Te Horo School (Whangarei)

School Evaluation 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.

Context 

Te Horo School (Whangarei) is a small, rural school and provides education for students in Years 1 to 8. The roll is predominantly made up of Māori students from Ngāti Hine, Ngāpuhi and Te Orewai hapū. The school’s values include manaakitanga, whakaute and whanaungatanga.  The principal appointed at the beginning of 2024, has previously led the school.

There are two parts to this report.

Part A: An evaluative summary of learner success and school conditions to inform the school board’s future strategic direction, including any education in Rumaki/bilingual settings. 

Part B: The improvement actions prioritised for the school’s next evaluation cycle.

Part A: Current State 

The following findings are to inform the school’s future priorities for improvement.

Learner Success and Wellbeing 

• A large majority of learners achieve at expected curriculum levels in mathematics; a small majority of learners achieve at expected levels in writing; about half of all learners achieve at expected levels in reading.
• Students with additional learning needs are identified, close monitoring of learner outcomes informs the specific support they receive to help them learn and progress at an appropriate pace.   
• Learners are beginning to develop confidence in their identity, language and culture that supports their sense of belonging and wellbeing.
• Attendance rates do not yet meet the Ministry of Education targets; continuing to use strategies to ensure regular attendance is a school priority.

Conditions to support learner success

• The board and the principal are in the early stages of reviewing the school goals and strategies to improve learner success, attendance, achievement and wellbeing. 
• The principal is beginning to develop school assessment processes to improve the consistency and reliability of achievement information and inform teaching and learning. 
• The board and the principal are working towards developing relational trust and greater collaboration opportunities with whānau, hapū and iwi to improve learner success.

• Teachers are working towards building positive relationships with learners to promote calm and orderly classroom environments.
• Teachers are beginning to implement programmes focused on explicit teaching in literacy and mathematics to improve student engagement and achievement.
• Teachers are taking steps to use achievement information more frequently to monitor the progress of learners and report to parents.

• The board is taking steps to monitor the strategic and annual goals to ensure that they are better informed about ongoing improvements in students’ progress and achievement. 
• The principal, board and staff are working towards improving the provision of a physically and emotionally safe environment for all learners.
• Teachers are beginning to engage in professional development to improve learner progress, achievement and wellbeing. 
• Staff identify and draw on community resources, including support agencies, to improve learner outcomes.

Part B: Where to next?  

The agreed next steps for the school are to: 

• prioritise developing a positive school culture and learning partnerships with whānau to improve attendance, engagement, progress, and achievement of all learners
• build teachers’ capability to assess and accelerate learner progress and achievement in literacy and mathematics
• effectively use achievement information to track, monitor and report the progress of learners to parents and the board in reading, writing and mathematics.

The agreed actions for the next improvement cycle and timeframes are as follows.

Within six months:

• set clear annual improvement targets and actions that focus on promoting a positive school culture and improving attendance 
• develop and document a shared understanding of effective teaching and learning practices that accelerate progress and achievement
• access professional learning and development to support staff to establish clear assessment processes that inform programme planning for the teaching of reading, writing and mathematics.

Every six months:

• monitor and report the rates of student attendance, progress and achievement to inform further planning and next steps
• involve whānau in home and school learning partnerships to discuss their child’s strengths, learning needs and next steps 
• evaluate teaching and assessment strategies that support accelerated learning in reading, writing and mathematics.

Annually:

• review, evaluate and report to the board the impact of strategies used to improve attendance and student engagement 
• analyse achievement information and evaluate the impact of effective teaching and learning on accelerating learner progress and achievement and share this with teachers, parents and the board. 

Actions taken against these next steps are expected to result in:

• improved progress, achievement, attendance, and engagement for all learners
• strengthened learning partnerships between school and whānau 
• more effective and consistent teaching and learning practices that promote accelerated progress in reading, writing and mathematics.

ERO’s role will be to support the school in its evaluation for improvement cycle to improve outcomes for all learners. The next public report on ERO’s website will be a School Evaluation Report and is due within three 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

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

30 September 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