Tirohia School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within seven months of the Education Review Office and Tirohia 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 

Tirohia School is located in a rural community between Te Aroha and Paeroa and provides education for students in Years 1 to 8. A new permanent principal was appointed in August of 2022. The school is an active member of the Ōhinemuri Kāhui Ako.

Tirohia School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

• to achieve accelerated learning for students in literacy and mathematics
• to provide an authentic, innovative localised curriculum unique to Tirohia
• to foster authentic learning partnerships with whānau and the wider community.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how effectively school practices are increasing student engagement, accelerating learning and raising overall levels of achievement. Developing an authentic and inclusive localised curriculum in consultation with students, parents, whānau and the Māori community is an ongoing priority for the school.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

• the school’s commitment to meeting the needs of all learners and continuing to raise achievement with a specific focus on mathematics
• the opportunity it provides to address the school’s strategic priorities for continuous improvement.

The school expects to see further actions implemented to increase attendance rates and strengthen targeted teaching to accelerate learning.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to improve outcomes for students in engagement and achievement:

• leadership that develops and pursues the school’s vision and promotes communication, collaboration and openness to change
• an inclusive school whānau that contributes to a sense of belonging and positive culture for learning
• well established systems and processes to analyse achievement data and regularly monitor the progress of students to inform teaching and learning.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• continuing to develop teacher capability to meet the individual needs of all learners and enable accelerated outcomes
• implementing a range of assessment practices to promote students’ understanding and knowledge of their own learning and next steps
• engaging with parents, whānau and the whole school community to support student learning and implement further strategies to increase attendance.

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

19 May 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