Author: Press Room

Opinion: The Ministry of Education’s new maths curriculum will result in poorer results, and risk damaging children’s self-confidence, disappointing parents, and placing the blame on teachers, write David Pomeroy and Lisa Darragh.If the recent news of a new mathematics and statistics curriculum for years 0–10 felt familiar, that’s because it was.In term four last year, the Ministry of Education released a previous new maths (and English) curriculum for Years 0–8, to be implemented from term one this year.Schools must use the latest new curriculum from term one next year. This will be the third curriculum for primary and intermediate schools…

A Christchurch woman who felt life was no longer worth living has become the first person to take clinically prescribed psilocybin to help treat her depression. Gill Higgins reports.For decades, Alice Brent has lived under the heavy weight of depression – a relentless illness that no medication, therapy, or effort could shift.’Everything ceased to exist’: Watch this story on TVNZ+“I think I was first diagnosed when I was about 18,” she says. “It’s never gone away. It starts with feeling kind of devoid of any emotion… and it can get to a point where it’s just despair.”Alice Brent (Source: 1News)There…

TSB has undercut all the other major banks by dropping its one-year fixed mortgage rate today. The bank announced this morning it would reduce the one-year fixed rate to 4.39% per annum.TSB’s new rate was down 10 basis points, from the previous rate of 4.49%, and would be available for those with at least 20% deposit. The other major banks are offering 4.49% for one-year. Earlier this month, all the major banks lowered their floating rates after the Reserve Bank slashed the official cash rate (OCR) by 50 basis points.They all then moved on fixed term rates. The morning’s headlines…

More than six in 10 young EU citizens say they use social media platforms to follow daily content on social and political current affairs, according to new figures from Eurobarometer. The study follows a declaration signed earlier this month by each EU country, except Estonia and Belgium, calling for stronger protections for children online and backing a minimum age for children to access social media. EU ministers said they will explore whether further measures are needed to complement existing EU rules, since they state minors are increasingly at risk of being exposed to illegal, harmful, and extremist content, and “require…

A significant milestone has been reached in the Mt Messenger Bypass Te Ara o Te Ata project on State Highway 3 in Taranaki.A 110 tonne excavating machine, called Hinetūparimaunga, has broken through at the northern end of the project’s 235 metre-long tunnel.Hinetūparimaunga — named after the atua for mountains and cliffs — emerged to karakia from project partners Ngāti Tama and the applause of staff and assembled dignitaries braving the rain for a glimpse of history in the making.Ngāti Tama general manager, Te Amoroa Clifton, evoked the legacy of Dame Whina Cooper when expressing the day’s significance to iwi members.”Today…

From help with mundane admin tasks to seeking out relationship advice, internet users are increasingly turning to AI chatbots for life tips. But can you really use AI for voting advice, and can it be trusted with democracy? The Dutch Data Protection Authority (AP) has said no, warning that AI tools such as ChatGPT and Gemini can be unreliable and prone to bias, ahead of the country’s snap elections scheduled for 29 October. The AP recently published a study in which it fed four chatbots — ChatGPT, Gemini, Grok and Le Chat — 200 typical voting profiles per political party…

The morning’s headlines in 90 seconds, including Hurricane Melissa makes landfall, the new low mortgage rate from a smaller bank, and new research into whether gluten is the dietary devil it’s made out to be. Hurricane Melissa has arrived in Jamaica with winds up to 300km per hour. Israel has launched new strikes on Gaza amid a dispute over the return of hostage remains. More measles cases are expected as the current outbreak grows to 11. TSB has dropped one of its mortgage rates to an industry leading low. Three Christchurch supermarkets will begin trialling facial recognition software from today.…

New Zealand’s very first all-female professional firefighter calendar has been launched. Thirteen firefighters from nine stations across three cities posed for the Wāhine Toa Firefighter Calendar, with money raised going to a charity for breast cancer research. Calendar co-organisers Nicole Koch and Zoe Feau spoke to Breakfast about the strength, pride, and femininity of those on the frontline. The Wāhine Toa Firefighter Calendar brings together 13 firefighters from nine stations across three cities. (Source: Breakfast)“Zoe and I were actually on shift together, we were talking about the men’s calendar and we were like ‘why isn’t there a woman’s one?’ So…

Failing to declare an apple in your luggage could soon be an $800 mistake under proposed new fines announced by the Government today. Biosecurity Minister Andrew Hoggard announced several biosecurity updates as part of a draft bill aimed at strengthening protections against invasive pests and diseases. One of the changes was doubling the fine for failing to declare high-risk items like fresh fruit and meat.The proposed fine for high-risk items would increase from the current $400 to $800. Penalties for other goods would remain at $400. “Food and fibre sector export revenue is forecast to reach $61.4 billion in 2026,…

Winston Peters’ official Foreign Minister X account has reshared a post from the Prime Minister about securing a new trade partnership with the single word “We…”, before being deleted. Luxon, who was attending the East Asia Summit in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, posted a photograph of himself linking arms with Southeast Asian leaders.”I’ve just done a deal with Southeast Asian nations that will help grow our economy at home,” the caption began.Peter’s ministerial account reshared the post with one word: “We…”The post was later deleted. It was unclear how long it was live.A screenshot of the since-deleted tweet captured by 1News.…