Turua Primary School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within nine months of the Education Review Office and Turua 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 

Turua Primary School, located on the Hauraki Plains, provides education for students in Years 1 to 8. The school’s mission to ‘empower learners to access their future’ underpins a holistic view of student development and a focus on supporting students to be their ‘Best Always’.

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

• Ako - to develop the learning and teaching foundations that enable our learners to contribute and thrive as successful citizens throughout their lives.
• Hauora - to ensure schoolwide initiatives promote physical activity, healthy lifestyles, and safety programmes.
• Whanaungatanga - to nurture and grow links with both whānau and the wider Turua community.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the extent to which the implementation of a cohesive, responsive wellbeing and pastoral framework is promoting connection, engagement, and improved learning outcomes.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is: 

• the need to respond to increasing numbers of students who require pastoral, engagement and learning support 
• the significant difference it will make to students most at risk of underachieving.

The school expects to see:

• a coherent pastoral framework and practices that consistently align with the school values and respond to student needs
• students increasingly experiencing a sense of connection, belonging and support
• student, whānau and teacher voice, and student information guiding ongoing refinements to the pastoral system
• students most at risk of underachieving experiencing accelerated progress towards equitable outcomes.

Strengths 

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to promote connection, engagement, and achievement:

• experienced leadership that is focused on continuous improvement
• teaching that is characterised by respect, inclusion and relationships of care
• an engaging and varied curriculum that promotes access to meaningful educational experiences.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• developing and implementing a pastoral framework built around its core values 
• continuing to work with whānau to implement explicit and informed pastoral practices that are responsive to students’ wellbeing needs
• using stakeholder voice and student information to evaluate the impact of and inform refinements to the new pastoral framework.

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

18 March 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