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School planning and reporting regulations

School planning and reporting regulations

There are many rules and regulations that school boards must be aware of when developing their strategic plan and reporting on school performance.

This article outlines the main requirements to follow and explains why they are so crucial.

Keep reading to learn more.

What do the regulations require all school boards to do?

The Education (School Planning and Reporting) Regulations 2023open_in_new outline what boards must do and by when.

All state schools and kura (including state-integrated and special character schools) must partner with their school community to develop:

  • A 3-year strategic plan that sets out how the board’s primary objectives will be met.
  • An annual implementation plan that sets annual targets and actions for working towards strategic goals, including how progress will be monitored.
  • An annual report (including a statement of variance) that reports on the school’s progress towards meeting annual and strategic goals, along with how resources are used (especially financial).

What must your board do when it comes to planning and reporting?

A school board strategic plan brings together priorities based on the community’s vision and the Government’s priorities.

That’s why it’s essential for your board to work with its community:

  • Consult with your community (including staff, students and others as needed) as you prepare your planning and reporting documents. 
  • Write all planning and reporting documents in an easily understood way (plain language).
  • Publish your strategic plan, annual implementation plan, and annual report on your website (or a website maintained on behalf of your board).
  • Clearly identify how goals are prioritised and school resources allocated.
  • Identify what measures, evidence, and processes they will use to identify and monitor progress (this should also drive expectations regarding the principal’s reporting to your board).
  • Share your strategic plan with your school community and the Ministry of Education.
  • In annual reports, use quality assessment or aromatawai information to show progress against goals and the National Curriculum (including an analysis of students whose needs have not yet been met).

What due dates should your board be aware of?

In general, you will need to meet the following requirements:

  • By 1 March  
    Publish and submit your strategic plan (only in the first year of your 3-year cycle). The next cycle starts 1 January 2027.
  • By 31 March (every year)
    Publish your annual implementation plan for the current year and send the previous year’s annual financial statements to your auditor.
  • By 31 May (every year)
    Publish your annual report so it’s available to your community and submit it to the Ministry.

Visit the school planning and reporting frameworkopen_in_new page on the Ministry of Education’s website for the current timeline and guidance on submitting and publishing documents.

What support is there to help your board with planning and reporting?

The Ministry of Education has a school planning and reporting frameworkopen_in_new.

The framework aims to enhance planning and reporting practices by enabling school boards, principals, and staff to collaborate with their communities throughout the planning and reporting process.

Because the framework does not define board duties and school management duties, boards must discuss and decide how they might divide these responsibilities.

Your board must have ownership of the plan because it is accountable for strategic planning.

Neither the principal nor staff are ultimately accountable for ensuring the school achieves its goal – that responsibility sits with your board.

Questions your board could ask

  • Do we need help implementing these requirements?
  • If so, have we reached out to GovHub for advice and support?
  • Do we know where to find the planning and reporting regulations and requirements? 
  • Does our planning process emphasise the need to consult with everyone in our community, especially those with students whose needs have not yet been well met
  • Does our current school website have the capacity to support uploading and sharing our strategic plan, annual implementation plan, and annual reports?
  • Do we understand what “plain language” looks like to our community?
  • Will we require more than one version of a document to make it available to all our community members?
  • How can we do that in a timely and accurate way?

Templates, resources, and references 

Click on the link(s) below to access this topic’s templates, resources, and references.

Depending on your device, these may download or open in a separate browser.

Ministry of Education
Education and Training Act 2020
Other legislation