Colyton School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 14 months of the Education Review Office and Colyton 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 

Colyton School is in a rural setting on the outskirts of Feilding. The school caters for students in years 1 to 8.

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

• to encourage students and teachers to reach their potential, be confident and capable learners, be kind and secure individuals and contribute positively to the school community
• to establish a strong, relevant, and robust curriculum based on best practices and innovation while reflecting the local environment
• to prepare students for the future, equip them with necessary skills, reflect the local and cultural environment, and honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi through planning, teaching and learning.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well delivery of the school’s localised curriculum achieves equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

• leader’s analysis of achievement has identified an appropriate focus on building equitable and excellent outcomes for boys when compared to girls. The school has also identified strengthening culturally responsive practices aligned to their ongoing development of the localised curriculum. ERO and the school will work together to gather information over time and gain evaluative insights into the impact of the school’s deliberate actions on outcomes for boys and further development of the culturally responsive curriculum.

The school expects to see:

• equity and excellence for students, accelerated progress for learners working toward curriculum expectations and a positive shift in boys achieving in writing, similar to girls
• effective teaching and learning, reflecting shared strategies and new approaches, in the delivery of literacy and culturally responsive practices
• meaningful stakeholder engagement that connects the rich resources and funds of knowledge of whānau, iwi and the community in design and delivery of the localised curriculum
• highly effective teaching and learning matching the schools shared expectations of effective and culturally responsive curriculum practice.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to strengthen equity and excellence for boys and strengthen culturally responsive curriculum delivery and practice for learners:

• leaders, trustees, and staff pursue the vision, values, and goals of the school and their community to support equitable and excellent outcomes for learners
• between 2021 and 2022 the school reported a positive trajectory in the achievement of boys in writing, showing most learners achieving curriculum expectations
• teachers share practice and participate in professional learning and development (PLD) aligned to the schools’ key priorities
• classroom environments are positive and productive, encouraging the purposeful engagement of students in learning.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• setting specific targets and documenting the deliberate actions the school will undertake to achieve equity and excellence
• engaging in partnership with key stakeholders to build on the resources of the local community to inform ongoing development of the localised curriculum
• continued participation of school personnel in PLD aligned to the schools’ curriculum priorities, inclusive of culturally responsive practice
• gathering information, at points in time, using progress data, observation of practice and stakeholder voice to inform evaluation insights into the impact of curriculum developments.

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

13 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