Introducing New Zealand’s education portal

The portal is a “beta” release, which means it’s not finished yet and is currently in a testing phase. Feedback from teachers, other people working in the education sector, and anyone else who uses the portal, will help inform how it is developed to ensure it is heading in the right direction. Visit education.govt.nz take a good look around, and use the feedback form to let the project team know what’s working well, what could be done better, and what you’d like to see next.

Information on the portal is organised with the aim of helping people find what they need and carrying out tasks as easily and quickly as possible. The basic structure of the portal begins with the ages and stages of the New Zealand education system (0–6 years, early childhood; 5–19 years, school; 16+ years, further education). Research has shown that most audience groups find this to be the most useful place to start.

The portal’s structure can be thought of as a framework that will continue to develop, including in response to feedback. At this stage, while a lot of the content on the portal is self-contained, many links within pages will take you to content on other websites. Before the wealth of content on these other websites is reviewed and transitioned to the portal, it’s important to make sure the basic framework is working well.

The content that has been prioritised for the beta launch of the portal was determined through website analytics and research. Perhaps not surprisingly, for the most part it’s the simple things people want to know about most often – around 50 per cent of search terms across the Ministry’s primary website (www.minedu.govt.nz) are for school terms and holidays! This ‘top task’ information features prominently on the homepage of the new portal.

Check out education.govt.nz and let the project team know what you think, either by using the feedback form on the portal, or by emailing web.channel@education.govt.nz