Birkenhead College

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 9 months of the Education Review Office and Birkenhead College 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

Birkenhead College is a co-educational school catering for students from Year 9 to 13. The school’s mission is ‘to provide education of the highest quality for all students. The school values inclusiveness and is reflected in its motto ‘Where everybody is somebody’.

Birkenhead College’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

• a school environment that enhances the high-quality relationships between students and staff, and between students through the school values of respect, whānau, and pride

• strong, responsive, and well-established leadership and staff that focuses on school improvement and equitable and excellent outcomes for all students

• to further develop the acceleration of literacy with students to facilitate future success across all areas of the curriculum.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate how effectively the development of literacy initiatives can enhance the delivery of the curriculum and create equitable outcomes for all.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

• literacy is required in all areas of the curriculum and is a skill that is needed to establish lifelong learners

• Covid 19 has created a need for a greater focus on literacy to enable successful access of the curriculum by all students.

The school expects to see changes in their approach to teaching and learning to improve literacy, especially for those students who are at risk of not achieving.

Strengths

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

• highly motivated teachers who are constantly evaluating and implementing ways to improve student outcomes

• consistent monitoring of students’ progress to initiate interventions and extra support if it is needed

• the school’s values and culture underpin all aspects of school life enabling the students to become successful global citizens.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• resourcing, monitoring and evaluating literacy initiatives

• supporting teachers with resources and professional learning

• further enhancing a culture which promotes success and equity for all students.

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

 31 July 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