NZAPT news
- nzapt5
- Jul 21
- 5 min read
NZAPT Newsletter
A message from the chair!
Kia ora koutou,
I hope the start of the term is going well in your kura. A big thank you to everyone who took the time to contribute to our recent feedback on the draft curriculum—your input gives us a clear picture of what you see students should learn in our subject (and it also kept us from falling victim to the false consensus effect!). It is particularly exciting to see indigenous learning explicitly stated for all teachers to teach and students to learn in the draft New Zealand Psychology curriculum. This directly supports our NZAPT goals of grounding our subject in mātauranga Māori and bicultural practice.
As always, NZAPT is here to support you through our ongoing services, including task critiques, mentoring, and moderation. None of this would happen without our hardworking committee, so a huge thank you to the team for their constant effort behind the scenes.
Looking ahead, derived grade exam resources are incoming, along with a targeted Scholarship PLD session. We are also busy organising our upcoming conference and would love to hear what you would like to see on the programme. If you have any pātai or suggestions, please feel free to drop us an email.
Mā te huruhuru ka rere te manu
(Adorn the bird with feathers so it may fly)
Ngā mihi nui,
Duncan Bond
TermThree PLD events
We are excited to announce our Term Three Professional Learning and Development (PLD) offerings! Our first hui will be held on the 4th August at 7.30 pm. An event for registration will be created shortly, so keep an eye out for the link. The attached image provides a summary of all our Term Three PLD events, giving an overview of the sessions and topics planned for 2026.
Upcoming PD Hui: Derived Grade exam release
A derived grade exam has been written for 2026. This will be released at this hui ready to be used with your ākonga.
Upcoming PD Hui: Scholarship Psychology
Our next hui is a "must-attend" session focused entirely on navigating the Psychology Scholarship Standard.
We are incredibly lucky to have this session facilitated by our chair, Duncan Bond.
You will be provided with takeaway activities and skills needed for q2 and q3.
The 2025 Assessment Report: The report is officially out! It’s currently tucked away inside the "2025 exam material" zip file on the NZQA site You can find the updated exam materials and reports on the NZQA Psychology Scholarship page.
Here is a snapshot of the 2025 Scholarship results:
Total Level 3 Cohort: 2,858 students.
Scholarships Awarded: 44.
Outstanding Scholarships: 6.
Total Success Rate: Approximately 1.75% of the cohort.
These numbers show just how prestigious this award is.
Hui Details:
Date:Tuesday 4th august
Time: 7.30pm
A zoom link will be provided to everyone who has registered on the website the night before the hui.
PPTA grant available
The Learning and Development Centre, thanks to the funding support of the Ministry of Education, is pleased to restart the Subject Association Grant of up to $850 (inc GST) to attend a Subject Association run event.
This grant is to support PPTA members’ professional learning and development through the attendance at subject-specific conferences.
Before applying for a grant, you will need to be pre-approved, so we can confirm the availability of annual funding. The funding agreement covers events run until December 2026 or until all the funds are allocated, whichever comes first.
2026 NZAPT Annual Conference
We are absolutely over the moon to share the exciting news that Victoria University of Wellington will be hosting our annual conference this year at Rutherford building. 19 and 20 November.
Register
Regional Hubs
We want to extend a massive thank you to our incredible team of Regional Hui Coordinators!
These legends volunteer their own time and energy to organise and facilitate our bi-termly regional catch-ups, ensuring that psychology teachers across the country have a space to connect and collaborate locally. Our community is so much stronger because of the work you do behind the scenes-we truly appreciate you!
Want to get involved? If you aren't already part of your local network and would like to join the group for the next catch-up, please reach out to your regional coordinator via email. They’ll make sure you’re added to the loop for all future meeting dates and locations.
1.Northland (Kelly Moselen)
kelly.moselen@wghs.school.nz
2. Auckland Region (Grace Williams)
gwilliams@westlakegirls.school.nz
3. Waikato (Kim Van Der Toorn)
kvandertoorn@hbhs.school.nz
4. Bay of plenty (Sally Jackson)
sallyj@mmc.school.nz
8.Manawatu-Wanganui (Grant Collie)
grant.collie@kotuiako.school.nz
9.Wellington (Stacey Morgan)
mgn@aotea.school.nz
10.Nelson (Adam Crichton)
adam.Crichton@nayland.school.nz
11.Marlborough (Eliot Attridge)
eliot.attridge@mbc.school.nz
14.Canterbury region (Duncan Bond)
bnd@avonside.school.nz
16. Southland - Otago (Jenna Halder)
jennah@csc.school.nz
Regional Spotlight:
The Bay of Plenty crew had a fantastic get-together in Week 8, with kaiako joining us from Aquinas, Tauranga Girls’, Tauranga Boys’, Papamoa College, and Mount Maunganui College.
We had a trip to Waikato University where they facilitated workshops on behavioural interventions and kaupapa māori research methodologies.
We also visited the Tauranga Youth Development centre to chat with psychologists about the impact of local prevention programs.
It was great for our students to work together in small groups.
Massey University Hybrid Field trip 2026
Focus: Fields of Psychology, Therapies and Psychology Scholarship.
Tuesday 25th August 0900-1430
In-person - Massey University Palmerston North Campus with a possible satellite at the Auckland Albany Campus TBC.
Online - Most lecture sessions but no access to workshops.
Programme will be published at the start of week 3 term 3 and this will include a booking form.
There will be a teacher catchup session with a scholarship Q&A during the day as well as a regional teacher hui (those there in person will be treated to Lunch by NZAPT)
To help with planning, please email Grant Collie by the end of Week 1 of Term 3 grant.collie@kotuiako.school.nz with your name, school, number of potential students in-person or online and any specific areas you might like covered (no promises!)
Mentoring Snapshot
Lots of new teachers are currently in the trenches conducting research - a logistically challenging but rewarding standard! At our next session we will discuss how teachers managed this in their spaces and look to share great ideas. Before moving onto fields and exploring the wonderful “real life” applications of psychological theories. We are so grateful to have teachers who are enthusiastic about teaching psychology, and we can see what a difference it makes.
Moderation and Task critique
This year, we are pleased to continue offering a free moderation service. If you wish to have your work moderated, please email it to nzapt@hotmail.com. There will be a limit of 6 samples of student work per standard and we will need to apply per school limits if demand exceeds our capacity. Therefore, we encourage you to connect with the psychology teachers in your local region to moderate for each other.
New Assessment? Use Our Task Critique Service
We know how much mahi goes into designing a fresh assessment. To help you feel confident that your materials are setting students up for success, NZAPT offers a Task Critique Service.
If you’ve developed a new assessment task, you can send it to us for a "second pair of eyes." We provide constructive feedback on both the task instructions and the marking scheme to ensure they are robust and aligned.
Simply email your assessment to nzapt@hotmail.com and one of our experienced kaiako will get back to you with feedback and moderation support.
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