Tauranga Special School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report 

 Background

This Profile Report was written within 6 months of the Education Review Office and Tauranga Special 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

Tauranga Special School caters for students aged between 5 to 21 years of age eligible for Ongoing Resourcing Scheme (ORS) funding. The school provides a specialised curriculum to meet the unique characteristics of students. These students learn across a range of settings, including four classes at the base school, two off site community campuses, and satellite classes in four local host schools. 

A specialist therapy services support students’ wellbeing and access to learning through a transdisciplinary approach. A specialist teacher outreach service supports ORS funded students enrolled in their local school.

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

The school’s vision is to provide opportunities for each student to access learning at their level and develop to their full potential as learners and members of their community in New Zealand. This is supported by the following values:

• achievement – supporting students to be the best possible versions of themselves
• celebration – acknowledging all progress no matter how small
• whakawhanaungatanga – healthy relationships, a sense of interconnection and belonging
• manaakitanga – enhancing the mana and sense of self-worth of people, care and respect and hospitality
• wellbeing – enabling and empowering students to thrive
• innovation, inquiry and curiosity (ako) – reciprocal learning relationship, new knowledge and understanding growing out of shared experiences
• inclusive community – including everyone and seeking to be included in the community.

Tauranga Special School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

• to provide opportunities for each student to access learning at their level to develop to their potential as learners and as members of their community in New Zealand
• for the curriculum to be responsive to the needs of each student
• for students to have a sense that the culture that they bring to the school is valued and a part of school life
• to provide opportunities for students to communicate their own educational goals and be the centre of their education.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how effectively the school’s systems, processes and practices can be cohesively strengthened to promote holistic growth for unique learners.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

• school leaders have identified the need to rationalise, simplify and consolidate current approaches, to bring greater clarity about school practice that promote positive learning outcomes for all.

The school expects to see:

• streamlined approaches that promote student readiness for learning
• well managed staff workload that supports consistency of practice across all sites 
• students more engaged in their learning 
• increased positive outcomes for students.

Strengths 

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to evaluate how effectively the school’s systems, processes and practices can be cohesively strengthened to promote holistic growth for its unique learners:

• Effective systems and processes that clearly identify, plan for, and evaluate strategies that promote wellbeing and positive behaviours.
• Leadership implements well established systems and actively responds to the school’s complex environment, including distributed leadership, conditions for innovation and consistently high levels of staff understanding around good practice. 
• Whānau and learner voice is effectively gathered to support planning for learners.
• Transdisciplinary knowledge of the learner informs individual and class curriculum, which is highly adapted to each student. 
• Staff express and enact high expectations for all learners to experience success.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise: 

• the completion of a stocktake of school systems and processes currently in place that guide teacher practice
• a system change to strengthen staff’s shared understanding and response to the complex and unique needs of students
• the revision and development of the school’s strategic plan, underpinned by Te Whare Tapa Whā.

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

15 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