Allandale School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

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

Allandale School is situated in Whakatāne and provides education for students in Years 1-6. The school values of Whanaungatanga, Manaakitanga and Kaitiakitanga are prioritised and fostered across the school environment. The school is proud of their valued relationships with whānau and community. The school currently provides te reo Māori immersion and bilingual classes for some learners.

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

• ensure all students progress in their learning to achieve at their full potential
• create a positive, healthy, connected inclusive climate for learning, that develops engaged, resourceful, lifelong learners
• understand and celebrate students for who they are, where they come from and the communities they are part of, enabling them to confidently take their place in the world
• achieve academic equity for Māori learners
• provide high quality delivery of teaching and learning.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well systems and programmes for teaching and learning positively impact all learners to progress and achieve.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is to:

• strengthen consistency of effective teaching, learning and assessment practices schoolwide 
• improve learning outcomes for all learners
• improve and maintain high rates of attendance for all learners.

The school expects to see improvements in:

• outcomes of equity and excellence for all learners with priority for those learners underachieving or at risk of underachieving 
• regular rates of attendance for all learners
• consistency of responsive teaching, learning and assessment practices across the school, resulting in effective transitions for learning, and learners, within and through year levels
• robust and collective systems and processes for teachers and leaders to regularly monitor and evaluate priority actions and their impact on learner outcomes.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goals:

• collaborative staff and board focused on establishing systems and processes to support greater equity and excellence for every learner 
• supportive partnerships with parents, whānau and community focused on positive outcomes for learners
• school values of whanaungatanga, manaakitanga and kaitiakitanga that are prioritised schoolwide
• a clearly structured plan for improvement that clarifies and supports actions for success.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise outcomes of equity and excellence for all learners through:

• staff professional learning to improve coherent teaching, learning and assessment practices schoolwide
• ensuring assessment information, analysis and reporting is reliable and used effectively to inform planning and improvement
• implementing robust systems and processes for the consistent monitoring and evaluation of priority actions and their impact on learner outcomes
• establishing processes for consistent monitoring of, and response to, attendance data to improve attendance rates for all.

ERO has concerns about aspects of

• the sufficiency and quality of policies, procedures and self-review that have guided the operation of the school.

Recommendation

Trustees and school leaders need to:

• prioritise the customisation of the recently purchased school policy framework
• adhere to the regular review schedule
• develop their understandings of appropriate assurance reporting
• support all staff to understand and engage meaningfully with procedures.

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

26 October 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