Northcote College

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

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

Northcote College is a co-educational, Years 9-13 secondary school located on Auckland’s North Shore. The senior leadership has recently increased in size in response to roll growth. The school’s vision is ‘successful learning for all ākonga (learners)’.

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

• Excellent and equitable outcomes for all ākonga.

• Working collaboratively with mana whenua, whānau and the community to improve outcomes for all ākonga.

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

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the impact of the schoolwide focus on improving culturally responsive practice.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

• school leaders take the responsibility to enact Te Tiriti o Waitangi seriously – building bicultural capacity across the school is a priority

• data shows that excellent and equitable outcomes have not yet been achieved for all ākonga

• to further increase the capability and capacity of staff to ensure culturally responsive practices are understood and applied school wide, with an explicit focus on classroom practices

• the need for curriculum to be more responsive and localised to support improved engagement and attendance.

The school expects to see:

• well-established educationally powerful connections, communication and relationships with mana whenua to support ākonga aspirations, learning and outcomes

• all ākonga experience a school learning climate that is consistently positive, culturally responsive and promotes their engagement

• all ākonga experience a strong sense of belonging to the school and demonstrate confidence in their identities, languages and cultures

• full and systematic effect given to Te Tiriti o Waitangi as an integral part of the school’s continuous improvement journey.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support their goal to evaluate the impact of culturally responsive practices:

• school leaders demonstrate and model a relentless focus on continuously improving a schoolwide culturally responsive approach

• the school has high levels of professional capability and collective capacity to achieve their strategic priorities and emerging kaupapa. This is well supported by ongoing professional learning and knowledge building

• a schoolwide culture that promotes staff willingness and understanding of strategic priorities is established

• connections with mana whenua and local iwi are established and collaboration to enrich opportunities for the school community and improve outcomes for ākonga are underway.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• updating strategic planning priorities to align with the school’s commitment to enacting Te Tiriti o Waitangi and guide future decision making

• continuing to resource professional learning and knowledge building for staff related to this kaupapa.

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.

Filivaifale Jason Swann
Director Review and Improvement Services (Northern)
Northern Region | Te Tai Raki

19 April 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