We have updated our website to clarify training requirements for minimising physical restraint. 

Responding to ākonga distress without restraint – Ministry of Education

In summary:   

• All registered teachers | kaiako need to complete the mandatory online module, ‘Physical restraint – understanding the rules and guidelines’, by 7 February 2024.

Physical Restraint – Understanding the Rules and Guidelines

• If a registered teacher | kaiako is supporting students | ākonga with restraint as part of their support plan, they also need to complete physical holds and releases training (if they haven’t already). 
• If other school | kura staff are supporting students | ākonga with restraint as part of their support plan, the school | kura can authorise the staff member to use physical restraint. These staff need to complete the mandatory module and physical holds and releases training.

Please note: Physical restraint may be used by any school staff (regardless of training) as long as it is a last resort and the three conditions set out in the legislation are met: that is, the restraint is necessary to prevent imminent harm (including significant emotional distress) to the student | ākonga or another person, there is no other option available for preventing the harm, and the restraint is reasonable and proportionate. 

The purpose of the Highest Needs Review was to understand how children and young people with the highest support needs can achieve their full potential in an inclusive education system that delivers fair and excellent outcomes.

We are committed to working collaboratively on our response to the review and we have recently provided an update that has been considered by Cabinet, which will be released shortly.

The next steps are to partner and engage with the communities and sectors we serve around what our programme of work needs to include and how we will work together to design and deliver the new system, including delivering impactful change in the short and medium term while the longer-term system transformation is being designed.

Further information is available here:

Highest needs review programme – Ministry of Education

Regulations setting out detailed requirements of the new planning and reporting framework, Te Whakangārahu Ngātahi | Planning Together for Ākonga Success, can be read here:

Education Regulations 2023 – Parliamentary Counsel Office

Resources are available to help you implement the new requirements. Support material, regulations and requirements for 2024 can be read on our website:

School planning and reporting – Ministry of Education

For assistance with your school’s | kura planning and reporting process including developing your documents, contact your local Te Mahau office or the New Zealand School Trustees Association (NZSTA).

Local Ministry Offices – Ministry of Education

Get in contact – NZSTA

Primary teachers will be paid the lump sum payments, which were agreed as part of settlement of their Collective Agreement tomorrow (26 July).

Costs associated with the settlement for teachers | kaiako provided under each school’s | kura staffing entitlement will be met by the Ministry directly. Similarly, the cost to provide lump sum payments to relief teachers | Kaiako will be funded by the Ministry as these teachers | kaiako do not have a regular employer.

Some schools | kura add to their staffing above entitlement by using bulk funding or other income. The cost for these payments for teachers | kaiako who are employed over entitlement will fall to their employing board, as with all other costs relating to teachers | kaiako who are funded from a school’s | kura bulk grant. This is in-line with the long-standing requirements by which schools | kura are able to employ these staff, which are further detailed here:

Employing teachers from operational funding – Ministry of Education 

If you need further support, contact your regional director, or school financial adviser, to talk through the specific circumstances of your school | kura.

School financial adviser contact details can be found at:

Contacts – Ministry of Education

Te Whatu Ora | Health New Zealand has provided information to help prevent the spread of illnesses within our communities.

To protect staff and students | ākonga in your care from the spread of respiratory infections this winter, it is important that you follow the guidance on infection prevention measures and that you support your staff and the people who enter your facilities to do the same. 

Infection prevention measures can be found at this link:

Infection prevention and control guidance for education sector managers [PDF, 165 KB]

You can submit proposals from now until 15 September. There will be no Term 4 allocation. More information is on our website, see latest news:

Applications for Term 3 Regionally-allocated PLD are open – Te Mahau

Whenever a rate change occurs part way through a funding quarter, the funding component will display across two lines, as is the case with your operational funding from the Quarter 3 instalment. The new rates from the recent Primary Teachers’ Collective Agreement are displayed over two lines for impacted schools | kura. 

For secondary and composite schools | kura, the display of funding components over two lines is temporary. We expect to revert to displaying one line from Quarter 4 operational funding onwards. 

