Ashburton Intermediate

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within twelve months of the Education Review Office and Ashburton Intermediate 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 

Ashburton Intermediate caters for learners in Years 7 and 8, and are located in central Ashburton. The local Hakatere Marae has gifted the school the name Te Kura Takawaenga o Hakatere. The school is a member of Hakatere Kāhui Ako/Community of Learners.

Ashburton Intermediate’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are:

• learners with their whānau at the centre of education

• barrier free access, where great education opportunities and outcomes are within reach for every learner

• quality teaching and leadership make the difference for learners and their whānau

• learning that is relevant to the lives of learners, today and throughout their lives.

You can find a copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan on Ashburton Intermediate‘s website.

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate the school’s assessment practices and use of data, both summative and formative information, to build knowledge of diverse learners’ strengths and needs, to responsively promote equity and excellence.

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is:

• attendance, behaviour and achievement data identify opportunities for leaders to enhance outcomes for learners across the school

• leaders wish to review and refine use of assessment tools and analysis of data, and are building teacher capability to assess and use relevant information to enhance teaching practices

• leaders are reviewing and refining the school’s localised curriculum, ensuring that teaching teams share a common understanding of quality practice expectations and planning greater opportunities to collaborate to discuss and further grow consistent, effective, and culturally responsive practices

• strategic and annual planning prioritises building strengthened whānau engagement in the school’s learning programmes, including by planning to purposefully incorporate student and whānau perspectives and feedback in decision making.

The school expects to see students attending regularly, engaged in and enjoying learning, fostering a sense of belonging and self-esteem. Student agency will be purposefully fostered. There will be improved rates of academic achievement and parity between gender groups, and for Māori and Pacific learners. The board and leaders will monitor positive shifts over time, including with the school’s communities who will be actively engaged in the learning process through reciprocal information sharing. Leaders will scaffold teachers’ use of explicit teaching guidelines in practice and instigate regular opportunities for staff to collaborate and reflect on their efficacy in fostering improved learner outcomes. Culturally responsive practices will support Māori learners to enjoy and achieve success as Māori, and also for Pacific learners and English language learners to be supported to achieve to their potential.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to promote equity and excellence through enhanced assessment practices:

• promoting positive behaviours for learning and the school values are an integral part of growing the school’s culture and shared expectations for excellence, consideration, innovation and integrity

• data is collected and collated to provide a picture of student strengths, prior learning, needs, and challenges that includes connecting purposefully with contributing primary schools to support smooth transitions for students into the school at the start of Year 7

• leaders are improvement focused and reflective and have implemented a revised structure for growing distributed leadership within teaching teams to support consistent teaching practices.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise:

• using ERO’s evaluation plan to review current planning, assessment and teaching practices, including culturally responsive relationships, to lead and sustain further improvements

• reviewing and rationalising how current assessment and use of data influences teaching and learning outcomes, refining guidelines and practice expectations

• leading, growing and embedding a collective culture of self-improvement aligned to the school’s vision and goals, that promotes a shared responsibility to support all learners to experience success.

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

30 June 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

This school hosts the local Resource Teachers of Literacy service on-site.