Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report
Background
This Profile Report was written within fifteen months of the Education Review Office and Green Island School 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
Green Island School provides education for Years 1 to 8 learners. It has close connections with local businesses and organisations. It has long-serving and experienced senior leaders. A major upgrade of and addition to the school buildings has just been completed.
Green Island School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are to:
- develop digitally literate students
- strengthen oral-language skills in the early years and number knowledge across the school
- develop further in students a sense of responsibility for their own learning
- further develop the local curriculum through Environmental educational opportunities.
You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Green Island School’s website.
ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well students’ knowledge of their learning is supporting effective student engagement, and to build staff understanding of evaluation processes and how these can be used to inform planning and to know the impact of their teaching and programmes.
The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:
- to build a shared understanding of evaluation processes to support consistency of practice and use of achievement data
- the school wants all students to progress and achieve well and to be successful
- to explore ways to address concerns in the junior school about children arriving with lower-than-expected levels of oral literacy
- to explore ways to address concerns in the senior school about student achievement in mathematics.
The school expects to see:
- a shared understanding amongst staff of an evaluation process that will support consistency of practice and use of data
- staff making purposeful responses to evidence in order to support improved student outcomes in literacy and mathematics
- students knowing and talking about their own achievements and their next steps for learning.
Strengths
The school can draw from the following strengths to support it in its goal to provide all children with an inclusive education and experiences that cater for their learning needs and behaviour.
- Pastoral care of students and the school community is a priority and is valued and embedded throughout the culture of the school.
- There are positive relationships between children and teachers, and the wider school community.
- Strategies to support students’ social and emotional growth are embedded and celebrated in the culture of the classrooms and playground.
- All students have equitable opportunities to access within-school and extra-curricular learning activities.
- There is a consistent approach to the teaching of literacy and numeracy across the school.
Where to next?
Moving forward, the school will prioritise:
- the implementation of the Tier 2 Reading Recovery initiative in the early years
- extending moderation practices to include reading and mathematics across the school
- further developing the induction of new students and staff to understand and implement the ‘Play is the Way’ philosophy.
ERO’s role will be to support the school in its evaluation for improvement cycle to improve outcomes for all learners. 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.
Dr Lesley Patterson
Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini
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