The Wire with Caeden

From 2026 the government will introduce standardised testing for reading, writing and maths across all primary schools.

Year one students will be required to sit phonics tests at 20 and 40 weeks of schooling and years 3-6 will be required to take PAT and e-asTTle. Around 60% of schools already use this type of testing.

The reason for the introduction of testing is to improve education levels which are not up to standard, according to Prime Minister Christopher Luxon.

Education minister Erica Standford stated testing is important to keep parents informed about their child’s progress. Stanford continued that the tests will allow teachers and principals with the data to track in aggregate their school’s performance.

Producer Elle spoke to Faculty of Education and Social Work PhD student Tom Pearce about the policy.

This week on Dear Science, Wire host Castor chatted to Professor Allan Blackman about fighting cancer with gold nanoparticles, trends in the melodies of popular music, and NASA's fake Mars mission. 

This story mentions eating disorders and disordered eating. 

A new study from researchers at the University of Auckland has found that there was an increase in hospital admissions for eating disorders during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The study found that 10-19 year old girls with diagnoses of anorexia nervosa had the most significant increase; and that Māori had proportionately more hospital admissions for eating disorders than others.

Admissions for other mental health disorders mostly stayed the same or decreased during the pandemic.

Josef spoke to Dr David Menkes, an Academic Psychiatrist at the University of Auckland and co-author of the study, about the study’s findings and what can be done to avoid similar spikes in the future.

If you need support, talking to someone you know or contacting formal support services can be helpful. For support, call the Eating Disorder Association New Zealand 0800 2 EDANZ or (09) 5222 679. Or you can free call or text 1737 any time to speak to a trained counsellor, for any reason

Children in New Zealand have among the highest rates of screen use in the world, with Māori and low socioeconomic-background young people over-represented. 

A group of researchers have come up with advice on children’s screen use to better assist educators in Aotearoa to balance health risks of digital technologies with educational benefits.

Wire host Sofia spoke to the lead author, masters researcher at the University of Auckland and paediatric physiotherapist, Julie Cullen, about this advice, starting the interview asking her about the main risks this research identified that are of concern when it comes to digital technology use by children and young people.