Ruawai Primary School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 18 months of the Education Review Office and Ruawai Primary 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 

Ruawai Primary School is a rural school in the Kaipara District, Northland. It provides education for local students from years 1 – 6. A new principal was appointed in term four 2019. The school is focussed on empowering learners who are engaged, connected and ever-growing.

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

• grow kaiako as learners: revitalise the local curriculum with a focus on numeracy and literacy
• grow learner capability: develop curious intuitive problem solvers, through authentic learning experiences
• grow community: school partnership; establish regular whānau days that are community friendly and develop a school ‘give back’ programme for the community.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how effectively the literacy programme is enabling all tamariki to accelerate their progress in literacy.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is to:

• raise achievement for all learners
• focus on the impact that professional development in literacy is having on outcomes for all learners.

The school expects to see:

• learners confidently achieving in their reading and writing programmes
• improved outcomes in literacy for all learners
• staff confident in their teaching practice in reading and writing.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support it in its goal to evaluate how effectively the literacy programme is accelerating progress for all learners. The school has:

• a community passionate for their children to be empowered learners
• a board focussed resourcing initiatives that support teaching and learning aimed at improving outcomes for all learners
• leadership and a teaching team committed to enacting the school’s vision.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• professional learning development that supports effective teacher practice
• teachers who use specific strategies that accelerate student achievement  
• learners knowing where they are at and their next learning steps
• specialist teaching that strengthens targeted progress for groups of learners.

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

8 June 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