Learning Matters Ltd

Congratulations to Tracey Reily from West Melton School in Christchurch, who was the lucky winner of our prize draw at the ICP conference here in Auckland this morning. 🎉

Thank you so much to everyone who came and said hello, shared their stories of success with Learning MATTERS and the results they are seeing for tamariki in their kura, and to everyone we made new connections with.

We’re excited to continue these conversations and strengthen our partnerships with you all.

Ngā mihi nui,
Jo and Fee

Wondering whether iDeaL is right for your school? Now's the perfect time to find out.

Get full access to iDeaL for Schools throughout Term 4, including professional learning, assessment and reporting tools, teaching resources, and leadership support, with no commitment beyond the end of 2026.

Offer closes 25 September.

🔗 Sign up today: https://www.learningmatters.co.nz/ideal-for-schools/

What does effective Structured Literacy implementation actually look like in a real school?

This is your opportunity to see it for yourself.

Our Impact School visits give educators the chance to step inside schools where Structured Literacy is embedded in everyday practice. Observe authentic classroom teaching and learning, hear from educators leading the work, ask questions, and gather practical ideas you can take back to your own setting.

You'll have the opportunity to:
-Observe Structured Literacy in action
- See how effective practice is embedded across a school
- Learn practical implementation strategies from educators doing the work every day
- Reflect alongside colleagues and Learning MATTERS facilitators

We'll be opening the doors to three Impact Schools across Aotearoa this term:
🏫 St Albans School, Christchurch | 20 & 21 October
🏫 Willow Park School, Auckland | 21 October
🏫 Balaclava School, Dunedin | 28 October

If you've been looking for a chance to see successful implementation in practice, we'd love to welcome you.
https://bit.ly/ImpactSchools

Over the years, we've had the privilege of working alongside educators committed to making a difference for learners who need additional literacy support.

LMIT® was developed to support that journey. Over 12 months, participants deepen their understanding of literacy intervention while building practical expertise they can apply directly with the learners they support.

If literacy intervention is the next step in your professional learning journey, our Term 4 intakes are currently open for both Auckland and online cohorts. (Registrations close soon!)

📍 Auckland: Starts 12 October
💻 Online: Starts 19 October

Both our LMIT® Certification and LMIT® Lite pathways are funded by the Ministry of Education for eligible schools.

Learn more and enrol here: https://www.learningmatters.co.nz/lmit/

If you're wondering whether LMIT® is the right fit for you, or have any questions at all, we'd love to hear from you. Send us a message, or get in touch with the team at [email protected]

After more than a decade supporting schools across Aotearoa, we've seen that sustainable improvement comes from having a clear implementation pathway, not trying to do everything at once.

That's why we're running a free webinar, Turning Literacy Change into Action.

We'll be discussing:
- The common challenges schools are navigating right now
- What effective implementation looks like at different stages
- How to identify your most useful next step
- Ways to build consistency and sustain change over time

Our goal is simple: to help you leave with greater clarity and confidence about what comes next.

Register here: https://www.learningmatters.co.nz/turning-literacy-change-into-action-free-webinar/

We'd love to have you join us.

Turning Literacy Change into Action Free Webinar | Learning MATTERS We know there’s a lot for schools to navigate right now, and keeping up with new expectations while supporting teachers and learners can feel overwhelming.

"We all own the data as a TEAM. What are we doing about it?"

Sometimes the most powerful changes begin with a simple question: What can we do differently to make a greater impact for all learners?

Meet Literacy Leaders Annabel and Jo from Sacred Heart Addington.

After attending the Learning is Learning Symposium and hearing Dr Sarah Brown speak about Multi-Tiered System of Supports (MTSS) and strengthening Tier 1 instruction, the team was inspired to take a closer look at their own practice. At the same time, they were analysing mid-year achievement data and realised they weren't seeing the shift they had hoped for.

Their work highlighted an important lesson: accurate assessment, quality data entry, and teacher understanding of data are essential for identifying what students need and determining the most effective teaching response.

Their analysis revealed two clear priorities:
Junior School (New Entrant-Year 3): Decoding, accuracy, and fluency
Middle and Senior School (Years 4-8): Comprehension

With Dr Brown's message in mind that class-wide intervention should provide extra daily practice for all learners, Sacred Heart Addington introduced a consistent Tier 1 intervention block across the school after lunch each day. This is in addition to Tier 1 reading instruction.

What does it look like?

