Heather Lewis
Based in Tamaki Makaurau | Auckland, Heather is an experienced education consultant with over two decades of experience in New Zealand’s primary education sector.
Heather is approved to deliver Ministry of Education PLD in the following areas:
Structured literacy approaches
Mathematics (Years 0–8)
Assessment
She also works with schools in the following areas:
Accelerating learning
Universal Design for Learning (UDL)
Curriculum and assessment development
Data literacy and analysis and data literacy
Coaching and mentoring/collaborative planning
Teaching as inquiry
Practice analysis
Supporting and growing leaders and middle leaders
Heather is a nationally respected mathematics facilitator with experience supporting schools, kāhui ako, and Ministry-led initiatives.
She is currently the National Lead for mathematics, working in collaboration with the Ministry of Education to provide strategic thought and design input for PLD for the refreshed mathematics and statistics curriculum. Heather has been national leader of Accelerating Learning in Mathematics (ALiM) and Mathematics Support Teachers (MST). She has presented at conferences for Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia, the Mathematical Association of Victoria and NZ Association of Mathematics Teachers.
In 2025, Heather designed a 12-week progamme for the Ministry of Education to accelerate learning for students in years 7 and 8 in mathematics. She has also authored Ministry of Education mathematics resource Accelerating progress in maths and stats – Teacher guidance which is published on Tāhūrangi.
Heather leads the Mathematics Reference Group at Evaluation Associates | Te Huinga Kākākura Mātauranga, guiding over 100 consultants in evidence-based practice aligned with the New Zealand Curriculum.
In literacy, Heather brings expertise in structured approaches and culturally sustaining pedagogy. She has been Project Manager for the ALL (Accelerating Learning in Literacy) programme across Tai Tokerau, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, and Wellington, focused on building teacher capability in structured literacy practices and data-informed instruction.
Heather is also a nationally recognised assessment facilitator, with expertise across formative, diagnostic, and evaluative practices. She has led assessment-focused PLD for over a decade, including facilitation of Curriculum Progress Tools, PaCT, e-asTTle, and PAT. Her work includes designing moderation processes, developing rubrics, and leading narrative assessment projects. Heather’s facilitation empowers educators to interpret data meaningfully, co-construct learning goals with whānau, and embed assessment for learning across the curriculum, ensuring measurable gains in student outcomes and teacher practice.She holds a Bachelor of Education (Primary) and Bachelor of Arts from the University of Auckland, and the IDA accredited Cox Campus Structured Literacy Programme certification.
Heather is married with three daughters who are studying and exploring the world. She enjoys beach walks with the dog, cooking, and entertaining.
Blogs:
PLD consultant Heather Lewis shares strategies to help students build positive relationships with mathematics.
As schools look to choose new structured mathematics resources, many principals are evaluating the textbook-based programmes being offered by the Ministry of Education. We’ve fielded calls from principals, deputy principals, and mathematics leads across the country asking us for advice on which materials to choose. With a short deadline for decision-making, I’ve outlined some key considerations for those thinking about using mathematics textbooks and programmes to support teaching.