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Dr Claire Coleman
[FYI request #33951 email]
30 March 2026
Tēnā koe Claire
OIA: GEMS-47113 – Correspondence related to work on Phase 5 of the
curriculum
Thank you for your email of 4 March 2026 to the Ministry of Education (the Ministry)
requesting the following information:
Copies of emails sent or received by Ministry of Education staff to or from
members of the Phase 5 curriculum contributors group for the arts and
technology subjects, for the period 8 February 2026 to 9 March 2026
(inclusive).
Your request has been considered under the Official Information Act 1982 (the Act).
Initial scoping of your request has revealed in excess of 200 items which would
require manual inspection to identify those in scope. This is likely to amount to
substantial collocation.
To help us process your request as efficiently as possible, and to avoid the need to
consider refusal under section 18(f) of the Act (substantial collation or research), we
would appreciate any clarification you are able to provide. In particular, it would be
helpful to understand whether there is specific information or matters of interest you
are seeking within the scope of your request. Any refinement you can offer will assist
us to focus our efforts and respond in a meaningful and timely way. We would
appreciate receiving your clarification by 8 April 2026.
Please also note that the Ministry no longer has ‘contributor groups’. Instead, Subject
Advisors are working in small, focused teams led by curriculum design experts from
the Ministry to develop the new senior secondary curriculum for Years 11–13.
In the interim, the Ministry needs to extend the timeframe for responding to your
request, under section 15A(1)(a) of the Act, as the request is for a large quantity of
information or necessitates a search through a large quantity of information, and
meeting the original time limit would unreasonably interfere with the operations of the
Ministry. The timeframe is also being extended under section 15A(1)(b) of the Act, as
Wel ington – National Office, PO Box 1666, Wellington 6140
Phone: +64 4 463 8000
education.govt.nz
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consultations necessary to make a decision on the request are such that a proper
response cannot reasonably be made within the original time limit.
Assuming you are able to refine the scope of your request, you can expect to receive
a response on or before 4 May 2026, which is an extension of 20 working days.
You have the right to ask an Ombudsman to review my decision on your request, in
accordance with section 28 of the Act. You can do this by writing to
[email address] or to Office of the Ombudsman, PO Box 10152,
Wellington 6143.
Nāku noa, nā
Cindy McDonald
Principal Advisor
Government, Executive and Ministerial Services
education.govt.nz
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