St Peter Chanel School (Otaki)

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within two years of the Education Review Office and St Peter Chanel School (Otaki) 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 

St Peter Chanel School (Otaki) provides education for learners from years 1 to 8. A new principal was appointed at the beginning of 2023. The school is located on the whenua known as Pukekaraka, which includes Te Marae o Hine, St Mary’s Churches, the historic mission house and the sacred hill, also known as Pukekaraka.

St Peter Chanel School (Otaki)’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are that:

• all students grow in their spiritual journey through Māori Catholic traditions and in their understanding and practice of what it means to be part of a community of faith
• all students access the New Zealand Curriculum, the local curriculum, Te Marautanga o Aotearoa and the Bishop’s Curriculum achieving progress and successful learning outcomes for individuals in a holistic manner
• St Peter Chanel, Hato Petera Kaniera, will be the school of choice for the education of children of Catholic families and whānau in Ōtaki.

You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on St Peter Chanel School (Otaki)’s website.

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how well the local curriculum reflects and responds to the vision and aspirations of iwi, hapori and whānau, guides and strengthens teacher professional practice, systems and processes, and improves the achievement and hauora of all tamariki.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is that the school has identified the need to review and develop their local curriculum to:

• reflect Ngāti Kaputanga, tikanga and Māori Catholic spiritual values
• develop and implement clear and aligned expectations for the teaching of literacy and numeracy across the school, with an initial focus on writing schoolwide
• strengthen school-wide systems and processes for planning, assessing and reporting on progress and achievement
• inform trustees sufficiently about the achievement and hauora of all tamariki.

The school expects to see the localised curriculum reflecting and responding to the needs of learners, and effective strategies and systems in place which have a positive impact on improving the achievement and hauora of all tamariki.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to develop a localised curriculum that guides and improves the achievement and hauora of all tamariki:

• the aligned, holistic and shared vision of Ngāti Kapumanawawhiti iwi, Pukekaraka community, the Māori Catholic Church and St Peter Chanel School that supports hauora of all tamariki
• a highly committed board that proactively supports tamariki learning and hauora through strategic planning, identified priorities and targeted resourcing of the curriculum
• kaiako strength and capability in te reo me ngā tikanga Māori which supports all learners to grow their knowledge and use of te reo Māori.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• the collaborative development and embedding of an evaluative inquiry framework to support and accelerate achievement of all learners, using the context of writing
• the use of collective sense-making and data to inform planning and prioritise next learning steps
• the building of leadership capability through engaging in collective inquiry; using agreed indicators to monitor the impact that changes have had on improving outcomes for learners.

ERO has concerns about:

The quality and effectiveness of the school’s systems and processes that:

• provide leaders and teachers with consistent expectations and guidance for effective teaching and learning
• gather, use, analyse and report progress and achievement information
• provide trustees with robust achievement information that effectively supports their decision making for ongoing school improvement.

Recommendation

The school continues to focus on valued outcomes for learners while embedding effective leadership and governance during this period of change. To bring about the improvements identified ERO recommended that the Ministry of Education provide additional tailored support to the school.

The Ministry of Education is working alongside 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

27 October 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