18/06/2026
18 June 2026
Kia ora koutou te whānau,
On behalf of Awapuni School, I want to provide some clarity on the major changes currently occurring in New Zealand education. As you may know, the Ministry of Education Te Tāhuhu o Te Mātauranga recently introduced refreshed national curriculums for English/Te Reo Rangatira and Mathematics & Statistics/Pāngarau.
Alongside these significant changes, completely new assessment frameworks and reporting progressions are being developed to align with these updated expectations across Aotearoa.
Navigating this transition has presented immense challenges for schools nationwide, as we simultaneously adapt to new documents, timelines, and tracking structures. We want to share exactly where Awapuni School sits and how we are managing these updates to best support your child.
At the start of this year, the refreshed frameworks for English/Te Reo Rangatira and Mathematics & Statistics/Pāngarau were introduced. Our teaching team has been working hard to unpack these documents and weave them directly into our classroom programmes to ensure learning remains engaging and robust.
The Ministry has also introduced a new assessment system called the SMART Tool. Because it was released to schools this term, the Ministry has allowed a transition period for 2026. Awapuni School is therefore using our established, e-asTTle, Progressive Achievement Tests (PAT’s), PMAT and DIBELS formats to guide us in assessing student progress. Behind the scenes, our kaiako and tamariki will be trialing the SMART Tool later this year to ensure a smooth, confident transition towards the end of year and for a thorough roll out in 2027.
To align with new national standards, your child’s mid-year report will look quite different. We are moving to five national progress descriptors: Emerging, Developing, Consolidating, Proficient, and Exceeding. Because these descriptors measure where a child needs to be by the end of the school year, a mid-year report may look lower than what you might normally expect. This is simply because they are only halfway through the year’s work and our ‘goal posts keep shifting’.
Please be assured that this new description level is not a reflection of your child’s effort or ability, nor is it a reflection of the competency of our kaiako. Our teachers will continue to use their professional judgement, daily observations, and classroom evidence to understand and support each child. They will be able to provide information on your child’s progress against the new curriculum.
We anticipate and feel confident that by Term 4, we will have a much clearer picture of how student learning aligns with the refreshed national reporting progressions and curriculum, and this clarity will grow even further into 2027.
We appreciate your patience, trust, and partnership as we navigate this transition together. We look forward to discussing your child’s learning journey during our upcoming whānau learning conversations.
He waka eke noa, we are in this together.
Be well,
Kahu Walker
Principal/Tumuaki
