Pirinoa School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report 

Background

This Profile Report was written within 21 months of the Education Review Office and Pirinoa 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 

Pirinoa School is a rural primary school in the Southern Wairarapa. It caters for students in years 1 to 8.

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

• to provide highly effective teachers who embed their teaching in sound pedagogy and reflective practices 
• for all students to experience a deep, meaningful, and well-balanced curriculum that is goal driven and where learning is enhanced through the school values and the key competencies
• to engage all stakeholders in the community and have them actively share in the life of the school.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well the implementation of the school’s new localised curriculum is supporting all students to be active participants in their learning, and the impact this has on learner outcomes.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is for trustees, leaders and teachers to know: 

• the impact of the new localised curriculum on learner engagement, progress and achievement.

The school expects to see: 

• consistent and effective teaching and assessment practices
• confident students who can successfully articulate their learning and use their learning to make progress towards their goals 
• culturally responsive teaching and learning practices that promote equity and excellence for all learners.

Strengths 

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal for all students to be active participants in their learning through their localised curriculum:

• collaborative and positive relationships across the school
• existing positive connections with the community 
• opportunities within the Kahui Ako to work collaboratively to support this goal.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise: 

• ensuring documentation is in place to clearly articulate expectations for teaching and learning through a culturally responsive and localised curriculum
• strengthening the use of engagement and achievement information to inform strategic focus and direction
• ensuring robust assessment and moderation practices underpin shared and known achievement information
• enhancing the use of the local environment to explicitly promote learning through a rich place-based curriculum. 

ERO has concerns about 

The urgent need to:

• implement robust evidence-based systems and processes to enable the board and school leadership to effectively use, report and scrutinise wellbeing, progress and achievement information schoolwide 
• ensure governance and leadership understand their legislative requirements, including the health and safety of students and staff.

Recommendation 

ERO recommends that the school access the New Zealand School Trustees Association (NZSTA) training for boards to provide support for understanding their roles and responsibilities and legislative requirements.

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

6 March 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