To calculate the quarterly or annual total for a funding component, add both lines. Use the ‘export to Excel’ download button to arrange the information in your preferred format.

A new tab called ‘students’ in Pourato provides details about international fee-paying students, if relevant. For state and state-integrated schools | kura the students tab may also include ongoing resourcing scheme (ORS) funded student | ākonga information. 

Finding information in Pourato – Applications & Online Systems – Te Mahau 

or support, contact 04 463 8383, or email resourcing@education.govt.nz.   

Aroturuki Tamariki has recently been given responsibility to monitor the oranga tamariki system. They now have oversight of tamariki in care, as well as any tamariki or rangatahi who are receiving or have previously received services or support through the oranga tamariki system. This includes interventions aimed at supporting whānau and enabling tamariki to be cared for by their own communities.

The voices of those experiencing these services are at the heart of its monitoring approach, with a focus on tamariki and rangatahi, and their whānau. Aroturuki Tamariki also want to hear from those who deliver services and those who provide support for this group of tamariki and rangatahi. They would be interested in hearing from regional leaders, school | kura leaders, teachers | kaiako and those in non-teaching roles in schools | kura (such as guidance counsellors) about what is working well, and what needs changing to improve outcomes (including education) for tamariki.

You can find out more about Aroturuki Tamariki, including when they will be visiting your community, at:

Aroturuki Tamariki – New Zealand Government

You might hear from them when they’re planning the visit to your community, or if you’d like to contact the Aroturuki Tamariki team direct email info@aroturuki.govt.nz.

All new 2024/25 10YPPs must use the updated calculator and your 10YPP consultant is aware of this requirement. You can continue to update the old calculator until a new 10YPP is completed. 

You need to update your provision in the calculator annually and it needs to appear on your school’s annual financial statements. Guidance on using the calculator is available at:

Managing school finances – Ministry of Education

If you have questions, email property.help@education.govt.nz.

Progressive implementation of the third additional attendance measure has begun. Edge, Hero and KAMAR have informed us that schools | kura using their student management system (SMS) are now able to record if action has been taken for learners unjustifiably absent for five or more full days within their SMS. For schools | kura using eTAP, the functionality is currently being loaded. Reporting of this measure will take place from Term 2, 2024.

For further information visit our website:

Additional attendance measures – Ministry of Education

We have established a navigator service to support teachers | kaiako who are interested in relocating to Aotearoa. The service provides help with the recruitment process and support for overseas teachers to transition to teaching in Aotearoa. Note the service is not designed to provide immigration advice.

The service is available Monday to Friday, 9am–4.30pm by phone on 0800 165 225 or +64 4 463 8466. Alternatively it can be accessed by emailing teacher.supply@education.govt.nz.

For more information visit our website:

Overseas teacher recruitment – Ministry of Education

One Year 12 or Year 13 student | ākonga per state or state-integrated school | kura or wharekura is eligible to win the award, which also comes with a $2000 monetary prize.

Information packs are being sent to schools | kura.

For more information and to complete the nomination form, visit:

The Prime Minister’s Vocational Excellence Award – Ministry of Education

Any queries can be emailed to vocational.excellence@education.govt.nz.

A new best-evidence-in-action feature, Transformative leadership, impact and sustainability: Raukura Rotorua Boys' High School explains how the school, winner of three Prime Minister’s Education Excellence Awards, prioritised giving practical effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi, and how professional development and culturally sustaining leadership practices have been transformative. The feature contains 18 videos, commentary about transformative leadership, and links to additional resources.

Transformative leadership, impact and sustainability – Education Counts

Schools | kura should be places where all children and young people feel welcome and can develop a sense of belonging and connection. The Education Gazette’s ongoing ‘Inclusive education’ series explores what inclusion looks and feels like for students | ākonga, whānau, educators and leaders.

