NZ teens record record low scores maths and science.

I'm going to lay the blame for this at the feet of Anne Tolley & Hekia Parata:
* the dropping of Numeracy advisors to focus on National Sandards has had a huge impact
* a lack of PLD in maths available https://www.rnz.co.nz/national/programmes/morningreport/audio/2018776300/nz-teens-record-record-low-scores-maths-and-science

I also strongly believe the focus by so many schools on "topic themes" has meant the rotation of science topics has fallen off the edge, therefore students are not getting a broad coverage of science concepts and skills.
Let's get back to those fun but informative science topics.

Training in the Numeracy Project seems to have fallen by the wayside. It is a very good component of a balanced maths programme.
I did met one of the NP writers a few years ago who said NP wasn't being implemented appropriately & this appears to be true.

It seems many of my profession are solely focused on Add/Sub & Mult/Div and not on the other strands. Too much emphasis on ability groups means some kids read Y7 before encountering fractions. I have tried so hard this year to talk fractions with my Y3/4s as I saw the weakness...

...in my own assessments of my students in recent years.
I also began Math Talks last year to expose my lower level maths learners to a greater range of maths concepts and to see how kids would solve various problems.

The killing of the Advisory Service has been devastating for the teaching of science. Several private firms to support schools with science have popped up, but most require a financial outlay that can be challenging for schools.