Whareorino School

School Report

Tēnā koutou e mau manawa rahi ki te kaupapa e aro ake nei, ko te tamaiti te pūtake o te kaupapa. Mā wai rā e kawe, mā tātau katoa.

We acknowledge the collective effort, responsibility and commitment by all to ensure that the child remains at the heart of the matter.

Every New Zealand state and state integrated school has an ERO review at least once every four years to evaluate what is working well for learners and what needs to be improved.

About the School

Whareorino School is a very small, remote, rural school providing education for students in Years 1 to 8. At the time of this ERO review the roll was three learners. The school is staffed by a teaching principal, two part-time release teachers and a teacher aide who is also the school administrator.

The school’s vision for students to ‘stand tall, grow strong, reach high’ is underpinned by the values of ‘relationships, resilience and reflection’.

Education Counts provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement, school enrolments and school zones. educationcounts.govt.nz/home

An explanation of the terms and judgements used in this report can be found here: Reporting | Education Review Office

What we know about learner success

This section provides a summary of learner success and wellbeing. The judgments are based on the ERO School Improvement Framework and the evidence provided to ERO during the evaluation.

Achievement in Years 0 to 8

This section is about learner achievement. It outlines how well learners across the school meet or exceed the expected curriculum level of The New Zealand Curriculum in foundational skills.

Attendance

This section is about school attendance and the progress the school is making towards meeting the Government target of 80% regular attendance.

• The school is behind the target of 80% regular attendance.
• The school has a suitable plan in place to improve attendance.
• Regular attendance is improving towards or beyond the target.

Assessment

This section is about how the school assesses learner progress and achievement.

•  The school uses an appropriate approach and reliable practices to find out about achievement against the curriculum.
• Assessment information is used well to adjust teaching practices to ensure ongoing improvement in teaching and student progress.

Progress

This section is about how well the school supports all learners to make sufficient progress.

• The school has good quality planning to increase the rate of progress for all groups of students.
• The school has to some extent improved achievement and progress for those learners most at risk of not achieving since the previous review.
• The school has to some extent extended achievement and progress for learners working at or above curriculum levels since the previous review.
• The school is making progress towards meeting Government reading, writing and mathematics targets for 2030 and agrees this will need to be a key strategic priority.

Next steps for improvement

This section provides more detail for the school to include in its strategic and annual planning for ongoing improvement across the school. It outlines what the school is doing well and identifies actions for improvement.

Areas of Strength

• Relational trust and collaboration are evident at every level of the school community; the wellbeing of learners is a priority and underpins the effective conditions for learning.
• Leaders use coherent evaluative systems to monitor improved conditions; clear communication and reporting builds collective capacity so that everyone can participate fully in decision making.
• Experienced teachers collectively plan and deliver well-paced and rich learning opportunities that respond quickly to the strengths and needs of each learner; teachers know their learners well and learners are fully engaged in all aspects of their learning.
• The school has implemented a suitable attendance plan, and recent information shows that attendance has improved; the school now exceeds government targets.

Key priorities

• Strengthen leadership and teaching and continue to work together to support every student’s needs.
• Build staff skills and knowledge to implement the new curriculum requirements.
• Fully embed the requirements of the new English and Mathematics curriculum.
• Ensure assessment approaches are clear, well understood and used to inform teaching and learning.
• Clarify school systems and processes so that they are well understood, useful and lead to continued good practice.
• Regularly review the school’s attendance plan and keep attendance rates high.

Actions to bring about improvement

Within six months:

• teachers participate in appropriate professional learning to build their capacity to fully implement new curriculum requirements in English and Mathematics
• leaders review the use of assessment tools so that progress and achievement information is useful for everyone to understand and use

Every six months:

• leaders will sustain the practice of collecting, analysing and reporting achievement, progress, attendance, wellbeing and engagement information to the Board

Annually:

• leaders and the Board will evaluate key systems, policy and processes for effectiveness, including the school’s attendance plan
• the Board will report clearly to the community on students' achievement, progress, acceleration, attendance, wellbeing and engagement and identify improvement priorities.

Expected outcomes

• Sustained and improved attendance.
• Improvement in achievement, progress and wellbeing made by all learners.
• Clear systems and processes that effectively support classroom teaching and learning, are easy to understand and can support a larger school roll.

Regulatory and Legislative Requirements

This section of the report is about how the school meets regulatory and legislative requirements.

Board Assurance with Regulatory and Legislative Requirements

This section of the report reviews the school's policies, procedures, documentation, and checks that it meets all regulations, maintains a safe environment, and supports students' wellbeing.

During this review the Board has attested to meeting regulatory and legislative requirements in the following areas:

Board Administration

Yes

Curriculum

Yes

Management of Health, Safety and Welfare

Yes

Personnel Management

Yes

The next public report on ERO’s website will be a School Report and is due within 4 years

Me mahi tahi tonu tātau, kia whai oranga a tātau tamariki
Let’s continue to work together for the greater good of all children

Sharon Kelly
Director of Schools

16 September 2025