Manakau School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within six months of the Education Review Office and Manakau 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 

Manakau Primary School is a rural school located in the Horowhenua district, providing education for learners from Years 1 to 8. The school vision: “Developing future guardians of our changing world” encourages all learners and their whānau to take an active role in education.

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

• Working to further develop community connections to give effect to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and promote improved learner outcomes.
• To facilitate open and meaningful sharing between school and home, embracing diverse abilities and celebrating learner goals, mahi, successes and challenges.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the impact of a more culturally responsive curriculum, reflective of whānau priorities and shared understanding between home and school, on the engagement, progress and achievement of all learners.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

• the school has identified a need for strengthened consultation to be responsive to the aspirations and views of Māori whānau, hapū and iwi in its strategic planning and curriculum design
• to know the impact of teachers’ professional development, and interventions for improving literacy for identified target students.

The school expects to see:

• a process in place for continuing to reflect in the curriculum, cultural inclusivity, equity and development of student agency, resulting in improved outcomes for all learners
• structured and evidence-based evaluation processes in place to know, and respond, to the impact of professional development, responsive curriculum, and targeted interventions for learners.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths:

• a value-based school culture which promotes and facilitates wellbeing for all
• teachers and leaders who recognise and celebrate the diverse abilities and individual progress of each learner.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• consulting with the community to ensure priorities and aspirations of whānau are reflected in curriculum programmes, planning and professional development
• ensuring that reporting to, and communication with parents, reflects a real time understanding of individual learner progress, and knowledge of the New Zealand Curriculum, which enables parents to work in partnership with the school.

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

16 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