Sacred Heart School (Reefton)

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within two years of the Education Review Office and Sacred Heart School (Reefton) 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 

Sacred Heart School is a state integrated Years 1- 8 Catholic primary school in Reefton on the West Coast of the South Island. The current roll is 24 students who are taught over two multi-level classrooms. The school’s special character is reflected in its teaching of Catholic values such as respect for one another and making positive choices. 

Sacred Heart School (Reefton)’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

• to have a joy of learning and are confident, connected and achieve to their full potential
• to have learning environments that have the “wow” factor and are relevant and applicable to what students are learning
• that the Catholic Character is at the very core of all we do and are.

You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Sacred Heart School (Reefton)’s website.

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the new school curriculum and how it is meeting the strategic priorities of the school and the learning needs of the students.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is: 

• the new curriculum will be the central guide as to what is essential for teaching and learning, so that every student has access to all learning areas and achieves to their potential
• to formalise the review process and improve consistency of expectations for learning outcomes for students across the school.

The school expects to see: 

• a clear direction and expectations for learning and teaching embedded through the new curriculum
• robust assessment practices that align to the success statements in the strategic goals
• high quality reflection and evaluation of teaching practice and how these correlate to strong achievement outcomes for learners.

Strengths 

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to evaluate the new school curriculum and how it is meeting the strategic priorities of the school.

• Stable staffing and low teacher to student ratio means that each child receives an individualised learning programme.
• Highly supportive trustees alongside the adaptable staff and community who offer extended and local learning opportunities for all students.
• Staff that have high aspirations and expectations for learning and a willingness to grow professionally to benefit all learners.
• A well thought out strategic plan with cohesive school documentation and processes for ongoing improvement.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise: 

• implementing and embedding the new school curriculum 
• developing alignment across the core values as a basis of the Professional Growth Cycle process to ensure all students achieve to their potential.

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

8 December 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