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Starting school is a major childhood event. It can be an exciting time for children and their families. But it is a big change, and so it can also be an uncertain time. A good start at school sets children up to succeed at school. We looked to see how changing to cohort entry impacts on children, their peers, and whānau, as well as their schools and early childhood education services.

ERO looked at how new principals are doing in their first five years in the role. We found that new principals are not always well prepared, and many are not confident about their new range of responsibilities. School boards can make a big difference in setting new principals up for success.

Learning science in the primary school years helps children become better problem solvers and critical thinkers. This short guide aims to help parents and whānau of children in primary school to understand why science matters for this age group, know what to expect for science teaching and learning for their child, and think about how they can support their child’s science learning journey.

This short report, aimed at secondary school leaders, sets out how prepared students and schools felt ahead of the Covid-19 lockdown in August and provides recommendations for how schools can support their students as they return to the classroom. 

This short report, aimed at primary school leaders, sets out how prepared students and schools felt ahead of the Covid-19 lockdown in August and provides recommendations for how schools can support their students as they return to the classroom. 

ERO looked at how well the education system is supporting disabled learners in schools. This guide provides practical advice and real-life examples of good practice for teachers to support the inclusion and learning success of disabled learners at your school.

Receiving a quality education, from early childhood education (ECE) through to secondary school, positively affects how well all children and young people do at school and in life – from academic achievement and earning potential to health and wellbeing. Education is even more critical for disabled learners. When disabled learners receive a quality, inclusive education they are more likely to achieve better outcomes, to complete secondary schooling and to go on to further study and employment.

This guide draws on findings from ERO’s report Long Covid: Ongoing impacts of Covid-19 on schools and learning, providing what we learned from surveying principals, teachers, and learners in 2023.

Since 2020, the Covid-19 pandemic has caused significant disruption to schools, their staff, learners, and whānau. Three years on from the start of the pandemic, this report has found significant and concerning ongoing impacts on learners’ progress, particularly for learners in poorer communities, and on teachers and principals.

ERO looked at how education is meeting the needs of learners from ethnic communities and how schools can embrace increasing ethnic diversity. In this guide we share findings from our research, as well some practical things that school leaders and teachers can do to support better inclusion of learners from ethnic communities.

Going to school is critical for our children’s futures. The evidence is clear that every day of school matters – missing school leads to lower achievement. Aotearoa New Zealand has lower attendance than other countries and, alarmingly, attendance is falling. This short summary looks at some of the reasons why.

This report discusses the quality of education at the nine Child Youth and Family (CYF) residential schools. These schools provide education for the young people in New Zealand's Youth Justice and Care and Protection services.The Education Review Office found that the quality of education across most of the CYF schools was not of a consistently high standard. Most of these schools need to make improvements in the delivery of the curriculum, the planning and programme design for individual students, and the processes to transition students to further education, training or employment.

ERO evaluated the quality of education at the Child Youth and Family (CYF) residential schools. CYF residential schools provide education for young people in Youth Justice and Care and Protection services.