Epuni School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within seven months of the Education Review Office and Epuni 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 

Epuni school, situated in Hutt City, has students from Years 1-6. As an enviro school, Kaitiakitanga is promoted. The school values of Manaakitanga, Manawaroa, Whanaungatanga and Tūtika underpin the school’s vision statement, Whai ake i ngā whetū - Reaching for the stars together.

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

• to improve literacy progress and achievement across the school through a more structured approach to reading and the teaching of codes and rules around spelling

• to improve mathematics curriculum levels of 2023 Year 6 students

• to improve termly attendance of Māori and Pacific students in line with Ministry of Education targets.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the impact of a changed approach to the teaching of reading and spelling on learners’ engagement, progress, and achievement.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

The school has invested in professional learning for teachers around the structured literacy approach. This includes targeted and deliberate teaching to support learners’ progress and achievement in literacy. Such targeted support includes having students readily access correct spelling to engage with the deeper features of reading and writing.

The school expects to see:

• an increase in spelling accuracy and fluency with a particular focus on learners’ progress of learners in Years 3 and 5

• an improvement in the rates of progress for reading and writing across the whole school

• increased levels of engagement for Māori, Pacific, and priority learners.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to evaluate the impact of the changed approach to the teaching of reading and spelling:

• strong learning-focused leadership team that promotes collaborative practices

• a significant, positive shift in collaborative teaching and learning to meet the wide range of student learning needs

• teaching and learning connects to learners' life contexts for learning that are relevant and meaningful

• strong whānau group (Te Kāhui Mātau) who are supportive of the direction that the school is taking.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• closer monitoring of student achievement in literacy to ensure learners and especially learners make accelerated progress

• parent and whānau information sessions about the school’s approach to the teaching of literacy, so that parents and whānau can engage in and support their children’s learning

• celebrating teachers’ mahi and learners’ progress so that efforts in both teaching and learning are recognised, valued, and shared with parents and whānau.

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.

Kathy Lye
Acting Director Review and Improvement Services (Southern)
Southern Region | Te Tai Tini

29 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