Annual Report 2016 - Part one

Foreword from the Secretary for Education

All New Zealanders need to be equipped to thrive in the rapidly developing global environment and participate actively in our society. Our education system plays a huge part in this – it enables children, young people and adults to learn and achieve throughout their lives and to build the skills and knowledge for work and life.

A centre piece of our work for 2015/16 has been the implementation of Communities of Learning | Kāhui Ako. They represent the most significant change to the shape of the education system since the introduction of the Education Act 1989. Communities of Learning | Kāhui Ako bring groups of schools, kura/wharekura early learning services and ngā kōhanga reo together to raise achievement for all children and young people. They are being set up to provide seamless pathways for children and young people’s journey through the education system and to enable strong collaboration  at all stages of that journey.

By 30 June 2016, 42% of eligible schools – across every education region – were part of a Community of Learning | Kāhui Ako and starting to agree shared student achievement goals and how they might be achieved.

During the year we have been looking at all the big system settings to make sure they create the right conditions for all children and young people to progress and achieve. This has involved reviewing:

• the Education Act, to provide an education system that is more learner-centred and outcome-focused
• the funding systems for 0-18 year-olds, aiming to ensure they better support student achievement and learning pathways
• learning support services for students with special needs, with changes planned to make them easier to access, child-focused, flexible and better integrated with other social services
• our delivery of professional learning and development for teachers, which are being refocused on a small number of national priorities, including mathematics, science, reading and writing, and digital fluency
• careers advisory services, with Careers New Zealand becoming part of the Tertiary Education Commission to provide better and more consistent careers information to young people.

We recognise the scale of the changes under consideration and will continue to work with the sector to further develop and successfully implement any changes and to realise the benefits they offer.

All of this work will lead us collectively to achieve better educational outcomes for our children and young people. We have ambitious targets and have seen progress over 2015/16. More children are participating in early learning, National Standard results for primary students have been maintained and more young people have NCEA Level 2 or Level 4 qualifications. Slightly fewer young people are not in employment, education or training.

Results for Māori and Pasifika students have improved, but a disparity of achievement still remains. During 2015/16 we have implemented a range of initiatives to boost achievement for Māori and Pasifika students and get at-risk young people into a career. The results are promising but we have more work to do.

Through our core services we continue to provide the sector with the core infrastructure, services and information they need. We finished the year slightly ahead of schedule on our school property work supporting the Canterbury rebuild. Addressing roll growth in Auckland and elsewhere remains a priority. We also provided the sector with support and guidance to enable them to meet their new health and safety responsibilities.

We continue to make more information available to support decision-making:

• helping students know what options are available; and
• enabling the sector to better target effort and resources, nationally and locally.

A significant achievement this year was working with other government education agencies to develop a shared vision for a more learner-centric education system. We agreed priority areas where we can maximise our collective efforts. This has already resulted in development of a shared digital strategy that is now driving a number of system-wide initiatives. We have also been working to improve our own capability and using that to support the wider sector.

Our plans for the future were updated in the Ministry’s Four Year Plan 2016-2020. Before Peter Hughes left his role as Secretary for Education on 30 June 2016, he noted in that document “I’m confident in the vision for education expressed through this plan. Implementing this plan will take commitment and expertise from staff and partners alike. It is an ambitious and important work programme. Delivering it successfully will improve the system for the future, lift aspiration and raise educational achievement for every New Zealander.”

As Acting Secretary for Education, I must acknowledge Peter for his leadership in focusing us to create this vision for education, and thank all those working tirelessly to make this vision a reality from parents and communities, teachers and education system leaders, to Ministry staff.

Katrina Casey
Acting Secretary for Education