Prospect School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 14 months of the Education Review Office and Prospect 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

Prospect School is a multicultural contributing school, located in Glen Eden, Auckland. The school caters for year 1 to 6 ākonga/learners and has a Māori bilingual unit. The school’s vision is to create positive futures for ākonga through inclusive and inspirational learning.

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

• knowledgeable and passionate staff build capacity
• an explicit focus on student achievement
• increased student and community engagement
• a commitment to tangata whenua and Te Tiriti o Waitangi
• the school’s core values, skills, knowledge and behaviours made explicit through Te Ara Tupuranga- the guiding values and behaviours for all.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how effectively Prospect School’s learning conditions and teaching practices result in positive and equitable ākonga outcomes.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

• a strength-based focus where learning needs are at the heart of what they do
• equity for Māori, Pacific and diverse learners is embedded in Te Ara Tupuranga
• wellbeing and belonging are key components in the school’s culturally responsive local curriculum
• targeted interventions support ākonga to be successful in who they are
• the school, whānau and community are engaged in a positive learning-centred relationships
• teaching practices and learning outcomes are reviewed, adapted, and monitored to meet ākonga needs
• the school’s strategic goals focus on effective teaching and quality learning outcomes, giving effect to te Tiriti o Waitangi, and an unrelenting focus on ākonga learning.

The school expects to see:

• ākonga who are agentic in their learning and can describe their goals, achievements and what success looks like for them
• classroom cultures that are well established and consistently characterised by connectedness, respect, inclusion, empathy, collaboration, and safety, focused on student belonging and wellbeing
• teachers consistently using a range of strategies to fully engage learners
• whānau and community engagement focused on enriching ākonga learning opportunities
• teachers work is connected, relevant, challenging, and meaningful
• a refined and streamlined Te Ara Tupuranga providing an explicit pathway for learning.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support it in its goal to focus on positive and equitable ākonga outcomes:

• ākonga are engaged in their learning and seek out opportunities for new learning
• ākonga, staff and whānau understand the importance of living their school values
• passionate and respectful teachers are collectively committed to equitable outcomes for ākonga
• supportive, knowledgeable, evidence informed school leadership
• an articulate, fully collaborative team approach to implementing innovation
• strength-based, well-developed, school-wide systems, practices, and processes
• whānau, staff and community have an unrelenting focus on learning and care.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise to:

• continue to embed and monitor the refined Te Ara Tupuranga values, skills, knowledge and behaviours across an integrated curriculum
• define and evaluate levels of consistency and engagement with all stakeholders in implementing a refined Te Ara Tupuranga
• consider levels of responsiveness across the wider curriculum; how the school supports teachers and ākonga to realise their potential, their feelings of being successful and experiencing belonging
• further strengthening opportunities and engagement with whānau and community
• evidencing through an evaluative process the excellent and equitable outcomes for all ākonga at Prospect School.

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.

Filivaifale Jason Swann
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki

21 November 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