Tainui Full Primary School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within six months of the Education Review Office and Tainui Full Primary 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 

Tainui Full Primary School is for students from Years 1 to 8. The school is located in Tokoroa. The board is in the process of appointing a new principal to begin in 2023.

Tainui Full Primary School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

• to grow curious and capable tamariki
• to grow highly effective and innovative teachers
• to grow high performing and capable school leaders.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well they are developing authentic connections, communication and relationships with parents, mana whenua and the community to support tamariki engagement, learning and positive achievement outcomes.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

• the school has identified further potential to grow partnerships with parents, whānau, mana whenua and families to support learning and engagement of tamariki
• the school values the educational research that shows that when whānau are involved in the learning alongside the school, tamariki are more likely to be engaged and achieve well.

The school expects to see:

• a range of strategies developed in partnership with whānau to more effectively and authentically communicate and collaborate with the school community
• continued growth in relationships and partnerships with parents, whānau, families and mana whenua with a focus on learning
• involvement of whānau in reshaping the school values and learner qualities that help ākonga to become better engaged, confident, connected and actively involved learners
• a localised curriculum that is designed alongside whānau to make learning more meaningful and relevant to ākonga
• continuation of the trend of improving outcomes in literacy and numeracy for all.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to evaluate how well they are developing authentic connections, communication, and relationships with the school community to support tamariki engagement, learning and positive outcomes:

• strategic leadership that clearly identifies priority areas for further growth and development for maximum impact on tamariki learning and achievement
• established school systems that clearly identify, track and monitor tamariki engagement and achievement
• developing relationships with the local iwi Raukawa, through ongoing engagement with the Kāhui Ako
• a range of opportunities to meet with whānau which are a regular part of the school calendar.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• gathering and reviewing the feedback from the current initiatives to engage with whānau, families, mana whenua and the community
• developing  a shared understanding of current community engagement to identify priorities for action
• working with whānau, families, mana whenua and the community to grow a shared understanding of what a partnership for learning will look like
• considering best practice examples in order to stimulate ideas for next steps in effective learning partnerships.

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

8 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