.
Please contact your local Ministry of Education office if you need support in developing any of the planning and reporting documents for 2023: Local Ministry Offices.
Why do we need to change how schools plan and report?
The changes to schools’ planning and reporting will:
- Focus schools on continuously improving their planning and reporting practices with a focus on delivering equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners.
- Support learners, whānau and communities to be involved in their school’s planning process.
- Give schools flexibility to reflect their local contexts in their planning and reporting.
- Supports whānau and communities to hold their schools accountable for learner outcomes.
Schools' planning and reporting must suit the needs of school communities
Each board will need an ongoing process for working with its community to:
- Reflect on how well it is meeting the primary objectives for boards in section 127 of the Education and Training Act 2020.
- Decide what strategies, goals and priorities will be used for improving ways the school or kura can better meet those objectives for all students.
- Decide how to turn the board’s goals and priorities into practical actions.
- Effectively feedback on how the school has performed against its’ plans.
Engagement and consultation
Our engagement and consultation will occur across 2022 and 2023.
Consultation on the draft Regulations and support material is on now
The consultation on the draft Regulations and support material will run from 13 March to 6 April 2023.
We are also holding online workshops from 14 – 16 March for schools and 21 – 22 March for whānau and communities. If you would like to register for these workshops, please email planning.together@education.govt.nz.
Alternatively, you can have your say online by reading the material below and providing feedback through the Ministry’s Kōrero Mātauranga's Planning and Reporting(external link) page.
- Draft Regulations - these provide the detailed requirements for schools’ planning and reporting documents including the strategic plan, annual implementation plan, and annual report including the statement of variance. Download and read a draft of the Education (Schools Planning and Reporting) Regulations 2023:
- A Consultation Guide - this sets out the content of the Regulations, the reasons for the change, and how people can make a submission.
- Consultation guide (English)(external link) [DOCX, 61 KB]
- Consultation guide (te reo Māori)(external link) [DOCX, 54 KB]
- Consultation guide (Samoan)(external link) [DOCX, 54 KB]
- Consultation guide (Tongan)(external link) [DOCX, 55 KB]
- Consultation guide (Simplified Chinese)(external link) [DOCX, 55 KB]
- Draft support toolkit for English Medium boards and principals(external link) [PDF, 15MB] - this will assist with school planning and reporting processes. It will be further developed based on what we hear from this engagement.
- Draft brochure for whānau and communities(external link) [PDF, 303KB] - this will explain what planning and reporting is, why it is important and how they can get involved with their school’s planning process.
For supports for Kaupapa Māori settings and other education providers on our Māori medium directory we will be directly in touch.
Supporting schools and communities to create their plans
When the regulations and support material is published in mid-2023, we will work with schools and their communities to provide ongoing support to create their school plans and reports.
What we heard from our 2022 engagements
Those who responded to the surveys from May-June 2022 told us that schools' planning and reporting should:
- Show how schools have given effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi as linked to the achievement of Māori students.
- Support better and ongoing communication and relations between schools, whānau and communities including use of plain language in all communications and use of multiple platforms such as face-to-face and online meetings, social media, school websites, emails, text, and phone calls; feedback must be regular and on-going.
- Reflect the local character of whānau and the community, no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach.
- Place students at the centre and apply a holistic approach to ākonga needs with information on student achievement, school attendance data, measures of learner safety, health, wellbeing, and how equity and diversity are being addressed; student voices should also be gathered in safe and confidential ways.
- Support regular engagement as suggested by some submitters so that information is provided on: priorities, goals, and obstacles; financial spending and expectations; property and asset management; environment sustainability plans; numeracy and literacy strategies; and progress on achieving Kāhui Ako goals.
Survey respondents also commented on the proposed regulations. We heard:
- Most respondents felt that regulations should outline the content of strategic and annual plans but provide enough flexibility for schools to reflect their local priorities.
- Schools felt that they should have the ability to decide how they respond to the needs of learners with differing needs as they are best placed to identify and understand their concerns.
- Schools did not want to use standardised measures to chart progress against their objectives as it may fail to take into consideration unforeseen changes and circumstances.
- Some respondents wanted regulations to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and te ao Māori and demonstrate this commitment through their curriculum and engagement with Māori students and local mana whenua.
- Some boards and principals felt that the start date of the new planning and reporting framework was unsuitable as it does not take into consideration the existing workload of principals, and the unique circumstances of some schools.
We also heard from rangatahi (young people) that:
- They want to have a say in their schools’ planning and reporting as they are directly affected.
- They want to have a say in what they learn about and how to make their school/kura a safer and more enjoyable space.
- They want more online and in-classroom options to be available for engaging with their schools’ planning and reporting.
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