Government announces mo... - Financial Unions

A pilot trial of a phonics test will begin in 80 schools ahead of the introduction in Term 1 next year.

"We're really excited to make sure that we're putting in place a phonics check really early on in a child's reading journey so that can make sure they're on track with their reading and we can intervene when they're not," Education Minister Erica Stanford told 1News.

Stanford said currently there's isn't a "consistent view" nationally of student progression in literacy.

The tool will also be introduced in te reo Māori for students in Māori medium education to use.

Boulcott School students and staff gave the tool known as a 'phonics check' a go today. Some words are made up like 'eb' and 'ot' to ensure children can identify the sound correctly without relying on recall of how a word looks.

The school decided to use operating budget funding to introduce a structured literacy approach from 2021, so the principal and literacy head teacher feel confident with how they're placed for the mandated roll-out from Term 1 next year.

"We started it because we found that our students weren't doing well in their oral literacy at Year 1, they were arriving at school with very little oral capability and their reading and sounding out — our results were going down and down," principal Rachael Sole said.

"Implementing structured literacy for us here at Boulcott has been a really positive thing and we've seen increased results."

Based on roll size, primary schools will receive between $500 and $5000 each year over the next four years to buy structured literacy books, games and other resources. Other free resources are available from the Ministry of Education.

From October, schools with up to 50 students will receive $500, schools with 100 students will receive $965, schools with up to 250 students will receive $2411 and schools with up to 527 students will receive $5083, according to a press release from the Education Minister.

It's also been confirmed $33 million previously spent on Reading Recovery and other literacy interventions will be reallocated to staffing for structured literacy intervention, training and resources.

Literacy expert Dr Pamela Snow from La Trobe University in Australia has provided input to the Ministry of Education.

When asked by 1News to assess the measures being introduced by the Government as part of the literacy roll-out, she supported the approach.

"From what I can see, given the timeframe that's available, they're taking a very systematic and thorough approach."

She cautioned against New Zealand delaying the nationwide structured literacy roll-out.

"There's no time like the present and the evidence has been in for a long time that a change is needed if we're going to be ensuring success for the highest number of children regardless of postcode, level of disadvantage, other factors that might get in the way."

"We have to not let 'good enough' stand in the way of 'perfect' when it comes to getting on the road," she said.

Snow said rolling out a national literacy change is "very, very challenging" but New Zealand is "ideally positioned" to do this, without the challenge some countries like Australia face, where education policy is different in different states.

"I would say it needs to grab that opportunity and do it well, but everyone needs to be on the bus.

"It's easy to nitpick about things that aren't perfect and should have been done this way or that way but if we all have a focus on the future well-being of New Zealand children, then I think most obstacles and frustrations should be able to be overcome."

Sector and bi-partisan political support of the change needs to be sustained in the long-term, she said.

"If we only give it five minutes and say, 'Well, we did all that investment and it didn't work,' then we're going to be right back … worse than when you started off.

"I'm talking five to 10 years before you're going to really see the data shifting and shifting consistently in the right direction."

Funding decisions may need to change over time, she said.

Snow welcomed the Government's investment in teacher training, saying support will be needed for a long time for staff.

She said in the future supporting universities who train teachers in literacy instruction will need to be a funding consideration.

Calls for roll-out to be delayed

Snow's perspective is at odds with some principals, the New Zealand Principals' Federation and the New Zealand Educational Institute (NZEI), who are calling for a pause to the roll-out of structured literacy and 'structured maths' curriculum.

In response, the Education Minister said principals who may be nervous because they haven't used a structured approach in their school before, should "just make a start".

"We will fully wrap around you, anything that you need," Stanford said.

In a press release today, NZEI and the NZ Principals' Federation stated the "rate of change means implementation will be ineffective and not lead to the successful outcomes for children that everyone wants".

The groups pointed out how schools are struggling without greater provision of learning support for the number of students with higher learning needs and introducing two major subject overhauls on top of this "would burn out already stressed teachers and move their focus from meeting the immediate needs of the children in front of them".

"There is a long tail of underachievement in our country. There has also been a request for many, many years to ask for an investment in learning support," Canterbury Primary Principals' Association president Lisa Dillon-Roberts said.

"The money for resources is, of course, welcomed, but it won't go far enough and none of this money resourcing will in any way go toward the major injection of capital that we require to meet all of our needs in the learning support area."

Stanford said changes to learning support are being considered by the Government.

NZEI and NZ Principals' Federation stated the draft math curriculum has changed significantly from the previous government's draft and they believe the introduction of this should be delayed until 2026, as was the case before the current government brought it forward by a year.

The sector groups stated another option is letting schools decide which curriculum they'll implement next year, but not requiring maths and English both be introduced in 2025.

Dillon-Roberts shared concerns about the limited professional learning development on offer and limited time to understand the results of the 'phonics check' pilot.

"Generally we would have expected a pilot a lot sooner for implementation purposes."

"For our students we want high quality teaching and learning and for teachers to have the opportunity to really hone their craft and have confidence in the curriculum they're being asked to deliver," she said.