NZHTA End of Year Pānui 2025

NZHTA End of Year Pānui 2025

Tēnā koutou katoa,

Most history kaiako are in the final few days of their school year or have made it to the holidays! As we close out what has been an intense and demanding year across all schools, we want to acknowledge your commitment to your communities and to the collective kaupapa. The strength of our association lies in the many hands that come together to make sense of these complex national changes, uphold the voice of our communities, and support the wellbeing of our kaiako, tamariki, and rangatahi.

We have yet to make a decision of the proposed NEX funding offered to our association for 2026-2028. We have really valued your input on this and continue to accept responses to this survey here. We plan to make a decision on this early next year.

And that’s a wrap! Please take the well-deserved break ahead to rest, reconnect, and recharge. I have personally really valued the opportunities to travel throughout the motu and meet with so many of you this year and am honoured to continue as your kaiārahi for 2026.

In this pānui:

• Chairperson’s Report 2025 – Craig Thornhill

• NZHTA Conference, Te Matau-a-Māui Hawke's Bay, 8-10 April 2026

• Consultation on the draft Social Sciences curriculum

Ngā mihi o te wā,

Nick Fitness 

NZHTA Kaiārahi

Chairperson's Report – Craig Thornhill

2025 has been another busy year for history kaiako. The release of the draft curriculum has (and will continue to) stirred up much discussion. NZHTA will be asking our members for feedback and advice on what NZHTA's submission to the Ministry will be, but you will have already seen the open letter that the NZHTA Exec sent to the Minister, as well as other media stories. Suffice to say that, as well as our concerns about the amount, the selection of content also appears confused and in several places directly imported from overseas curricula. Mātauranga Māori appears to be totally absent, as is the opportunity to engage with hāpu and iwi with their histories. To describe this curriculum as 'recolonisation' is appropriate. The removal of a conceptual basis for teaching history is concerning, and would not appear to match the Ministry's stated 'Science of Learning' theories.This is not a curriculum for Aotearoa New Zealand in 2025. Many people have pointed out that a similar 'knowledge rich' curriculum ideology was adopted in Britain and that a recent report on that curriculum has identified flaws, with a key one being that the amount of content leads to superficiality and teaching to the assessment, instead of developing deeper knowledge and understanding. When that British curriculum was released, Historian Richard J Evans described it as a "pub quiz, not a curriculum". I urge you all to give feedback to the Ministry through as many channels as you can.

On behalf of all of us, I would like to thank our Kaiārahi Nick Fitness. Nick has worked tirelessly this year, giving advice and guidance to kaiako across the motu. I know that many of you have attended workshops, emailed for assistance, or been the recipient of moderation support from Nick. Tino pai rawa atu Nick! NHZTA has employed a Kaiārahi for the last five years, utilising the Ministry's Network of Expertise Funding. NZHTA made the decision a little while ago that we would continue to fund a Kaiārahi for 2026 and Nick will continue in that role.

Recently the Ministry has announced that while Network of Expertise funding will continue, it will do so at a lower level. The proposed level of funding will not be enough to sustain the level of resourcing we have enjoyed over the last five years; critically, it is not enough to enable NZHTA (or any other NEX) to employ a full-time Kaiārahi. At the same time, the Ministry is asking us to continue to support the implementation of the curriculum. One clause of the proposed contract would require NZHTA to commit to "supporting the direction and intent of the updated learning area content of the NZC and qualification structure". Such a clause did not appear in our earlier contracts. Subsequent Ministry communications have stated that this is "not a gag order". The NZHTA Exec is considering the ramifications of the proposed NEX funding contract and whether NZHTA should accept the funding. Your feedback on this is very welcome.

You will soon see information about proposed changes to NZHTA's Constitution. These changes reflect the commitment that NZHTA made at the 2023 Conference to ensure that we as an organisation are Te Tīriti honouring. You will have the opportunity to get more information, ask questions and make suggestions about these proposed changes. A vote on the changes will occur at the end of Term One next year.

Please enjoy your summer holidays. 2026 promises to be an even busier year.

NZHTA Conference, Te Matau-a-Māui Hawke's Bay, 8-10 April 2026

“Nga mata maha o Rongokako” - The many faces of Rongokako – Perspectives and the changing face of History

Click here to register: REGISTRATION LINK

The NZHTA 2026 Conference Committee is pleased to announce that our upcoming conference will be held in Te Matau-a-Māui Hawke’s Bay from April 8-10, 2026. We are especially honoured to hold this conference on the whenua of Ngāti Kahungunu and Heretaunga Tamatea iwi. Our conference theme speaks to the changing nature of history and how history can be viewed through multiple lenses. Lindisfarne College in Hastings will be the conference venue. The conference will cost $425 for NZHTA members, and $500 for non-members.

We have put together a fantastic group of speakers and presenters including Sir Joe Williams, Dr Michael Belgrave, Christina Nicolaas, Bex Rose and the team from AI Surge, Dr Lloyd Carpenter, Dr Jongwoo Han, Jane Jarman, Kipa Munro, Chair, Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Rēhia, Piripi Smith and many more! We will be running a Kaiako Māori session on Tuesday the 7^th of April.

There will also be opportunities for our members to present workshops, please see the information below about submitting a proposal for a workshop at next year’s conference. There will also be time to socialise and network with other kaiako from around the motu with social events planned including our gala dinner at the Mission Estate Winery on Thursday the 9^th of April.

Please check the conference registration link below to see accommodation recommendations for the conference, with free transport being provided to delegates to travel from accommodation in Napier to Lindisfarne College every day, as well as to the airport at the end of the conference.

The Conference Committee looks forward to seeing everyone next year!

NZHTA 2026 Conference Committee

Consultation on the draft Social Sciences curriculum

You will be able to find this content on Tāhūrangi here and will need to be used from Term 1, 2027. Consultation is now open for the NZC Years 0-10 draft curriculum through to Friday, 24 April 2026. We have been told that the Years 11-13 curricula will be available in Term 1, 2026 to invite wider feedback. 

You can use this Ministry link to share your thoughts using the feedback forms provided: https://newzealandcurriculum.tahurangi.education.govt.nz/y0-10-draft-curriculum-consultation

We have been gathering a large amount of teacher voice through the Term 4 NZHTA workshops. If you haven’t already done so here is the NZHTA survey link – this will stay open through Term 1 next year to gather as much feedback as we can for a NZHTA submission to this draft curriculum.

SURVEY LINK: NZHTA special pānui survey questions

Missed a pānui?

You can find all our previous pānui on our website: https://nzhta.org.nz/