Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report
Background
This Profile Report was written within 15 months of the Education Review Office and Kaitangata 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
Kaitangata Primary is a rural school providing education for students from Years 1 to 8. Most school families live in the local township. At the time of this report there were four classrooms. The board is resourcing a teacher aide in each classroom.
The school has a friendly and inclusive atmosphere and students are encouraged to look out for one another.
Kaitangata School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes are for learners to:
- be confident and willing to challenge themselves
- have an active role in their learning, take risks and persevere
- build positive self-esteem and take pride in their achievements.
Teachers are involved in professional learning and development to strengthen students’ achievement in mathematics, and literacy in particular.
You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Kaitangata School’s website.
ERO and the school are working together to build evaluation skills and to evaluate how well an on-line platform for reporting is engaging parents in their child’s learning.
The rationale for selecting this evaluation is that the school:
- would like to engage parents/caregivers more effectively in their child's learning
- needed to establish a consistent approach to evaluation for improvement
- is aiming to improve student achievement in literacy and mathematics.
The school expects to see parents well informed about the ways their children are being taught and to actively support the 'at-school' learning at home.
Strengths
The school can draw from the following strengths to support it in its goal to have students’ progress and achieve to their potential through high quality learning opportunities and teaching.
- Students have a positive attitude towards learning and are secure in their own identity.
- Staff have a genuine concern for the welfare of their students and work hard to build positive relationships.
- Teachers are focused on improving their teaching practices to benefit students’ learning.
- There is a high level of collaboration and support amongst the staff.
Where to next?
Moving forward, the school will prioritise:
- improving student achievement in mathematics through the implementation of DMIC (Developing Mathematical Inquiry Communities)
- improving student achievement in literacy through the ‘Structured Literacy’ approach
- the use of an online learning platform to better engage parents in their child’s learning.
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