Kaponga School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 18 months of the Education Review Office and Kaponga 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 

Kaponga School caters for students in Years 1 to 8 and is located in South Taranaki.

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

• all students will have equal and equitable opportunities to excel as evidenced by their achievement in relation to the New Zealand Curriculum (NZC) levels

• to develop and implement the values of Kaponga Primary School

• to broaden the knowledge, skills and character of our learners and staff through a variety of high-quality rich learning experiences which promotes student engagement, agency, and achievement

• to enable all students, staff and whānau to collaborate as part of a community who are focused on being partners in learning

• develop closer links with our Māori community and implement initiatives based on identified needs of our Māori student. 

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well school conditions achieve equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners.  

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

• the school is seeking to gather information over time to inform evaluation into the impact of curriculum delivery, teaching practice and school conditions on outcomes for learners.

The school expects to see:

• equity and excellence for students and accelerated progress for learners working toward curriculum expectations in the key priorities of literacy and mathematics

• school conditions and curriculum delivery that achieve the purposeful engagement of students in learning.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to promote the conditions that achieve equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners:

• leaders, trustees, and staff work collaboratively to pursue the schools shared vision and promote the development of their strategic priorities  

• learners experience a broad range of curriculum experiences and are provided with appropriate opportunities to make choices in relation to learning contexts and activities that match their interests

• the school utilises an appropriate range of assessment tools and practices to identify learners requiring their progress accelerated and report outcomes to parents and whānau.

Where to next?

Moving forward the school will prioritise:

• ongoing development of culturally responsive curriculum practice in partnership with Māori whānau 

• continued implementation of the school’s values framework to promote shared expectations for purposeful and positive engagement

• further implement the professional growth cycle and teaching as inquiry to support ongoing review and development of teacher practice.

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

12 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