Waituna West School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report  

Background 

This Profile Report was written within 16 months of the Education Review Office and ​Waituna West 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  

Waituna West School, located in the rural Feilding-Manawatu district, caters for students in Years 1 to 8.  

​​Waituna West School​’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are: 

• to provide an effective teaching and learning environment  

• for the Kura to reflect understanding and use of cultural practices throughout  

• provide current and relevant communication to all school and wider community.  

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well design and delivery of the localised curriculum aligns local and national priorities and achieves equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners. 

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:  

The school is working toward a collaborative revision of their strategic priorities to reflect national and local priorities that will guide curriculum design and delivery toward their identified priorities. ERO and the school will work together to gather information at points in time to gain evaluative insights into the impact of changes to the localised curriculum and how well it achieves equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners.  

The school expects to see:  

• equitable and excellent outcomes for all learners 

• a well-documented curriculum reflecting the aspirations of students, community, whānau and iwi 

• effective use of the school management system for collating and reporting the progress and achievement of learners 

• implementation of a cohesive strategic plan that guides the school toward achieving the National Education Learning Priorities (NELPs). 

Strengths  

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to achieve equitable and excellent outcomes for learners:  

• learning environments promote shared values, build on learners’ strengths, and encourage the positive engagement of students at school 

• collaborative discussion and opportunities to participate in professional learning and development for teachers promotes the use of shared strategies and practices aligned to the school’s identified priorities  

• trustees resourcing is responsive to requests by the principal and staff to achieve positive learner outcomes.   

Where to next? 

Moving forward, the school will prioritise: 

• embedding the school management system to ensure shared information promotes reciprocal learning partnerships with all stakeholders  

• building the capability and capacity of teachers and staff to achieve the schools identified curriculum priorities, inclusive of further development of culturally responsive practice 

• collaboratively reviewing and implementing the strategic plan, informing goals and actions that align the National Education Learning Priorities (NELPs) and identified priorities of the school, community, whānau and iwi. 

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​ 

3 October 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