Junior School (15 minutes daily)
- DEDM (Decode, Encode, Decode, Mark) with the Sound Pack
- DEDM concept words from the class text
- Whole-class re-reading of the text

Middle and Senior School (10 minutes daily)
- Buddy reading using the class text from earlier in the day
- Partners read for one minute each before swapping
- Structured discussion using teacher-provided sentence stems
- Comprehension support through summary prompts and KWL (Know, Want to Know, Learned) charts

What stands out most is the school's commitment to using data purposefully. Their goal is not simply to collect data, but to combine it with teaching expertise to make informed decisions and strengthen Tier 1 practice through both instruction and intervention.

As they explained:
"We use data to inform our teaching, alongside our professional judgment. We've created a data planning template that helps us identify small changes that can make a big difference for our learners."

Their mindset says it all:
"We all own the data as a TEAM. What are we doing about it?"

Has your school implemented a Tier 1 intervention? We'd love to hear what's working for you in the comments below.

So, how am I getting on at Harvard? US

I’ve now been in Cambridge for just over a month, and this week the Fall semester really got underway.

I feel incredibly fortunate to have this opportunity. Having dedicated time to learn, think deeply, have some of my thinking challenged, and bring new perspectives back to our work is something I don’t take for granted. I really want to make the most of it.

Already, there is so much that has me thinking about Learning MATTERS and education back home in New Zealand.

I’ve completed three foundational courses in How People Learn, Evidence and Leading Change, and this semester I’m diving into literacy and language development, education policy, global education and equity, and why innovations in education succeed or fail.

And there are some big questions emerging.

Why is it so hard to turn what we know from research into what actually happens in classrooms?

Why do well-intentioned education reforms sometimes fail?

What does it really take to implement change well, not just introduce it?

And how do we make sure the learners who most need our education system to work for them are not the ones who continue to miss out?

After more than a decade working in literacy and education in NZ, I’m finding it fascinating to have the opportunity to examine some of these questions through a completely different lens. I’m also discovering that our little country has plenty to contribute to these conversations too.

There have been some surprises. Pen and paper is very much alive here! Devices are often put away in class, and the difference it makes to conversation, thinking and engagement has really struck me. There might be something in that.

Life outside Harvard is settling down too. I’m beating the streets of Cambridge and Boston at an average of about 5.5km a day, have discovered that the gluten-free food options are outstanding, and am slowly finding my people.

Being this far from home has had its lonely moments as well. I miss my family, friends and the LM team enormously, but I know what a special opportunity this is and I’m determined to make it count.

Now the real study begins!

Over the coming months, I’d love to share some of what I’m learning and, importantly, what it might mean for literacy, leadership, implementation and education in New Zealand.

I suspect there will be plenty for us to talk about.❤️ - Carla

What should your school's next literacy step be?

There is a lot happening in literacy right now, from curriculum changes and assessment updates to growing knowledge around evidence-informed practice.

Schools are working hard to make informed decisions that support better outcomes for learners but knowing where to focus first can be challenging.

Join Ange Scoullar and Louise Payne for our free webinar, Turning Literacy Change into Action, as they explore a practical literacy implementation pathway to help schools identify their next step.

📅 Tuesday, 15 September at 3:30pm
🔗 Register here: https://bit.ly/TurningLiteracyChangeintoAction

A huge welcome to the newest cohort of teachers beginning their LMIT® journey in Hamilton!

We were delighted to spend time with such a fantastic group of educators, representing a mix of Year 0-6 and Year 7-10 teachers. While the training room temperature may have been more suited to Antarctica than the Waikato, it certainly didn't dampen anyone's enthusiasm for learning and growth.

Great conversations, rich professional learning, and some excellent food made for a wonderful start. We look forward to following this group's learning journey and seeing the positive impact they make for their students.

One of the things we hear most often from participants is that LMIT® is the best professional learning they have ever undertaken. The combination of practical strategies, an evidence-informed approach, and immediate classroom application continue to make a real difference.

LMIT® is designed to build teachers' knowledge, confidence, and capability to deliver effective literacy intervention. Participants leave with practical tools they can use straight away, along with a deeper understanding of how to support learners who need additional literacy support.

If you're looking for professional learning that strengthens literacy intervention practice and helps accelerate learner progress, we'd love to have you join us in Term 4. There are Ministry-funded Auckland and online intakes available, providing flexible options for teachers and schools across Aotearoa.

Enrol in LMIT® :
https://www.learningmatters.co.nz/lmit/

We love receiving feedback like this! It’s a great reminder of how powerful it is to step into another school, see effective practice firsthand, and bring those ideas back to your team.

Want to see what whole-school consistency actually looks like in practice? Join our next Impact Schools event at Balaclava School (Dunedin) on 14–15 September.

Registrations close this Wednesday!

🔗 Details & registration: https://bit.ly/ImpactSchools