20/09/2026
There is much in this announcement for our early childhood sector to pause and think about.
The headline focuses on ending screen use in ECE. Yet in my experience, the majority of early childhood settings are not placing mokopuna in front of screens as a substitute for relationships, play, conversation or hands-on learning. This framing risks creating a problem that does not accurately represent the thoughtful practice happening across much of our sector.
My greater concern is the proposal to introduce “clear and measurable developmental milestones” throughout ECE, require settings to report children’s progress against them, and introduce a new School Start Check.
We already have the B4 School Check. This is a health and development check carried out through the health system, with the purpose of identifying concerns and connecting mokopuna and whānau with further support where needed.
The proposed School Start Check feels quite different. It would bring together information gathered against prescribed milestones throughout the time a tamaiti has in ECE and provide whānau and schools with a picture of how “ready” that tamaiti is to begin school.
Although we are told it would not be a pass-or-fail test, once milestones are described as clear, measurable and age-appropriate and progress against them must be regularly reported - they risk becoming a checklist of what every tamaiti should know or be able to do by a particular age.
The policy says these milestones will be drawn from Te Whāriki and Kōwhiti Whakapae. Yet the phases within Kōwhiti Whakapae are deliberately not age-based. Turning them into age-related measures changes the intent of the resource and risks narrowing our holistic, strengths-based curriculum - not to mention the statement in Te Whāriki ‘ā tōnā wā’.
Te Whāriki offers us an image of the child as competent, confident and connected to their whānau, culture and community. It recognises that learning is complex, holistic and shaped by relationships - not a linear journey through universal milestones.
Of course we should notice when a tamaiti may benefit from additional support, and timely access to that support matters. But recognising and responding to an individual tamaiti is very different from measuring every tamaiti against standardised expectations.
Early childhood education is not simply preparation for school.
Perhaps the question should not be, “Is this tamaiti ready for school?”
Perhaps it should be, “Is the school ready to recognise, welcome and build from the strengths, identities, languages, cultures and experiences this tamaiti brings?”
ECE kaiako are doing amazing mahi across Aotearoa supporting the uniqueness of each tamaiti while our feet are standing firmly secure on our curriculum Te Whāriki - recognised internationally for its holistic, bicultural and strengths-based approach to the learning and development of mokopuna.
Ko te ahurei o te tamaiti, me ārahi i ā tātou mahi.
Lynn Rupe
The National Party wants to end the use of digital screens in early childhood education and introduce new skill-level checks for young students before they enter primary school.
