Parkside School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

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

This report is part of a nationally coordinated evaluation of 27-day specialist schools during the second half of 2023. This included the development of day specialist school evaluation indicators by ERO with significant input from principals, staff and the Special Education Principals’ Association of New Zealand (SEPAnz). 

Context 

Parkside School, located in Pukekohe, delivers a holistic education for ākonga aged from five to twenty-one years of age who have a range of special educational learning needs, intellectual and physical disabilities. The students are from Pukekohe and the wider Franklin region. 

All students enrolled have high or very high needs and are funded through the Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS). A team of specialists and therapists provide transdisciplinary support for students in consultation with whānau and staff. Each student has an individual education plan.

A specialist teacher outreach service provides support for ORS funded students enrolled in local schools.

Beyond the Wellington Street campus, there are 15 classes in 9 hubs in host schools across the wider Franklin region. A young adult transition centre located in the commercial centre of Pukekohe focuses on preparing students for life after school.

The school continues to navigate and manage roll growth pressures along with the employment and property demands associated with this.

The school’s mission statement seeks to positively affect all aspects of the students’ development: intellectual, social, emotional and physical, and to facilitate the students’ maximum potential in preparation for the whole of life.  This goal is supported and enacted through the school’s vision, values and principles. 

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

• within and across school communication: communication pathways are efficient, followed by all stakeholders and promote optimum progress for students 
• curriculum: a refreshed school curriculum that actively supports the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi and reflects the voice of our ākonga and school community
• physical space for wellbeing: learning environments and buildings that are accessible for all students and fit for purpose. 

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate to what extent the school is developing effective communication pathways that are known by all, efficient and promote optimum outcomes for all students.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is that the leadership team identified the need to review and evaluate within and across school communication to: 

• respond to the ongoing geographic spread of students
• address the complexity of current communication systems  
• strengthen communication with families as the school roll grows
• develop and extend links with the local community.

The school expects to see communication pathways accessed by all, prioritising the best interests of students at all times.

Strengths 

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to develop effective communication pathways that are known by all, efficient and promote optimum outcomes for students. 

• Positive relationships and high expectations that support learners to reach their learning goals underpinned by a transdisciplinary approach. 
• A highly responsive and cohesive leadership team that utilises well established systems to provide strategic direction and a culture for school improvement. 
• Leadership that creates conditions for innovative solutions to sustain improved outcomes for learners.
• Whānau and learner voice effectively supports planning for learning and wellbeing.
• Teachers and staff effectively support learners being competent communicators.
• Schoolwide practices that effectively support calm and settled environments.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise: 

• identification of current communication pathways and setting up an evaluation of their effectiveness
• the continued development of the school’s action plan in relation to its evaluation focus. 

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

16 May 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