1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:03,840 Speaker 1: Student results are improving in the NCAA numeracy and literacy 2 00:00:03,920 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: test mass is going gangbusters, but reading up only slightly 3 00:00:07,920 --> 00:00:11,799 Speaker 1: or flat same with So I've got the numbers here 4 00:00:11,800 --> 00:00:14,080 Speaker 1: for you. Actually, fifty seven percent of students across all 5 00:00:14,120 --> 00:00:17,919 Speaker 1: year levels have passed the numeracy test, sixty one percent 6 00:00:18,040 --> 00:00:22,360 Speaker 1: past the reading, and fifty five percent have passed the writing. Now, 7 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:24,360 Speaker 1: these are the tests that all students have to pass 8 00:00:24,440 --> 00:00:27,880 Speaker 1: before they can be awarded any level of nca so 9 00:00:27,960 --> 00:00:31,080 Speaker 1: they are very important. Erica Stamford is the Ministry of 10 00:00:31,200 --> 00:00:35,000 Speaker 1: Education and is with us now. Minister, good afternoon, good afternoon. 11 00:00:35,040 --> 00:00:35,559 Speaker 2: Right, how are you? 12 00:00:35,479 --> 00:00:37,960 Speaker 1: I'm well, thank you? What you'll be pleased with these? 13 00:00:38,040 --> 00:00:38,360 Speaker 1: Are you? 14 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:43,600 Speaker 2: Look? I'm really proud that I'm a minister who's able 15 00:00:43,600 --> 00:00:46,080 Speaker 2: to sit here today and not to have to say 16 00:00:46,120 --> 00:00:50,400 Speaker 2: here's another dot point on the graph of decline. You know, 17 00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:53,320 Speaker 2: we've turned the corner. We have a relentless focus on 18 00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:58,160 Speaker 2: achievement on literacy and numerousy hour a day, the clear curriculum, 19 00:00:58,320 --> 00:01:01,080 Speaker 2: the standard teaching practices and all the resources we're putting 20 00:01:01,080 --> 00:01:04,839 Speaker 2: in and we are now starting to see these results improving. 21 00:01:05,120 --> 00:01:07,120 Speaker 2: We've still got a long way to go as you 22 00:01:07,160 --> 00:01:07,639 Speaker 2: can see. 23 00:01:07,760 --> 00:01:10,800 Speaker 1: Yeah, but yes we do. But the results themselves, on 24 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:13,919 Speaker 1: the face of it, the numeracy results, fifty seven percent 25 00:01:13,959 --> 00:01:16,560 Speaker 1: of students achieve the standard across all your levels, up 26 00:01:16,600 --> 00:01:20,200 Speaker 1: from forty five percent. That's massive, isn't it. 27 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:22,240 Speaker 2: Well it's even bigger when you look at the low 28 00:01:22,280 --> 00:01:23,679 Speaker 2: de SOOL schools, and I want to do a shout 29 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:25,640 Speaker 2: out to all of those principles and teachers in our 30 00:01:25,640 --> 00:01:29,040 Speaker 2: lower des SOL schools because the same point last year, 31 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:32,919 Speaker 2: less than twenty percent of those kids we're getting across 32 00:01:32,920 --> 00:01:35,840 Speaker 2: the line this year in the same period this year 33 00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:37,679 Speaker 2: in May and our results from May it was thirty 34 00:01:37,720 --> 00:01:40,880 Speaker 2: four percent. That is massive. They are leading the turnaround 35 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:44,240 Speaker 2: and part of its government investment, but part of it 36 00:01:44,280 --> 00:01:47,040 Speaker 2: is the huge emphasis at our schools and are putting 37 00:01:47,080 --> 00:01:50,200 Speaker 2: on literacy and numeracy. So they need to be celebrated 38 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:50,840 Speaker 2: for those results. 39 00:01:50,960 --> 00:01:53,160 Speaker 1: Yeah, I wanted to hone in on that one. So 40 00:01:53,200 --> 00:01:57,280 Speaker 1: that's like a fifteen percent improvement. How do you do 41 00:01:57,360 --> 00:01:59,160 Speaker 1: that in a year You've said in your statement that 42 00:01:59,200 --> 00:02:02,920 Speaker 1: it's down to a particular two point two million dollars 43 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:06,480 Speaker 1: of investment in low decile schools. That's a hell of 44 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:09,040 Speaker 1: a payoff, what exactly is that funding for. 45 00:02:11,360 --> 00:02:13,079 Speaker 2: Look, there's a number of things we did. We didn't 46 00:02:13,120 --> 00:02:16,400 Speaker 