Dannevirke South School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within two years of the Education Review Office and Dannevirke South 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

Dannevirke South School is a full primary school, catering for learners in Years 1 to 8. The school’s values are honesty, respect, confidence, caring, excellence and courtesy.

Dannevirke South School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners for 2022-24 are to:

• celebrate Māori culture through growing the development of te reo Māori, provision of cultural opportunities and gaining an understanding of local history
• raise student achievement, especially that of priority learners, and understand the impact of teaching on student progress
• develop a curriculum that meets the needs of all students
• ensure smooth transitions into and through school and on to high school
• build a strong school culture that supports wellbeing through the nurturing of a sense of belonging and pride.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how effectively increased student agency and further building of a positive culture impacts positively on student engagement and achievement, especially in writing.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is to:

• raise student attendance and improve engagement in learning
• raise student achievement, especially in writing
• identify and implement schoolwide effective teaching and assessment practices.

The school expects to see improved student attendance, engagement and agency that result in increased achievement, especially in writing. It also expects to see improved assessment practices across the school that provide teachers with more accurate and useful data to inform and improve teacher practice.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to improve student outcomes, especially in writing, student engagement and teacher effectiveness.

• The growth of a learning culture that values effective teacher practice and reflective practice.
• Leadership that is evaluative and works to make better use of data to inform teaching.
• Deepened relationships (student, staff, board of trustees, iwi and community) that support a holistic view of children and the place of learning in their lives.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• raising student agency to improve attendance and engagement in learning
• implement consistent assessment practices and identify effective teacher practices in writing
• work with local iwi to integrate Māori culture throughout the school within the curriculum and environment.

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

12 March 2024

About the School

The Education Counts website provides further information about the school’s student population, student engagement and student achievement. educationcounts.govt.nz/homes