Wairau Valley School (Blenheim)

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 18 months of the Education Review Office and Wairau Valley School (Blenheim) 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 

Wairau Valley School is a rural full primary school located 40 km from Blenheim on State Highway 63. The school promotes a caring family orientated environment underpinned by the values of Respect, Responsibility, Resilience and a Love of learning. 

Wairau Valley School (Blenheim)’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are: 

• to support every child to achieve success in their learning 
• to inform and engage whānau so they can actively engage in and participate in their children’s learning
• to nurture and promote wellbeing within the school community.

You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Wairau Valley School (Blenheim)’s website.

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the impact of strengthening teacher capability in culturally responsive teaching practices to improve student agency.  The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

• student voice indicates that learners need more purposeful and directed feedback from teachers 
• diversity is valued at the school and culturally responsive teaching practices will strengthen outcomes for learners
• teachers are being supported though Poutama Pounamu to engage in a deeper understanding of their obligations around Te Tiriti o Waitangi.

The school expects to see:

• learners having confidence in their own abilities as culturally located learners 
• consistent formative and culturally responsive assessment practices in all learning areas across years 1 to 8
• improved student agency to further support achievement across the curriculum
• improved progress for learners in literacy and mathematics and across the broader curriculum.

Strengths 

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its goal to evaluate how strengthening teacher capability will enable students to have ownership of their learning pathways and improve student agency:

• supportive parent community and board
• learners who demonstrate high levels of care and support for each other
• teachers that have a strengths-based approach towards all learners and understand that their efforts make a positive difference to learning outcomes 
• an environment that provides a range of teaching and learning opportunities.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise: 

• consistent teaching and learning practices across the school so that all learners are equipped with foundational skills to make progress in their learning 
• challenging learners to grow their own capabilities through asking, thinking and exploring to improve ownership of their learning 
• continuing to support teachers to upskill their knowledge of Te reo Māori and Tikanga Māori into the everyday life of the school so that Te ao Māori is evident across school structures and processes
• for Wairau Valley school whānau and community to further engage with the school to improve outcomes for learners. 

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

7 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