Waiotahe Valley School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 8 months of the Education Review Office and Waiotahe Valley 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 

Waiotahe Valley School is a rural school approximately 14 km from Ōpōtiki and provides education for students in Years 1 to 8. The school’s vision ‘Ka poipoia – To care, Ka toha – To share, Ka maia – To dare’ is valued and promoted throughout the school and community. The school is proud of its rural setting and environmental focus.

Waiotahe Valley School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

• to teach and model the kaupapa of hauora amongst children, staff and school
• students have opportunities to experience success, learn new skills, and knowledge
• engage with the community to form strong learning partnerships.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the effectiveness of teaching and learning programmes and practices in supporting and enhancing hauora and outcomes of success for all learners.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is the need to:

• strengthen consistent teaching, learning and assessment practices across the school
• strengthen the sense of belonging and cultural identity for all
• improve rates of attendance for all learners.

The school expects to see improvements in:

• outcomes of equity and excellence for all learners, with priority for those learners underachieving or at risk of underachieving
• regular rates of attendance for all learners
• schoolwide consistency in teaching and learning practices, and the use of assessment to effectively respond to learner needs
• all learners demonstrating a strong sense of hauora.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goals:

• collaborative staff and leaders who are committed to professional growth that is focused on improving outcomes for all learners
• established school values that are collectively valued and promoted in the school and community.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise outcomes of equity and excellence for all learners through:

• staff professional learning to enhance effective pedagogy and practice and the use of valid assessment information to respond to the needs of every learner
• continuing to prioritise student hauora through a culture of whanaungatanga with whānau and community to support learner outcomes and engagement
• continuing to strengthen te reo and tikanga Māori within the school culture, curriculum, and practices.

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

17 November 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