Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report
Background
This Profile Report was written within 8 months of the Education Review Office and Motueka Steiner 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
Motueka School is a newly integrated Special Character school situated on outskirts of Motueka. The school caters for students from Years 1 to 8 and follows the Rudolf Steiner/Waldorf educational principles with a special emphasis on nature and caring for the environment.
Motueka Steiner School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:
- grow professional capacity, supporting teachers to improve outcomes for all students
- develop and implement a local curriculum which embraces the local context and farm setting to allow tauira to learn in time and over time.
You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Motueka Steiner School’s website.
ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the effectiveness of localising the curriculum to improve outcomes for all learners.
The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:
- the students at this school have identified their enthusiasm for opportunities that utilise and strengthen use of the outdoor classroom
- the school’s desire to improve their cultural responsiveness through a welcoming, caring, and creative learning environment that demonstrates a commitment to Tangata Whenuatanga and Te Tiriti o Waitangi
- to create a learning environment that provides opportunities for all students to makes progress in reading, writing and mathematics through the school’s local curriculum.
The school expects to see:
- improved achievement outcomes for all students
- students who can articulate and implement the principles of Te Tiriti in a local context
- teachers able to convey the importance and relevance of Te Tiriti in NZ Aotearoa’s bicultural society across a variety of learning contexts
- strengthening connections with Motueka Kahui Ako and Steiner Kahui Ako through a culturally responsive localised approach.
Strengths
The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to evaluate the effectiveness of localising the curriculum to improve outcomes for all learners:
- students are positive and engaged in learning contexts
- teachers are enthusiastic and responsive to new learning around the localised curriculum and culturally responsive teaching and learning
- outdoor classroom programme provides many opportunities for students to research and apply technology learning across the wider curriculum.
Where to next?
Moving forward, the school will prioritise:
- ensuring that readiness to learn is a consideration across the Steiner/Waldorf localised curriculum so that learning is inclusive for all students
- focusing on embedding local history into the Steiner/Waldorf curriculum and classroom practice so teaching and learning is aligned with localised curriculum contexts
- ensuring that learners feel they have a place to belong in our bicultural society through teaching and learning that utilises the concept of Ako.
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.
Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools
25 March 2024
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