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Scoop
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
What You Need To Know About Recent Changes To Schools And Education
Explainer – It's been a busy year so far for education policy, with a series of announcements by the government and curriculum changes. Here's the biggest changes so far. RNZ Online Explainer – It's been a year full of changes in the educational system, with announcements and new initiatives coming nearly every week from the coalition government. What has been announced and what's coming up soon? Here is a roundup of just some of the major announcements we've seen in 2025 that will affect students and educators: New curriculum changes kick off The new maths curriculum and English curriculum for primary school-aged students began this year. It's all part of the first steps in the government's long-term push for what it's calling a 'knowledge-rich' curriculum. The government also previously announced moves towards teaching structured literacy skills to students. The drafts of the secondary English and maths curriculums are also out for feedback. Open plan classrooms on the way out The government announced it would no longer build open-plan classrooms, moving away from the policy which Education Minister Erica Stanford called too noisy and distracting for children. While there has been negative feedback from schools on open-plan learning, Stanford said, surveys by the Council for Educational Research showed most teachers who worked in the structures liked them and believed their students benefited from learning in that kind of environment. New classrooms will be built using standard designs that prioritise flexibility, like glass sliding doors that can open a class when it is time to collaborate and close it for focused learning. New school attendance service announced The government is also allocating $140 million to tackle truancy with a new school attendance service. The funding boost is aimed at supporting more schools and reaching double the number of students over the next four years, according to Associate Education Minister David Seymour. He said the new attendance service would address chronic absence and focus on keeping students in school when they return. Transitioning to the new attendance service would start at the end of the year and be fully in place from early 2026. The return of charter schools Charter schools have returned to New Zealand this year under the coalition government. They were previously shut down by former Education Minister Chris Hipkins in 2018. Seven of the publicly-funded, private schools opened in Term 1. The Charter School Agency said the charter school authorisation board was considering 52 applications from organisations wanting to set up new charter schools next year, as well as two applications from state or state integrated schools wanting to convert. New school property entity set up A new school property entity is being set up to manage building, maintaining, and administering the school property portfolio. Stanford said the new Crown agent will sit separate from the Ministry of Education, which will keep responsibility for education policy and network decisions. Announcing the launch of the New Zealand School Property Agency, Stanford said schools had been kept waiting for classrooms and refurbishments they badly needed. A new 600-student primary school was also announced for Massey in Auckland. Funding for more Māori immersion school classrooms The government announced $28 million will be spent on building more 'safe, warm and dry classrooms' for tamariki in Māori full immersion schools. Twenty new classrooms will be built across four providers, and work will begin on the first stage of a new school north of Auckland. The new development, for Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngāringaomatariki in Kaiwaka, will eventually have 19 classrooms. Kāhui Ako education scheme ends It was announced in this year's budget that the Kāhui Ako – Communities of Learning – scheme was to be disestablished. The scheme grouped schools together to work on common problems with extra pay for one principal to oversee each group and for select teachers to share good practice between and within schools. A report said there were 220 Kāhui Ako, involving 1958 schools and 1506 early learning centres, and more than 4000 teachers received extra pay for Kāhui Ako roles. Changes to international student work rights From November, eligible student-visa holders will be able to work more hours a week, from 20 to 25 hours, and work rights will be extended to all tertiary students in approved exchange programmes. The government will also consider introducing a short-duration work visa of up to six months to allow international graduates who do not qualify for post-study work rights time to seek jobs under the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) pathway. It would also look at updates to make it easier for students to apply for multi-year visas. The goal was to boost tertiary education's annual economic contribution to $7.2 billion, by lifting enrolments from 83,700 in 2024 to 119,000 in 2034. May's budget sees major changes There were several big spending announcements in this year's budget. Stanford said new education initiatives in the Budget totalled $2.5 billion over four years, though about $614m of that total was reprioritised from 'underperforming' initiatives. The government's total spend on early childhood and school education would grow by roughly $400m to $19.85b in 2025-26, but drop to $19b and $18.9b in subsequent years. There was also a $720m increase for learning support. The increase included $266m to extend the early intervention service from early childhood through to the end of Year 1 of primary school, including employing 560 more early intervention teachers and specialists and helping an additional 4000 children. It also included $192m over three years to provide learning support coordinators in 1250 more primary schools, $122m to meet increased demand for the Ongoing Resourcing Scheme for students with the highest needs, and $90m to build 25 new satellite classrooms for specialist schools. Stanford said the government was building up to adding 2 million extra teacher aide hours by 2028. The other big education initiative in the Budget was $298m for curriculum, nearly half of it targeted to maths and literacy, and about $76m for a new standardised reading, writing and maths test for schools.
