Te Aute College

Education institution number:
232
School type:
Secondary (Year 9-15)
School gender:
Single Sex (Boys School)
Definition:
Secondary Maori Boarding School
Total roll:
80
Website:
http://www.teaute.maori.nz
Telephone:
06 856 8016
Address:

100 State Highway 2, Pukehou

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Te Aute College - 18/06/2018

School Context

Te Aute College is a long-established, state integrated, Māori Anglican boarding school for young men in Central Hawke’s Bay. The college has 110 students from Years 9 to 13. All students identify as Māori, with most boarding in the college hostel and some attending as day students.

The special character of Te Aute is built around the Anglican Church and a Māori worldview, inclusive of Ngāi Te Whatuiāpiti. This underpins education at the college. The principles of Mātauranga, Wairuatanga, Christian and Māori values, Māoritanga, te reo me ngā tikanga Māori and Whanaungatanga guide school life. The values of tika, pono and aroha provide clear expectations to support students as they learn.

The college’s strategic goal for student learning focuses on:

  • each learner’s interests and goals for life
  • building knowledge and skills in a specific area
  • working towards relevant qualifications for a specific career.

These are addressed through students’ Individual Learning Plans.

Leaders and teachers regularly report to the board, schoolwide information about outcomes for students in the following areas:

  • achievement of National Certificates of Educational Achievement (NCEAs)

  • literacy and numeracy.

Leaders and teachers have been involved in a wide range of professional learning and development programmes since the May 2015 ERO report. These include Ministry of Education initiatives such as: Kia Eke Panuku (strategic leadership to improve valued Māori student outcomes); Poutama Pounamu (promoting contexts for change where equity, excellence and belonging can be realised); digital technology; and restorative relationship practices.

The school is a member of the Te Matariki Kāhui Ako.

Evaluation Findings

1 Equity and excellence – achievement of valued outcomes for students

1.1 How well is the school achieving equitable and excellent outcomes for all its students?

The college reported in 2017 that the majority of students achieved NCEA at all three Levels. Since the 2015 ERO review, achievement in Levels 1 and 2 has slightly improved. Leaders acknowledge that attainment of NCEA Level 3 and University Entrance are priority areas for those students wishing to follow an academic pathway beyond college.

The college identifies that many students entering the college at Year 9 have levels of achievement below expectation. Most students leave the college having achieved NCEA Level 2 or above. An increasing number of students are gaining credits in vocational subjects linked to industry training.

1.2 How well is the school accelerating learning for those Māori and other students who need this?

Years 9 and 10 student achievement information for 2017, showed that in reading approximately half of the students made expected progress. In mathematics, the majority of students made expected progress with a few making accelerated progress.

Greater effectiveness in accelerating learning should assist in lifting the achievement of students who need this above expectation, more deliberately and quickly.

2 School conditions for equity and excellence – processes and practices

2.1 What school processes and practices are effective in enabling achievement of equity and excellence, and acceleration of learning?

The board of trustees actively represents and serves the college and its community to uphold mana and the special character. Trustees have established a clear vision and strategic direction that emphasises equity and excellence and for students to be connected, confident and actively involved learners.

The college is soundly managed and governed. It focuses on building strong relationships with students and whānau. A range of useful communication strategies support boys’ learning. Parents’ aspirations are considered and included in planning next steps for their son’s learning. School leaders are further growing culturally responsive relationships with school whānau and the college’s wider community.

Every student has the opportunity to learn, progress and achieve in a kaupapa Māori setting. Senior learning programmes provide an increased range of options for students so they can pursue and follow an academic or vocational pathway. This provides opportunities for students to go on to further study, training or employment.

2.2 What further developments are needed in school processes and practices for achievement of equity and excellence, and acceleration of learning?

The college continues to build its systems and processes to effectively respond to students whose learning and achievement need acceleration. Overall, internal evaluation practices need further development so that curriculum initiatives are monitored for their effectiveness in producing intended outcomes for students.

Staff are developing the Te Aute College Curriculum to promote the college’s valued outcomes and meet the individual learning and holistic needs of all students. A project-based learning approach for Years 9 and 10 students has recently been introduced. Students have opportunities to explore and develop their interests to support their learning and engagement.

A key next step is to capture the localised curriculum, unique to Te Aute College, in a meaningful framework. In addition, development of key statements and guidelines for all the essential learning areas should assist in ensuring that students have equitable opportunities to learn, and ensure appropriate coverage in relation to the requirements of The New Zealand Curriculum.

