Herekino School

School Report

Tēnā koutou e mau manawa rahi ki te kaupapa e aro ake nei, ko te tamaiti te pūtake o te kaupapa. Mā wai rā e kawe, mā tātau katoa.

We acknowledge the collective effort, responsibility and commitment by all to ensure that the child remains at the heart of the matter.

Every New Zealand state and state integrated school has an ERO review at least once every four years to evaluate what is working well for learners and what needs to be improved.

About the School

Herekino School a small rural school for Years 1 to 8, in the rohe of Te Rarawa. The roll of 16 is predominately Māori learners who whakapapa to the local area. The school is led by a teaching principal. 

The school’s overarching vision is to ‘develop connected, caring and confident members of our community’, with a mission ‘Together; Inspiring minds and hearts toward a better future.’ 

Education Counts provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement, school enrolments and school zones. educationcounts.govt.nz/home

An explanation of the terms and judgements used in this report can be found here: Reporting | Education Review Office

Improvement and progress

This section is about the progress the school has made since the July 2023 ERO report. It includes an explanation of the expected improvements and findings.

Expected improvements

The school expected to make progress in the following areas: 

• establishing effective teaching processes and practice that impact on student achievement and engagement
• accessing external support including working with a Ministry of Education Student Achievement Function practitioner to support teachers with accelerating student learning in literacy
• developing learning partnerships with whānau to support improving student achievement
• accessing external support to review and develop strategic documents, policies, and procedures.

Findings 

The areas for progress identified in 2023 remain priorities for improvement. ERO has concerns about leadership and the school’s overall performance for its students. Urgent action is required to ensure that effective school policies are implemented and guiding school operations. An annual implementation plan aimed at improving students' progress and achievement from high-quality teaching and learning programs is required for 2026.

What we know about learner success

This section provides a summary of learner success and wellbeing. The judgments are based on the ERO School Improvement Framework and the evidence provided to ERO during the evaluation.

How well are learners succeeding?Improvements are required to ensure all learners are engaged, making sufficient progress and achieving well.What is the quality of teaching and learning?The school needs to improve teaching and learning.How well does the school curriculum respond to all learners needs?

Learners have limited opportunities to learn across the breadth and depth of the curriculum.

There is not yet sufficient focus on supporting learners to gain skills in foundational skills in  literacy and mathematics.

Learners with complex needs require better support to achieve their education goals.

How well does school planning and conditions support ongoing improvement?The school has not yet established appropriate plans, targets and conditions to support quality education for learners.How well does the school include all learners and promote their engagement and wellbeing?The school needs to improve learners’ engagement, wellbeing and inclusion.How well does the school partner with parents, whānau and its community for the benefit of learners?

The school needs to improve its reporting to parents / whānau about their child’s learning, achievement and progress.

The school should improve its collection and use of information gathered through community consultation to inform strategic planning and curriculum decisions.

Student Health and SafetyThe school board needs to ensure a physically and emotionally safe learning environment.

Achievement in Years 0 to 8

This section is about learner achievement. It outlines how well learners across the school meet or exceed the expected curriculum level of The New Zealand Curriculum in foundational skills.

Less than a third

Less than half

Small majority

Large majority

Most

Almost all

0 to 33%

34 to 49%

50 to 64%

65 to 79%

80 to 90%

Over 90%

ReadingERO was unable to verify the extent to which learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level.WritingERO was unable to verify the extent to which learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level.MathematicsERO was unable to verify the extent to which learners meet or exceed the expected curriculum level.

Attendance

This section is about school attendance and the progress the school is making towards meeting the Government target of 80% regular attendance.

• Less than half of learners attend school regularly.
• The school is behind the target of 80% regular attendance.
• The school is developing a suitable plan to improve attendance.
• Regular attendance is improving towards or beyond the target.
• Chronic absence is not reducing over time. 

Assessment 

This section is about how the school assesses learner progress and achievement.

• The school is not yet using an appropriate approach or reliable practices to accurately find out about achievement against the curriculum.
• Teachers should improve their use of assessment information to adjust teaching practices to ensure ongoing improvement in teaching and student progress.

Progress

This section is about how well the school supports all learners to make sufficient progress.

• The school does not have good quality planning to increase the rate of progress for all groups of students.
• The school has not improved achievement and progress for those learners most at risk of not achieving since the previous review.
• The school has not extended achievement and progress for learners working at or above curriculum levels since the previous review.
• The school is not making progress towards meeting Government reading, writing and mathematics targets for 2030 and agrees this will need to be a key strategic priority.

Support 

During the course of this review ERO had concerns about the quality of education being provided and made recommendations for intervention to the Secretary / Ministry of Education.

Next steps for improvement

This section provides more detail for the school to include in its strategic and annual planning for ongoing improvement across the school. It outlines what the school is doing well and identifies actions for improvement.

Areas of strength

• Students have opportunities to experience and learn in their local environment.
• Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) was recently introduced to strengthen the school’s learning environment and culture.
• Staff participation in structured literacy and mathematics professional learning is recognised as priority to improve teaching and learning programmes and student achievement. 

