Totara North School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within eight months of the Education Review Office and Totara North 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 

Totara North School is situated beside the Whangaroa Harbour, north of Kaeo and provides education for students in Years 1 to 6. The school’s mission statement is ‘He tūrangawaewae, He tūrangawaewae, mō te mātauranga – A place to stand, A place to grow’. This mission statement is underpinned by six core values of ‘Manaakitanga, Aroha, Self-Motivation, Responsibility, Honesty and Confidence’.

Totara North School’s strategic priority for improving outcomes for learners is to ‘inspire a passion for learning through a high-quality localised curriculum and the environment’.

This priority involves the initiatives of:

• developing a teaching and learning localised curriculum that is innovative, responsive to student needs and the changing world
• utilising the outdoor environment to connect with the localised curriculum
• growing relationships with local iwi.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well the school conditions support the development and implementation of the localised curriculum to enable excellent and equitable outcomes for all learners.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is to:

• develop a shared understanding among students, staff, whānau and the wider community of the school's localised curriculum
• enable learners to achieve a strong sense of belonging, identity and connection to their local environment
• ensure all learners experience positive learning outcomes.

The school expects to see learners experience a rich and broad localised curriculum that continually responds to their identities, cultures and languages. Teaching practice will consistently support the development and implementation of the localised curriculum, including te ao Māori and te reo Māori me ōna tikanga. The school will strengthen relationships with parents, whānau and the wider community to enrich opportunities for all learners.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to develop and implement a localised curriculum that enables excellent and equitable outcomes for all learners:

• learners experience a learning climate that fosters whanaungatanga and promotes their engagement and wellbeing
• the school’s practices and actions value diversity and inclusion and ensure that all learners enjoy success in their own right
• the school has a strong connection to their local environment that enables learners and staff to participate and contribute to the wider community.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• developing a shared understanding of the localised curriculum among students, staff, whānau and the wider community to strengthen reciprocal relationships
• implementing the localised curriculum throughout teaching and learning to enable learners to achieve a strong sense of belonging and identity
• ensuring consistent quality teaching practice across the school to promote excellent and equitable outcomes for all 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

1 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