Rai Valley Area School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within twenty-four months of the Education Review Office and Rai Valley Area 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 

Rai Valley Area School is located in Rai Valley in Marlborough. It provides education for students in Years 1 to 13. The RAI Way Values of Respect, Achieve and Inspire are a central part of the school operations. The school is part of the TOSI Area School Community of Learning.  

Rai Valley Area School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are to:

• implement a curriculum framework that is designed to empower learners to grow their skills, interests, dispositions and passions
• create an inclusive learning environment where learners have the power to act
• provide engaging learning opportunities that will empower and inspire learners
• foster authentic relationships through connection, understand and trust
• build a culture of organisational renewal and transformation through rigorous reflection and self review.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how effectively literacy teaching practices are established and embedded across the school to improve learning writing outcomes for all learners, particularly those with diverse learning needs.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is to:

• address the low level of achievement in writing, especially for boys
• prepare students for the new NCEA literacy requirements
• build teacher capacity and consistency of practice across the school.

The school expects to see confident readers and writers, with improved literacy skills and increased achievement outcomes.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to improve literacy teaching and learning:

• the knowledge and skills of teaching staff to support positive outcomes for students
• high levels of board support and resourcing to build teacher capacity and provide additional staffing to assist students’ learning  
• a school community that effectively supports students’ learning opportunities.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• ensuring regular allocated time for structured literacy programmes
• regular evaluation of student progress to identify and address individual needs
• providing appropriate professional learning opportunities to build a consistent approach across 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

14 November 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