Naenae College

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 26 months of the Education Review Office and Naenae 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 

Naenae College is a co-educational secondary school for students in Yr 9 to 13 located in Lower Hutt. The school has a diverse school roll. The school’s vision for learners is that they will be confident and connected and on a pathway to meaningful life-long learning. The school promotes its Te Whānau Tahi values of whanaungatanga (healthy relationships); rangatiratanga (encouraging leadership), pumanawatanga (positive safe atmosphere where students work with enthusiasm and commitment); manaakitanga (care for others) and kotahitanga (working together to achieve goals).

The school is a managing school for the Lyriks Activity Centre, an alternative education and activity centre, and operates an engineering trades academy and service academy. The school also has a specialist classroom for students receiving ongoing resourcing funding (Te Whare ō te Atawhai).

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

• all students will progress and achieve to their highest educational potential through quality teaching and learning, safe environments and positive relationships

• Māori students will enjoy and achieve educational success as Māori students, staff, whānau, Pacific āiga and community experience a sense of belonging through the enactment of the school’s Te Whānau Tahi values.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well the school’s Te Whānau Tahi values are promoting student engagement and attendance and supporting positive wellbeing and learning outcomes for students.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

• the school recognises attendance and engagement is the foundation for success in learning

• the school has noticed reduced retention, attendance and engagement, particularly post the Covid 19 pandemic and wants to positively re-engage learners

• the school is re-establishing partnerships with families, whānau and Pacific āiga to support positive outcomes for students

• there is a national and regional focus on attendance and engagement.

The school expects to see:

• improved attendance and retention for all groups of students leading to improved achievement

• students experience a sense of belonging and shared values and are proud in their identity

• whānau, families and Pacific āiga feel a sense of belonging and connection to the school where their voices are heard and valued.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to improve engagement and achievement:

• an inclusive school culture based on the school’s Te Whānau Tahi values that includes restorative approaches to maintaining positive relationships

• increasingly culturally responsive curriculum and teaching practice that reflects the identities of students

• well established pastoral structures and roles support student wellbeing and engagement

• collaboration with local schools with a focus on improving attendance and engagement.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• strengthening structures and approaches to supporting student wellbeing

• strengthening partnerships with families, whānau and Pacific āiga

• partnerships with community services and agencies to meet the needs of students and their families

• drawing on student voice to know about the effectiveness of programmes and approaches

• culturally responsive, relevant and engaging curriculum and teaching practices.

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

26 July 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