Leaders should develop and relentlessly pursue a small number of more specific targets for accelerating the learning and achievement of those students who are at risk of underachievement. The college should continue to build on and increase the use of deliberate teaching strategies that support student progress and achievement in Years 9 and 10. In addition, the board and school leaders should support staff to develop a shared understanding of the usefulness of appraisal that links to student outcomes resulting from high quality teaching practice.

Leaders and teachers should build on ways they can enhance their understandings and capabilities to make sense of schoolwide data to: evaluate what is going well or not; identify good practices that respond well to those students at risk of underachievement and areas requiring further improvement.

3 Board assurance on legal requirements

Before the review, the board and principal of the school completed the ERO board assurance statement and self-audit checklists. In these documents they attested that they had taken all reasonable steps to meet their legislative obligations related to the following:

  • board administration
  • curriculum
  • management of health, safety and welfare
  • personnel management
  • finance
  • asset management.

During the review, ERO checked the following items because they have a potentially high impact on student safety and wellbeing:

  • emotional safety of students (including prevention of bullying and sexual harassment)
  • physical safety of students
  • teacher registration and certification
  • processes for appointing staff
  • stand down, suspension, expulsion and exclusion of students
  • attendance
  • school policies in relation to meeting the requirements of the Vulnerable Children Act 2014.

Actions for compliance

ERO identified non-compliance in relation to the delivery of the health curriculum.

In order to address this, the board of trustees must:

  1. adopt a statement on the delivery of the health curriculum, at least once every two years, after consultation with the school community. [Section 60B Education Act 1989]

Areas for improved compliance practice

In order to improve practice the board should:

  • ensure parents and whānau have access to the college’s policies and procedures
  • be sure parents clearly understand the status of voluntary donations
  • regularly gauge student wellbeing as part of school and hostel internal evaluation.

Provision for students in the school hostel

The Te Aute school hostel, Te Whare Noho, currently accommodates 91 students, 82% of the roll. The buildings are integrated in the main campus of the college. It is owned by the Te Aute Trust Board.

An acting hostel manager, or kaihutū, has joined the college recently. Hostel practices reflect the values and vision of the college, focusing on building strong relationships between boarders and staff. Some refurbishments and improvements to infrastructure have been completed since the 2015 ERO review.

Further review and evaluation of the hostel practices should focus on:

  • ensuring policies and procedures are regularly updated and implemented and parents consulted

  • completing the appraisal process for all staff

  • identifying next steps for improvement through internal evaluation, to ensure a positive, physical and emotional environment is maintained.

4 Going forward

Key strengths of the school

For sustained improvement and future learner success, the school can draw on existing strengths in:

clear direction setting by the board of trustees, that establishes the valued outcomes for student achievement and special character of the college

  • leaders’ focus on relationships with the college’s whānau and its wider community that are culturally responsive

  • kaupapa Māori based curriculum that systematically responds to students’ interests to engage them in learning.

Next steps

For sustained improvement and future learner success, priorities for further development are in:

  • targeted planning to accelerate learning, including setting schoolwide targets for groups of students whose learning and achievement needs acceleration [ERO will monitor and discuss progress with the school]

  • documenting the localised curriculum with guidelines for all the essential learning areas of The New Zealand Curriculum

  • internal evaluation processes and practices that include parent, whānau and student views; and make focused use of data to identify effective teaching and learning practice or areas requiring improvement.

[ERO will provide an internal evaluation workshop for trustees and senior leaders]

ERO’s next external evaluation process and timing

ERO is likely to carry out the next external evaluation in three years.

Patricia Davey

Deputy Chief Review Officer Central (Acting)

Te Tai Pokapū - Central Region

18 June 2018

About the school

Location

Pukehou

Ministry of Education profile number

232

School type

Secondary Years 9 - 13

School roll

110

Gender composition

Male 100%

Ethnic composition

Māori 100%

Students with Ongoing Resourcing Funding (ORS)

Yes

Review team on site

April 2018

Date of this report

18 June 2018

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review May 2015
Education Review July 2013
Education Review April 2011

Te Aute College - 14/05/2015

Findings

High expectations for students’ holistic achievement and success as Māori are well established. Students in Years 9 and 10 make expected progress and achievement in national qualifications is high. There has been continued good progress in implementing the curriculum and establishing good governance, leadership and management approaches for the college and hostel.

