10 signatures reached
To: The Minister of Education and the Ministry of Education (Aotearoa New Zealand)
Stop early labelling in primary school reports (2026)
We are asking the Minister of Education and the Ministry of Education to:
- Pause the introduction of national reporting labels for children in Years 0–2 from 2026
- Remove fixed labels such as Emerging, Developing, Proficient, and Exceeding from early primary school reports
- Retain narrative, strengths-based reporting that allows teachers to describe children’s learning, progress, and wellbeing without ranking or labelling
This change would ensure early reporting reflects developmental research, supports wellbeing, and allows teachers to communicate learning in ways that recognise normal variation in early childhood development.
Why is this important?
From 2026, primary schools will report children’s learning using national labels:
Emerging · Developing · Consolidating · Proficient · Exceeding
For children aged 5–7, this approach is developmentally inappropriate. Learning at this age develops unevenly, at different rates for different children, and early labels often reflect developmental readiness and support needs rather than true understanding or potential.
This matters because:
- Early learning is non-linear
Children aged 4–7 show wide, normal variation in attention, language, memory, and self-regulation. Progress does not happen in neat stages. - The labels describe support levels, not learning ability
Terms like Emerging and Developing explicitly reference the amount of support a child needs, which risks equating support needs with lower ability. - Children within the normal developmental range are labelled
Many children will sit in Developing or Consolidating simply because their learning is still forming, not because they are behind. - “Developing” and “Consolidating” are easily read as deficit
For whānau, these labels are easily interpreted as “not meeting expectations”, even when development is typical. - Neurodivergent children are particularly disadvantaged
These children may understand concepts but struggle to demonstrate learning in standardised ways due to differences in communication, processing speed, regulation, or anxiety. - Wellbeing and confidence are affected
Early labelling can undermine confidence, increase stress, and discourage children from taking learning risks. - This approach has caused harm before
New Zealand previously moved away from national benchmarking systems after evidence showed they narrowed learning and negatively affected wellbeing.
Early learning should focus on growth, relationships, and support, not categorising children on a national scale.