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The Briefing | Issue No. 19

  • Jul 26
  • 12 min read

Rātapu, te 26 o Hune 2026


Golden sunrise over a quiet beach with dunes, calm sea, and a distant island under a clear blue sky.


Kia ora koutou


To our new readers: if you are visiting from outside of the Bay of Plenty, then yes you are more than welcome to Bay Science. Over the past 6 months we have noticed that our newsletter has grown up to a national-level reach. Ngā mihi nui to all our readers who have sent through material to share. Your contributions have helped to grow our collective.


On that note, if you do have friends/colleagues who are not yet subscribers, let them know of what we're doing.


Kia kaha,

Bay Science



  • NASA Night Sky Network Webinar Series

    he NASA Night Sky Network is hosting an online webinar on Wedesday, July 29th to help community event organisers, kaiako, and astronomy groups prepare for International Observe the Moon Night 2026.

  • Envirohub Bay of Plenty Recycling There are so many items that can be recycled, but not via your kerbside bins; batteries, plastic lids, aluminium tabs and certain bottle lids, coffee pods, vape devices, mobile phones and much more. Teachers, this is a great context with a local connection where your students can learn about matter cycling and material properties. Check out Envirohub's specialist recycling here.

  • Voting Open: 2026 Canon Oceania Grants

    Dogs in schools? Wild bird rescues? Wāhine Māori martial arts? Public voting is now open for the 2026 Canon Oceania Grants across four categories: community, education, environment and culture.

  • Unique Opportunity: Te Papa Museum

    Te Papa is searching for a Manager, Visitor Operations to lead the coordination, delivery and continuous improvement of their visitor-facing operations.

  • Te Karanga o Te Whenua – The Call of the Land Bioeconomy Science Institute has released a new podcast series. Te Karanga o Te Whenua shares the journeys of wāhine Māori as they reconnect to the whenua, restoring relationships, reclaiming mātauranga, and building a future grounded in healing and hope.

  • Climate Canvas - Precious Resources Submissions for the Climate Canvas competition are now open, and will close on August 31. Envirohub BoP and Creative BoP are looking for visual artworks that align with this years' theme Precious Resources: material life cycles; water, soil and air; the economy of enough; Indegenous and traditional knowledge.

  • Predator Free Bay of Plenty Rotorua If you live in the Rotorua area, you can collect a free rat trap and tunnel at various locations during the week.


REMINDERS

Our full calendar is available here. Let us know how we can help promote your event.

July 27

July 28


July 29


July 30


July 31


August 01


August 02

  • No listings. Do you have an event? Bay Science can promote it.


August 03


August 04


August 05


August 06

  • No listings. Do you have an event? Bay Science can promote it.


August 07

  • No listings. Do you have an event? Bay Science can promote it.


August 08


August 09

  • No listings. Do you have an event? Bay Science can promote it.




CONFERENCE WATCHLIST (CHRONOLOGICAL ORDER)



The following have been added to our Experiences page and Resources directory. While we may share resources here, directory only saves items which are free and which do not require a login.


  • STEAM-ED Afterschool & Home School Programmes STEAM-ED's Term 3 offerings of afterschool and home school programmes are now available on their website. Contexts includes Planet Earth Explorers, Robotics and Earth Systems.

  • Free Coding for Kids Tauranga at Te Ao MāramaTe Ao Mārama Tauranga City Libraries is hosting the Fiero Code Club throughout Term 3, offering a dedicated space for young people to build software skills at their own pace.



REMINDERS

  • Design a Hero Competition: Protecting Our Moana from Marine Pests Design a superhero, protect the Moana! Enter now and go in a draw to win a share of $1500 in prizes! Entries close July 31 2026. More info.

  • Engaging Young Minds at the TENZ STEM Challenge Day 2026

    Technology Education New Zealand, with support from the Networks of Expertise, is hosting an interactive event on August 07 focused on early primary education. The day provides a structured environment where young learners can test ideas, cooperate on technical designs, and discover how engineering principles shape our communities.

  • Dive into Summer with the Kiwi Conservation Club Beach Artwork Callout The team at the Kiwi Conservation Club (KCC) are inviting young environmentalists and artists across Aotearoa to channel their love for our coastlines by creating beach-themed artwork for the upcoming summer issue of Wild Things magazine. Closes August 3 2026.


  • Applications Open: Science Teaching Leadership Programme Applications are now open for the Royal Society Te Apārangi Science Teaching Leadership Programme. Successful schools are granted the opportunity for a teacher to engage in a two-term placement at a host science organisation to observe, and partcipate in, the workings of real-life and localised science organisations in action (Nature of Science) before returning to their kura to uplift the their science programmes.

  • Sow the Seed BoP Regional Hub 2026 Workshop Sow the Seed and the Horticulture and Agriculture Teachers Association (HATA) have one more regional meeting, soon-approaching on August 5th 2026 with a focus on NCEA moderation, update on curriculum and information from the Food and Fibre Industry Skills Board.

  • Chief Advisor Assessment - Mātauranga Māori NZQA are seeking an experienced and influential assessment leader to join their Assessment Division as Chief Advisor Assessment - Mātauranga Māori. This is an opportunity to shape how mātauranga Māori and Te Ao Māori perspectives are reflected across assessment design, moderation, marking, qualifications development and quality assurance. Working alongside the Assessment Division Strategic Leadership Team, you will help ensure assessment systems remain credible, equitable and responsive to the aspirations of Māori learners and communities.

