Riverdale School (Gisborne)

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 24 months of the Education Review Office and Riverdale School (Gisborne) 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 

Riverdale School is located in Gisborne and provides education for learners in years 1 to 6. The school has a special needs unit for students with high and complex learning needs.

The vision: Enjoyment by all – Believe in yourself and the values; be caring, be honest, be respectful and be an active learner, inform all aspects of school life.

Riverdale School (Gisborne)’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are to:

• develop an effective and cohesive learning team
• build a positive environment where everyone is proud to be connected to Riverdale School
• celebrate ALL success.

You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Riverdale School (Gisborne)’s website.

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how effectively the use of trauma informed practice is responding to individual learner’s wellbeing and learning needs and improving achievement outcomes for all students.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

• leaders have identified that the impact of trauma in many students’ lives is affecting their ability to actively engage in learning
• teachers acknowledge that they need more support to strengthen their capability and capacity to respond to the behaviour, wellbeing and learning needs of individual students to accelerate their learning and promote greater equity.

The school expects to see:

• teachers using trauma informed practice to respond to the wellbeing and learning needs of students
• learners able to self-regulate and successfully engage in learning
• improved progress and achievement for all learners particularly those most at risk
• a reduction in the number of stand downs for extreme behaviour.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to evaluate how effectively the use of trauma informed practice is responding to individual learner’s wellbeing and learning needs and improving achievement outcomes for all students:

• commitment by staff to strengthening their practice to respond to the diverse needs of learners
• a school culture that celebrates success for all
• deliberate actions to engage parents and whānau in the life of the school.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• professional development to build teacher’s capability and capacity in the use of trauma informed practice
• building a shared understanding by all staff of the impact of trauma on learners with high and complex learning needs
• continuing to engage with whānau in ways that allows them to support their children’s learning and wellbeing
• continuing to gather and analyse attendance and behaviour data for trends and patterns.

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

1 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