Nelson Christian Academy

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 14 months of the Education Review Office and Nelson Christian Academy 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 

Nelson Christian Academy is a special character school whose mission is to provide a biblically based, Christ-centred education equipping students in Years 1 to 8 for effective service and leadership. The school is located in the Marsden Valley, near Nelson, and is a member of Stoke Tāhunanui Kāhui Ako.

Nelson Christian Academy’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

• raising student achievement through targeted and deliberate teaching practice

• celebrating and nurturing cultures, languages, identities and wellbeing

• developing a responsive curriculum that will connect to students’ lives, community and environment.

You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Nelson Christian Academy’s website.

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate growth of professional capability and collective capacity that fosters the framework for a Christian-character and localised curriculum, with culturally responsive teaching and learning.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

• achievement data shows scope to accelerate progress for more students in the core learning areas, and to ensure that by Year 8, the majority are secure in their knowledge

• the school is growing shared planning, teaching and assessment practices and guidelines to support staff capability and consistency, guided by a School Achievement Function Practitioner (SAF) for mathematics

• leaders are keen to collaborate with staff to create a graduate profile document with clarity about the learning pathway across the school at each stage from Years 1 to 8, guiding teaching and learning

• strategic planning prioritises equity and excellence for Māori students, and staff are involved in professional development to grow culturally responsive pedagogy to enhance teaching approaches.

The school expects to see engaged and motivated learners, who feel listened to and valued. Improved learner progress and achievement will be evident. A professional growth cycle will be embedded, fostering reflective and collaborative teaching practice. Feedforward and feedback will be evident across curriculum, teaching and learning. A co-constructed localised curriculum will promote common understandings of quality practices, and power-sharing. Effective communication with the school’s diverse communities will promote engagement and a strong sense of belonging and connection.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to grow professional capability and collective capacity that fosters the framework for a Christian-character and localised curriculum, with culturally responsive teaching and learning:

• a community that builds a strong sense of belonging, united in faith, core beliefs and values that align Nelson Christian Academy’s Christ-centred character

• an embedded inquiry approach that will support teachers to become reflective, evidence-based practitioners

• senior leaders have worked with the SAF to create a comprehensive plan to enact its strategic goals.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• embedding and developing staff’s implementation of culturally responsive practices

• reviewing and developing assessment practices to inform differentiated planning and practice

• building staff expertise to remove barriers to learning and support English Language Learners to access the curriculum successfully.

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