  • Warehouse Stationery Teacher Only Deals Use code TEACH26 at the cart to get 25% off selected products, or bring the flyer (link within) to your local store. View promotion.


REMINDERS:

  • Primary and intermediate kaiako from across Aotearoa can now apply for the BLAKE Inspire for Teachers 2026 programme, a week-long environmental education programme funded by the Ministry of Education.

  • [Nationwide] The New Zealand Institute of Chemistry (NZIC) has officially opened its 2026 prize round, including an educators award. Closes July 31 2026.


  • ESSENZ

    • ESSENZ exams will be out by the end of Week 2 Term 3 on the members' exam drive as a PDF or MS Word document.


  • NZAEE

    • Reminder to register to Tātaiao, the NZAEE National Conference on 5-7 October.

    • A webinar to unpack the final science and social sciences curriculum is taking place on August 27th, 2026.

  • NZIPES

    • NZIPES have published their derived grade exam for L1 PESS 1.4 (AS92047) Demonstrate understanding of a physical system using energy concepts.


E mōhio ana koe? (Did you know?)

  • Curriculum Insights and Progress Study (CIPS), National Monitoring Study of Aotearoa


REMINDERS:


  • Final Years 0 to 10 New Zealand Science Curriculum Release Dates Announced

    Final versions of the Science curriculum for Phases 1-4 are timelined for release on August 12. Pūtaiao to be available on August 26th. These dates have been added to our 'super timeline' which tracks all announcements.

  • What happens to your feedback on the National Curriculum? In case you missed it, Tāhūrangi had (in May) published a post describing what happens to consultation feedback.

  • Chief Advisor Assessment - Mātauranga Māori NZQA are seeking an experienced and influential assessment leader to join their Assessment Division as Chief Advisor Assessment - Mātauranga Māori. This is an opportunity to shape how mātauranga Māori and Te Ao Māori perspectives are reflected across assessment design, moderation, marking, qualifications development and quality assurance. Working alongside the Assessment Division Strategic Leadership Team, you will help ensure assessment systems remain credible, equitable and responsive to the aspirations of Māori learners and communities.

  • Chemistry NZQA The third round of free online for Making Assessor Judgements, Transforming Assessment Praxis, and Assessment Approaches workshops are now open at https://lms.nzqa.govt.nz/ You will need an Education Sector Login. These self-paced workshops repeat every eight weeks.


REMINDERS:

Readings and talks which may be relevant to us; commentaries and research relevant to science education and curriculum reform.


  • Waystations’ for exploring professional beliefs and experiences: Towards a bicultural curriculum Part 1 (NZ Association of Research in Education)

    Bronwen Cowie and Rosemary Hipkins explain waystations as areas of professional knowledge that support changes in practice.

  • Going Beyond a Singular ‘Science of Learning’ Framework (NZ Journal of Educational Studies) Currently, practices in science education are hotly contested with calls for inquiry approaches to be replaced by ‘explicit teaching’ or ‘direct instruction’ and ‘knowledge rich’ curricula. This move is associated with an increasing emphasis on accountability represented by comprehensive testing regimes, critique of teacher education expertise, and questioning of teachers’ capabilities. Justification for explicit teaching is often framed around the development of a ‘science of learning’.... read more (requires insitution login).

  • Experiences of curriculum integration: the challenges in practice between learner relationships, agency, and knowledge (Taylor & Francis Online)

    This paper reports on the multiple ways teachers interpreted and implemented curriculum integration and considers the factors which contributed to the nature and degree of integration success in programmes in a number of case study secondary schools. Th is qualitative study examines the experiences of teachers in Aotearoa New Zealand who have implemented Curriculum Integration programmes for students aged 13–14. The shift away from single-subject specialisations prompts a reconfiguration of how teachers integrate, align, and engage with the curriculum... read more.

  • New PISA results coming soon (OECD)

    The PISA 2025 results will be released on 8 September 2026, providing a global snapshot of how well 15-year-olds are prepared for the future across science, reading, maths and computational problem solving.

  • Beyond the rankings: Why PISA matters in a changing world How do education systems prepare young people for a rapidly changing world? How do countries understand whether students are developing the relevant knowledge, skills and attitudes needed to navigate scientific information, technological change and complex global challenges? And why does international comparative evidence on student learning continue to matter? A recording is now available.

Let us know what you would like for a Term 3 and/or Term 4 cluster. At this stage, we are waiting for the August 12 finalised science curriculum before committing to any resources, hui, workshops or webinars... but we are open to ideas. We are looking to discontinue our 'Monthly Educator Association Updates' section, as this year we have moved to a weekly science education news cycle.


The Briefing is Bay Science’s weekly email newsletter for anyone interested in the latest developments in science education. Subscribe below to receive each edition.

Bay Science is a science teacher association with national reach. Our website serves as a noticeboard for science education news and events across Aotearoa New Zealand, connecting educators and community members across the country. If your organisation has a kaupapa, event, or opportunity to share with the science education community, we’d love to share it.


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