Melissa Chan-Green

Because on equity too, are we not currently actually funding some children to be at school for longer, purely based on when their birthday is?

Yeah, because I was going to ask you, although I don't know that it's really a policy question or a teaching question, but if you have students who don't do any time in year zero and they go straight into year one, either at the beginning of the year or at term two or three, how do you ensure that by year two they have had the same opportunity as those students who perhaps had...

a couple or even three terms of year zero.

But, yeah, I guess that's for a teacher to manage, but that does put more pressure, I guess, on schools for managing that.

Do you know if there is any difference in learning outcomes between those students who spent longer in year zero and those who entered year one later?

Is there any evidence, is that something the Ministry has ever looked at as to whether they do have any difference in educational outcomes?

And I guess that is the tricky thing or more challenging thing about any kind of research like that, isn't it?

That there are so many factors.

You couldn't necessarily say, OK, well, who started in April?

And OK, these are the schools that we'll look at because actually there are just so many variables involved.

Wonderful.

Thank you so much for your time.

That is Andy Jackson.

Thanks so much for tuning in today.

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