News

The Student Management System (SMS) initiative has been renamed SISI – the Student Information Sharing Initiative.

To date, the SISI team have undertaken a detailed assessment of the types of systems currently used in schools. They are working towards a solution, which will allow teachers and school leaders the flexibility to continue using systems that work for their particular schools.

A new roadmap

A draft "roadmap" for the SISI project, which is the result of consultation between the Ministry, and interested teachers, school leaders and vendors, is now available for feedback.

• More information about the roadmap »  

Workshops

As the SISI team investigated the different SMSs around the country, it was found that data recording practices varied widely across schools, and that a number of schools were not using their systems to the best effect. 

SMS "Good Practice" workshops for school leaders have been developed in partnership with the Connected Learning Advisory (CLA). These workshops are being planned for delivery in Term 2.

Workshops are:

• useful to senior leaders in all schools and kura, regardless of the SMS you use
• free of charge
• held in 30 regional locations.
• Register for a workshop in your area »

Joining the discussion

email: delta.info@education.govt.nz  if you would like to:

• be part of the ongoing discussion. Request to be added to the dedicated online forum. 
• would like to give some one-off feedback about the proposals. The Ministry will collate feedback received, and post updates to the draft proposals online.

Associate Education Minister Nikki Kaye announced funding of $500,000 to enable over 40 more schools nationwide to receive wireless technology, as part of the Ministry of Education’s Wireless School Network Upgrade Project (WSNUP).

“The WSNUP project was set up in late 2014 to retrofit wireless technology to a number of schools that had already received a core digital infrastructure upgrade, prior to wireless technology being included in SNUP.

“Under WSNUP, work is already well advanced towards retrofitting wireless technology to over 430 schools, and I’m pleased that today’s announcement will see over 40 more schools also receive wireless upgrades," said Minister Kaye.

More information »

NZQA is reviewing how it can better provide moderation services to meet changing assessor needs. They are working to:

• make external moderation findings more relevant to assessors
• improve the timeliness and usability of external moderation findings
• provide a tool for use by assessors to support their own internal moderation practices.

NZQA want to hear your views on the following proposals:

• How we can move to full online external moderation
• Proposed changes to policies and processes to make external moderation more relevant and timely
• Proposed changes to online submission of material for external moderation
• Developing a web based tool that can assist schools and TEOs with making assessment decisions

Information on how to have your say is on the NZQA website »

Make the best use of your student data. The Ministry’s Student Information Sharing Initiative (SISI) is working with the sector to resolve the challenge of easily accessing and sharing information that schools, students and caregivers need.

The Connected Learning Advisory–Te Ara Whītiki is running a series of half-day workshops throughout Term 2 on behalf of the Ministry of Education.

Workshops are:

• useful to senior leaders in all schools and kura, regardless of the SMS you use
• free of charge
• held in 30 regional locations.

Register for a workshop in your area »

The second Enabling e-Learning newsletter for the year is out now! A summary of the new school stories, resources, and information from the Enabling e-Learning website, and what's coming up in Enabling e-Learning community . 

Go to the Newsletters  page to:

• sign up for the newsletter – look for the heading Keep Informed, enter your email, and click on the yellow subscribe button. 
• view archived newsletters.

A new website has been launched today – Hooked on NZ Books He Ao Ano . It's for young Kiwis to review New Zealand young adult fiction and it's all Creative Commons licensed.

Register now for free webinars and participate in our planned forum discussions to support your professional learning. 

More information about events in the enabling e-Learning community »

PaCT workshops are open to all schools interested in using the PaCT, RTLBs, RTLits, and Reading Recovery Teachers.

Dates, locations, and contact details »  

NZCER have designed a set of three resources to stimulate open-ended conversations about learning and curriculum. The resources can be used separately or together, and in any order.

• Part 1 is a workshop resource  
• Part 2 is a live action role play game
• Part 3 is a digital game for iPad or tablet

Download the App for free until the end of February 2016!

• iTunes – Curriculum for the future
• Google Play – Curriculum for the future

The first Enabling e-Learning newsletter is out now! A summary of the new school stories, resources, and information from the Enabling e-Learning website, and what's coming up in Enabling e-Learning community . 

Go to the Newsletters  page to:

• sign up for the newsletter – look for the heading Keep Informed, enter your email, and click on the yellow subscribe button. 
• view archived newsletters.

29 organisations are joining forces to mark 2016’s Safer Internet Day (9th February 2016) in New Zealand as Kiwis report an increasing number of incidents involving internet harms. Safer Internet Day is celebrated worldwide to encourage the safe and positive use of the internet and digital technologies, especially among families and young people. New Zealand’s Safer Internet Day is being coordinated by NetSafe, the online safety and security organisation.

“Safer Internet Day is a global event that celebrates the positive work going on every day of the year to make the internet a safer place for all users. We’re pleased to have so many organisations supporting the event in New Zealand. This highlights how creating a safer internet is a shared responsibility,” said Martin Cocker, NetSafe’s Executive Director.

