National Standards

Key sites

• National standards website - National Standards came into effect in English-medium schools with pupils in years 1 to 8 in 2010. The standards set clear expectations that students need to meet in reading, writing, and mathematics in the first eight years at school.
• Reading and writing standards - Reading and writing standards on New Zealand Curriculum Online is intended for primary school teachers and leaders. Others, including parents, families, whānau, and students themselves, may also find it useful. It presents the National Standards for reading and writing in years 1–8. It also provides examples that illustrate some of the ways in which students can meet these standards as they engage with the kinds of tasks and texts that enable them to meet the demands of the New Zealand Curriculum.
• Alignment of assessment tools with National Standards - In making overall teacher judgments in relation to National Standards, teachers will gather evidence from a range of sources, including scores from formal assessment tools. To assist teachers in working with assessment tools in relation to National Standards, the Ministry of Education has undertaken preliminary script scrutiny work to provide information on how scores for assessment tools align to the National Standard at that year level.
• National Standards illustrations - This new section on the Literacy Online site provides access to the reading and writing standards high resolution illustrations that demonstrate the literacy demands of the texts and tasks students will be engaging with across the curriculum. These illustrations are available to teachers and educators to support their planning, teaching and their judgments about students’ progress and achievement.