Educator Association Updates | November 2025

This article contains updates from educator association representatives; where a regional representative is not available, news has been curated from a national-level newsletter or member-wide announcement.

This is a live article so please continue to check-in as our key contacts may provide new information as the month progresses.

🟩 = There is an update for this month ❌ = No Updates this month

🟩 Earth and Space Science Educators New Zealand

ESSENZ would appreciate if their members could spend a few minutes completing this form on the curriculum, so that they can advocate accordingly for Earth & Space Science.

ESSENZ have also published an open letter in response to the draft science curriculum.

ESSENZ Open Letter November 2025.pdf

Download PDF • 396KB

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• Make EarthFest part of your November plans!

• Reminder: there is a free ESS Teachers PD Day on November 7th at the University of Auckland (register here) - there is also funding support for those who do not get school support or who must travel from afar; email jenny@earthspacescience.org.nz .
  

• Wellington region also has an ESS Teacher's Day coming up on December 1st; this is free and kai is provided. Register here.

• Membership to ESSENZ is currently free and gives kaiako access to all ESSENZ resources on their Google shared area, as well as access to all the exams that the association has produced. You can join here.

Ngā mihi nui

Jim Critchley and Erin Nolan

ESSENZ Regional Representatives

jimc@mmc.school.nz

erin.nolan@whs.co.nz

🟩 Secondary Chemistry Educators New Zealand

Chemistry Teachers’ Day  This is coming up on 14 November at the University of Auckland (School of Chemical Sciences). A chance for chemistry teachers to connect, see demos, and pick up ideas for classroom practicals. Registration is open here.

New Resources: Full teaching and assessment package for C2.2, plus three research-informed best practice compilations:

• Misconceptions in chemistry

• Using Johnstone’s Triangle

• EEF guidelines for improving science teaching

A fourth one — Rosenshine’s Principles of Instruction — is due out by the end of the year.

Coming soon: teaching/assessment resources for C3.3, new teaching resources for C2.7 and C3.7, and a revised CB1.2 assessment task for use in 2026.

The SCENZ AGM for 2025 is coming up.

Ngā manaakitanga

Lian Soh

SCENZ Regional Representative

lsoh@papamoacollege.school.nz

🟩 Horticultural and Agricultural Teachers Associations

HATA (Horticultural and Agricultural Teachers Association) circulated a message to its members on October 31 expressing disappointment at the Science Curriculum draft.

If you would like to provide feedback to HATA on the 2025 NCEA Agricultural and Horticultural Science External Achievement Standards, please fill out the form at this link: https://forms.gle/PrrX63WvhthLEz3h6 -- Feedback will be collated and sent on to NZQA at the end of January. Bay Science is assuming this is part of HATA's 2026 RAMP Review.

Reminder: HATA has regional hubs in Term 4, including one on November 11th at Mount Maunganui College. More information here.

🟩 New Zealand Association of Environmental Educators

NZAEE's Term Four newsletter is out now.

Ngā mihi nui,

Thea DePetris

NZAEE Regional Representative

thea@nzaee.org.nz

🟩 New Zealand Association of Science Educators

NZASE Cluster PLD "Science Education: Moving Forward" is taking place in Taupō, Gisborne, Wellington, Nelson and Christchurch. See more here.

NZASE has just sent out a survey to all members asking for feedback on the draft science curriculum. This closes on the 15th of November.

Ngā manaakitanga

Lian Soh

NZASE Regional Representative

lsoh@papamoacollege.school.nz

🟩 Biology Educators of Aotearoa New Zealand

There is a hands-on genetics lab and BEANZ workshop coming up for secondary science kaiako on 26 November at Victoria University of Wellington (Alan MacDiarmid Building, rooms AM102/AM104). If you’re interested in going, you can email Dr Diane Ormsby diane.ormsby@vuw.ac.nz or use this form.

Ngā mihi nui,

Vicki Wallace

BEANZ Regional Representative

vickia@mmc.school.nz

🟩 New Zealand Institute of Physics (Education)

There’s another Physics Teachers’ Day happening on 21 November at Victoria University of Wellington. It’s a full day of practical lab sessions and experiments designed for secondary physics teachers, with ideas that can be taken straight back into the classroom. Register here or learn more here.

