Henderson School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within six months of the Education Review Office and Henderson 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 

Henderson School caters for Year 1 to 6 ākonga/ learners and is in Henderson, Auckland City. The school’s vision is for tamariki/students to ‘Face the future with confidence! KIA MATAKITE! KIA MĀIA!’

The school values are to be WARM hearted. A heart image is used to tie the values together:

• Work hard

• Act safely

• Respect ourselves, others and our environment; and

• Make good choices.

Henderson School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are to:

• be a community of learners who face the future with confidence 

• embed a culturally relevant localised curriculum across the kura/school

• create a strong learner focused partnership with whānau and families

• grow kaiako/teachers and kaiarataki/leaders pedagogical knowledge skills and understanding

• provide fit for purpose learning environments and ensure financial stability.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well the culturally responsive curriculum provides equitable and quality learning outcomes for all ākonga.

Embedded into the evaluation is a focus on how well:

• student agency is woven through learning

• whānau engagement supports ākonga to face their future with confidence

• kaiako and kaiarataki are adaptive and consistent in their practice.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

• the school has theory informed expectations around curriculum delivery, teaching, learning and assessment

• student agency is a major focus for the school, aligned to wellbeing, progress and lifting levels of achievement

• an expectation that the school and community work together to foster and promote a community of learners

• equity and high-quality teaching practices are core expectations for all kaiako and kaiarataki

• the curriculum is undergoing a refresh, so it is a priority for the school to ensure it remains culturally responsive and relational.

The school expects to see:

• multiple and equitable opportunities provided to ākonga, focused on building agency, achievement and confidence

• self-determining ākonga who are confident in their culture, language and identity

• ākonga understand what it means to be ‘WARM hearted’

• adaptive and consistent practices explicitly focused on positive learner outcomes

• genuine whānau engagement with the school

• professional learning to build capacity and capability of kaiako and kaiarataki.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support their goal to evaluate how well the culturally responsive curriculum provides equitable and quality learning outcomes for all ākonga:

• improved and tested learning progressions ensure kaiako are tracking ākonga individual progress and achievement

• developing ākonga critical thinking communication skills supports building agency

• a focus on broadening ākonga horizons through external expertise

• an inclusive learning culture focused on ākonga and staff wellbeing

• school wide coaching and mentoring processes to support kaiako and kaiarataki in capability building.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• identifying ākonga agency across the broad curriculum

• close monitoring of learners below expected levels of attainment and attendance

• incorporating the National Education Learning Priorities into strategic planning

• the collection of stakeholder voices and experiences to inform the evaluation.

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 School

28 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