Kaihere School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 9 months of the Education Review Office and Kaihere 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 

Kaihere School is a small rural primary school located on State Highway 27 on the western boundary of the Hauraki Plains. Since the last ERO report, staffing and the roll have remained stable. The local curriculum is underpinned by Enviro School kaupapa. Together the community and school support the values of ‘care, share, live and learn’ as articulated by the school motto ‘together we achieve more’. 

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

• improve student learning and achievement through the provision of individualised learning programmes
• grow the collective capacity of staff to adapt and respond to the individual needs of all learners
• implement organisational structures that support the growth of a responsive, context based, localised curriculum.

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

ERO and the school are working in partnership to evaluate, through ongoing cycles of inquiry, what teaching practices are making the most difference for identified students.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

The school has extensive information that tracks and monitors children’s progress. The school now needs to inquire further into what practices will best meet the needs of individual learners. Leaders and teachers will work through a collaborative process to develop and refine teaching and learning processes. This evaluation will provide ongoing evidence as to the effect of the implementation of a range of teaching and learning strategies, and how this improves outcomes for students. The evaluation will also provide further structure for the development of the school curriculum.

The school expects to see:

• improving, equitable and excellent outcomes for identified learners
• teaching and learning that is responsive and adaptive to the needs of individual students
• internal evaluation evidencing what works best, informing the development of the school curriculum.

Strengths

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

• effective assessment, tracking and monitoring practices that inform learners, whānau and teachers about how children are progressing in their learning
• supportive relationships and partnerships with priority learner families and wider educational networks
• a school and community culture underpinned by a shared language of values.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• developing internal evaluation structures and collaborative inquiry processes to support knowledge building for improvement
• providing a curriculum that is responsive and adaptive to the individual needs and interests of diverse learners.

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.

Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)
Central Region | Te Tai Pūtahi Nui

7 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