Maketu School

School Report

Tēnā koutou e mau manawa rahi ki te kaupapa e aro ake nei, ko te tamaiti te pūtake o te kaupapa. Mā wai rā e kawe, mā tātau katoa.

We acknowledge the collective effort, responsibility and commitment by all to ensure that the child remains at the heart of the matter.

Every New Zealand state and state integrated school has an ERO review at least once every four years to evaluate what is working well for learners and what needs to be improved.

About the School

Maketu School provides education to students in Years 1 to 6. The school has a roll of 55 students with almost all identifying as Māori. The school’s vision is To make Maketu School a learning place of renown, Kia tū rangatira ai, Stand tall. This vision is underpinned by the values of Rangatiratanga | Respect Ourselves, Manaakitanga | Respect Others and Kaitiakitanga | Respect our Environment. 

At the beginning of 2025, a level one Māori medium immersion class, Tūterangiharuru was established. 

The school began 2026 with an acting principal. 

Education Counts provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement, school enrolments and school zones. educationcounts.govt.nz/home

An explanation of the terms and judgements used in this report can be found here: Reporting | Education Review Office

Improvement and progress

This section is about the progress the school has made since the December 2023 ERO report. It includes an explanation of the expected improvements and findings.

Expected improvements

The school focused on evaluating the positive impact in learning outcomes for all learners through effective implementation of the Maketu School curriculum.

The school expected to see improvements in outcomes of equity and excellence for all learners, with priority for those learners underachieving or at risk of underachieving. The school also expected to see schoolwide consistency in teaching and learning practices, including the use of assessment to effectively respond to learner needs, regular rates of attendance, and all learners demonstrating a strong sense of hauora.

Findings

The school remains committed to ensuring every learner experience success and continues to focus on equity and excellence through a range of well-considered actions. These include recruiting staff who bring expertise to further te ao Māori and local contexts for learning, establishing a Māori-medium learning option in response to community aspirations and implementing structured literacy and mathematics teaching approaches. Alongside these, the school continues to embed practices that promote hauora, creating a positive and inclusive environment where learners are supported and valued. Raising achievement for all learners, ensuring equitable outcomes for boys, and improving regular rates of attendance remain priorities for the school. 

What we know about learner success

This section provides a summary of learner success and wellbeing. The judgments are based on the ERO School Improvement Framework and the evidence provided to ERO during the evaluation.

Achievement in Years 1 to 6

This section is about learner achievement. It outlines how well learners across the school meet or exceed the expected curriculum level of The New Zealand Curriculum in foundational skills.

Attendance

This section is about school attendance and the progress the school is making towards meeting the Government target of 80% regular attendance.

• Less than a third of students attend school regularly.
• The school is significantly behind the target of 80% regular attendance.
• The school is developing a suitable plan to improve attendance.
• Regular attendance is not yet improving towards or beyond the target.
• Chronic absence is reducing over time. 

Assessment

This section is about how the school assesses learner progress and achievement.

• The school is improving its approach and the reliability of its practices to accurately find out about achievement against the curriculum.
• Teachers are developing their use of assessment information to adjust teaching practices to ensure ongoing improvement in teaching and student progress.

Progress

This section is about how well the school supports all learners to make sufficient progress.

• The school is developing good quality planning to increase the rate of progress for all groups of students.
• The school has to some extent improved achievement and progress for those learners most at risk of not achieving since the previous review.
• The school has to some extent extended achievement and progress for learners working at or above curriculum levels since the previous review.
• The school is making progress towards meeting Government reading, writing and mathematics targets and/or pānui, tuhituhi and pāngarau targets for 2030 and agrees this will need to be a key strategic priority.

Rumaki/Reo Rua outcomes and conditions to support learner success 

This section of the report provides more detail about the quality of teaching and learning through the provision of te reo Māori in rumaki/Reo Rua classroom/s within in English medium schools.

Learner success and wellbeing

• Less than a third of ākonga meet or exceed expected curriculum levels in pānui and tuhituhi, and less than half meet expectations in pāngarau. A focused approach on reo ā-waha is supporting efforts in pānui and pāngarau.
• Ākonga are increasingly growing confidence in who they are through their whakapapa and understanding of their cultural identity. 
• While educational pathways are available for ākonga, location is a mitigating factor to accessing preferred options.
• ERO was unable to verify the extent to which ākonga in Tūterangiharuru are meeting the Government target of 80% regular attendance.

