Waitomo Caves School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 24 months of the Education Review Office and Waitomo Caves 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

Waitomo Caves School is a small rural school catering for students in Years 1 to 8. It is situated in the Waitomo area.

Waitomo Caves School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are to:

• reconnect a values focused culture and bring these values alive to enable progress and success
• build and enhance student learning.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well school initiatives promote student wellbeing and learning to accelerate learning outcomes for those students achieving below expected levels. 

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is to: 

• respond to levels of achievement in the school
• build capability to systematically identify at-risk learners and implement responsive programmes.

The school expects to see:

• a range of data used to identify, track and monitor levels of student achievement 
• teaching programmes that address individual learning needs and promote equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners
• the development and embedding of a localised curriculum
• a continued focus to meet the needs of students.

Strengths 

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to promote student wellbeing and learning outcomes.

• Staff and trustees are aware of the need to progress student outcomes and build collective capability across the school.
• There is a plan that identifies actions and goals to raise student achievement.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise: 

• building collective capacity to accelerate student progress and achievement
• developing a meaningful and engaging local curriculum.

ERO has concerns about

• levels of achievement in the school.

Recommendation 

ERO recommends that the board access support to address levels of achievement in the school.

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 

7 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