This paper grew out of work NZCER’s science education team did for the Prime Minister’s Science Advisor. That work, entitled Inspired by Science, was published as part of Looking Ahead: Science Education for the Twenty-First Century (Office of the Prime Minister’s Science Advisory Committee, 2011).

This report sets out to both inform NZCER’s ongoing work in the area and to contribute to a wider debate about how primary science education in New Zealand might best be strengthened. We describe what we think quality primary science education looks like, and suggest some strategies through which this could be achieved.