Rotokawa School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 7 months of the Education Review Office and Rotokawa 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 

Rotokawa School is located in Rotorua and provides education for students in Years 1 to 6. Whānau, hapū and iwi engagement are valued and prioritised. The school is proud of their Rotokawa curriculum which is guided by local histories, pūrākau and pakiwaitara. Pūrākau and pakiwaitara, along with school values of Tū Koakoa, Tū Mana, Tū Tapu and Tū Pono, guide and support the school’s hauora strategy.

The school has two Level 2 te reo Māori immersion classes.

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

• provide high quality teaching and learning opportunities through a Rotokawa curriculum that results in increased achievement

• strengthen relationships with whānau, hapū, iwi to ensure all families are well supported to engage in their child’s learning in both worlds

• increase teacher and student capability, fluency and competency using local and digital contexts across the local curriculum.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how effectively the Rotokawa curriculum contributes to hauora, engagement, and equitable outcomes of success for all learners.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is to: 

• strengthen cultural identity and hauora for all

• prioritise the improvement of attendance, progress and achievement.

The school expects to see improvements in:

• outcomes of equity and excellence, including attendance, for all learners

• accelerated progress for those who are underachieving or at risk of underachieving

• consistent, responsive and effective schoolwide delivery of the Rotokawa curriculum. 

Strengths

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

• established localised curriculum drives expectations for responsive teaching and learning

• established strategies and systems support teaching, learning and hauora

• meaningful and purposeful relationships with whānau, hapū and iwi prioritise positive outcomes for learners

• collaborative leaders and staff have a holistic approach to hauora that responds to the individual child’s learning needs.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise outcomes of equity and excellence for all learners through continued staff professional learning to ensure schoolwide consistency:

• in embedding the Rotokawa Curriculum

• of quality teaching, learning and assessment practices

• in focused strategies and systems to support hauora and learner engagement.

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

1 November 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