Kia ora koutou,
Welcome to the first edition of Sharing the Mahi for 2024.
We have spent some time early this year to review and refresh our own evaluation practice, making sure our collective work is sharply focused on lifting education outcomes for all learners, so every student has the best opportunity to achieve their highest potential. To do this, we need to clearly identify what matters most for children and young people at school.
The new year has brought some new regulations for schools across the country; the Government’s policy for one hour a day of reading, writing and maths for children in years 0 to 8, as well as the prohibition on student mobile phone use during the school day.
We will be reviewing and evaluating both of these regulations as part of our regular review process, and in this newsletter, we explain more about how we will do this with you.
We’ve also refreshed the School Improvement Framework and refined our reporting. There’s more on this in this newsletter.
We look forward to engaging with schools across the motu throughout 2024. As always, if you have any questions about our reviews, please contact your ERO evaluation partner.
In this newsletter:
- One hour a day of reading, writing and maths
- New student mobile phone rules
- How ERO will work with you
- The refreshed SIF
- Refining our reporting
- Our review process
- ERO's latest research
One hour a day of reading, writing and maths
From Term 1 2024, your school board will attest to your compliance with the Government’s One Hour a Day of Reading, Writing and Maths policy through our Board Assurance Statement (BAS) as part of our regular review process (in schools with students in years 0 to 8).
Our BAS and associated guidance has been updated to reflect the new regulations. Your evaluation partner will discuss the changes to the BAS with you when they are working with your school.
Specialist schools have until Term 1 2025 to implement the One Hour a Day policy but are encouraged to start as soon as possible.
For more information:
Educators using Te Marautanga o Aotearoa can find more details at Pānui me te Tuhituhi me te mahi Pāngarau.
Educators using The New Zealand Curriculum can find more details at One hour a day.
Parents, caregivers, and whānau can find more information at One hour a day information for whānau.
New student mobile phone rules
From Term 2 2024, school boards are required to attest to their compliance with the mobile phone rules as part of the Board Assurance Statement during our regular review process.
For more information:
Phones away for the day – Ministry of Education
How ERO will work with you
To support the implementation of these new policies, ERO will work with schools and kura in three ways:
Readiness: We are gathering early insights into schools' and kura readiness to implement the policies. Thank you to those who have already shared your insights.
We will use this information to gain emerging insights into how the implementation is going nationally. It will also give us an idea of where further support might be needed for schools and kura.
Compliance: We will be checking and verifying compliance in schools and kura through our regular compliance review process.
Effectiveness: Later in the year, we will gather insights into how well these policies have been implemented and their impact on learner outcomes.
As part of our regular Te Ara Huarau evaluations, we will be asking you what you know about the quality of teaching and learning in your classrooms, and how these new policies are supporting learners.
The refreshed SIF
Schools have been using our School Improvement Framework (the SIF) since 2022. The SIF is a useful self-evaluation tool that you can use to understand more about your own learners, what’s working well and what can be improved. The SIF also supports you in your strategic planning.
The SIF draws on our School Evaluation Indicators and provides you with a best practice framework for shared understandings of key conditions to drive improved education outcomes for all learners.
The SIF has been refreshed, placing more emphasis on areas that have the greatest impact on learner outcomes; school leadership, teaching and learning, and curriculum.
The SIF specifically indicates where domains align to obligations under Te Tiriti o Waitangi, the Education and Training Act, NELP, National Administration Guidelines, and/or Teaching Council of Aotearoa New Zealand Code, Standards and Leadership Frameworks.
Sector feedback has helped to shape the refreshed SIF.
Your ERO evaluation partner will discuss the SIF with you, how you will use it to self-review, and how ERO and your school will use it together to gain insights into what is working well and what are the key priorities to improve learner success.
You can find the refreshed SIF on our website.
Refining our reporting
We want to ensure that our reports are useful for you and your school community to understand what areas should be focused on to drive improved education outcomes.
We have refined our school evaluation reports so that they’re clearer and easier to understand. Reports will include evaluative judgements against the key areas aligned to the SIF that make the greatest difference for learners.
What remains the same:
The school evaluation report will still be written after the Hauhake phase of Te Ara Huarau cycle, and schools can expect a report approximately every three years.
Testing:
We are currently seeking feedback on our reports with a small group of schools and will begin using the new reports with all schools soon.
Profile Reports:
If your school currently has a profile report in progress, your evaluation partner will be in touch to discuss next steps.
Our review process
Our Te Ara Huarau process is geared towards partnership and mahi tahi, to support your school’s strategic improvement cycle.
Since transitioning schools to Te Ara Huarau three years ago, you have provided us with valuable feedback on our review approach and let us know what information you require.
When you work with your evaluation partner, they will share with you what you can expect at each stage of an evaluation, how long our team would typically spend working with your school, and what our role and your role is along the way.
Your evaluation partner can answer any questions you may have about each phase of Te Ara Huarau.
ERO's latest research
Making it count
The first few years of primary school are when crucial maths learning happens. Years 1-3 are when students develop the foundational maths skills and understandings that they need for future success. ERO looked at good practice in the teaching of maths in Years 1-3. We used robust evidence to clarify ‘what good looks like’ for maths teaching in the early years of school, and how teachers can implement these practices in their classrooms.
Read more about our new research into maths learning.
Ringa Rehe
The role of kaiāwhina in Kaupapa Māori is often likened to that of a teacher aide. However, in kaupapa Māori education the role of kaiāwhina is considerably different. This research was commissioned by The New Zealand Education Institute Te Riu Roa (NZEI TRR), with support of The Ministry of Education (The Ministry).
Together, NZEI TRR and The Ministry wanted to better understand the role of kaiāwhina in kaupapa Māori settings. This Ringa Rehe report seeks to illuminate the experiences of kaiāwhina in kaupapa Māori education, and their impact on tamariki and the kura as a whole.