Hillcrest High School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 20 months of the Education Review Office and Hillcrest High 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 

Hillcrest High School is a large urban co-educational school catering for Year 9-13 students located in Hamilton. Aligned to its vision, prioritising equity and excellence, the school values diversity and inclusive approach.

Hillcrest High School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

• meeting the needs of all learners
• enhancing effective teacher practices
• caring for the wellbeing of all staff and students
• building culturally meaningful relationships with students, staff and whānau.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how effectively Hillcrest High School provides equitable and excellent outcomes and pathways at Years 9 and 10, to increase in-school parity of achievement at all levels of NCEA.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

• there is a known disparity between groups of students
• a stronger emphasis on the achievement of Year 9 and 10 students, to enable more equitable outcomes and opportunities for students to have genuine choice in their future pathways.

The school expects to see:

• increased student engagement
• more equitable choices and opportunities for students as they progress through the school
• parity between groups of students
• improved literacy and numeracy outcomes for Year 9 and 10 students
• a school culture that supports students’ language, culture and identity
• culturally responsive pedagogy embedded throughout the school.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to improve equity and excellent outcomes in NCEA achievement through strengthening teaching and learning in Years 9 and 10:

• strong leadership across the school focusing on continuous school improvement and improved outcomes for all students
• a coherent, aligned and student-centred charter and strategic plan that prioritises improved student outcomes
• robust and comprehensive internal evaluation processes that clearly identify students’ learning needs
• a strong relationship with Ngāti Hauā that supports and helps informs the direction of the school.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• teacher understanding and enactment of Mana Ōrite mo te Maatauranga Maaori
• developing literacy and numeracy teaching strategies across all areas of the curriculum
• responsive teaching practices to meet the needs of learners.

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.

Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)
Central Region | Te Tai Pūtahi Nui

25 August 2022 

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