PLD for structured literacy & te reo matatini approaches PLD for structured literacy & te reo matatini approaches

 The Ministry is funding professional learning and development (PLD) for structured approaches to literacy and te reo matatini.

This PLD will support teachers to use structured literacy, including phonemic awareness, systematic synthetic phonics knowledge, fluency, comprehension, oral language, vocabulary, syntax, and text structure for the purpose of reading and writing. It will also support teachers to understand the principles of explicit and intentional teaching, including being systematic, precise, repeated and varied, cumulative, diagnostic, responsive, and the gradual release model.

This support will be available in Term 3 2024, initially focusing on year 0-3 teachers and becoming available to year 4-6 teachers during 2025.

This PLD will be offered through providers who have been quality-assured by the Ministry.

Schools will be able to apply to participate in this PLD and select an approved provider of their choice – subject to provider capacity.

PLD will be delivered over three school terms and comprises the following as a minimum over two phases:

• Core delivery: 3 full day facilitated workshops, and 4 communities of practice (over one term)
• Maintenance and support: 4 communities of practice (over two terms)

 The delivery of PLD can include face-to-face and/or virtual/remote delivery, and will run in cohorts. For the 2024 school year, cohort details are:

Schools and kura can apply on a per-teacher basis for participation in the PLD. PLD for up to twenty participants can be requested.

If participation is approved, schools and kura will be able to approach and select an approved provider to enrol their participants in the PLD.

PLD costs will be paid directly to providers by the Ministry.

Applications are currently closed for Cohort 1, 2024. Refer to key dates below for cohort and application round dates.

Funding for Teacher Release Days (TRDs)
Teacher release funding will be provided for the 3 full day facilitated workshops. This funding will be calculated on approval of successful funding applications and will be paid to schools and kura directly following the core delivery phase of PLD.

Note: teacher release funding will only be provided for participants that are full-time or part-time teachers, and staff employed at the school in a Limited Authority to Teach (LAT).

For the initial cohorts beginning in 2024, the PLD will only be accessible to Years 0-3 teachers, including: 

• Full time or part-time teachers
• Staff employed on a Limited Authority to Teach (LAT)
• RTLit/RTLB, reading recovery teachers and other specialist staff attached to the school
• Regular relieving teachers

Priority will be given to teachers who have had no prior training in structured teaching approaches for literacy or te reo matatini.

All state and state-integrated schools and kura nationwide are welcome to apply.  

All state/integrated schools with teachers in Years 0–3 who have not yet received structured literacy PLD are eligible for this PLD. If a school already has teachers trained in structured literacy approaches, this does not exclude the school from applying for this PLD for their untrained teachers.

The following providers have been approved to deliver PLD for schools and kura who have been approved to participate in PLD for structured literacy and te reo matatini approaches.

Information about each provider’s offering can be found on their website.

Schools and kura approved for PLD will need to contact their chosen provider directly to enrol. Providers will require the approved funding application reference number (ARN) to accept enrolment – the ARN can be found in the approval confirmation email.

Schools and kura will need to ensure they have enrolled with their chosen provider by the deadline – refer to key dates below for enrolment deadlines.

Please note that any emails regarding the status or outcome of your application will be sent from an email address with the @Salesforce.com domain – please ensure you are checking your junk/spam email folders.

If you have questions about the PLD or about an application, please contact PLD.Enquiries@education.govt.nz

Cohort 1 2024

Cohort 2 2024 - indicative (to be confirmed)