Kaiwaka School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within seven months of the Education Review Office and Kaiwaka 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:

Kaiwaka School is in the Kaipara District of Northland and serves the local rural community. It provides education for children in years 1 – 6. A new principal was appointed in 2020. The school vision ‘nurturing children to fly’ underpins the work of the school.

Kaiwaka School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are to:

Strengthen te reo me ngā tikanga Māori and cultural capabilities amongst the school community:

• Provide innovative and culturally responsive learning environment that will grow students’ success.

• Provide teaching and learning programmes that encourage and support students to be critical thinkers and broaden their horizons.

• Provide opportunities for greater whānau and community involvement with the school to enhance the wellbeing of all, creating a strongly connected community.

You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Kaiwaka School’s website.

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how effectively the literacy programme is meeting the needs of all children?

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

• school data shows that some students are not achieving at age appropriate levels

• to monitor that the new literacy programme is meeting the needs of all students

• to strengthen teacher practice in literacy.

The school expects to see:

• competent and capable teachers of literacy

• an effective literacy programme across the school

• teachers effective use of assessment information to inform their next teaching steps

• all students will make progress in their reading and writing.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to evaluate if the literacy programme is effectively meeting the needs of all children:

• strong relationships between students and teachers

• school board and staff focussed on being culturally responsive

• leaders and staff committed to enacting the school’s vision.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• professional learning development in literacy for all teachers

• resource classrooms to enable a successful literacy programme to operate

• develop a shared understanding of learning expectations across the school that supports moderation of student achievement information.

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

19 May 2023 

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