Parents To Know More About Child's School Progress
Parents will know more about how their children are doing at school with the confirmation of a new assessment tool in Years 3-10 classrooms from 2026, the latest part of the Government's plan to teach the basics brilliantly.
Janison Solution Pty Ltd will deliver the Student, Monitoring, Assessment and Report Tool (SMART) which will enable twice-yearly assessment of reading, writing and maths in schools nationwide.
'Last year the Auditor General found there was no consistent and comprehensive summary of student achievement and progress in New Zealand, and what information the Ministry of Education had was more detailed for some students than for others. This new tool changes that,' Education Minister Erica Stanford says.
'The check-ins will be low stakes measures of student progress and provide teachers with information on next steps in learning. They'll give parents confidence as to how their children are progressing so they can support learning at home. It will also provide crucial information to the Government to know where to invest more resource to help accelerate learning.'
SMART will be modern, flexible and curriculum aligned. It will also be bilingual to cover pānui, tuhituhi and pāngarau in kura. Years 9 and 10 have been included so parents and teachers know how ready students are for NCEA.
'This builds on our new suite of classroom tools that help parents and teachers understand more about student progress. The Phonics Checks undertaken at 20 weeks of schooling and repeated at 40 weeks identifies a child's reading ability early and wrap around support if needed. A similar approach is being taken with maths, from 2026 every child will have their maths ability checked in Year 2.
'I am committed to helping parents clearly understand their child's progress at school, because when parents are informed and involved, students are more likely to reach their full potential,' Ms Stanford says.
Note:
The Ministry of Education secured Janison Solution Pty Ltd as its successful Tool supplier following a competitive tender process (7 March – 8 April).
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
NZ Herald
7 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Watch: Fonterra boss points finger at international prices and supermarkets in butter meeting with Wills
When asked whether anything raised in the meeting would lead to lower prices, Willis said, 'All roads lead back to supermarket competition.' 'I continue to believe that is the most powerful lever the Government has on this issue. We will never be able to control global dairy prices, but we can influence the amount of competition in New Zealand's grocery sector,' Willis said. Willis said she had three main reflections on her conversation, the first was that 'the large proportion of the price of butter at the supermarket is dictated by global demand for butter'. 'There's a story to tell there: butter, which was once an unfashionable product, has gone into huge demand globally and that's reflected in the price people are willing to pay for it internationally,' she said. She had been told by Hurrell that when the global dairy price comes down, butter prices in New Zealand are expected to come down too. She added that high prices had a positive upside. 'It's worth noting that when the price is high that is hundreds of millions of dollars of export revenue coming into our country,' Willis said. The second issue raised was retailers. 'What Miles acknowledged, and what every New Zealander can see, is that supermarkets make choices about what margin they charge for butter. Now this is at the margin, it is a small proportion of the overall price that you pay, between 5% and 10% of the overall price shared between Fonterra and the retailer. 'What is clear is that different retailers make different decisions about what margins they charge,' Willis said. Willis, who once worked for Fonterra, revealed the fact she was meeting Hurrell last week. While the meeting was already scheduled, she let it be known she planned to raise the cost of butter with him. The third point raised by Hurrell was that the dairy giant was itself squeezing costs out of the system to ensure prices could be lower for shoppers. On Wednesday, she expressed regret that the significance of the meeting had spiralled out of proportion. 'I've been very surprised at the almost breathless excitement of the blow by blow of what happened in that meeting,' Willis said. It is not clear what, if anything, Fonterra could do to lower the cost of butter, given the main driver of the price Kiwis pay is the price our dairy fetches on the international commodities market. Willis praised the success of these exporters in Parliament on Wednesday, noting exporters, including dairy, are delivering an export-led economic recovery.
