Devon Intermediate

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 6 months of the Education Review Office and Devon Intermediate 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 

Devon Intermediate is a co-educational school catering for learners in year 7 and 8, located in the city of New Plymouth, Taranaki. The school’s values are based on a Mana framework that expects and rewards; respect, diligence, integrity and service.

Devon Intermediate’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

• student learning progress and achievement: learning programmes will ensure that students will show progress and their identity and culture is valued
• effective teaching: teaching will be evidence-based and collaborative
• school culture: provide opportunities for all students to develop and celebrate success
• engaging families: provide a wide range of opportunities for whānau to engage with the school
• leadership and management: strong leadership with the sole purpose to support and guide improved teaching and learning
• governance: monitor and evaluate student learning outcomes.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well the school uses a range of learning progressions to ensure a responsive teaching and learning environment that raises expectations for all and improves a range of learner outcomes.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is: 

• the school recognises that by using more effective assessment processes, teaching and learning decisions will be clearer and more responsive to the needs of all learners
• refreshing curriculum knowledge and associated assessment, to incorporate mātauranga Māori and to prioritise te reo Māori me ona tikanga in learning, is a school priority
• learners, whānau, teachers and leaders will benefit from shared and consistently understood information about learning across a broad curriculum.

The school expects to see:

• decision-making based on good quality, broad and consistently understood assessment information that promotes collective responsibility and improved enthusiasm for teaching and learning
• rich, responsive and culturally enhancing learning experiences designed and implemented
• learners who will know what they are learning, why they are learning it, what good looks like and their next steps for learning
• high collective expectations for learning with improved progress and engagement made by all learners, particularly Māori, over a range of valued outcomes.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to evaluate how well it uses a range of learning progressions to ensure a responsive teaching and learning environment that raises expectations for all and improves a range of learner outcomes:

• appropriate internal and external professional learning opportunities have been sourced
• a range of leaders who have the vision, knowledge, experience, and passion to lead this work
• established and embedded systems and processes that will support this work.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• using external and internal experts to facilitate professional learning that supports the use of learning progressions
• further defining the valued outcomes that will be enhanced through a range of learning progressions
• establishing and using a range of learning progressions
• clarification, development, and implementation of a plan of action for the evaluation.

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.

Phil Cowie
Director Review and Improvement Services (Central)
Central Region | Te Tai Pūtahi Nui

15 February 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