Featherston School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 18 months of the Education Review Office and Featherston 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 

Featherston School is situated in the southern Wairarapa town of Featherston and provides educational opportunities to students in Years 1 to 8. A technology block is located onsite.

Featherston School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are to create a school where:

• Te Marautanga – Learning is fun and meaningful 
• Whanaungatanga – there is success for all
• Mahi Tahi – there is a connected school community
• Kaitiakitanga – students are taught by passionate and skilled staff.

You can request a copy of the school’s charter, strategic and annual plans from Featherston School. 

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the impact of new initiatives to support the mana and wellbeing of students on their achievement. They also wish to further support all students to experience academic success through accessing a local curriculum that connects them to Aotearoa New Zealand histories - our whakapapa, our place, and our people.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is a desire to:

• raise the achievement and mana of all students, especially Māori students
• increase communication with, and involvement of whānau in the learning of their tamariki
• implement a local curriculum that places and values hauora at its heart.

The school expects to see students who are actively engaged in their learning, achieving educational success and who demonstrate pride in their identity, language and culture. It also expects to see whānau showing an increased understanding of, and involvement in, their child’s learning. 

Strengths 

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to effectively integrate cultural and wellbeing practices into the delivery of its local curriculum.

• Strong culturally responsive practices that guide a local curriculum that is strongly aligned with te ao Māori and the values of local iwi.
• Strong relationships that utilise staff strengths and build on the potential of all as a team to enable the delivery of a wide range of opportunities to tamariki.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• Engagement in Te Ara Whakamana professional development to develop a culturally centered, 
  strength-based wellbeing model for positive behaviour that supports the development of mana and hauora within the school community.
• Refinement of Te Matauranga o Te Kura o Paetūmokai, to include Te Mātaiaho, Aotearoa New Zealand histories, and Te Matauranga o Rangitāne o Wairarapa, to increase student engagement, raise achievement and provide further opportunities for success.
• Improving teacher practice through professional development and further collaboration allowing tamariki to engage more deeply with the local curriculum.

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

22 January 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