Waiopehu College

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 12 months of the Education Review Office and Waiopehu College 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

Waiopehu College is a co-educational secondary school located in the township of Levin, Horowhenua, providing education for a diverse range of students in Years 9 to 13. The school prioritises a future focused curriculum in the junior school that aims to inspire students through connecting learning to student passions. A new Principal was appointed at the beginning of 2023.

Waiopehu College’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are the following:

• Dignity and Rights – Wellbeing; Resilience and Self-Awareness.
• Full Potential – Engagement; Attendance; Connection; Communication; Lifelong Love of Learning.
• Inspires – No limitations; Belief in our Learners; Every learner can be successful.
• Quality Teaching and Learning – Plan and review curriculum; Strong emphasis on literacy and numeracy to allow success in a changing world.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well the school is collecting and analysing a range of learner data to plan programmes and apply practices that are responsive to the needs of all learners.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

Waiopehu College is implementing a ‘future focused’ curriculum that is centred on learner agency and aspires to engage learners in programmes driven by their passions and interests. The school is now focused on ensuring systems and processes are in place to effectively gather, analyse and use data responsively to the meet needs of all learners.

The school expects to see:

• coherent and consistent assessment and moderation practices across Years 9 and 10
• robust systems and processes for tracking and monitoring learner progress
• differentiated learning that is effectively informed by formative and summative assessment information
• culturally responsive relational practices embedded across the school
• improved outcomes for all learners.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goals:

• Staff prioritise building and sustaining strong relationships with learners.
• Learner agency is highly valued, and learners have a strong voice in the design of aspects of the curriculum.
• A variety of inclusive learning environments where learners with complex and/or individual needs are supported through individualised learning programmes focused on hauora.
• School leaders are committed to providing staff with professional knowledge building opportunities about practices that best meet the needs of learners.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise excellent and equitable outcomes for all learners through:

• professional learning and knowledge building about effective assessment for learning practices so that all staff better understand, and address learner needs in multi-level classroom environments
• the development of an assessment framework for Years 9 and 10, ensuring coherent and consistent practices
• continuing to develop, understand and implement culturally responsive and relational pedagogy to support the engagement of all learners
• the strengthening of systems and processes for robust internal evaluation.

ERO has concerns about

• School-wide attendance and the impact of this on learner progress and achievement, particularly for those most at-risk of underachievement.

Recommendation

• Gather and analyse a range of data to inform strategies and practices that will improve learner engagement and attendance.
• Set and monitor targeted attendance interventions.

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

2 May 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

This school has:

• He Whare Manaaki Tangata – Poipoia (Teen Parent Unit); Arohanui Kindergarten
• Te Whare Āwhina – Learning Support Centre
• Blake House Wellness Centre.