Review 7 August 2023
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Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report
Background
This Profile Report was written within 18 months of the Education Review Office and Waihi College 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
Waihi College, a rural co-educational school for Years 7 to 13, is located in the town of Waihi. Its core values are manaakitanga, katiakitanga, whanaungatanga and kotahitanga.
Waihi College’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:
- Katiakitanga; protecting and preserving our taonga tuku iho (things that are important to them). Meeting every student’s physical, cultural, and educational needs.
- Manaakitanga; resilience, respect, humility, kindness, honesty, and generosity.
- Whanaungatanga; knowing who they we are and what our relationships are to each other
- Kotahitanga; doings things together for the benefit of all.
You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Waihi College’s website.
ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the extent to which annual goals are realised and impact on learner outcomes. ERO’s Effective School Evaluation Framework will be used as reference for improvement.
The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:
- school leaders recognise that there needs to be a more coherent approach to evaluating the impact of initiatives, goals and targets in place
- using the Effective School Evaluation Framework allows for a much clearer process to identify learner outcomes, set priorities, and develop a process to undertake ongoing evaluation of progress.
The school expects to see:
- a more aligned approach to school review and improvement
- greater parity in achievement for all learners
- teachers working alongside students to develop a clear understanding of their pathways through the school and into further education, training, or employment.
Strengths
The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to evaluate the impact of their actions to improve outcomes for students:
- designing and implementing specific programmes to meet the needs of students to engage and be successful, through specialised courses, in their individual pathways
- staff - student relationships that personalise learning; teachers respond to the needs of learners
- supported transition programs through the Te Ara Hou programme.
Where to next?
Moving forward, the school will prioritise:
- building on teachers’ capability to deliver a localised curriculum
- further refining the range of diverse programmes to best meet the needs of students
- embedding the goals and aspirations of the recently reviewed charter to drive coherent, forward thinking, planning and actions for improved student outcomes.
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
7 August 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