ERO is likely to carry out the next review in three years.

1 Background and Context

What is the background and context for this school’s review?

Te Aute College is a long-established secondary school for boys in Pukehou, Central Hawke’s Bay. In 2015, the roll is 97, a significant increase on recent years. All students identify as Māori, with most boarding in the college hostel and some attending as day students.

The college is state integrated and has a special Māori and Anglican character, expressed as Te Pou Tikanga Māori and Te Pou Wairua. Te reo me ngā tikanga Māori, and Māori performing arts, are integral to college life. The Te Aute Trust Board is proprietor of the school and hostel.

The college’s values of tika, aroha, pono, Matauranga, wairuatanga, Māoritanga, and whanaungatanga are well established. These are highly evident in: how the curriculum promotes students’ learning and wellbeing; governance, leadership and management approaches; and the culture and wider life of the college.

This report concludes a 1 to 2 year review process following the July 2013 ERO report. Since that time, a Ministerially appointed board of trustees has exercised governance of the college. A new principal and hostel manager, together some other new staff, have been appointed. Membership of the board has been extended to include two appointed parent representatives, a staff and a student representative. Transition to an elected board will occur in September 2015.

2 Review and Development

How effectively is the school addressing its priorities for review and development?

Priorities identified for review and development

The previous ERO report noted that sound progress had been made in the period 2011 to 2013 and that the college was seeking to move to the next stages of its development. 

Priorities were for:

  • further development of high quality systems and practices for ongoing implementation of the college’s new curriculum model, Tōku Moemoeā, which was at the early stages of full‑scale implementation at that point. School leaders were aware of the need to demonstrate how well the curriculum approach produced and enhanced success for all students
  • establishment, by the Ministerially appointed board, of school governance approaches and practices as a basis for successful transition to an elected board within 24 months.

These areas have been incorporated into the college’s planning for ongoing development since 2013.

Progress

Through carefully-considered, deliberate, step-by-step approaches to development, the college has continued to make good progress in implementation of its curriculum approach and establishment of a kaupapa for governance of the college.

Curriculum

The board and senior leaders, teachers and students work within a clear framework of high expectations for students’ education success, holistic achievement and wellbeing.

In Years 9 and 10, data is collected about students’ progress, and their learning strengths and needs in reading and mathematics using e-asTTle (Assessment Tools for Teaching and Learning). Overall, the data for 2014 shows that students make expected progress. The board is seeking, through its annual targets, to accelerate Year 9 and 10 students’ learning.

In 2014, students achieved high success across Levels 1, 2 and 3 of the National Certificates of Educational Achievement (NCEAs), and in University Entrance. One student gained two outstanding New Zealand Scholarships and was top scholar in Te Reo Rangitira.

Teachers report to parents regularly to keep them well informed about students’ learning. They use both formal written reports and other methods of contact such as email and telephone calls.

The principal and senior curriculum leaders provide well-focused, professional guidance for teaching and learning, to support students’ success as Māori.

Tōku Moemoeā, promotes a strong sense of whanaungatanga and ako, resulting in collaborative interactions between teachers and students. Practices emphasise responsiveness to students’ sense of self, interests, strengths and learning needs. Teachers facilitate learners’ decision making and recognise the need to support students’ growing focus on understanding and explaining their own learning.

Ongoing development of the curriculum is supported by teachers’ reflection and inquiry, and other self-review activities to investigate what is working well for students and where improvements are needed. Processes have included a survey of whānau to gather views about implementation of the curriculum. 

Drawing on information from reflection, review and professional learning and development, senior leaders have strengthened the focus on educational and career pathways, establishing partnerships with local businesses and training organisations to extend learning opportunities for students.

They have also recently introduced Ngā Poutama, a framework which clearly specifies the dimensions of holistic achievement expected of students as they complete Years 9 to 11. The dimensions align with: the special character of the college; the student-directed, inquiry-learning approach of Tōku Moemoeā; and opportunities for achievement within the National Qualifications Framework.

To promote positive conditions for learning and success in both the school and hostel, the principal is leading the introduction and ongoing implementation of restorative practices for resolving any behaviour concerns.

Well-focused models for teacher inquiry and appraisal are contributing to teachers’ thinking about the quality, effectiveness and continued development of their practice to promote students’ learning and success.

