Diamond Harbour School

Te Ara Huarau | School Profile Report

Background

This Profile Report was written within three years of the Education Review Office and Diamond Harbour 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

Diamond Harbour is a coastal Christchurch primary school, catering for learners from Years 1-8. It has a vision of ‘Achievement for Life’, to empower all learners to fulfil their potential and contribute to the wellbeing of their communities and the planet. The school is a member of Te Mana Raupō Kāhui Āko. 

Diamond Harbour School’s strategic priorities for improving outcomes for learners are categorised under the headings of:

• our people
• our community
• our place.

A copy of the school’s strategic and annual plan can be requested from Diamond Harbour School.

ERO and the school are working together to evaluate leadership of a culturally responsive structured literacy pathway from years 1 to 8, with learners at the centre. 

The rationale for selecting this evaluation is: 

• data shows that the majority of learners achieve well in literacy, and the school would now like to strengthen outcomes for those who are at risk of not reaching their potential
• to continue to build quality practice the junior school teachers’ have been developing a structured approach to literacy, this is having a positive impact on student achievement data
• leaders would like to extend the structured approach across the school, including developing common practice guidelines and practices for a progressive teaching and learning pathway from Years 1 to 8.

The school expects to see:

• equity in achievement and engagement for students previously underserved, and experiencing pride in their progress and achievements
• deliberate leadership to support teachers to reflect on the effectiveness of teaching and the impact on student outcomes
• consistent literacy teaching practices across the school, enabling smooth transitions as the students progress through the school
• the community collaborating in and purposefully communicating about the learning.

Strengths

The school can draw from the following strengths to support the school in its goal to evaluate the leadership of a culturally responsive structured literacy pathway from Years 1 to 8, with learners at the centre:

• the integration of literacy learning through the school’s localised curriculum, provides meaningful and relevant experiences for learners
• at the time of the review the board is collaborative and future-focused, and has been proactive in seeking training to further grow governance capability
• the embedded Positive Behaviour for Learning (PB4L) programme supports the school to provide calm, settled environments that are conducive to learning.

Where to next?

Moving forward, the school will prioritise enhancing learner engagement, progress and achievement through:

• using its evaluation plan to investigate current literacy teaching approaches, identify professional development needs and develop guidelines for quality teaching practices
• implementing systematic leadership that purposefully grows, monitors and sustains teacher capability and consistency across the school
• engaging purposefully with families to collaboratively grow the literacy focus, including making use of face-to-face and digital platforms for reciprocal communication. 

ERO has concerns about

Over the last three years there has been a number of staff and community complaints and concerns, and turnover of personnel and board, that must be addressed with urgency to build relationships of trust and return stability to the school.

Recommendation

The school continues to focus on learner engagement, progress and achievement through enhancing leadership of teaching, building a collaborative culture and strengthening partnerships for learning.

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

5 March 2024

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