Matiere School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within four months of the Education Review Office and Matiere 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 

Matiere is a small, rural school located near Taumarunui, providing education for students in Years 1 to 8. A total school rebuild project is currently being completed. A new principal was employed in May 2023.

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

• Hauora – to protect and promote the wellbeing of the school community
• Mātauranga Māori – to recognise the mātauranga (knowledge) of our mana whenua and to reflect this in the school’s curriculum
• Akoranga – to support every child to succeed in developing learning-to-learn capabilities.

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

ERO and the school are working together to improve outcomes for all ākonga in literacy. Strengthening assessment practices and promoting regular attendance are ongoing priorities for the school.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:  

• the priority the school places on raising achievement for all students, with a focus on literacy 
• the importance of building connections and partnerships with all stakeholders to improve rates of attendance and empower student learning
• the opportunity it provides to strengthen assessment practices and evaluation skills to inform planning and direction.

The school expects to see strategic actions implemented to increase attendance and enable improved outcomes for all learners in literacy.

Strengths 

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to improve rates of attendance, raise achievement in literacy and strengthen students’ learning-to-learn capabilities:

• a caring, positive learning culture that provides opportunities to learn together in multi-level environments that respond to students’ needs and interests
• community relationships that are increasingly supporting students to grow and learn in a culturally responsive environment.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise: 

• strengthening assessment practices and evaluation capability to inform responsive planning, teaching and learning
• implementing and embedding an effective school-wide approach to support individualised needs and raise achievement outcomes in literacy
• improving rates of regular attendance and developing student ownership in learning to enable success for all ākonga.

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

28 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