Conditions to support learner success

• Ākonga in Tūterangiharuru are in their first year of te reo Māori immersion; there is a specific focus on reo ā-waha to build language proficiency.
• Kaiako deliver the curriculum through a te ao Māori lens that reflects mana whenua narratives and are steeped in traditional and cultural knowledge.
• A cohesive Māori medium transition plan is yet to be co-designed in collaboration with key stakeholders to ensure a fluid pathway for ākonga of Tūterangiharuru.

Next steps for improvement

This section provides more detail for the school to include in its strategic and annual planning for ongoing improvement across the school. It outlines what the school is doing well and identifies actions for improvement.

Areas of strength

• Students are confident and have a strong sense of belonging and pride in their school.
• Leaders establish positive relationships with a range of educational, social and iwi networks that support school priorities and planning for improvement.
• Teachers continue to work towards implementing structured approaches to the teaching of literacy and mathematics across all levels of the school.
• Leaders and teachers plan and provide a broad curriculum connected to the local environment and pūrākau of Te Arawa iwi.
• Staff appropriately support students at risk of not achieving, actively responding to learner needs.
• Regular communication from leadership and the provision of ongoing professional learning builds the collective capability of all staff.
• Staff regularly reflect on the progress of individual students and work collaboratively to improve their teaching practice and outcomes for learners.

Key priorities

• Increase rates of regular attendance for all students.
• Accelerate learning, raising overall levels of achievement and improving equitable outcomes for identified learners.
• Strengthen structured approaches to the teaching of literacy and mathematics across the school to ensure consistent high-quality practice.
• Further develop effective analysis of student achievement information to inform strategic planning and targeted actions for continuous improvement.
• Co-design with whānau a strategic plan for Tūterangiharuru that sets out clear goals for sustainability and success to improve ākonga outcomes.

Actions to bring about improvement

Within three months:

• leadership and the Maketu School Board set clear targets to:
  • shift rates of student attendance from irregular to regular
  • accelerate the progress of students achieving below expected curriculum levels
  • increase the number of boys achieving in reading, writing and mathematics
• the board and leadership implement the attendance plan and engage with parents and whānau to put into action effective strategies
• governance and leadership design a strategic plan in collaboration with stakeholders of Tūterangiharuru

Within 6 months:

• leadership and kaiako implement and monitor the strategic plan for Tūterangiharuru

Every six months:

• leadership monitors and reviews actions and initiatives to increase regular attendance, identifying next steps
• the principal and teachers review the progress of all learners, including target students, and develop further strategies that support accelerated learning, especially for boys in literacy and mathematics
• staff engage in professional learning to further grow their knowledge and skills in delivering structured approaches to the teaching of literacy and mathematics
• leadership reviews progress of Tūterangiharuru against the strategic plan, using this information to prioritise actions for continued improvement

Annually:

• leadership, teachers and the Board monitor progress against attendance targets and share key insights with whānau to strengthen collective responsibility for improvement 
• the principal and teachers inquire deeply into a range of achievement information to evaluate the effectiveness of programmes and practices to improve outcomes for learners
• the principal reports on outcomes of the school’s targeted actions and collaboratively develops a systematic approach to annual planning for continuous improvement
• governance and leadership evaluate progress of Tūterangiharuru through thorough analysis of ākonga engagement, achievement and wellbeing data, and use findings to inform next steps for improvement.

Expected outcomes

• Improved rates of regular attendance that meet the Government’s target of 80%.
• Accelerated progress and achievement and increasingly equitable outcomes for all groups of students in reading, writing and mathematics.
• High quality teaching, learning and assessment practices embedded schoolwide.
• Improved progress and achievement outcomes for ākonga of Tūterangiharuru.

Regulatory and legislative requirements

This section of the report is about how the school meets regulatory and legislative requirements.

Board assurance with regulatory and legislative requirements

This section of the report reviews the school's policies, procedures, documentation, and checks that it meets all regulations, maintains a safe environment, and supports students' wellbeing.

During this review the Board has attested to meeting regulatory and legislative requirements in the following areas:

Board administration

Yes

Curriculum

Yes

Management of health, safety and welfare

Yes

Personnel management

Yes

Recommendation to the Ministry of Education

ERO recommends that the Ministry of Education provide tailored support for the new school leadership to:

• urgently improve students’ regular attendance
• accelerate progress and achievement of all students in the English medium and Māori medium contexts.

The next public report on ERO’s website will be a School Report and is due within four years.

Me mahi tahi tonu tātau, kia whai oranga a tātau tamariki
Let’s continue to work together for the greater good of all children

Sharon Kelly                   Sharee Hemingway
Director of Schools        Director Ākonga Māori

24 March 2026