Westport North School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within 14 months of the Education Review Office and Westport North School 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 

• Westport North School is located in Westport on the West Coast of the South Island and provides education for students in Years 1 to 8. The school has a bilingual class.

Westport North School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are to:

• provide all students with opportunities to succeed
• support teachers to effectively deliver quality teaching and learning opportunities
• provide an inclusive, safe and supportive and attractive learning environment for staff, students and whānau
• engage families/whānau and the wider community to support positive student learning outcomes
• follow best practice governance for the board to make a difference to student progress, achievement and well-being.

You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Westport North School’s website.

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the extent to which culturally responsive practice and the implementation of a structured literacy approach contribute to excellence and equity in student achievement and engagement.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is to:

• focus on the impact of the pedagogy of structured literacy on excellence and equity in achievement of all students
• use culturally responsive practice to maintain a focus on equity and excellence in achievement of all students in literacy.

The school expects to see improvements in end of year assessment data in literacy and increasingly equitable outcomes across the school.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support its evaluation of the extent to which culturally responsive practice and the implementation of a structured literacy approach contribute to excellence and equity in student achievement and engagement:

• Teachers share high, clear and equitable expectations for student learning, achievement, progress and wellbeing.
• Internal evaluation practices support the gathering, analysis and use of evidence of student learning and outcomes to improve individual and collective practice.
• Leadership promotes and supports teachers to build their capability, improve their practice and enhance outcomes for students.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• improving student achievement, learning and agency in literacy
• building teacher confidence and skills in teaching structured literacy
• reporting on equity in school-wide student achievement in reading, writing and mathematics
• maintaining a focus on culturally responsive teaching practice.

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

28 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