Scoop
22-07-2025
- Politics
- Scoop
What You Need To Know About Recent Changes To Schools And Education
Explainer - It's been a year full of changes in the educational system, with announcements and new initiatives coming nearly every week from the coalition government. What has been announced and what's coming up soon? Here is a roundup of just some of the major announcements we've seen in 2025 that will affect students and educators: New curriculum changes kick off The new maths curriculum and English curriculum for primary school-aged students began this year. It's all part of the first steps in the government's long-term push for what it's calling a "knowledge-rich" curriculum. The government also previously announced moves towards teaching structured literacy skills to students. The drafts of the secondary English and maths curriculums are also out for feedback. Open plan classrooms on the way out The government announced it would no longer build open-plan classrooms, moving away from the policy which Education Minister Erica Stanford called too noisy and distracting for children. While there has been negative feedback from schools on open-plan learning, Stanford said, surveys by the Council for Educational Research showed most teachers who worked in the structures liked them and believed their students benefited from learning in that kind of environment. New classrooms will be built using standard designs that prioritise flexibility, like glass sliding doors that can open a class when it is time to collaborate and close it for focused learning. New school attendance service announced The government is also allocating $140 million to tackle truancy with a new school attendance service. The funding boost is aimed at supporting more schools and reaching double the number of students over the next four years, according to Associate Education Minister David Seymour. He said the new attendance service would address chronic absence and focus on keeping students in school when they return. Transitioning to the new attendance service would start at the end of the year and be fully in place from early 2026. The return of charter schools Charter schools have returned to New Zealand this year under the coalition government. They were previously shut down by former Education Minister Chris Hipkins in 2018. Seven of the publicly-funded, private schools opened in Term 1. The Charter School Agency said the charter school authorisation board was considering 52 applications from organisations wanting to set up new charter schools next year, as well as two applications from state or state integrated schools wanting to convert. New school property entity set up A new school property entity is being set up to manage building, maintaining, and administering the school property portfolio. Stanford said the new Crown agent will sit separate from the Ministry of Education, which will keep responsibility for education policy and network decisions. Announcing the launch of the New Zealand School Property Agency, Stanford said schools had been kept waiting for classrooms and refurbishments they badly needed. A new 600-student primary school was also announced for Massey in Auckland. Funding for more Māori immersion school classrooms The government announced $28 million will be spent on building more "safe, warm and dry classrooms" for tamariki in Māori full immersion schools. Twenty new classrooms will be built across four providers, and work will begin on the first stage of a new school north of Auckland. The new development, for Te Kura Kaupapa Māori o Ngāringaomatariki in Kaiwaka, will eventually have 19 classrooms. Kāhui Ako education scheme ends It was announced in this year's budget that the Kāhui Ako - Communities of Learning - scheme was to be disestablished. The scheme grouped schools together to work on common problems with extra pay for one principal to oversee each group and for select teachers to share good practice between and within schools. A report said there were 220 Kāhui Ako, involving 1958 schools and 1506 early learning centres, and more than 4000 teachers received extra pay for Kāhui Ako roles. Changes to international student work rights From November, eligible student-visa holders will be able to work more hours a week, from 20 to 25 hours, and work rights will be extended to all tertiary students in approved exchange programmes. The government will also consider introducing a short-duration work visa of up to six months to allow international graduates who do not qualify for post-study work rights time to seek jobs under the Accredited Employer Work Visa (AEWV) pathway. It would also look at updates to make it easier for students to apply for multi-year visas. The goal was to boost tertiary education's annual economic contribution to $7.2 billion, by lifting enrolments from 83,700 in 2024 to 119,000 in 2034. May's budget sees major changes There were several big spending announcements in this year's budget. Stanford said new education initiatives in the Budget totalled $2.5 billion over four years, though about $614m of that total was reprioritised from "underperforming" initiatives. The government's total spend on early childhood and school education would grow by roughly $400m to $19.85b in 2025-26, but drop to $19b and $18.9b in subsequent years. There was also a $720m increase for learning support. The increase included $266m to extend the early intervention service from early childhood through to the end of Year 1 of primary school, including employing 560 more early intervention teachers and specialists and helping an additional 4000 children. It also included $192m over three years to provide learning support coordinators in 1250 more primary schools, $122m to meet increased demand for the Ongoing Resourcing Scheme for students with the highest needs, and $90m to build 25 new satellite classrooms for specialist schools. Stanford said the government was building up to adding 2 million extra teacher aide hours by 2028. The other big education initiative in the Budget was $298m for curriculum, nearly half of it targeted to maths and literacy, and about $76m for a new standardised reading, writing and maths test for schools.
