Queen Elizabeth College

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 12 months of the Education Review Office and Queen Elizabeth College 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

Queen Elizabeth College is located in Palmerston North and provides education for students in Years 9 to 13. The school offers bilingual Māori and English medium education and has a Services Academy. 

The Board’s vision is:

• Quality - everything we do is at the best of our ability
• Expectations - we have the highest expectations of ourselves and our community
• Commitment - we live and teach what it is to be committed.

Queen Elizabeth College’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

• all students will progress and achieve to their highest possible educational potential through quality teaching and learning, safe environments and positive relationships. 
• Māori students will enjoy educational success as Māori 
• the board, staff, whāau, iwi and community will be engaged in supporting our ākonga in their learning and growth 
• the board will ensure ongoing improvement in the effectiveness and efficiency of governance and stewardship through induction and ongoing training, the distribution of tasks and succession planning.

You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Queen Elizabeth College’s website.

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the impact of the school’s targeted attendance initiatives on student achievement.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

• identified issues around consistency of attendance 
• low achievement across all levels, often related to attendance
• identified need to increase whānau support for attendance and learning.

The school expects to see improvements in students’ attendance levels and engagement from a responsive school curriculum, increased rates of progress and achievement and increased whānau support for attendance. 

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to improve students’ attendance. 

• A comprehensive and collaborative pastoral network.
• Existing attendance initiatives including a Year 10 targeted programme. 
• Te Whare Pikiora centre providing a responsive approach to health and wellbeing.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise: 

• a review of the curriculum to bring about a more responsive and student-centred curriculum
• changes to teaching practices to improve engagement and promote achievement
• building students’ ability to understand and see a purpose in their own learning and future pathways.

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

6 June 2024 

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