Ardmore School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 18 months of the Education Review Office and Ardmore 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 

Ardmore School is a semi-rural full primary school near Papakura, Auckland. The school aims to nurture, challenge and inspire each child to achieve their unique potential within a rural environment.

Ardmore School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

• focusing on accelerating learning for all students through the development of an authentic and responsive curriculum and pedagogy that underpins effective teaching and learning
• developing our people and partnerships for learning.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well the school is developing and embedding Assessment for Learning pedagogy and giving students greater ownership of their learning.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is to:

• respond to the identified need to give students greater ownership of their learning
• motivate and engage students in their learning
• accelerate and sustain student progress over time.

The school expects to see:

• teachers effectively using Assessment for Learning pedagogy in the teaching of writing
• consistent schoolwide practice in the teaching of writing
• students using and understanding the language of learning and the Ardmore School 'Writing Blocks’ to identify their current learning, where to next and how to get there.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to embed Assessment for Learning pedagogy and give students greater ownership of their learning:

• leadership that is focussed on continual improvement and reflects an ongoing commitment to achieve the school’s strategic direction and improve outcomes for all children
• leaders and teachers work collaboratively to develop a relevant pedagogy for the Ardmore Learner
• high expectations are held by the Ardmore community
• a well-resourced semi-rural environment that supports the delivery of the New Zealand Curriculum.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• using the language of learning across the curriculum
• strengthening learning-centred partnerships with parents and whānau to build shared understandings and involvement in their child’s learning.

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

24 May 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