2: just invest in those young people. And I came out 47 00:02:16,440 --> 00:02:18,280 Speaker 2: over at the end of last year and said, look, 48 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:20,160 Speaker 2: we know where these students are. We know the schools 49 00:02:20,160 --> 00:02:22,639 Speaker 2: of concern where we need to go and help upscale 50 00:02:22,639 --> 00:02:25,760 Speaker 2: their teachers and make sure those students are being targeted 51 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:29,800 Speaker 2: to get additional assistance to get them across the line. 52 00:02:29,960 --> 00:02:32,800 Speaker 2: But it's also the focus we've had in the last 53 00:02:32,800 --> 00:02:36,440 Speaker 2: eighteen months. All I have talked about is writing, maths 54 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:39,280 Speaker 2: and achievement an hour a day, getting rid of cell phones, 55 00:02:39,760 --> 00:02:42,440 Speaker 2: having an absolute laser focus on that, and not focusing 56 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:44,600 Speaker 2: on all the other stuff that doesn't actually shift the dial, 57 00:02:44,919 --> 00:02:46,720 Speaker 2: but focusing on this stuff. And when you have a 58 00:02:46,720 --> 00:02:50,280 Speaker 2: clear focus from the top, schools have responded and they've 59 00:02:50,320 --> 00:02:53,760 Speaker 2: done an enormously enormous amount of work to get across 60 00:02:53,760 --> 00:02:54,240 Speaker 2: the line. 61 00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:57,760 Speaker 1: So this wasn't actually about you think less about funding 62 00:02:58,000 --> 00:03:00,119 Speaker 1: more just about what people were focusing on. 63 00:03:00,960 --> 00:03:02,480 Speaker 2: Well, it's a bit of both. I mean, we did 64 00:03:02,520 --> 00:03:04,000 Speaker 2: put some funding in and we did go to one 65 00:03:04,040 --> 00:03:06,040 Speaker 2: hundred and forty one schools and say, look, you guys 66 00:03:06,080 --> 00:03:10,680 Speaker 2: are the ones we've targeted, we've assessed as needing targeted interventions, 67 00:03:10,680 --> 00:03:12,840 Speaker 2: and we did invest in those schools and those teachers. 68 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:16,200 Speaker 2: But I think more of it is the fact that 69 00:03:16,240 --> 00:03:18,240 Speaker 2: we have had a focus on this. If you look 70 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:20,359 Speaker 2: over the last six years of the previous government, they 71 00:03:20,440 --> 00:03:23,920 Speaker 2: defunded maths PLD for goodness sake, it wasn't a priority. 72 00:03:24,480 --> 00:03:27,800 Speaker 2: Every breath I take, every word I speak is reading, writing, 73 00:03:27,880 --> 00:03:30,400 Speaker 2: maths and achievement. And schools have responded. 74 00:03:30,760 --> 00:03:33,000 Speaker 1: So you mentioned in your statement, you say the government's 75 00:03:33,000 --> 00:03:35,800 Speaker 1: two point two million dollar investment in twenty twenty four 76 00:03:35,960 --> 00:03:39,000 Speaker 1: to provide targeted support to students in the low DEESCTYLE 77 00:03:39,040 --> 00:03:44,320 Speaker 1: schools has resulted in these achieving these assessment achievements. What 78 00:03:44,440 --> 00:03:47,600 Speaker 1: exactly was that money, what did it go to and 79 00:03:47,640 --> 00:03:48,760 Speaker 1: when was it paid out. 80 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:53,560 Speaker 2: It's been ongoing since the end of last year and 81 00:03:53,600 --> 00:03:56,160 Speaker 2: we went to a third party, I believe a third 82 00:03:56,160 --> 00:04:00,960 Speaker 2: party I think it was Evaluation Associates or provide support 83 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:03,280 Speaker 2: for those schools. So they went in and they helped 84 00:04:03,560 --> 00:04:08,360 Speaker 2: teachers work with those students who needed additional support and 85 00:04:08,440 --> 00:04:10,760 Speaker 2: help them with what that looked like. 86 00:04:11,480 --> 00:04:14,160 Speaker 1: So that was the end of last year and Aready 87 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:18,760 Speaker 1: already we're saying that this has had a massive impact. 