Pinehaven School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report 

Background

This Profile Report was written within 33 months of the Education Review Office and Pinehaven 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 

Pinehaven School is located in a semi-rural area of Upper Hutt Valley and provides education for students in Years 1 to 6. A new principal was appointed in 2023 and a new leadership team is also in place. The vision of the school is: ‘Nurturing and Developing our Leaders of Tomorrow - He Manukura mō Apōpō’.

Pinehaven School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are to:

• grow our capability as learners
• deepen the learning
• expand and strengthen connections.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how effectively school programmes and practices are building on ākonga strengths, progressing their learning and growing their identity, language and culture to support equitable outcomes.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is to:

• ensure equitable outcomes for all ākonga
• support ākonga to have a strong sense of identity, know who they are as a learner and to recognise how to progress their own learning
• provide authentic, meaningful learning opportunities that connect ākonga with the stories, places and people within their local community.

The school expects to see:

• improved, equitable achievement outcomes for all ākonga
• ākonga who are future-focused kaitiaki of their identity and learning
• shared expectations and a deeper understanding around the implementation of culturally responsive practices across the school.

Strengths 

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal in building on ākonga strengths, progressing their learning and growing their identity, language and culture:

• collaborative leadership and staff who enact the school’s vision and values
• a school culture of genuine care and respect for all ākonga, their whānau and the environment
• established tracking systems and processes used to deepen leaders and teachers’ knowledge of learners’ wellbeing, progress and achievement.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise: 

• developing a shared understanding of effective teaching and strength-based practice where ākonga can articulate their next learning steps 
• strengthen the use of evaluation and inquiry to sustain improvement in achievement outcomes for all ākonga
• selecting and using a framework to determine where the school is currently at to identify next steps for improving culturally responsive practice
• strengthening a local curriculum which is responsive to the needs, strengths, identity, cultures, and aspirations of ākonga and aligning it with The New Zealand Curriculum refresh.

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

24 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