Kawhia School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 18 months of the Education Review Office and Kawhia 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 

Kāwhia kai
Kāwhia moana
Kāwhia tangata
Aotea whenua

Kāwhia School, Te Kura o Kawhia, is situated on the west coast of the North Island and provides education for students in Years 1 to 8 in te reo Māori and English medium pathways. Most of the tauira share whakapapa connections to local marae.

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

• provide learning programmes that enhance educational success that are inclusive, address student needs and support tauira confidence
• provide learning programmes that enhance tauira language, culture and identity as Māori
• strengthen school culture to support student wellbeing
• gather, collate, use and analyse data from a range of information including formative and summative assessment tools and tauira voice.

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

ERO and the school are working together to review the effectiveness of school-wide initiatives to support tauira progress in Te Reo Matatini and Literacy.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is that:

• the school has prioritised the need to accelerate progress in te reo matatini in rumaki reo Māori and literacy in the English medium classroom to improve equitable and excellent outcomes.

The school expects to see:

• improved progress in pānui and reading towards achieving school goals
• strengthened sense of confidence and motivation for tauira, mana motuhake, in pānui and reading curriculum areas
• continued strengthening of the use of data to support decision making.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support tauira progress in te reo matatini and literacy:

• culturally responsive pedagogy and practice that is based on Tainuitanga, Kaawhiatanga and the local histories and stories of iwi and hapuu
• strong kaumatua, community and hapuu involvement in the daily life of the school
• an inclusive school environment where students feel a sense of connection and belonging
• a well-established plan for improvement that clarifies actions and indicators of success
• collaborative leaders and staff who are aware of the need for, committed to, and collectively strive to improve outcomes for all learners.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• deliberately using internal evaluation processes as opportunities for individual and collective professional learning
• internal evaluation to guide improvements focused on what went well, and for whom
• strengthen student mana motuhake to contribute to the learning programme.

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

28 February 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.