Pillans Point School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within eight months of the Education Review Office and Pillans Point 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 

Pillans Point School is located in Tauranga Moana and provides education for students in Years 1 to 6. A new principal started in July of 2022. New deputy principals were appointed for 2021 and 2022. The school is an active member of the Ōtūmoetai Kāhui Ako.

Pillans Point School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

• to grow adventurous learners for life
• to support children’s cultural, social, emotional and academic growth and development
• to use assessment as a tool to bridge teaching and learning.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how effectively the school’s curriculum is improving equitable outcomes for all students. Supporting Māori students to achieve success as Māori and challenging students to excel and achieve excellence are ongoing priorities for the school.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

• the school’s strategic focus on enabling a curriculum that is culturally responsive, respectful and inclusive
• the school’s commitment to meeting the diverse needs of all students through programmes that support and extend learning
• the opportunity it provides to ascertain the impact of teaching and assessment practices on the progress and achievement outcomes for all groups of students.

The school expects to see deliberate actions implemented to enable equitable outcomes and strengthen academic success for all students.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to enable equitable and excellent outcomes for learners:

• a positive school culture that supports high levels of student wellbeing, engagement and achievement
• well established school processes that identify and respond to the individual needs of learners
• leadership of learning that develops and pursues the school’s vision and promotes communication, collaboration and openness to change.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• developing consistency of assessment practices to promote students’ understanding and knowledge of their own learning and next steps
• building collective capability in culturally responsive practices to enable a more inclusive and authentic local curriculum in partnership with students, whānau and the Māori community
• strengthening internal evaluation at all levels to further inform responsive school planning and sustain continuous improvement in outcomes for all 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.

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

20 June 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