Further systematic inquiry to establish which teaching strategies are most effective in making a difference for junior students in their literacy and mathematics learning should be of value to the college in meeting its targeted expectations for accelerated progress.

Governance

The board has established a clear vision and development strategy for the college. This focuses on students’ holistic development towards 21st century leadership, and contribution to Te Ao Māori and to the society of Aotearoa and the world.

The vision and strategy are supported by a strong kaupapa for governance. This follows tikanga‑based approaches emphasising transparency, with trustees being seen by and known to the school community as an expression of whanaungatanga. Board meetings are organised as hui‑a‑kōrero for consensus decision making.

The board has high expectations for students’ progress and achievement. It is committed to the ongoing development of a positive college culture that is grounded in the college’s special character values and fosters student wellbeing through provision of a safe and respectful environment.

Trustees have systematically sought to take account of the college’s history, resolve outstanding issues and position the college well for the future. They are preparing carefully for transition to an elected board in September of 2015 and for how the kaupapa of their work will be handed on.

3 Sustainable performance and self review

How well placed is the school to sustain and continue to improve and review its performance?

The college is now well placed to sustain and continue to improve and review its performance.

Good systems and processes for the governance, leadership and management of the college have been purposefully implemented. Five and ten year property plans are in place for development and maintenance of the school environment. A property manager has been appointed to undertake a programme of ongoing work in both the school and hostel.

The board receives useful reports from the principal and other staff to contribute to its knowledge of how well the college is performing for its students and their whānau, and to inform its decision making. These include regular reports about student achievement in both Year 9 and 10 and for national qualifications, and information arising from curriculum review and development.

A culture of reflection and self review is evident, together with a strong focus on continuous improvement. Curriculum self review is leading to knowledge of what is working well and where improvement is needed.

The board and principal have identified the need for continued development of school self review, and for longer term research into how well the college’s curriculum approaches work for students over their five years at Te Aute.

Once the new board of trustees is elected and begins its work, continuity and consistency of direction with the significant and valuable developments that have already taken place, will be important for its future governance of the college.

Provision for students in the school hostel

The school hostel, Te Whare Noho, accommodates 78 students, 80% of the school roll. It is owned by the Te Aute Trust Board. The hostel owner has attested that all the requirements of the Hostel Regulations are met.

A new hostel manager, or kaihautu, was appointed at the beginning of 2014. Links between the hostel and the school are maintained through regular meetings and two-way communication. The kaihautu is part of the school’s senior leadership team. As a result of this close management partnership, boarders experience an environment in which the college’s values, policies and procedures consistently underpin practice and expectations during school hours, after school and in the weekends. 

As in the college, relationships in the hostel are based on whanaungatanga, both amongst boarders and with staff. Hostel systems and procedures have been reviewed and strengthened, providing well-coordinated, cohesive support for boarders’ emotional and physical wellbeing.

Steps to upgrade accommodation and boarding facilities are underway and expected to be completed progressively during 2015 and 2016.

Board assurance on legal requirements

Before the review, the board of trustees and principal of the school completed the ERO Board Assurance Statement and Self-Audit Checklists. In these documents they attested that they had taken all reasonable steps to meet their legislative obligations related to:

  • board administration
  • curriculum
  • management of health, safety and welfare
  • personnel management
  • financial management
  • asset management.

During the review, ERO checked the following items because they have a potentially high impact on student achievement:

  • emotional safety of students (including prevention of bullying and sexual harassment)
  • physical safety of students
  • teacher registration
  • processes for appointing staff
  • stand-downs, suspensions, expulsions and exclusions
  • attendance.

Conclusion

High expectations for students’ holistic achievement and success as Māori are well established. Students in Years 9 and 10 make expected progress and achievement in national qualifications is high. There has been continued good progress in implementing the curriculum and establishing good governance, leadership and management approaches for the college and hostel.

ERO is likely to carry out the next review in three years. 

Joyce Gebbie
Deputy Chief Review Officer Central

14 May 2015

About the School 

Location

Pukehou, Hawke's Bay

Ministry of Education profile number

232

School type

State Integrated Boys’ Secondary (Year 9 to 15)

School roll

97

Gender composition

Male      100%

Ethnic composition

Māori

100%

Special Features

Special Māori and Anglican character education

Boarding hostel

Review team on site

March 2015

Date of this report

14 May 2015

Most recent ERO report(s)

Education Review
Education Review
Education Review

July 2013
April 2011
September 2010