Ngā manaakitanga

Mat Synge

NZIP Regional Representative

msynge@aquinas.school.nz

🟩 Aotearoa Educator's Collective

A number of articles and reflections have been published relating to the curriculum and removal of board obligations to give effect to Te Tiriti.

• Recolonising the Classroom | Te Akatea President Bruce Jepsen on the Draft Curriculum: Waatea News Interview

• World-Leading? Or World-Lagging? New Zealand Is Repeating the World’s Mistakes

• Phonics Data and Te Tiriti: Stanford’s Abdication of Responsibility

• Te Tiriti is the Foundation, Not the Add-On

• Children Know: This Curriculum is Devoid of Care

• The Hidden Cost: Removing Te Tiriti Harms Every Child

• Why Every Parent Should Care About the Government’s Move to Strip Te Tiriti from Education

• How to Keep Te Tiriti Alive in Your School Until 2027

❌ Empower Kaiako for Equity Aotearoa

No updates yet - please check back later.

Ngā mihi nui

Keri Tan Garlick

President of Empower KEA

president@empowerkea.org.nz

❌ Te Kikini o te Rehutai (Tauranga Moana Māori Teacher's Association)

No updates this term; but note the change in email address.

Ngā manaakitanga

Whaea Tania Jackson

Tauranga Moana Māori Teacher's Association

tjackson@katikaticollege.school.nz

❌ New Zealand Association of Primary Science Educators

No updates yet.

Ngā manaakitanga

John Marsh

NZAPSE

johnm@tauranga-int.school.nz

Pōhitokā: At this stage, NZASE and ESSENZ are the only national-level science associations have started canvassing their members for draft science curriculum feedback. Bay Science welcomes the whakaaro of all our readers and is interested in your aspirations and concerns, even if you are outside of the Bay of Plenty.

Sentiments from the Sector:

New Zealand Principals Federation (NZPF)

• Latest Curriculum Like a Foreign Document Say Principals

Rotorua Principals Association (RPA)

• Open Letter To The Minister Of Education: RPA Endorsement Of Sector Concerns

  
  

Canterbury Primary Principals’ Association (CPPA)

• Open Letter To The Minister Of Education: CPPA Support For Sector Concerns

New Zealand Association for Teachers of English (NZATE)

• NZATE Open Letter to Minister Stanford on English Curriculum November 2025

Aotearoa Social Studies Educators Network (ASSEN)

• Aotearoa Social Studies Educators Network public statement

Earth & Space Science Educators of New Zealand (ESSENZ)

• An Open Letter From Earth and Space Science Educators of New Zealand (ESSENZ) Regarding the Draft Science Curriculum

New Zealand Board of Geography Teachers (NZBOGT)

• NZ Board of Geography Teachers Open Letter to Minister Stanford

Mathematics

• An open letter from leading mathematics academics from every New Zealand university

Physical Education New Zealand (PENZ)

• Curriculum Update: PENZ Letter to the Minister of Education

Music Association of New Zealand (MENZA), Aotearoa New Zealand Arts Association in Education (ANZAAE), Whakaari Aotearoa Drama New Zealand (WADNZ), Dance Association of New Zealand (DSZANZ)

• Joint press release from the presidents of all four Arts Subject Associations.

• Open Letter to Hon. Erica Stanford, Minister of Education: Why Art History Matters

Education Outdoors New Zealand (EONZ)

• Petition to save Outdoor Education

Home Economics and Technology Teachers Association New Zealand (HETTANZ)

• Feed Our Future: Reinstate Home Economics/Food and Nutrition in the NZ curriculum

New Zealand Art History Teachers Association (NZAHTA)

• Campaign to save Art History

NZEI Te Riu Roa

• More than 650 primary and area school principals have published an open letter to Education Minister Erica Stanford

National Iwi Chairs Forum

• National Education Coalition Unites Against Changes To Education And Training Act. “Collectively, our coalition represents 88 iwi and over 95,000 teachers, principals, schools, and kura who are standing against the Government’s tinkering with Te Tiriti.”

• Petition: Protect Te Tiriti in Education