Ministry-funded Aromatawai PLD
Deepen aromatawai practice grounded in mana and whanaungatanga.
Why aromatawai matters for your kura
High-quality assessment is central to effective teaching and learning. When assessment is clear, dependable, and purposeful, it helps teachers and leaders make confident decisions that improve outcomes for learners.
Evaluation Associates | Te Huinga Kākākura Mātauranga is an approved Ministry of Education PLD provider, with 29 experienced facilitators ready to work alongside schools nationwide. Each facilitator is an accredited educator with deep knowledge of assessment pedagogy, leadership, and data use.
Through this Ministry-funded Professional Learning and Development (PLD), you can strengthen your school’s assessment practices, data literacy, and leadership capability. The aim is simple: build sustainable assessment systems that make learning visible, equitable, and measurable across your school.
Assessment, when well understood and well used, creates clarity about what matters most in learning. It allows teachers and leaders to identify where learners are, plan next steps, and evaluate the impact of their teaching.
What's funded?
This fully funded PLD runs across one school year. It provides:
six full days of in-school professional learning, facilitated on site with your kaiako
eight community of practice sessions, connecting kaiako and tumuaki to share strategies, strategies, reflect on progress, and deepen understanding.
Your facilitator will work alongside you in your kura, through wānanga, in-class observations, coaching, and collaborative planning — supporting you to design and embed aromatawai practices that reflect your local context and aspirations.
How we'll work with you
Each kura’s aromatawai journey is unique. Your facilitator will begin by listening — building relationships and understanding your kura’s needs, goals, and aspirations.
Using the Ministry’s kaiako and tumuaki rubrics, we’ll work together to:
identify your current strengths and focus areas
co-design a professional learning plan that reflects your kura’s kaupapa and marau ā-kura
develop measures to track progress and celebrate growth
build collective capability across kaiako, ākonga, and tumuaki.
This mahi may include wānanga-style sessions, leadership hui, in-class observations, and practice analysis conversations. It’s iterative, relational, and responsive — grounded in ako, where we learn with and from each other.
What you can expect
Through this PLD, kaiako strengthen confidence, clarity, and fluency in aromatawai practice. Ākonga develop greater agency through meaningful assessment experiences. Tumuaki and leaders embed systems and processes that make dependable evidence visible and useful. Whānau become active partners in learning — their voices and aspirations shaping what success looks like for every mokopuna.
A typical PLD journey includes:
strategic planning with tumuaki to align goals and actions
wānanga for kaiako on frameworks such as Rukuhia Rarangahia and Te Puāwaitanga Harakeke
classroom observations and coaching that connect theory to practice
reflection and evaluation cycles that make progress visible across the kura.
Why choose us
For more than two decades, Evaluation Associates | Te Huinga Kākākura Mātauranga has supported kura and wharekura to strengthen aromatawai practices that reflect te ao Māori and honour Māori perspectives of success.
Our aromatawai facilitation team — three Ministry-approved facilitators: Hiria Wallace, Melisa Chase, and Bobby Ketu — bring deep expertise in Māori- and dual-medium settings. Collectively they bring:
extensive experience across rumaki, wharekura, and bilingual contexts
deep understanding of kaupapa Māori approaches and te reo matatini me te pāngarau
strong connections to iwi and whānau, and a commitment to dual fluency
proven impact through projects such as Niho Taniwha, Te Manu Ka Rere, and the development of Te Poukapa Āheinga mā te Kaiako me te Ākonga.
Our team is guided by Te Korowai Māori, our strategic Māori leadership rōpū, and led by our Kaihautū Māori, Bobby Ketu, ensuring kaupapa integrity and coherence across all mahi.
This work is supported by the expertise of our Curriculum and Assessment team, led by Garry Taylor, and the infrastructure of our wider organisation — ensuring every kura we work with receives facilitation that is credible, consistent, and responsive.
Impact of our mahi
Aromatawai-focused PLD has shown clear, lasting shifts for kura:
kaiako confident and intentional in gathering, interpreting, and acting on dependable evidence
ākonga achieving and thriving — in their learning, their language, and their identity
whānau active in learning partnerships, shaping what success looks like
tumuaki leading with clarity, embedding evaluative systems that honour community aspirations and te ao Māori values.
This is collective capability in action — built through relationships, shared understanding, and purposeful, evidence-informed practice.
How to apply for Ministry-funded PLD
Kura can apply for Aromatawai PLD through the Ministry of Education’s standard PLD application process.
Once your application is approved, you can select Evaluation Associates | Te Huinga Kākākura Mātauranga as your preferred provider. We’ll work with you to co-design a plan that fits your kura’s context and priorities.
(Link to Ministry PLD application page to be added once available.)
If you’re still planning your application, we’re happy to kōrero and help you identify your starting point.
