Blomfield Special School and Resource Ctre

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 19 months of the Education Review Office and Blomfield Special School and Resource Centre 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 

Blomfield Special School and Resource Centre caters for students with very high and complex needs living in the wider Te Tai Tokerau region. Students at the school range from five to 21 years of age. The central campus in Whangārei has six classrooms that includes three transition classes. Twelve satellite classrooms operate across six host schools located in Kaitaia, Whangārei, Kamo and Oromahoe. The school also runs a specialist outreach service for ORS-funded students in mainstream school settings.

Blomfield Special School and Resource Centre’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are to:

• promote a sense of belonging, as students develop and improve their personal skills, knowledge, and independence to grow as included members of society

• be open to learning and refining teaching knowledge and practice to engage students in relevant and meaningful learning

• advocate for student and whānau engagement within the wider health, disability and educational context.

You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Blomfield Special School and Resource Centre’s website.

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well the Relationships First approach impacts students’ engagement in their learning, promoting culturally responsive practice and equitable outcomes for priority learners.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

• the opportunity it provides to develop a shared understanding of student engagement for learners at Blomfield Special School and Resource Centre, capturing and responding to stakeholder voice

• the school’s ongoing commitment to strengthening teacher-student relationships to improve learner engagement, progress and outcomes.

The school expects to see students experiencing a sense of belonging and acceptance through the development of enhanced relationships with their teachers. Teachers will actively reflect on and continually develop their knowledge and practice which will enable learners to engage more meaningfully with learning activities.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal of evaluating the impact of the Relationships First approach on student engagement:

• a school culture that is positive and committed to advocating for learners’ rights and seeing students as capable learners

• a holistic approach to supporting the needs of learners that encompasses flexible curriculum delivery and therapeutic approaches

• a commitment to culturally responsive practice, with a specific focus on Te Ao Māori.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• refining the mainstream model of Relationships First to make it suitable for the specialist school context

• embedding coaching strategies across all the satellite classes to ensure consistent teacher reflection and refinement of culturally responsive teaching practice

• strengthening school capability for gathering stakeholder voice to inform future strategic planning.

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.

Filivaifale Jason Swann
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki

20 October 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