Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report
Background
This Profile Report was written within 12 months of the Education Review Office and St Joseph’s Catholic School (Matata) working in Te Ara Huarau, an improvement evaluation approach used in most English Medium State and State Integrated Schools. For more information about Te Ara Huarau see ERO’s website. www.ero.govt.nz
Context
St Joseph’s Catholic School (Matata) is located in the town of Matatā in the Eastern Bay of Plenty and provides education for students in Years 0 to 8. The school is working towards bi-lingual education.
St Joseph’s (Matata) School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:
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to develop an engaging local curriculum that supports students in their learning, social development and sense of personal and cultural identity
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to enhance the school’s special character to support learning, encouraging students to be the hands, the face, the voice of Christ today
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to maintain a safe and secure ‘learner centred culture’ that embraces student identity and enhances student wellbeing.
You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on St Joseph’s Catholic School (Matata)’s website.
ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how effectively the school’s localised curriculum is strengthening students’ engagement in learning, and confidence in their language, culture and identity, to raise achievement outcomes.
The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:
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the understanding that to gain confidence in themselves as learners, students need to feel that their language, culture and identity have value at school
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the commitment to meeting whānau aspirations for their tamariki to engage with te ao Māori and to learn te reo Māori.
The school expects to see:
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the development of a curriculum around contexts that invite exploration into Ngāti Rangitihi and Ngāti Tūwharetoa knowledge, stories and histories, and which normalises Māori tikanga and language in everyday school life
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increased professional capability in te ao Māori, te reo me ōna tikanga Māori and mātauranga Māori supporting the effective delivery of the localised curriculum
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increased student engagement in learning, and confidence in their language, culture and identity leading to improved student achievement outcomes.
Strengths
The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to improve student outcomes:
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active involvement of Ngāti Rangitihi kaumatua in school life
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leadership that prioritises learners’ sense of belonging and wellbeing
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strategies and partnerships that support the achievement of students with diverse learning needs.
Where to next?
Moving forward, the school will prioritise:
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implementing a localised curriculum that responds to students' cultures, languages and identities including te reo Māori, te reo Māori me ōna tikanga and mātauranga Māori to increase engagement and improve learning outcomes
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building professional expertise in te ao Māori, te reo me ōna tikanga and mātauranga Māori to support the delivery of the localised curriculum.
ERO’s role will be to support the school to plan and implement evaluation to run alongside planned improvement actions. Over time, ERO will support the school to use evaluation findings to inform future improvement cycles. ERO will support the school in reporting their progress to the community. The next public report on ERO’s website will be a Te Ara Huarau | School Evaluation Report and is due within three years.
Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)
Central Region | Te Tai Pūtahi Nui
14 July 2022
About the School
The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/home