The challenges in a Year 1 class

The challenge I plan to focus on in this inquiry is that many students starting school are not ready for Phase 1 of the new Maths and Literacy curriculums. The expectation in the curriculum is that within six months, students will acquire the foundational skills needed to achieve the stated outcomes. However, evidence from my own practice and collaboration with ECE teachers indicates that this timeframe is for, some tamariki, often not enough to bridge the gap between early childhood education and primary school.

Many students enter school without the necessary early literacy and numeracy skills, such as phonemic awareness, letter recognition, one-to-one correspondence in counting, and basic oral language structures. This lack of readiness makes it challenging for them to engage with structured literacy and numeracy learning from the outset. Without these foundations, students struggle to progress at the expected rate, which can have long-term impacts on their achievement and confidence.

Through my structured literacy approach, tier 2 interventions, and collaboration with ECE teachers, I have seen the positive impact of targeted early support. However, the current curriculum structure does not always align with the needs of students who require more time and support to develop essential pre-literacy and numeracy skills. This inquiry will focus on identifying effective strategies to better support the transition from ECE to school, ensuring that all students can build a strong foundation for success in Phase 1 of the curriculum.

I’ve chosen to focus on this challenge because I’ve noticed a pattern where many students start school without the key literacy and numeracy skills they need for Phase 1 of the new curriculum. The expectation that they’ll catch up within six months isn’t realistic for a lot of them, as they often come in without basics like letter recognition, phonemic awareness, number sense, and one-to-one counting. This gap makes it hard for them to engage in learning straight away and can knock their confidence and progress.

From working closely with ECE teachers, I’ve seen that early intervention and structured support can make a big difference. But even with this, there’s still a need for a smoother transition so that kids arrive at school with the right foundations for literacy and numeracy. This issue is a big one in Manaiakalani schools too, where data shows many students start with low oral language and literacy skills, which affects how well they engage in the Learn, Create, Share approach, which fits perfectly with the Understand, Know and Do model.

For students who don’t yet have strong foundational skills, they need more direct teaching of the basics to fully benefit from these approaches. Across the cluster, early literacy and numeracy achievement is an ongoing challenge, reinforcing the need to strengthen the transition from ECE to primary.

Through this inquiry, I want to explore ways to better support new entrants so they’re ready for Phase 1 of the curriculum. If we can help bridge that gap early, we’ll set them up for success—not just in their first year, but throughout their learning journey in a Manaiakalani school.