Dunedin Rudolf Steiner School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report 

Background

This Profile Report was written within six months of the Education Review Office and Dunedin Rudolf Steiner 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 

Dunedin Rudolf Steiner School is located in Maia on the Otago Harbour and provides education for learners up to 13 years old. It is a special character school whose vision is to be a vibrant community with children who know themselves as kaitiaki. 

Dunedin Rudolf Steiner School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

• excellence for all children
• nurture the mana of Te Tiriti
• foster a healthy community and environment.

You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Dunedin Rudolf Steiner School’s website.

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the impact of enhancing the curriculum across the school with te ao, te reo, tikanga and mātauranga Māori to support each child’s learning and growth as a whole person.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is that:

• to implement the schools’ curriculum, where learning another language is central to experiencing and appreciating other perspectives
• the importance of preparing its children so that they can fully participate in life and learning in a bicultural Aotearoa New Zealand

The school expects to see:

• staff understandings are enhanced in order to provide learners with rich experiences and understandings of Aotearoa’s bicultural heritage and partnership
• the curriculum as well as the grounds continue to be developed to reflect the values, the geography and historic bicultural setting of the school, interwoven with the school’s special character
• connections with local iwi are fostered
• improved student learning, progress and growth.

Strengths 

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to evaluate the impact of a school-wide te ao Māori curriculum on enhancing each child’s learning and growth as a whole person:

• the school’s commitment to strengthen its connections with mana whenua of the local area and to develop an across-school programme in te reo Māori and tikanga Māori 
• the experiential nature of the Steiner curriculum supports children to appreciate diverse perspectives presented in ao Māori
• staff know all children across the school and contribute to each child’s learning
• high levels of confidence and support from the school community and Board.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• the nurturing of te reo Māori, tikanga Māori and Aotearoa histories across the school
• developing progress indicators, embedded in the school’s special character, that communicate learning milestones as children develop increased  te reo Māori  proficiency as they move through the school
• using the progress indicators to evaluate children’s learning, progress and growth.

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 

14 March 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