Te Tāhuhu o te Mātauranga | Ministry of Education is strengthening the national curricula and resources and supports for their implementation so that every child and young person’s progress and achievement is responded to, and they can celebrate success in their learning. As part of that, the Literacy & Communication and Maths Strategy which includes numeracy and statistics has been developed for the early learning and schooling pathway.

Literacy and communication, and numeracy are foundational skills, necessary for accessing learning in each curriculum area. The evidence is clear, however, that our system is not yet supporting all children and young people to succeed in literacy and communication and maths. The Literacy & Communication and Maths Strategy seeks to address persistent inequities in the system and declines in achievement in some groups.

The strategy draws on a range of research and evidence, alongside conversations with groups and individuals from the education sector and wider communities, with a particular focus on learners that evidence shows us are least well served by our system.

The development of a range of supports is signalled, including updated guides for teaching and learning. In response to feedback from teachers that they want more leadership, guidance, and support to achieve this, the development of a range of connected resources, guidance and tools is signalled in the form of a common practice model.  This will be developed in collaboration with the sector and the wider education community.

Coupled with NZC refresh, the Literacy & Communication and Maths Strategy calls out a system shift to make literacy and numeracy clear and explicit, so that all teachers are supported to be effective teachers of literacy and communication and maths. It also aligns with and supports the NCEA Change Programme and advances recommendations in the Early Learning Action Plan for Te Whāriki. It sits alongside the redesign of Te Marautanga o Aotearoa.

We know about the challenges the COVID-19 situation is creating for our educators, and for our ākonga and their whanau, but it’s important to have visibility of what will be happening and the resources that are being developed to support teachers and kaiako.

The strategy doesn’t change the overall direction for curriculum already established through the national curriculum refresh and early learning action plan and progressing everything in the strategy will take time. Detailed plans are coming which will set out how the strategic actions indicated in the strategy will be progressed.

For more information, check out this link: Literacy & Communication and Maths Strategy

If you have any further questions, please email: Literacy.Communication.Maths@education.govt.nz 

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