St Heliers School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report 

Background

This Profile Report was written within 10 months of the Education Review Office and St Heliers 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 

St Heliers School is in St Heliers Bay, Auckland and caters for learners in Years 1 to 8. The school’s vision is to provide a welcoming community that stands for excellence in academic achievement and in all other areas of school life, fostering independent well-rounded students. The school values of care, diligence, honesty, responsibility, respect and self-discipline underpin all school activities. St Heliers School is a member of the Glendowie Kāhui Ako.

St Heliers School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

• to provide a high-quality teaching and learning programme that enables all students to reach their full potential
• to design and implement a local curriculum that delivers innovative educational practices including learner agency
• to be a welcoming community that promotes high levels of involvement and engagement, and embraces diversity.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate equity and excellence in reporting practices where learner agency is central to reciprocal communication with teachers, parents and whānau.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

• the school’s strategic goal for teaching and learning programmes includes the review of reporting learner progress and achievement to parents
• teachers and leaders have been strengthening teacher and learner assessment capability and agency for improved outcomes for all learners
• parents, whānau, teachers and learners are sharing their knowledge of learner agency to engage in productive, reciprocal learning conversations.

The school expects to see: 

• learners leading the reporting of their progress, achievement and next learning steps to parents and whānau
• further strengthening of teacher practice that promotes learner agency through assessment for learning 
• continued learning focused engagement and relationships with parents, whānau and community.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to evaluate equity and excellence in reporting practices where learner agency is foundational to reciprocal communication with teachers, parents and whānau:

• Culturally responsive teaching contributes to professional relationships focused on the progress, achievement, and wellbeing of learners.
• Teachers and leaders work collaboratively to design a curriculum that responds to the aspirations of learners, parents and whānau.
• An inclusive learning environment is supported by respectful relationships and well-embedded school values.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• further development of learner-led parent and whānau progress and achievement conferences 
• professional development in assessment for learning approaches that promote learner agency, equity and excellence for all
• evaluation activities that include data, evidence analysis and stakeholder voice, to inform school reporting practices.

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 April 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