Updates
The latest from A Better StartQ&A with Dr Nick Bowden
Nick leads the big data analysis of 'resilient teen' outcomes and is part of the ‘Big Data’ team at A Better Start National Science Challenge. Nick is a Research Fellow at the Department of Women’s and Children’s Health within the Dunedin School of Medicine at the...
EXPERT OPINION: Addressing school start times for the health and wellbeing of teens in Aotearoa
Members of the School Start Time Study Advisory Group: Sleep-In to Stay Well Members: Charmaine Barber, Sarah Hetrick, Liza Edmonds, Rachael W Taylor, Mohamed Alansari, Leigh Signal, Jillian Haszard, Jacinta Oldehaver, Barbara Galland. Sarah Hetrick and Racheal...
EIT | Te Pūkenga researcher relishes working on worthwhile project in home region.
Dr Rachael Glassey is a Senior Research Fellow in the newly created Te Kura I Awarua Rangahau Māori Centre at EIT | Te Pūkenga. Rachael, 33, joined EIT | Te Pūkenga last year to work on a community research project, Nourishing Hawke’s Bay: He wairua tō te kai. She...
EXPERT OPINION: Literacy expert dissects new literacy, numeracy model & National Parties education policy
Literacy expert dissects new literacy, numeracy model & National's education policy The National Party has released its education policy, the same week a government document redefining the curriculum has also been released, termed a common-practice model. This...
Read our August update
Say hello to our August 2022 update. Read it HERE Find out about our new innovative sleep trial for babies; what teachers and schools think of our literacy programme which is being rolled out nationwide; watch our latest child health and wellbeing webinars; read...
Evidence-based support for parents of autistic children
A new research project is underway to provide evidence-based support for parents of autistic children. Researchers will evaluate whether web-based content and online virtual coaching interventions can support autistic children with their social communication, as...
Wanted: 600 babies for innovative sleep trial
Six hundred babies and their whānau are being recruited for an innovative new sleep study in Aotearoa. The Moemoeā study, funded by A Better Start National Science Challenge, will provide babies and their families with a sleep intervention toolkit to test over six...
Watch: Child oral health webinar
WATCH THE WEBINAR HERE Discover the latest research in child oral health in this webinar hosted by A Better Start National Science Challenge and Whānau Āwhina Plunket. Children's oral health is a major issue in NZ, with nearly half of all five year olds showing...
Waikato schools to trial movement skills intervention
A traditional Māori game will be trialled in Waikato schools as a way to improve children’s cognitive and psychosocial development. Researchers will investigate how Ki-o-Rahi – a pre-European Māori team game – can improve early development of fundamental movement...
Young learners benefit from new literacy approach
A comprehensive programme to lift the literacy skills of all learners in their first year at school is having "out of this world" results, says a Waikato principal. The Better Start Literacy Approach (BSLA) was developed by Professors Gail Gillon and Brigid McNeill...
Watch: Beyond the ABCs of Vitamin D webinar
WATCH THE WEBINAR Discover the latest in childhood Vitamin D deficiencies in this webinar hosted by A Better Start National Science Challenge, Cure Kids and the Paediatric Society of New Zealand. Vitamin D influences many aspects of a child’s growth and...
Kia ora to our new Science Advisory Panel members
Welcome to our two new Science Advisory Panel members, Professor Terryann Clark and Professor Harriet Hiscock. We are privileged to have them share their knowledge as part of A Better Start's international Science Advisory Panel (SAP). The SAP provides the...