Matakana School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 9 months of the Education Review Office and Matakana 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

Established over 160 years ago, Matakana School is a semi-rural school catering for children in Years 1 to 6, in Matakana Village near Warkworth. The school vision ‘taking students beyond expectations’ and the Matakana Magic values underpin all operations. Matakana school is a member of the Mahurangi Kahui Ako.

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

• The wellbeing of every child will be paramount and every child will have equitable opportunities to make progress towards achieving the school standards in literacy and numeracy.
• Leaders and teachers will respond quickly and effectively to the learning needs of children who are not achieving. Formative assessment practices will be an integral part of all classroom programmes to improve the quality of curriculum delivery in order to accelerate student learning outcomes and ensure equity across the school.
• The principal and teachers will continually work enhance their understanding of student literacy and numeracy needs.
• The school will report to parents about their child’s progress and achievement against school, national or age-appropriate norms.
• The school will work to accelerate and raise levels of achievement of Māori and Pasifika students in literacy and numeracy.
• The principal and teachers will give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi through the New Zealand curriculum, the Matakana local curriculum plan and the Matakana school inquiry model. 
• The school will embrace the opportunities that blended e-learning presents to transcend the boundaries of the classroom using digital technologies, robotics and thinking skills.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well, structured literacy and writing professional development programmes improve learning outcomes for all students in writing.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

• equitable and excellent outcomes for all students in writing
• ensuring priority learners achieve equitable outcomes in writing 
• accelerating the progress and achievement of those students who are not at the expected level in writing
• continuing to strengthen teacher capacity and capability through relevant professional learning and development.

The school expects to see:

• school wide lifts in writing achievement and greater equity for priority learners
• accelerated progress for learners working towards curriculum expectations
• consistency of literacy teaching practice and implementation of professional development programmes
• students having a positive attitude towards writing.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to improve learning outcomes for all students in writing.

• leadership that reflects an ongoing commitment to achieve the school’s strategic direction and improved outcomes for all students 
• wellbeing and school values are actively promoted and celebrated
• clear and succinct guidance from regularly reviewed curriculum implementation plans
• well-resourced semi-rural environment that supports the delivery of the New Zealand Curriculum 

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• strengthening learning centred partnerships with parents and whānau to build shared understandings and involvement in their children’s learning
• embedding and sustaining the collective capacity, capability, and practice of staff through ongoing and relevant professional learning and development programmes.

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

27 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