Pakowhai School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

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

Pakowhai School is a small semi-rural school located on the outskirts of Hastings and provides education for learners in years 0 to 6. A new principal was appointed in term 3, 2022. The Pakowhai community was significantly impacted by cyclone Gabrielle. 

Pakowhai School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are: 

• our Place - Tūrangawaewae: Pakowhai school strongly connects with our locality, environment and people
• our Curriculum - Marautanga: Pakowhai school has a responsive curriculum underpinned by student need
• our Learners - Ākonga: Pakowhai school students are confident, curious, and resilient children. 

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the effectiveness of assessment processes and practices in promoting equity and excellent outcomes for all learners. 

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is the need to evaluate the effectiveness of assessment practices to enable confidence in student achievement information to inform planning, teaching and learning. This continues to be a priority. 

The school expects to see: 

• good-quality achievement information used to inform target setting, teaching and learning 
• enhanced academic progress and achievement ensuring equitable outcomes for all 
• robust assessment practices embedded in the school’s curriculum.

Strengths 

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to evaluate the effectiveness of assessment processes and practices in promoting equity and excellent outcomes for all learners: 

• a positive working relationship with parents and whānau to respond to the needs of the individual learner 
• a collaborative teaching team that is open to new learning to promote positive outcomes for learners.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise: 

• ensuring that assessment activities are fit for purpose and support targeted instruction
• participation in literacy professional learning and development to build collective understanding and implementation of effective literacy practice and assessment
• classroom programmes demonstrating strong, structured literacy programmes informed by assessment and 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. 

Shelley Booysen
Director of Schools

15 February 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/home