The English Learning Area equips students with knowledge of the codes and conventions of language and texts. Students are taught to create their own texts with purpose and confidence, as they develop an appreciation of the beauty and richness of classic and contemporary literature.
Through the study of English, students master foundational literacy knowledge and practices. They engage with and independently compose increasingly complex texts in a variety of forms, learning to explore ideas that are evolving, contested, or open to interpretation.
The English Learning Area provides students with the concepts and skills to understand global literary traditions and the bicultural and multicultural literary heritage of New Zealand. As readers, they become thoughtful and discerning textual critics and gain insights into the diversity and complexity of human experience. As authors, they learn how to craft texts that express their ideas with clarity, creativity, and control.
As students progress through English, they deepen their understanding of how language and texts provide a space for expression and experimentation. Creating and responding to texts deepens students’ understanding of themselves and others, and enables them to participate actively in local, national, and global conversations.
The year-by-year teaching sequence lays out the knowledge and practices to be taught each year. In the English Learning Area, the teaching sequence is organised into strands.
In English Years 0–8, the teaching sequence is organised into three strands:
Oral Language focuses on teaching students to communicate, express themselves, and interact effectively. It develops students’ understanding of spoken and signed languages, including New Zealand Sign Language, and for non-verbal students, any first language communication methods such as alternative and augmentative communication (AAC).
Reading focuses on teaching students to decode, make meaning from, and think critically about texts. It develops students’ understanding of how to read fluently, comprehend a range of texts with attention to audience, purpose, and form, and engage with ideas and perspectives.
Writing focuses on teaching students to write for a variety of purposes, using the codes, conventions, and structures that enable others to understand what they have written. It develops students’ proficiency in transcription skills, composition, and writing processes.
The Mathematics and Statistics Learning Area equips students with conceptual and procedural knowledge that empowers them to explore and make sense of the world. Mathematics and Statistics allows students to appreciate and draw on the power of abstraction, visualisation, and symbolic representation to connect new knowledge to their current understandings of quantity, space, time, data, and uncertainty. Students are taught logical reasoning and critical thinking skills that help them to evaluate information, question assumptions, and express ideas clearly.
Through the study of mathematical and statistical reasoning, students learn how to differentiate what is probable from what is possible and draw reliable conclusions about what is reasonable. As students are taught to notice patterns and variation, select approaches, draw conclusions, and justify their solutions, they build confidence in their mathematical and statistical abilities and problem-solving skills, applying these to new contexts.
The Mathematics and Statistics Learning Area provides students with concepts and tools to investigate, represent, and connect situations, as well as to generalise, explain, and justify their findings. Students learn that Mathematics and Statistics is a creative discipline that sparks curiosity and wonder and that it has been shaped by the contributions of diverse people and cultures over time.
As students progress through the Learning Area, they deepen their understanding of how to use mathematics and statistics accurately, efficiently, and confidently in increasingly complex ways. They are encouraged to engage with important societal issues — such as ethically gathering, interpreting, and communicating data — and to observe and describe similarities, patterns, and trends across natural, technological, and social contexts.
The year-by-year teaching sequences for Mathematics and Statistics lay out the knowledge and practices to be taught each year. The teaching sequences for Years 0–10 are organised into six strands: Number, Algebra, Measurement, Geometry, Statistics, and Probability.
Number focuses on numerical concepts and systems. It develops students’ understanding of how numbers are used to represent quantities, estimate, measure, and perform calculations, and how number systems have evolved to meet practical and social needs.
Algebra focuses on generalisation and mathematical reasoning. It develops students’ understanding of how patterns and relationships can be represented using symbols, graphs, and diagrams, and how algebraic thinking supports problem solving and communication.
Measurement focuses on quantifying phenomena using units and systems. It develops students’ understanding of how to measure tangible and intangible quantities using standard and non-standard units, and how measurement systems vary across cultures and contexts.
Geometry focuses on shape, space, and transformation. It develops students’ understanding of how to visualise, represent, and reason about objects and their position, orientation, and movement, drawing on geometric ideas used across cultures and in the natural world.
Statistics focuses on data and uncertainty. It develops students’ understanding of how to collect, organise, and interpret data in context, and how statistical thinking supports informed decision making.
Probability focuses on chance and likelihood. It develops students’ understanding of how to quantify uncertainty, make predictions, and evaluate the likelihood of events, supporting probabilistic reasoning in everyday and applied contexts.
The year-by-year teaching sequences, organised through strands and elements, set out what is to be taught. Their enactment is shaped by teachers, who design learning in response to their learners, adjusting the order and emphasis, and adding contexts and content as appropriate.