NZ Herald
15-07-2025
- General
- NZ Herald
Charter schools told to keep enrolment numbers secret
'The first charter schools have had less than one year to grow and reach their establishment roll by the fifth term of their operation.' However, Tipene, a Māori boarding school south of Auckland, told RNZ it had 44 boys, while the Auckland French International School said it would start the third term with 25 pupils. One of Tipene's founders, Nathan Durie, said enrolments were higher than originally planned and it was clear the school was offering a type of education Māori wanted for their children. The Charter School Agency says it is not appropriate to share information about the rolls of the publicly funded private schools (file photo). Photo / Marika Khabazi, RNZ 'Kaupapa Māori, reo Māori are very sought after now in terms of the types of education that Māori people are looking for but they also want the opportunity for these kids to be... global citizens. And then working in particular special character aspects,' he said. Durie said the charter system gave the school more flexibility in its daily schedule. 'We don't deliver between nine and three. Our programme starts early, finishes late. They have breaks during the day, they're out on the farm here, they're out exercising, they're doing manual tasks,' he said. He said making boys sit in classrooms for five periods had never worked. Durie said the school was hoping to retain its current students and enrol a similar number of new students next year, taking its roll to more than 80. The French International School said it had students in Years 0-3 and expected to finish the year with about 40 students. 'The first two terms of the year have been very positive, with some students who did not speak a word of French in February now beginning to understand, write, and speak the language,' the director of the school's board Yves-Louis Dorsemaine said. He said the school was building three more classrooms because it had more than 60 confirmed enrolments for next year. North West College founder Sherida Penman Walters would not disclose this year's enrolments, but said it was 'well on track to achieving what we wanted to achieve'. She said next year's were looking good. 'We are taking enrolments for next year... we have a lot of interest in our school. In fact our Year 9s for next year is probably very close to our declared capacity of 40 students,' she said. Penman Walters said the school's model of academic subjects in the morning and arts in the afternoon is attractive to many families. The Charter School Agency said the charter school authorisation board was considering 52 applications from organisations wanting to set up new charter schools next year, as well as two applications from state or state integrated schools wanting to convert. It said state and state integrated schools wanting to convert later next year should lodge an expression of interest by July 16. - RNZ
RNZ News
15-07-2025
- General
- RNZ News
Charter schools told to keep enrolment numbers secret
(File photo) Photo: RNZ / Marika Khabazi The seven charter schools set up at the start of the year have been told to keep their enrolments secret, by The Charter School Agency. The organisation, which manages charter school contracts and funding, told RNZ it was not appropriate to share information about the rolls of the publicly funded private schools. "The Charter School Agency does not intend to release the numbers of students currently enrolled at each individual school during the crucial establishment phase as this could undermine their commercial position and their efforts to build their roll and deliver quality education," it said. "All schools need time to establish. Most state schools take around three years. The first charter schools have had less than one year to grow and reach their establishment roll by the fifth term of their operation." However, Tipene, a Māori boarding school south of Auckland, told RNZ it had 44 boys, while the Auckland French International School said it would start the third term with 25 pupils. One of Tipene's founders, Nathan Durie, said enrolments were higher than originally planned and it was clear the school was offering a type of education Māori wanted for their children. "Kaupapa Māori, reo Māori are very sought after now in terms of the types of education that Māori people are looking for but they also want the opportunity for these kids to be... global citizens. And then working in particular special character aspects," he said. Durie said the charter system gave the school more flexibility in its daily schedule. "We don't deliver between nine and three. Our programme starts early, finishes late. They have breaks during the day, they're out on the farm here, they're out exercising, they're doing manual tasks," he said. He said making boys sit in classrooms for five periods had never worked. Durie said the school was hoping to retain its current students and enrol a similar number of new students next year, taking its roll to more than 80. The French International School said it had students in Years 0-3 and expected to finish the year with about 40 students. "The first two terms of the year have been very positive, with some students who did not speak a word of French in February now beginning to understand, write, and speak the language," the director of the school's board Yves-Louis Dorsemaine said. He said the school was building three more classrooms because it had more than 60 confirmed enrolments for next year. North West College founder Sherida Penman Walters would not disclose this year's enrolments, but said it was "well on track to achieving what we wanted to achieve". She said next year's were looking good. "We are taking enrolments for next year... we have a lot of interest in our school. In fact our Year 9s for next year is probably very close to our declared capacity of 40 students," she said. Penman Walters said the school's model of academic subjects in the morning and arts in the afternoon is attractive to many families. The Charter School Agency said the charter school authorisation board was considering 52 applications from organisations wanting to set up new charter schools next year, as well as two applications from state or state integrated schools wanting to convert. It said state and state integrated schools wanting to convert later next year should lodge an expression of interest by 16 July. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
