Our curriculum has undergone a 'refresh' and this has led to some changes in expectations for year levels.

2025 is a transition year for our New Zealand curriculum, and this has some impact on our ability to align our reporting with the new curriculum at this time.  Put simply, the ‘goalposts’ have moved, and children are expected to know more about reading, writing and maths at an earlier age under the revised curriculum.  Some content in the new curricula is now pitched at a level around 18 months ahead of the old Mathematics and English curricula.  

This may mean that your child’s levels of achievement will appear to drop.  For example, up until now, using algorithms for multiplication and division was generally taught in Years 7&8,  but is now required to be taught at Years 3&4.

Our key message to parents and children is that there is no need to panic. We anticipate changes in typical student achievement levels. In the majority of cases, we are confident that this will be corrected as the content from the new curricula is taught.  If your child is concerned about changes in their achievement level, then let them know there is no need to worry. It does not mean that they are doing poorly.  There are just new things that they haven’t been taught yet, but they will.

When you view your child’s mid-year report, you will also notice some changes in the language related to the new curriculum.  One significant change is a move to ‘phases of learning’, as opposed to the previously used curriculum levels.  Comparing previous levels with the new phases of learning will be difficult due to the different expectations between the previous and current curricula.  As a result, your child has new progress and achievement graphs in Reading, Writing and Maths.

You will find your child’s old Maths progress and achievement graph on the “Maths Archive” page if you wish to view it. Your child’s report will show both the old and new graphs for English. This is because the revised English curriculum has only been updated so far for Years 0-6. Years 7&8 are still being taught and assessed against the old English Curriculum. Hero does not have the facility to archive English graphs for Years 0-6 and still show them for Years 7&8. Once the refreshed Year 7&8 curriculum has been launched, we will update Hero, and the old graph will be archived.

Teachers have only been using the new curricula since the beginning of 2025, which includes new teaching and assessment methods and content.  During the remainder of 2025 and into 2026, our staff will be undertaking a great deal of Professional Development related to the new curriculum and adjusting our Te Kura o te Tauawa Halswell Curriculum to meet the expectations of the refreshed curriculum.  In addition to this, the Ministry of Education has announced that they are developing a new assessment tool, which all schools will be asked to use in 2026 to measure student progress against the refreshed curriculum.

With the Mid-year learning conferences coming up, this presents the perfect opportunity to ask questions or discuss any concerns you may have with your child’s T group teacher.   We are happy to support whānau to understand what these changes mean for your children.  We also invite you to complete this form with any questions you may have about the curriculum.  These questions will assist us in putting together a FAQ. 

Another great way for whānau to become more familiar with the new Mathematics and English Curricula is the Ministry of Education’s Parent Portal. We encourage you to take some time to explore this site. 

Finally, in Term 3, we will be hosting a parent open evening about the new curriculum on Tuesday, 12 August (7-8.30pm). At this event, we will provide an overview of the changes to the curriculum, with a particular emphasis on how we teach structured literacy. More information about this will follow shortly.