Kaipara College

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

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

Kaipara College is in Helensville, north-west of Auckland. It provides education for students in Years 9 to 13. The school has experienced several changes within the leadership team over the last five years. The current principal was appointed in August 2021. School leaders are collaborating with the school community to ensure shared understandings of valued outcomes inform the new strategic direction.  

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

• Whanaungatanga | Our People – Strengthening our relationships and connections within and across our community.
• Aroha | Our Way – Prioritise wellbeing for all, respecting, caring and accountable to ourselves and others.
• Kaitiakitanga | Our Place – Acknowledge our past, improve our present and nurture our future.
• Angitutanga | Our Success – All students reach their potential through high expectations and inclusive education.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well Tāera o Kaipara (behaviour management plan) is embedded across the school to support improved outcomes for ākonga, especially at-risk learners.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

• it is timely to re-establish Tāera o Kaipara, the school’s values-based system for promoting and acknowledging positive behaviour with kaiako and ākonga
• school leaders prioritise student attendance, engagement, and achievement, with a deliberate focus on achieving equitable and excellent outcomes for all ākonga.

The school expects to see:

• classroom learning culture is consistently characterised by the school’s values and promotes students’ language, culture and identity.
• kaiako using effective teaching strategies and practices in adaptive ways to promote equitable and excellent ākonga outcomes
• the school and community engaged in reciprocal learning centred relationships and partnerships
• school leaders working collaboratively with stakeholders to support continuous improvement with a deliberate focus on equity and excellence.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to evaluate the effectiveness of Tāera o Kaipara:

• a diverse and experienced leadership team prioritise the improvement of outcomes for ākonga, with a lens on equity and excellence 
• collaboration with the Kāhui Ako and ongoing professional learning for kaiako align with the strategic priorities and the evaluation focus.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• establishing a collaborative team to lead and implement the evaluation process
• collecting stakeholder voice and experiences to inform the evaluation.

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.

Filivaifale Jason Swann
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki

15 March 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