Murrays Bay School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 12 months of the Education Review Office and Murrays Bay 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 

Murrays Bay School is a state school located in Murrays Bay, Auckland, catering for students from Year 1 to Year 6. The school is committed to growing its four learning priorities to develop confident, curious, connected and creative learners.

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

• build the capacity of students to own and be responsible for their learning.

• develop culturally appropriate and responsive contexts for teaching and learning that includes whanau engagement and recognition and celebration of learner’s identity culture and language.

• promote the wellbeing of all learners and staff.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well the school’s localised curriculum provides authentic, culturally responsive learning opportunities and outcomes to grow confident, curious, connected and creative ākonga/learners.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is to determine to what extent focusing on a curriculum that develops creativity and identity, as key learning priorities is to:

• meet the learning strengths and needs of all ākonga

• be culturally responsive to all groups of students and their whānau

• enhance the quality of teaching throughout the school

• support ākonga to experience success in who they are

• provide further equitable and excellent outcomes for all students.

The school expects to see:

• all students developing and utilising their creative capabilities to produce creative works

• a culturally responsive, localised curriculum supported by whanau and community, that supports developing ākonga agency, engagement and success

• the quality of teaching enhanced through prioritising creativity, ākonga identity and wellbeing

• effective teaching and leadership practices, supported by quality professional learning opportunities

• rich, authentic learning programmes, consistently implemented throughout the school focussed on developing students’ creative capabilities.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to provide authentic, culturally responsive learning opportunities and outcomes to grow confident, curious, connected and creative ākonga:

• a collaborative school community, who together are focused on developing a new vision for the school, based on harnessing ākonga creative capabilities

• successful ākonga wellbeing

• family support of ākonga and the school

• the commitment of the senior leaders to a philosophy of ‘continuous improvement’

• well-resourced and supported teaching and leading practices and processes.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• modifying professional development from the analysis of mid-point evaluation data

• continuing to undertake in-depth data analysis of priority and targeted learners to ensure equity in developing creative capacity

• reshaping the school’s vision to incorporate the four learning priorities that will develop confident, curious, connected and creative learner

• aligning teacher expectations, relationships, the curriculum, school vision and values to a school where creativity flourishes inside and outside the classroom.

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

17 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