The latest instalment in this series, ‘Unlocking the superpowers of neurodiverse learners’, shares insights from a group of neurodiverse young people about the things that have made a positive difference in their learning. To read the series and the article, visit:

Series: Inclusive education – Education Gazette

Unlocking the superpowers of neurodiverse learners – Education Gazette

The concept of ‘reasonable accommodation’ is important when thinking about how to make sure students | ākonga, staff and whānau with disabilities are included in school | kura life. Whānau advocacy group VIPS – Equity in Education recommends the resource ‘Removing barriers: Reasonable accommodation of disabled people in Aotearoa’ as a useful introduction to this concept.

Removing barriers: Reasonable accommodation of disabled people in Aotearoa – Ombudsman

Feedback from the consultation in May has been considered in the design of our single, mandatory property project and programme management panel.

To learn what the panel will look like, you may wish to attend our online hui on 27 July at 10am.

To register, visit:

Online hui on the renewed property PM panel – schools – Eventbrite

Winter is prime time for mould growth with the elevated moisture levels in the air, so we recommend cleaning more frequently. Certain types of mould produce toxic compounds that pose a risk to health and safety. It is important that schools | kura take steps to minimise, monitor and manage mould within their property.

We have produced a resource on how to prevent and properly remove mould here:

Mould: A guide for mould mitigation and management [PDF, 365KB]

For more information on this, visit:

Moulds and fungi – Ministry of Education

NZ Food Safety recently contacted us about Prime Energy drinks being sold to children and young people, noting these drinks are non-compliant with levels of caffeine almost double NZFS limits. As these are unsafe drinks for children and young people, NZFS is currently working to remove these products, which are being sold in shops near school environments. While NZFS is not aware of any evidence Prime Energy drinks are being sold in schools | kura, they have asked if you are aware of products being sold in your area that you email food.compliance@mpi.govt.nz or phone 0800 00 83 33.

On 6 June 2023, the SCCCA agreement was varied in agreement with E tū. The term remains as 14 November 2022 to 13 November 2024.

Key changes are:

• extending coverage of the SCCCA to ground staff employed in secondary and area schools | kura
• providing two lump-sum payments in line with the Public Sector Pay Adjustment (PSPA) process.

For more information on the changes, visit:

Circular 2023/05 – Ministry of Education

The agreement can be downloaded from:

Collective agreements – Ministry of Education

On 29 June 2023, this agreement was settled and ratified by primary principal members of the NZEI Te Riu Roa. The term is from 3 July 2023 to 2 July 2025.

Details of the settlement, including the new rates of pay for principals working in positions covered by the agreement is available at:

Circular 2023/06 – Ministry of Education

The collective agreement can be downloaded from our website:

Collective agreements – Ministry of Education

The Primary Teachers’ Collective Agreement was ratified by NZEI Te Riu Roa members on 12 June. The term of the agreement is effective from 3 July 2023 to 2 July 2025.

Changes implemented from now until the start of Term 1 2025 are now on our website. The updates provide information on:

• the lump-sum payments being paid in pay period 9 (25 July)
• salary increases effective from 3 July, being paid in pay period 12
• (5 September)
• all other new and changing provisions coming into effect in Terms 2 and 3
• key aspects of the settlement, including a roadmap setting out when the various changes within the collective will be effective.

Changes to Primary Teachers’ Collective Agreement – Ministry of Education

On 3 July, schools | kura received their estimated funding instalment for non-teacher pay equity settlements and collective agreements. A letter outlining this funding was made available on the secure data portal (SDP) on 30 June. 

Schools | kura that have employees covered under the Librarians and Library Assistants’ and Science Technicians’ Pay Equity settlements have received the first payment of settlement funding including backpay to 23 November 2022. 

The letter also included the annual wash-up calculation based on complete payroll data for the 2022 year, or for the administration support staff and kaiārahi i te reo pay equity settlements, from 20 August 2021. 

Further information can be found at:

Pay equity funding – Ministry of Education

Non-teaching staff collective agreements – Ministry of Education

If you have any queries, email operational.support@education.govt.nz. 

If you need help accessing the SDP, instructions can be found on our website: 

Secure data portal (SDP) | Applications & Online Systems – Ministry of Education