Otamatea High School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

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

Otamatea High School is a co-educational school, catering for students in Years 7 to 13 located in the rural township of Maungaturoto. The school's whakatauki ‘He waka eke noa’ represents the clear message that the whole community has a role to play in preparing students for the future. This is supported by the school’s vision statement ‘Kia mataara ki te ao’ (ready for the world) and guided by the WAKA values of Whanaungatanga, Ako, Kaitiakitanga and Aroha.

 Otamatea High School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

• Māori students achieve success as Māori

• a well-resourced teaching and learning environment

• improvement in student engagement and achievement

• schoolwide pedagogical practices improve

• community communication and engagement increases

• schoolwide wellbeing improves.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how the school can increase equity through transforming classroom practices by creating a culturally sustaining context for learning.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is to improve:

• engagement and achievement for all ākonga with particular focus on Māori students

• lesson delivery and content by creating effective learning relationships within the classroom.

The school expects to see attendance and retention improving for all students, particularly for Māori, leading to improved educational outcomes for all.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to increase equity through transforming classroom practices:

• a cohesive, collaborative teaching staff who are committed to improving outcomes for all

• a focus on promoting a positive school culture where students feel safe and supported

• school commitment to Te Tiriti O Waitangi by practicing and developing the use of te reo and tikanga Māori.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• professional development for teaching staff to improve relational teaching and learning practices

• Māori student success through consultation with whānau, and the wider Māori community.

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

10 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