May Update: Curriculum Refresh
What is the curriculum refresh?
The refreshed curriculum will be progression-focused, rather than outcomes-focused. Curriculum levels and achievement objectives will be replaced with five phases of learning: Y1-3, Y4-6, Y7-8, Y9-10 and Y11-13.
The Ministry is two years into a six-year programme to refresh The New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) – both the overall framework and the eight existing learning areas.
The proposed name for the curriculum framework is Te Mātaiaho, which means “to observe and examine the strands of learning.”
The refreshed NZC will continue the same eight learning areas as in the existing 2007 Curriculum.
These are being developed and released in phases, and schools will have until the beginning of 2027 to start using the fully refreshed curriculum.
Social Sciences was released in November 2022, and the new Aotearoa New Zealand's Histories must now be taught in all schools.
English is being refreshed now and will be released in Term 2, 2023
Mathematics and statistics is being refreshed now and will be released in Term 2, 2023
Science is in development for release in 2024
Technology is in development for release in 2024
The Arts is in development for release in 2024
Health and physical education is in development for release in 2025
Learning languages is in development for release in 2025
Each of the five phases of learning contains progress outcomes that describe what ākonga should understand, know, and do by the end of each phase. Students will deepen their understanding of the big ideas (understand), as they explore the context (know), using critical practices (do).