88 00:04:19,760 --> 00:04:21,280 Speaker 2: I forget the exact date. It wasn't right at the 89 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:22,520 Speaker 2: end of last year. I think it might have been 90 00:04:22,560 --> 00:04:24,400 Speaker 2: the beginning of term for I forget the exact date. 91 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:26,960 Speaker 2: But once we saw the results from last year, we 92 00:04:27,480 --> 00:04:30,200 Speaker 2: realized we knew the names of all of these children 93 00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:33,200 Speaker 2: almost we knew which schools are at. We heat mapped 94 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:34,799 Speaker 2: where they were, and we went to those one hundred 95 00:04:34,800 --> 00:04:36,720 Speaker 2: and forty one schools and said, here is a whole 96 00:04:36,720 --> 00:04:38,480 Speaker 2: lot of support for you to help get these kids 97 00:04:38,520 --> 00:04:41,839 Speaker 2: across the line. But look, that was one of the things. 98 00:04:42,320 --> 00:04:45,320 Speaker 2: I still think that that the schools on their own 99 00:04:45,360 --> 00:04:47,520 Speaker 2: have done a huge amount of heavy lifting. Even without 100 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:50,080 Speaker 2: the schools who haven't had that funding, they've done a 101 00:04:50,160 --> 00:04:52,040 Speaker 2: huge amount of work because of the focus they've had 102 00:04:52,080 --> 00:04:53,880 Speaker 2: on reading, writing, and maths. Because it's been a clear 103 00:04:53,920 --> 00:04:56,520 Speaker 2: directive from this government I think. 104 00:04:56,839 --> 00:04:59,760 Speaker 1: I mean, look, I'm not complaining. I think this is fantastic. 105 00:04:59,800 --> 00:05:02,599 Speaker 1: But just if you're a parent out there listening to this, 106 00:05:02,720 --> 00:05:04,880 Speaker 1: and you know your kids that are like their style school, 107 00:05:05,320 --> 00:05:08,120 Speaker 1: you'll be thinking, what on earth so we can get 108 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:11,240 Speaker 1: a fifteen percentage point increase? Just by telling people that 109 00:05:11,279 --> 00:05:12,440 Speaker 1: they should be doing maths. 110 00:05:12,960 --> 00:05:16,880 Speaker 2: No, well, look, there's been a Look, there's been some 111 00:05:16,920 --> 00:05:18,680 Speaker 2: other things we did as well. I mean, I've made 112 00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:22,000 Speaker 2: it very clear to one of the issues that we 113 00:05:22,040 --> 00:05:25,800 Speaker 2: had was the really difficult language and the tale words 114 00:05:25,800 --> 00:05:28,680 Speaker 2: that they were using in some of those assessments, the 115 00:05:28,760 --> 00:05:31,000 Speaker 2: numerous the assessments, and I said, hey, you need to 116 00:05:31,000 --> 00:05:35,400 Speaker 2: make sure that you are translating the word if it's 117 00:05:35,400 --> 00:05:37,000 Speaker 2: in today, because we've got a whole lot of English 118 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:40,080 Speaker 2: first language speakers at those schools who are migrant children 119 00:05:40,240 --> 00:05:43,960 Speaker 2: or they are their parents are migrants, and their English 120 00:05:44,040 --> 00:05:45,560 Speaker 2: is their second language, and so we need to make 121 00:05:45,600 --> 00:05:51,479 Speaker 2: sure that we are using English words or translating at least. 122 00:05:51,520 --> 00:05:53,760 Speaker 2: I remember. I remember one teacher said to me, I 123 00:05:53,800 --> 00:05:56,000 Speaker 2: had an international student or a migrant student who said, 124 00:05:56,320 --> 00:05:58,400 Speaker 2: who is Manuka and why is he sleeping at the 125 00:05:58,400 --> 00:06:01,320 Speaker 2: bottom of the garden when we were talking a Monucah sleeper. Now, 126 00:06:01,360 --> 00:06:02,960 Speaker 2: you and I know what a monuca sleeper is, but 127 00:06:03,000 --> 00:06:06,000 Speaker 2: for an English's second language student, they don't. So there 128 00:06:06,040 --> 00:06:08,080 Speaker 2: were some little tweaks there as well to make sure 129 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:11,840 Speaker 2: we're using words that everybody understands. So it's less about 130 00:06:11,920 --> 00:06:15,800 Speaker 2: understanding the word and more about the actual numeracy component 131 00:06:15,880 --> 00:06:17,960 Speaker 2: as well, But that was only a very small part 132 00:06:17,960 --> 00:06:19,840 Speaker 2: of it. I think for most part it was that 133 00:06:19,880 --> 00:06:21,960 Speaker 2: the work that teachers and principles have done with a 134 00:06:22,000 --> 00:06:23,560 Speaker 2: focus on numeracy in the classroom. 135 00:06:23,640 --> 00:06:27,279 Speaker 1: Okay, interesting, appreciate your time, Minister, Erica Stanford Education Ministry. 136 00:06:27,880 --> 00:06:31,080 Speaker 1: For more from Heather Duplassy Allen Drive, listen live to 137 00:06:31,120 --> 00:06:34,279 Speaker 1: news talks'd be from four pm weekdays, or follow the 138 00:06:34,320 --> 00:06:35,960 Speaker 1: podcast on iHeartRadio.