Education Minister Erica Stanford is heading to New South Wales on Wednesday with an education delegation of 15 principals and deputy principals to attend the Maths Fact Fluency Masterclass and the Explicit Mathematics Conference.

The trip is framed around the Government’s focus on “explicit” or structured teaching, which Stanford says is central to lifting maths achievement and closing equity gaps. “Teaching maths brilliantly is absolutely central to that,” she said, adding the delegation would learn from Australian experts and practitioners who have driven similar changes across NSW schools.

Sessions in NSW will cover how explicit mathematics instruction has been rolled out at system, school and classroom levels; the impacts seen so far; community and whānau engagement; challenges encountered; lessons learned; and practical guidance for schools at the start of the journey. Stanford said she would also share the Government’s plan to raise achievement and “follow the research and evidence on how children learn best.”

The Minister travels on Wednesday 18 March and returns Saturday 21 March.

The release does not specify which schools the principals and deputies represent, how they were selected, the cost of the trip, or whether any formal agreements or pilots are expected to follow.