Orewa College

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 24 months of the Education Review Office and Orewa 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 

Orewa College is a co-educational school for students in Years 7-13. The school, situated on the Hibiscus Coast, is experiencing significant roll growth and embarking on building projects to accommodate this. The senior leadership team is made up of experienced and emerging educational leaders as part of a distributive model.

Orewa College’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

• Manaaki Orewa four-step (restorative/pastoral)
• Sustainability practices
• Universal Design for Learning (Ako Orewa)
• Aligning with the refreshed NZ Curriculum
• Community Partnerships
• Development of ILT (Independent Learning Time) Programme
• Continued focus on Priority Learners.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how effectively Ako Orewa and Manaaki Orewa practices improve outcomes for ākonga and kaiako.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is to:

• support further improvement of achievement outcomes for ākonga
• consistently embed teaching and learning practices which are supported by current research (as described in Ako Orewa)
• support implementation of the curriculum refresh and related changes to assessment practices
• further develop whānau engagement and learning focused partnerships.

The school expects to see Ako Orewa and Manaaki Orewa consistently embedded, to enable:

• ākonga and their whānau experiencing a strong sense of belonging and engagement at Orewa College
• a curriculum that continues to respond to ākonga needs
• the use of effective strategies and practices by kaiako to promote greater equity, especially for priority learners
• school leaders to engage effectively with kaiako with targeted support to guide their professional growth journey.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to evaluate Ako Orewa:

• kaiako know their learners well and work collaboratively to provide ākonga with continuity throughout their school experience
• an established curriculum framework for Years 7-10 and a successful history of NCEA achievement
• an embedded professional learning and development programme for kaiako
• school leaders and the board work collaboratively with the Orewa College community and external agencies to achieve strategic priorities.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise supporting:

• the professional growth of all kaiako to support this evaluation
• ākonga to develop greater understanding and accountability for their own learning, through Ako Orewa.

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

7 August 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

Orewa College is the managing school for North Shore AE and Attendance Services for NAISSS.