Te Aroha Primary School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 14 months of the Education Review Office and Te Aroha 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 

Te Aroha Primary School provides education for learners in Years 1 to 8. A new principal was appointed in Term two, 2022.

Te Aroha Primary School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

• for teachers to raise student achievement in all areas, through rich and varied teaching programmes inside and outside of the classroom
• to develop effective, culturally responsive pedagogy that improves engagement and achievement for all students, with a particular focus on achieving equity for Māori and Pacific students
• to ensure students are empowered to be independent learners, committed to evaluating and adjusting their learning in partnership with their teacher
• to forge educationally powerful connections with families, whānau and community.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the effectiveness of selected formative assessment practices in raising achievement for all students and in particular for Māori in numeracy.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

• the difference in achievement between Māori and other learners in numeracy
• the commitment to professional learning in numeracy and to the evaluation that will support the sharpened focus on improved and equitable outcomes for learners.

The school expects to see:

• parity of achievement outcomes in numeracy
• further growth in teacher capacity to engage with formative assessment practices to raise achievement in numeracy and these practices increasingly used in other curriculum areas
• growth in student agency that will include goal setting and developing next learning steps. This will result in improved outcomes in numeracy.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to determine the effectiveness of selected formative assessment practices to raise achievement in numeracy:

• well-targeted teacher professional development focused on improving learning outcomes in mathematics
• highly committed and collaborative leaders and teachers who support the improvement journey to ensure equitable outcomes for learners
• targeted resourcing that supports teachers to explore and develop their classroom practice and more effectively engage learners to improve outcomes.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• continuing with the targeted professional learning and development to further build teacher capacity
• continuing to refine the range and use of assessment tools, to more effectively inform teacher practice and grow student agency.

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

13 October 2022 

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

This school hosts as satellite class of Goldfields Special School which is based in Paeroa.