Scoop
7 hours ago
- Scoop
Affordable Homes To Address Te Kūiti Housing Shortage
Associate Minister of Housing Mā te hononga ka whai kaha. Te Kūiti whānau will enjoy greater access to modern affordable rental housing thanks to an Iwi-led partnership backed by the Government, Associate Housing Minister Tama Potaka says. The Government has approved in principle $17million into a partnership with Ngāti Maniapoto that will build 40 affordable rental homes with infrastructure in Te Kūiti, giving effect to the Crown's Treaty of Waitangi settlement commitment with the iwi. The Iwi will also contribute a significant portion to the development including $11million - representing 50 percent of the housing supply costs - and the land. 'This is an area of high housing need. With over a third of Te Kūiti residents renting, the limited availability of rental properties makes it difficult for whānau to secure stable housing,' Mr Potaka says. 'We're taking action to help address this shortage, which will also help local businesses because employers can struggle to attract and retain staff due to the lack of affordable housing. This mahi can mean a world of difference for whānau in small rural communities that need stable employment and incomes. 'The development, named Te Kirikiri, will feature affordable rentals of a mixed typology to meet the diverse needs of kaumātua and young whānau, consisting of 20 two-bedroom accessible homes for kaumātua, 13 three-bedroom homes and7 four-bedroom homes. 'Work is scheduled to begin next month and will take about two years to complete. 'Te Kirikiri will incorporate tikanga Māori and kaupapa-led design principles, and include the use of wetlands, native grasses, trees, and shrubs to create safe, communal spaces for whānau to enjoy. 'These affordable rentals will support Ngāti Maniapoto's ambition to place 200 whānau in safe, secure, high-quality and affordable homes by 2030.' The Government investment is part of a $200 million commitment announced earlier this year that will accelerate Māori housing projects across the country and enable the delivery of 400 affordable rentals in high-need areas by the end of June 2027.
NZ Herald
10 hours ago
- NZ Herald
Red Meat Sector Conference: Exports up $1.2b despite livestock supply concerns
The latest figures from Stats NZ showed the national sheep flock and deer herd were continuing to decline. Industry group Beef + Lamb New Zealand chairwoman Kate Acland told the event that carbon farming on productive land under the Emissions Trading Scheme was driving the significant reduction in livestock numbers. 'New Zealand currently faces over-capacity in the processing industry,' Acland said. 'We have more plants and more processing lines than we have livestock to sustain them efficiently, and it risks getting worse. 'The drop in stock numbers represents a lost opportunity. We owe it to farmers to face this challenge head-on.' Acland said greater collaboration among competing companies was a sensible strategic approach. 'If we want a future-fit industry, we need to be bold about optimising capacity and about how we collaborate,' she said. 'The fall in stock numbers is particularly frustrating because at a time when there's strong demand globally and high export prices, our processors have not been able to capitalise on this. 'Our exports would have been hundreds of millions [of dollars] higher if the supply had been there.' The conference came during a time when the country's only farmer-owned red meat co-operative, Alliance Group, was preparing a case on private investment for its farmer-shareholders to vote on in the coming months. Alliance announced the decision to shut its historic Smithfield meat plant in Timaru in October, amid dropping livestock numbers, particularly breeding ewes, with 600 people losing their jobs. Farmers were getting record prices for beef; however, they were driven in part by good demand amid tighter supplies. Agriculture Minister Todd McClay speaking at the Red Meat Sector Conference in Christchurch on Tuesday. Photo / RNZ Furthermore, New Zealand imported a near-record volume of beef from Australia in June, as processors worked to secure greater volumes to match meat-plant capacity. Meanwhile, Minister for Agriculture and Trade and Investment Todd McClay said the Government was working to 'get Wellington out of farming' to enable primary sector growth and bring value back to the farm gate. 'We want to reduce regulation and cost on-farm,' McClay said. 'I reckon it's a great time to be a farmer in New Zealand at the moment. 'As there are challenges fronting up around the world, geopolitics, tariffs, protectionism, and so on, the world still needs high-quality, safe food. 'And you don't get higher quality of safer food anywhere in the world [than here], with a wonderful carbon footprint story to tell.' McClay said the Government invested in the $8 million Taste Pure Nature campaign with industry to strengthen red meat's position in China, to drive better returns for farmers and processors. Stats NZ figures show sheep numbers dropped 3% in 2024 to 23.6 million sheep, while deer numbers dropped 4% between 2023 and 2024 to 709,000. However, the beef boom has kept stock numbers relatively stable, rising 1% in the last year to 3.7 million beef cattle. – RNZ
