Trentham School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 12 months of the Education Review Office and Trentham 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 

Trentham School is situated in the Upper Hutt suburb of Trentham. It offers learning opportunities for students in Years 1 to 6. 

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

• strengthen the wellbeing of students and the school community
• create a culturally responsive, localised curriculum that empowers and excites learners.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the impact of new literacy teaching strategies being implemented throughout the school. This will include evaluation of the impact of new teaching practices on student achievement and teacher efficacy. 

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is a desire to: 

• raise the achievement of all students across the school in reading and writing
• better track and monitor progress for groups of learners to inform next steps
• develop community understanding of literacy learning and how whānau are best able to support their children with their literacy learning
• continue to improve the effective teaching of literacy in Trentham School. 

The school expects to see all students actively engaged in their learning and achieving educational success. Teachers regularly discussing learning and the impact of their actions on student progress. It also expects to know parents have an increased understanding of the literacy learning process and are using this to support their children’s’ learning at home.

Strengths 

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to effectively integrate new literacy practices into the delivery of its local curriculum:

• strong systems and processes to support teacher growth
• leadership that is supportive and seeks continual improvement and better outcomes for students - both social and educational
• leaders and teachers deliberate focus on increasing the use and visibility of te reo me onā tikanga Māori.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• identifying and implementing those strategies that make the biggest difference to student learning outcomes in literacy (reading, writing, oral language and spelling)
• increased discussions between staff that result in informed changes to 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 

4 December 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