NZ Partners working towards a safer Internet

Organisations supporting SID 2016 are promoting positive online safety messages and getting behind four activities on the day:

1. Project Positive –national compliments campaign

Project Positive is being run by young NZers with support from Sticks ‘n Stones, NetSafe Facebook and Google. The goal for the day is to share as many compliments online as possible. Students across NZ have created compliments for use on the day. People can participate in the campaign by:

• sharing a compliment using Project Positive
• posting a photograph of themselves with a compliment on social media.

Twitter, Google and Facebook are all providing support in the form of targeted promotion to ensure the compliments campaign gets the maximum amount of exposure online. You can read more about Project Positive on Facebook »

2. Staying Safe Online – resource

NetSafe has worked with NZ’s leading online companies to develop advice about staying safe online using their services. These resources are designed as “self help” guides to promote positive action by individuals to improve their own online safety, as well as providing valuable support for those with duty of care responsibility. Read more from NetSafe's Staying safe online page »

3. So you got naked online – resource

NetSafe is publishing So you got naked online , a resource that provides children, young people and parents with advice and strategies to support them in the event of sexting incidents. It promotes positive action by individuals to improve their own online safety, as well as providing valuable support for those with duty of care responsibility. 

4. Digital Challenges Report

To mark Safer Internet Day, NetSafe has published a report on the full range of online challenges that New Zealanders faced in 2015 . 

The December Enabling e-Learning newsletter is out now! Watch the new school stories from Halswell School and catchup on the latest news and information.

The Hon Nikki Kaye, Associate Minister of Education, announced a range of initiatives to help ensure that every student benefits from the advantages of digital technologies for learning.  

Towards digital fluency addresses all four dimensions of learning in the 21st Century:

• infrastructure
• teaching and learning practices
• online content
• equitable access.

The Game Design Competition 2016 gives New Zealand school students in Years 7-13 the chance to win prizes by creating a playable game or game design where players have fun while learning to contribute to a safe road system.

Details about the competiton and how to enter are on the NZ Transport Agency website »

The Ministry of Education has confirmed a new three year deal with Microsoft to provide their software to New Zealand schools.

The agreement focuses on supporting cloud-delivered computing and "anywhere, anytime" learning. Schools will have a choice of cloud-delivered or traditional on-premise software, and new tools to manage the increasing fleet of mobile devices in schools.

The Ministry will be undertaking a joint programme to support school software vendors, IT partners, and schools in the transition to cloud and mobile computing. This will include developing new tools, training, and advice to support schools in their use of digital technology.

Visit the Ministry’s website to find out more about Ministry-funded software and technology for schools.

Nikki Kaye outlined the Government’s vision for the future of digital education in her speech to the Bett Asia Leadership Summit 2015, 18 November.

The aim is maximise opportunities offered by the digital age to improve our education system. Building blocks and work underway include:

• Government funding an ICT infrastructure for schools through the N4L Managed Network and investing in innovative learning environments – by the end of 2016, all schools will have the ICT infrastructure to enable digital technologies to be fully integrated into their teaching and learning
• the Investing in Educational Success (IES) initiative, designed to support teachers and principals to raise student achievement in every school
• private-sector support for digital innovation
• international partnerships.

Read her speech on the Beehive website »

The Ministry of Education has published a Four Year Plan 2015–2019. This plan sets out what the Ministry is trying to achieve and how it is going to work with partners across the education system and across government to make it happen. Submissions for this plan close on Monday 14 December 2015. 

For information about submissions to the plan read the Ministry bulletin for SCHOOL LEADERS - He Pitopito Kōrero  (pdf)

Visit the Ministry's website to find out more about the Four Year Plan 2015–2019.

Education Minister Hekia Parata has announced consultation on an update of the Education Act 1989, inviting New Zealanders to have their say on how to help shape an education system that all children and young people deserve

For critical and need to know action read the Ministry bulletin for SCHOOL LEADERS - He Pitopito Kōrero (pdf)

Visit the Ministry's website to find out more about the Four Year Plan 2015–2019. It is online and open now until 5pm, Monday 14 December 2015.

Schools can now sign-up online to use the Progress and Consistency Tool (PaCT) .

Visit the PaCT website for more information on:

• getting started 
• setting up administration
• using the tool.

If your school/kura has been allocated PLD and Programme for Students (PfS – for English medium schools only) for 2016, you will receive email notification by the end of October. This will confirm the support your school will be able to take part in during 2016.

The Ministry has prioritised supporting Communities of Learning and schools/kura with a high number of students achieving below expected levels, as well as those in regional areas facing significant challenges.

The Minister of Education announced changes to professional learning and development (PLD) in late September. These changes include:

• From 2017, professional development will largely focus on a small number of national priorities in the area of mathematics/pāngarau, science/pūtaiao, te reo matatini (pānui, tuhituhi, kōrero), reading and writing, and digital fluency. The first national priorities will be in place for the next three to five years.
• Access to professional development funding will be prioritised to Communities of Learning and schools/kura with a high number of students achieving below expected levels.
• Some regions will be prioritised for professional development funding. The first regions are Northland and the Gisborne/East Coast district.
• Accredited PLD experts will build professional and evaluative capabilities within and across Communities of Learning and will support them to gather, analyse and use their data and evidence to identify what matters most to generate greater equity and excellence for their students.

More detailed information is in the Ministry Bulletin for school leaders: Issue 38 »

If you have any questions about PLD please email: PLD.2016@education.govt.nz .