Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report
Background
This Profile Report was written within twelve months of the Education Review Office and Roxburgh Area 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
Roxburgh Area School provides education for students from Years 1 to 13 in Central Otago. Students attend from a wide geographic area. Since the last ERO review (2017) the school has a new principal.
Roxburgh Area School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:
- to recognise the individual needs of students and encourage them all to develop to their full potential academically, socially, physically, culturally and emotionally in a healthy, caring learning environment
- to have 100% of students leave school with a minimum of NCEA Level 2 and encourage students to attain merits and excellences at all levels
- to embed an understanding of cultural diversity and enact the Cultural Responsive Plan
- to give all students equitable opportunities to succeed.
You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Roxburgh Area School’s website.
ERO and the school are working together to embed a formal evaluation process and address disparity for some students through culturally responsive programmes and teaching approaches.
The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:
- informal evaluation processes were in place
- there is evidence of some students (particularly Māori students) not achieving as well as the school would like
- the principal is pursuing building cultural capabilities and responsiveness in the school and wider community.
The school expects to see disparity addressed through culturally responsive programmes and teaching approaches and that the success of this will be closely monitored through rigorous evaluation.
Strengths
The school can draw from the following strengths to support it in its goal to provide a high-quality education for students and community in a caring environment.
- A strong focus on supporting individuals to succeed.
- The small school size enables all teachers to know and care for all students.
- There is a strong leadership group driving improvements.
- An active community and Board of Trustees supports the staff to make positive changes.
Where to next?
Moving forward, the school will prioritise:
- the development of an evaluative tool across the school and imbed its use so that leaders and teachers are well informed about what works well and what doesn’t, and for whom, and can make decisions using reliable evidence.
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
11 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
