Open Letter: Science Curriculum Consultation | Bay Science

Tēnā koe Minister Stanford,

Bay Science acknowledges the immense work that has gone into shaping the recently released May 15 draft phase five curriculum materials for public consultation, with the submission window closing on June 15 2026.

Upon review of the draft curriculum materials, we have determined that the proposed consultation period is too short. Under the current timeframe, this allows for just 20 working days. This is insufficient time to genuinely engage educators, whānau, sector partners, and subject association members.

We also acknowledge that the Ministry of Education has proposed a grouped/staged approach to help busy kaiako (teachers) and sector groups focus on fewer subjects at a time, which also affords a practicable workload for staff within the Ministry as well as their contracted subject advisors.

However, open polling from our science educator community suggests that a consultation period of at least one full term (approximately 10–11 weeks) is required per subject (i.e. group/stage) to constitute a genuine process.

In order to ensure that expertise within and beyond the Ministry can offer the fullest extent of their time and input, we propose that the consultation period for Group 1 subjects concludes no sooner than Monday 27 July 2026.

We look forward to your response,

Ngā mihi,

The Bay Science Team