Kia ora Vogeltown whānau,
This newsletter provides important updates on:
- Government changes to education
- Professional development
- Classroom release
- Changes to reporting
- Managing teacher workload
Governmental Changes to Education
The New Zealand Curriculum has been refreshed for 2025, emphasising a structured, knowledge-rich approach. Here are the key changes:
Clearer Curriculum Expectations: Defines what students must understand, know, and do at each year level (Years 0-13) to ensure consistency across schools.
Evidence-Based Teaching Practices: Integrates proven teaching methods to enhance learning quality.
Phases of Learning:
These replace curriculum levels.
- Phase 1 (Years 0-3): Focus on foundational literacy and maths
- Phase 2 (Years 4-6): Expanding knowledge and collaboration.
- Phase 3 (Years 7-8): Understanding the wider world and advocacy.
- Phase 4 (Years 9-10): Developing purpose, empathy, and resilience.
- Phase 5 (Years 11-13): Preparing for future pathways.
Stronger Literacy & Numeracy Focus: Schools must implement structured approaches to literacy and numeracy.
Professional Development
Teachers are undertaking significant learning, including:
- New English and Maths Curriculum
- New assessment and reporting requirements
To support this, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has allocated Teacher Only Days. While we aim to minimise disruptions, some closures are necessary - our first one is this term on Friday 30th May.
We appreciate your support as we balance teacher development with maintaining school operations.
Classroom Release and Relievers
In 2025, teachers are entitled to increased Classroom Release time (5-7 days per term) for planning, assessment, and professional learning. While this is an important part of supporting quality teaching and learning, it means students will see more release teachers in their classrooms. To provide consistency, we try to align release teachers with classes and areas of the school as much as possible.
Changes to Reporting
Due to the curriculum shift from levels to phases and changes around assessment, reporting to parents and whānau will look different and may also change between the middle and the end of the year as we gain more experience and understanding.
Written reports will be sent home at the end of Terms 2 and 4, focusing on achievements and aligning progress with the new phases of learning.
Managing teacher workload
This year brings significant change, and as principal, I am committed to ensuring our teachers feel supported. Our school prioritises staff well-being, and therefore we are taking a measured approach to implementing these changes.
We appreciate your trust, patience and support as we navigate this transition. Our children are in great hands as our team implements these changes.
Hei konā mai (goodbye for now).
