Contrary to the claims of your columnist Rodney Hide last weekend, the self-described anti-theist, I don't believe prayer to be hocus-pocus.

When Tristan Cosio started school a fortnight ago he was ready and prepped. New school bag? Yes. New lunch box? You bet. Ministry of Health B4 School Check? No.

Primary school students spend nearly an hour each night doing homework, a national survey says, but some parents and teachers question the value of after-school study.

Acting Secretary for Education Peter Hughes has been appointed head of the Ministry of Education.

A pay deal has been signed between the union representing primary and intermediate teachers and the Govt to introduce an allowance for 800 expert teachers worth $4 million.

The report plans for the creation of a "Finishing School for New Zealand Political Aspirants - the Cabbage Boat Academy", writes Toby Manhire.

Anthony Harrison and Latoya Uerata were all smiles this week at Kelvin Rd School as the nationwide roll-out of free dental kits began.

Bullrush and other potentially bruising activities are returning to play as research points to the long-term benefits of scraped knees and the odd broken bone.

School children are being taught how to read and write by watching Hollywood blockbusters with subtitles.

Backers of a controversial scheme to fast-track trainee teachers into classrooms are claiming initial success, with all 16 inaugural graduates passing their first three months as teachers.

The Government will invest $80.5 million of operating funding over four years to lift educational achievement, including funding for behaviour programmes.

The number of children seriously hurt while riding push scooters has skyrocketed with their popularity. More than 6000 under-14s were injured last year.

It's exam time for applicants hoping to run charter schools, the Act Party's competitive prod at state schools which are said to be failing too many Maori, Pacific and other "disadvantaged" kids.

United Future leader Peter Dunne has said he won't support a bill to introduce charter schools. However, the bill will go ahead with National, Act and Maori Party support.

There are no plans to replicate the way Christchurch schools have been rationalised elsewhere in the country, Education Minister Hekia Parata has assured primary school principals.

The 23 children in the classroom at Richmond Road School in Ponsonby are sitting on the mat, just like the kids in any other primary class.

Education Minister Hekia Parata has corrected an answer to Parliament about the resignation of Education Secretary Lesley Longstone.

The Education Minister has accepted there's room for improvement after a rare move from the Ombudsman to investigate Education Ministry consultation processes

The head of secondary school principals has criticised the Government for not doing enough to help schools combat the growing problem of bullying.

The Ministry of Education is bloated, inefficient and making the jobs of principals more difficult, says the outgoing president of the Secondary Principals' Association.

In this environment it almost defies belief that people continue to think they can fool the system, writes Shelley Bridgeman. Anyone who tries to cheat like this is clearly not thinking straight.

Up to half of NZ's primary teachers may not have enough maths knowledge to teach children properly under new methods, says the education expert who introduced the changes.

Kids at Kamo Primary School at the northern end of Whangarei are split down the middle over an offer of free milk from New Zealand's biggest company, Fonterra.

Weekend Herald stories about how children learn maths at school have prompted a flood of responses from readers and experts. Andrew Laxon explains what the argument is about.

The chances of the most disadvantaged students getting any benefit from a PPP school may be no better than the toss of a coin, writes John O'Neill.

Oh-kayyyy. So Mike Williams, a former Labour Party president, calls parents who try to get their kids into higher decile schools "dumb", writes Deborah Hill Cone.

It is many years since our primary schools adopted "new maths".

Stressed primary schools are struggling to fend off enrolment challenges from pushy out-of-zone parents.