Key priorities

• Develop and implement a robust policy and procedure framework to guide school operations, prioritising health and safety policies and practices.
• Engage in professional development to improve the quality of teaching, assessment and planning in literacy and mathematics programmes.
• Regularly report students' progress and achievement information to the board as a basis for supporting the implementation of the annual plan.
• Develop an attendance plan to improve regular attendance. 

Actions to bring about improvement 

Within three months:

• staff review teaching programmes to ensure students are engaged in an hour a day of reading, writing and mathematics learning
• the Board and staff develop and implement the 2026 annual implementation plan to improve school’s performance in relation to teaching and learning programmes
• the Board addresses the identified areas of non-compliance starting with health and safety, the school’s teaching and learning programmes and employment practices
• principal and staff participate in professional development in structured literacy and mathematics, including a planned induction and guidance for beginning teachers
• principal and teachers seek external support to develop and implement schoolwide guidelines for effective literacy and mathematics teaching, assessment and planning
• the school Board, principal and teachers develop and implement an attendance action plan and share it with the school community

Within six months:

• the principal and teachers collect baseline student achievement information to inform annual improvement targets and to guide responsive programmes for teaching and learning, including learning support provisions
• the principal and teachers engage in professional learning to begin to improve teaching practice, assessment and planning
• new and experienced teachers develop ongoing evidence in relation to meeting the professional standards, including observations of teaching and reflections on practice

Every six months:

• principal reports reliable student attendance, progress and achievement information to the board, parents and whānau to track progress of each student and in relation to annual improvement targets

Annually:

• the school Board monitors student attendance, progress and achievement information to evaluate effectiveness of annual planning to inform improvement priorities and annual targets
• the school Board review strategic plan and related documents to ensure their alignment to community aspirations, student learning and legislative requirements
• teachers complete their professional growth cycle and implement ongoing professional development in literacy and mathematics strategies and programmes
• board members regularly review school policies and ensure that staff follow and implement them.

Expected outcomes

• Students achieving at the expected levels in literacy and mathematics with a focus on accelerating progress for students when needed.
• Teaching and learning based on the ongoing analysis, tracking and monitoring of student’s progress and achievement information in literacy and mathematics.
• Leaders and teachers improve the quality teaching, learning and assessment practices from participation in professional development, support programmes and a teacher growth cycle.
• Robust school systems, policies and procedures are implemented that meet legislative requirements.

Regulatory and Legislative Requirements

This section of the report is about how the school meets regulatory and legislative requirements. 

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements

This section of the report reviews the school's policies, procedures, documentation, and checks that it meets all regulations, maintains a safe environment, and supports students' wellbeing.

During this review the Board has attested to meeting regulatory and legislative requirements in the following areas:

Board administration

Yes

Curriculum

Yes

Management of health, safety and welfare

Yes

Personnel management

Yes

Actions for compliance

ERO has identified the following areas of non-compliance during the board assurance process:

• implementing a robust school system,  policy and procedures for Education Outside the Classroom (EOTC) that ensure the board is well informed and follow suitable risk management processes 
  [Ministry of Education [Education Outside the Classroom Guidelines]
• developing and implementing a school policy and procedures to meet Ministry of Education requirements for stand downs, including reporting these to parents and the Ministry of Education
  [Sections 78 to 89 Education and Training Act 2020]
• following the school’s complaints policy and processes including a clear resolution component
  [Education and Training Act 2020]
• ensuring teaching and learning programmes and/or timetables include 10 hours of reading and writing, and five hours focussed on maths, in a typical school week
  [Section 90 of the Education and Training Act 2020 (2023 Amendment)]
• meeting all requirements for school planning and reporting
  [School Charter; Section 61 Ed Act 1989-Schedule 1, clause 7 E&T Act 2020 Saving Provision]
• meeting all requirements to implement a Child Protection Policy to show how suspected abuse and neglect will be identified and reported 
  [Sections 18 and 19 Children’s Act 2014]
• ensuring parents, caregivers, students, school staff training and the school community know about and have made available to them documentation about the school’s policy and guidelines in the use of physical restraint, including reporting to the Ministry of Education and parents
  [Section 101 Education and Training Act 2020]
• recording sufficient detail for identity checks and completion of risk assessments as part of safety checking for staff appointments
  [Sections 25, 26 and 27 of the Children’s Act 2014: Safety checks of children’s workers]
• holding regular trial evacuation drills and reporting these to the board
  [Evacuation Procedures and Evacuation Schemes Regulations 2018].

The board is yet to address the areas of non-compliance identified.

Recommendation to the Ministry of Education

ERO recommends that the Minister of Education consider intervention for the dissolution of board and appointment of commissioner as listed in section 171(1) of the Education and Training Act 2020 in order to bring about the following improvements:

• leadership of teaching, learning and curriculum
• student’s attendance, progress and achievement
• strategic and annual planning for improvement
• school policy framework, including health and safety curriculum and employment. 

The next public report on ERO’s website will be a School Report and is due within four years.

Me mahi tahi tonu tātau, kia whai oranga a tātau tamariki
Let’s continue to work together for the greater good of all children

Sharon Kelly
Director of Schools

22 January 2026